On February 11^th 2007 the jazz fusion group Aashram recorded over 40 minutes of music at the Duderstat center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The compositions written by Aashram were recorded by studio engineers Daniel Llanes, and Uday Trivedi at the University of Michigan. Prior to the February session, Aashram had recorded on January 13^th at 54 Sound in Ferndale, Michigan. Eric “Fil” Fillip, Omar Taji and I were already familiar with the studio since we had recorded with Llanes back in April of 2005. The consensus among those involved was that it was a success. Aashram decided to move the session into post production.

During the conversations about the session between Llanes and myself there was talk about creating some alternate versions of specific Aashram compositions. These conversations would eventually morph into long discussions at Llanes’ Ann Arbor apartment later that spring. We initially were anticipating a single remix that would be done by Llanes, but Llanes and I ended up having more to talk about than just one piece. From our conversations over the next 3 months, ideas were exchanged, music was traded, and creative ideas were shared. The two of us sifted through the Aashram recordings for ideas. Llanes spent a great deal of time in the studio coming up with remixed sketches. Both of us learned from one another due to our different musical preferences, interpretations, and approaches to music.

Our conversations were fresh and usually lasted for hours. Llanes provided me with a great deal of insight into the world of recording and remixing. In exchange, I shared my knowledge jazz and improvisational music with him. All of these conversations fueled what would become a new project for Aashram and the both us. As the summer went on our ideas began to coalesce. We also established a methodology that worked well for the both of us.

Either Llanes and/or I would come up with an idea from a particular piece and we would bounce it back and forth to one another. Remixed drafts were passed on to me for feedback. I would provide input back to Llanes and would also consult with Eric “Fil” Fillip for added input. Many times a single draft idea from a concept that either of us had come up with would trigger a chain reaction of 3-4 ideas. It often seemed as if Llanes and I were on the same page even before talking to one another.

 We rode one another’s waves of inspiration. Our willingness to step outside of our individual comfort zones propelled us forward.  After awhile, several remix concepts were developed from this method.  By the time the summer of 2007 arrived, we both decided this experiment was gaining enough momentum to declare as an official working project for Llanes, and myself. More later.......