This Friday, September 14, The Jazz Gallery is pleased to welcome multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin back to our stage. In 2016, Guerin released his debut record, The Saga, a sprawling, yet tightly constructed effort where he played most of the instruments. He followed that up with a sequel in 2017, and since then, has continued to expand this ongoing project, working out new material on the bandstand. Before his last performance at the Gallery in March, Guerin spoke about how his compositions for The Saga's next chapter have been going in a new direction:

There’s a new sound that I’m exploring right now. I’ve got to be honest, I was almost there with The Saga II—I was almost at the sound that I wanted. But in the moment, [it’s not that I gave] up, but I felt like if I had added more, it would overdo it. This next series of compositions—I’ve never explained it, I’ve just been writing and writing and writing—is definitely a lot of sounds and a lot of melodies. I’m super big on parts nowadays—specific parts. When I was growing up in New Orleans I wasn’t introduced to Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, The Flaming Lips, The Beatles—all those bands. I moved to New York and all my friends were like, ‘Ah man, you don’t know?’ There was a lot of stuff I needed to catch up on. I mean, I’ll be catching up my whole life, but in this sense, [I heard] all those specific parts, people playing roles and not as much improvisation—as in ‘featured soloists,’ not improvisation as freedom in the music, because that’s different. And [all those parts] create the song.

At The Jazz Gallery on Friday, Guerin will present yet another new slate of compositions, alongside Lex Korten on keyboards, Val Jeanty on electronics, Kanoa Mendenhall on bass, and JK Kim and drums. Don't miss the next leg of Guerin's heady musical journey this Friday. The Morgan Guerin Group plays The Jazz Gallery on Friday, September 14, 2018. The group features Mr. Guerin on saxophone, EWI, and synth; Lex Korten on piano, rhodes, and synth; Val Jeanty on electronics; Kanoa Mendenhall on bass; and JK Kim on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. $25 general admission ($10 for members), $35 reserved cabaret seating ($20 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.