Lotus

Abstract

Kendrick Scott's World Culture Music is poised to release Lotus, the much-anticipated fifth album (& third self-produced project) from guitarist/composer Mike Moreno. Moreno is a musician who has established himself on the global jazz scene in a profound way, garnering high praise from critics, fans, colleagues, and from none other than Pat Metheny and Mike Stern. As a leader, Lotus brings Moreno's creative output to five recordings, and one could argue that they should be considered must-have recordings for any serious collection.

Lotus, featuring musicians that Moreno has a long and happy history with, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Eric Harland, is a documentation of Moreno's most honest music to date. "This is Aaron’s fourth record with me," Moreno explains, "and it sort of continues what we started on Aaron’s Blue Note Records debut Invisible Cinema, which featured both myself and Eric Harland. That was a defining record for both Aaron and I, and everywhere I go, that’s the most talked–about record of my career to date. So in a way, this is part two of Invisible Cinema. . It certainly has the same appeal, a great band with a set of melodic songs and the always strong rhythmic concept from Eric Harland." "Eric, from Houston, like myself, both attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts, and we began playing on his visits back to Houston after he moved to NYC. He was the first great drummer I played with. I still remember feeling that force coming from the drums for the first time. It was incredible. Lotus marks the first time Eric has recorded with me on one of my own projects. It was long overdue." "Doug Weiss has been a part of my band almost from the beginning, starting when he was one of my teachers at the New School. I loved his playing and asked him to do some gigs with me when I started to work with my own band. He ended up playing on my first two records, and is just one of most solid bassists out there, always playing beautiful supportive notes and exactly what is needed."

Lotus is comprised of all original Mike Moreno compositions. Some were composed during an artist residence that Moreno took part in at the Rockefeller Estate, Kykuit Gardens, in Pocantico Hills, NY ("The Hills Of Kykuit" and "Empress".) The guitarist/composer explained, "The more I compose the simpler my music gets and the more it sounds like me, rather than a mix of my influences." "Can We Stay Forever?" is a ballad that didn't make the cut for Moreno's previous release, Another Way, but fit very nicely in the set for this record. The rest of the recording was written in the years since Another Way was released in 2012. The most recent composition is "Outro", which was finished just a week before the record date, and composed by Moreno specifically for this band.

Moreno wants Lotus to be a recording that people from all walks of life can listen to and enjoy over and over again. "This is meant to be a record you can listen to like any other genre of music, whether your a jazz fan or musician, a lawyer, a garbage man, whatever. It is an album of which I’m extremely proud, and I hope that when the listener walks away from their computer, stereo, car, iPod, etc., that these melodies stick with them, even after the first listen."