John Escreet’s ‘Learn To Live’ Out Now (Blue Room Music)
Praise From NY Times, Stereogum, WBGO
John Escreet’s thrilling and rewarding new album ‘Learn To Live’ is out now. It finds the experimental keyboardist juxtaposing deep grooves and synthesizer with exploratory, meditative acoustic jazz, and has been met with praise from NY Times, WBGO, Stereogum and beyond.
For his first album of composed music in 5 years, Escreet is joined by a dream team cast of musicians; two separate bands that John was gigging with in 2017 that performed on these album sessions together. The band boasts Greg Osby (saxophone), Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Eric Harland (drums), Justin Brown (drums) and Matt Brewer (bass). Drummers Harland and Brown recorded on 4 tracks together.
‘Learn To Live’ documents Escreet’s recent obsession with synthesizer, namely Sequential Instruments’ legendary Prophet model. He taught himself analog synthesis and it led to key compositional moments on the album. Read a Q&A with John and Sequential Instruments here: https://www.sequential.com/john-escreet/
John titled his song “Broken Justice (Kalief)” for Kalief Browder, which Stereogum/Ugly Beauty recently premiered: https://bit.ly/2O2ck3V
Watch a short video on the making of the album here: https://youtu.be/wDN3SJVTdFY
"Audacious...this is new-breed fusion of a stylish sort" – WBGO
"[A] pan-experimentalist...he's taking his plush harmonies and textures as a given, and focusing on heavy skirmishes of rhythm" – NY Times Playlist
Escreet will be touring internationally this November with Antonio Sanchez Migration.
Order the album here:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/learn-to-live/1436408044?app=music&ign-mpt=uo=4
CD Baby: http://store.cdbaby.com/cd/johnescreet3
TRACKLIST FOR ‘LEARN TO LIVE’
1. Opening
2. Broken Justice (Kalief)
3. Lady T’s Vibe
4. Test Run
5. Learn To Live
6. A World Without Guns
7. Contradictions
8. Global Citizen
9. Smokescreen
10. Humanity Please
JOHN ESCREET ON THE WEB:
https://www.facebook.com/john.escreet.33/