Gemma Farrell

Since 2021, I have been busy working on my PhD, "Enhancing Improvisational and Compositional Jazz Practice with the Electronic Wind Instrument." This project has involved me becoming comfortable improvising on an instrument known as the Electronic Wind Instrument or EWI. 

What is the EWI? The EWI is a MIDI controller for woodwind practitioners. The man who invented it was a synthesizer repairer and trumpet player, and he thought that synthesizers shouldn't just be available to keyboard players, so he first invented an instrument called the Electronic Valve Instrument or EVI, before eventually inventing the EWI. 

As a part of this research, I have written music for the Gemma Farrell Quintet incorporating the EWI. The EWI has many advantages. It has an 8-octave range, it can play harmonically, and it can sound like anything you like it to! On this album, you will hear me playing bass lines while our bassist Kate Pass plays the melody, you will hear me comping behind guitar solos and even behind my own sax solo at one point, and you will hear me play pan pipe sounds, middle eastern like sounds, Gameboy-like sounds, and even percussion sounds. The use of the EWI has also influenced some acoustic compositions, such as a composition on saxophone that incorporates the major 6th interval and an introduction I perform in a saxophone quartet with myself overdubbed on Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone saxophone. I also use loops on 3 tracks!

This album is unlike anything I have ever done before. There were lots of things I was nervous about before the first rehearsals. Lots of "if I can pull this off, it will be awesome, but I'm not sure if I can" feelings. I'm really proud of what we achieved in the recording process (July 10-13 2023). This album will feature the hard work of not only me but the following awesome people:

Kieran Kenderessy - Ninjaneer extraordinaire

Sam Hadlow - Trombone (some awesome Wah trombone at one point too!)

Dan Garner - Guitar shredding

Kate Pass - Her last album with us and some of her last work before leaving for NYC

Ryan Daunt - So much daunting drum action on this one

The album will be mastered by Paul Große-Schönepauck in Düsseldorf, who I have been lucky to have on most of my albums. The artwork will be by Shavaurn Hanson, and the graphic design will be by Marisa Santosa. The liner notes will feature photography by Luke Riley. 

This album will be released digitally on Bandcamp and in CD hardcopy. For those who prefer vinyl - I seriously looked into it this time but decided not to. Why? A vinyl album can't really be longer than 45mins, and this album definitely is. I thought about doing a vinyl with fewer tracks and a digital download, as some bands have, but I feel like the album isn't complete without all the tracks. Also, vinyl is REALLY EXPENSIVE! For just a small run of vinyl (150-200) I'd be looking at almost an extra $3500-4000k on top of the costs. I will do vinyl eventually, but unfortunately, not for this project.

Any help you are able to give this project by pre-ordering a copy or ordering a previous album will be greatly appreciated. 

The essential costs in putting this album together include the musician's fees, the engineer's fees for recording, editing and mixing, the mastering, the artwork and graphic design, the photography, and the printing and pressing. That adds up to a bit more than double what I hope to get from this crowdfunding campaign, but if I can raise the $5000, that will help immensely.