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We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Forever Cocoon

by Sarah Marie Hughes

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1.
Snow Melt 00:55
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2.
Mess 1 01:32
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3.
Taking Off 04:40
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4.
Follow The Wanderer 02:09
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5.
Wheat Rush 02:57
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6.
Native Waters 01:15
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7.
Sensually 02:16
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8.
Pulse 04:38
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9.
Towson 02:33
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10.
Wait Again 00:42
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11.
For Simplicity 04:53
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12.
Tolls 02:48
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13.
Mess 2 01:30
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14.
Cute 00:23
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15.
Pulse (alternative mix) 04:37
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16.
Towson (alternative mix) 02:34
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17.
For Simplicity (alternative mix) 04:53
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18.
Sonar (unmixed) 05:40
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about

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic I lived alone in a studio apartment in Oxon Hill, just outside of Washington DC. Playing music with only myself and a looper for months, I decided that I wanted to document the period of solitude and, with the help of a commission from the Jazz Coalition, created this solo album of original improvised music.

I brought my ideas for the solo project to Don Godwin at Tonal Park, a recording studio in Takoma Park, MD. Don helped me to multitrack the pieces and also took part in a few improvising experiments from behind the soundboard. I requested that Don add audio effects at his discretion while I was recording, creating a playmate for me to react to whilst improvising. During recording I also asked that Don "drop the needle" at points of his choosing so that I could spontaneously add layers to the pieces in a way that was reactionary and uncalculated.

The content of the album is a product of introversion and particularly, the introversion forced by the presence of contagion. Those friends and family closest to me know that the COVID-19 outbreak was difficult for me to perceive in a rational way, as I had already been struggling with large amounts of paranoia and anxiety about contagion in my own life that dominated my psyche and moods prior to the event. Quarantine for me was a time that felt guilty, unbelievable, confusing, destructive, and heavy-hearted. The sounds on the album reflect a feeling of being immersed in a singular, dense atmosphere and implaccable stream of consciousness. The tone is often raw and plaintive while the rhythm is poetic, spacious, and still. Time has been suspended and thought and feeling exist in swirling and undulating ruminations.

Don had set up the studio as an ideal playground for an exploration of this atmosphere. With sandbags on the piano's sustain pedal, many of the tracks contain an eerie bleeding and blurring of sounds. In "For Simplicity" I unabashedly enjoy the presence of the piano, an instrument that I rarely play, in an improvisation made of reverence for its wonderful sound. Alone in the studio with the grand and Don's listening ear, I felt peace and clarity that I hadn't felt for months. The guitar is also a tertiary instrument for me, used mostly for its soothing effect during time alone. The guitar pieces on the album feel more like interludes and are reminiscent of bell tones, conveying feelings of hope, consolation, quiet dread, and brooding. "Towson", using voice, piano, and clarinet, feels full of hypervigilance and anticipation with moments of light while "Mess 1" and "Mess 2" are playful and unpredictable with Don's delay effect acting as a sort of chaotic ghost. Woodwind pieces "Pulse", "Follow The Wanderer", "Native Waters", and "Sonar" are explorations of the process of spontaneously creating and weaving a tapestry of melodic improvisations into a cohesive "whole".

The tracks went through a final period of creative alterations in mixing and mastering with Garrett Long and Tristan Heles at the Watermelon Room Recording Studio in Baltimore, MD. Many thanks to Garrett and Tristan and to the wonderful people at the Jazz Coalition for their support. I'm also extremely grateful to co-creator Don Godwin for his participation and contributions.

credits

released June 7, 2021

Sarah Marie Hughes - flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, guitar, piano

Don Godwin - sound engineering, spontaneous composition

Recorded at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, MD on 9/24/2020

""All tracks beside 2, 8, 9, 11, and 18 are mixed by Garrett Long and Tristan Heles (assistant) of The Watermelon Room Recording Studio in Baltimore, MD

Mastered by Garrett Long and Tristan Heles

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Sarah Marie Hughes Washington, D.C.

Sarah Marie Hughes is a saxophonist and improvising entity.

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