Alan Darragh :: | No Place To Go

the making of No Place To Go

2009 - Alan Darragh on piano
John Abreu on drums
Stephanie Abreu on electric bass

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No Place To Go is Alan Darragh's sixth album. It's also his first trio album.

"There's a feeling that I get after playing solo piano for a long time – the loneliness that I get. Playing solo piano is a lonely art. The interesting thing is that after awhile – after you've been doing it all day, you get an urge to just be with people again." All that changed when Alan Darragh teamed up with John Abreu and his sister, Stephanie Abreu, two young musicians from Brampton, Ontario.

*No Place To Go*
Track#	Title of Song	Composed by	Length
1	It Kills A Man To Get In Love	Alan Darragh	6:27
2	Singing and Stealing	Alan Darragh	7:02
3	Don't You Feel Sorry For Me	Alan Darragh	8:42
4	Clawing Memory	Alan Darragh	7:02
5	The Fool Is Happy	Alan Darragh	6:04
6	No Place To Go	Alan Darragh	7:55
7	A Good Stunt Of Pretending	Alan Darragh	7:46
8	Marble Knight On A Tomb	Alan Darragh	8:26
9	Till I See You Again	Alan Darragh	6:21
10	Ready For The First Turn	Alan Darragh	7:45
11	You Call It A Game	Alan Darragh	6:05

"The way the trio works, essentially we just sit down, me at the piano, John on drums and Stephanie on electric bass. John starts playing for a couple of minutes, then I go straight into improv with Stephanie riding the downstream." The trio jammed all summer on peanut butter and jam sandwiches. "Hey, man," duet John and Stephanie, "It's not allowed at school. We never get to eat any. Can we have another peanut butter and jam sandwich, please?"

Improvising on the fly, music that has compositional structure is difficult enough for one musician. These three young musicians did it simultaneously, John and Stephanie keeping pace with intuitive ingenuity.

Alan Darragh is a member of SOCAN and ASCAP

Alan said, "What happens when you introduce another musician, i.e., another instrument, is that it allows me to play with the full piano. It allows me to leave more space. It allows me to contrast what I'm doing with what the other instruments are doing." In spite of the challenges of improvising within a trio context, Alan Darragh's compositional improvisations have rhythmic, harmonic and melodic integrity. Although drummer John Abreu at times verges into rock beats, Alan stays in touch with the idiom of jazz piano throughout. Bassist Stephanie Abreu's compelling groove cements the trio.

The depth of concentration needed to create music out of thin air took its toll. End of recording sessions invariably saw the trio stretched out on futons and chairs in the studio lounge fast asleep.

Recorded at Despot Studio
Toronto, Canada