"Vocation" is here

In my last post I mentioned that my CD would soon be released. It is now on CDBaby and ready to receive your order! Please let me know if you have any questions or want more info on this new release.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/charliemiller

How to describe this music? I'll let you be the judge. I will say that the compositional style employed was heavily influenced by Karlheinz Stockhausen and other 20th century composers who promoted sonic organization through aleatory and serialist means (Glass, Schoenberg, Stravinsky's late period, etc.). Although this describes my compositional methods, I am primarily focused on displaying my jazz and rock influences (Miles, Herbbie, Monk, Coltrane, Coleman, Hendrix). Regardless of what you might hear within this work and what you might think parts of it "sound like", I hope that above all this work holds something unique in that it is my own expression of my favorite idioms.

One note on the album art. This is a sketch by my father, Terry J. Miller. He drew this after having brain tumor surgery in 1977. It represents (for me) the struggle that he went through during that time as well as the difficulty he has had with his physical and mental condition since. My dad has had quite a difficult time this past year with the passing of my mother, Linda E. Miller. This album is dedicated to both of my parents. They both showed me what it is to embrace one's vocation in life. The bad along with the good are both a part of it. Our vocation is what God calls us all to be and it is up to each of us to recognize this, embrace it, and give yourself over to it. This album is a musical interpretation of my own vocation. I hope you enjoy listening to it.

My new release

Tonight I'm finalizing the production of my new (and first) album release. It is entitled "vocation" and includes some of the samples from my site. This album is a collection of recently recorded compositions (within the past 6 months). It is a solo effort in that I play all of the instruments: piano, electric piano, synth, trumpet, and guitars. I also included some sampled drum and bass effects to hold it all together. Next time however, I would like to record with some other live musicians.

"Vocation" is an appropriate title for this effort because this is how I view my musical direction right now. Music is not my profession, nor is it just a hobby or even a passion. It is my vocation. It is something I feel I was called to do and I have just recently fully embraced it as a way to express my experiences, emotions, thoughts, and hope for the future.
I decided to put together this album as a way to mark a point in time in my development. I hope that it can become a way for others to get to know me and what I am about musically. This music is heavily jazz influenced, but it is not jazz. It's not rock, funk, avant-garde or electronica either. I seem to come up with more descriptions of what it isn't than what it is (or should be). Whatever you want to call it, "vocation" is where my head is at right now. Creative, eclectic, contemporary, instrumental music for the year Two Thousand and Eight. I hope you enjoy it.

The pressed CD's should be shipped to me within a week or so. Soon after that I hope to have it on CDbaby, iTunes, Rhapsody, and others. Stay tuned for the release announcement.