Upcoming Performances
Gigs have returned! Here’s what’s coming up:
- June 16th: Woody Witt Quintet, Axelrad Beer Garden, 7-10pm
- July 1st: Solo piano at Turner’s Restaurant on Post Oak Blvd, 6:30-9:30pm
- July 7th: Woody Witt Quintet, Axelrad Beer Garden, 7-10pm
- July 21st: Keith Karnaky Trio, Brasil Cafe, 8:30-11:00pm
- August 21st: Woody Witt Quintet, Cezanne, 8-11pm.
Recent Projects
As one gig after another was cancelled in the early days of the pandemic, musicians grew accustomed to clicking the Delete Event button on their iPhones. Drummer Tim Solook’s newest release is an homage to this experience, and to the loss of gigs in general. I play electric piano on three tracks along with a band of primo Houston musicians. Stream it on Spotify or buy it on Amazon.
A series of jazz solo transcriptions that ran on the old fauxmat website is now available here too. The set includes solos by masters like Mulgrew Miller, Horace Silver and Benny Green. Just look for any post with the tag #transcriptions.
Featured Tracks
I did the string arrangements and played piano on this beautiful track from the 2017 release Sky High by the ubertalented Kim Prevost and Bill Solley. Love these guys.
Here’s a tune from bassist David Craig’s 2017 album of original music, The Mystery, that I was honored to play on. The band includes saxophonist Woody Witt and drummer Daniel Dufour. Buy it on Amazon.
Love on a Sunday EP
A collection of tunes written between 2009 and 2011 inspired by a love of guitar/piano duets. This turned into a larger project with music beyond just that genre. The end result is an EP titled Love on a Sunday, which features six musicians on eight original compositions. It’s now available to hear for free on Bandcamp, but a whopping $2 purchase also gets you the scores.
Personnel:
Erich Avinger: guitar (1, 8)
Steve Brown: bass (2)
Al Campbell: bass (3)
Paul Chester: guitar (4, 7)
Mike Sunjka: guitar (3, 6)
Patrick Williams, Jr.: drums (2, 3)
Assorted Recordings
If you’d like more information about any of this music, please check out my soundcloud page.
Coming Soon!
Work continues on Zeljko Pavlovic’s new Roma music project. We spent much of 2020 rehearsing and recording. I hope to share samples of this soon because it sounds really great!
Look for a new CD from drummer Patrick Williams, Jr. I’m on a track he wrote for his father, the late, great trumpeter Pat Williams, Sr, with whom I used to play back in the day.