'The Composer' explores many facets of the compositional process across a variety of styles and genres.
First there are the solo piano pieces presented here with the aid of a sequencer. 'Prelude', 'Canon', and 'For Piano' are a few of the album's pieces written 'randomly' - using dice to determine notes, octaves, and duration.
Other songs utilizing this technique are the saxophone quartet 'Chamber', the marching band of 'Parade', and the sound collage 'Nails in Cement'.
Spontaneous composition is the launching point for the electric sounds of 'Thwack' and 'Broken Glass', and continues into the Free Jazz of 'Power Roots I & II' where the roles of rhythm and lead instruments are reversed.
Rounding out the album are the lush, orchestral sounds of 'Song for Nancy', 'The Rapture', 'The Garden', and 'Sangre de Toro' - composed for classical guitar, accordion, clarinet, and the homemade cello, the Chehlis.

Notes on the music:

Song For Nancy
A lush ode inspired by Loek Dikker's film score for Pascali's Island and featuring Chuck Ehlis's electric cello creation, the Chehlis.
DP : classical guitar, chehlis
Mark Wyman : accordion

Thwack
Chuck and Marty and I started playing together in a band called Thwack. We debuted on Thanksgiving night at Drago's in midtown Sacramento, California in 1992 (or was it earlier?). This track is a tribute to that time and place.
DP : guitars, wood box
Chuck Ehlis : fretless bass guitar, thwackoleum
Martin Birke : drum kit
Christian Heilman : bass drum

Parade
A lot of tracks on this album were composed using my old Dungeons & Dragons dice to determine pitch and duration. This is one of them. Made up of short, repeated phrases, this immediately struck me as a marching band. Tony's clarinet really brings it to life.
DP : midi guitar
Tony Passarell : clarinet, saxophones
Christian Heilman : drum kit

Prelude
A dice composition using a Bach prelude to determine pitch ranges and structure. (Sorry, I don't remember which one.)
DP : piano sequencing

The Rapture
This track is based on a Chehlis improvisation I recorded at home on my trusty old 4-track. Mark Wyman, as always, adds lovely textures with his accordion.
DP : chehlis
Mark Wyman : accordion

Gould
Another dice composition. I like to imagine Glenn himself tickling the ivories.
DP : piano sequencing

Chamber
And the dice compositions keep coming. Tony was very patient, recording all the parts himself as I did my best to conduct!
Tony Passarell : saxophones

Canon
One of my favorite piano tracks using the dice composition method.
DP : piano sequencing

For Piano
My very first dice composition, and perhaps the most pure. The notes were allowed a much larger octave range to roam around in. After this one, I began to impose varied limitations.
DP : piano sequencing

Broken Glass
A companion piece to "Thwack," featuring a rarely attempted electric guitar solo!
DP : guitars, saxophone, tabla
Chuck Ehlis : fretless bass guitar
Martin Birke : drum kit
Christian Heilman : bass drum

Nails In Cement
Chuck and I improvised to the dice-composed kalimba track. I found myself thinking of the Endo novel, "Silence". This is a personal favorite from this album.
DP : sequencing, percussion, pvc saxophone
Chuck Ehlis : tapes, lap steel

Power Roots I
Free improvisation with two of my favorite humans.
DP : piano, tabla, additional drums
Chuck Ehlis : fretless bass guitar
Martin Birke : drum kit

Power Roots II
The idea was to flip roles: piano and saxophone as rhythm section and bass and drums as lead.
DP : piano, tabla, additional drums
Tony Passarell : saxophone
Chuck Ehlis : fretless bass guitar
Martin Birke : drum kit

The Garden
Inspired by Kronos Quartet, this track is another favorite of mine. I love Chuck's tape manipulations; Tony's lovely clarinet solo; and Mark's beautiful accordion. My thanks to all the players on this one.
DP : classical guitar, bass sequencing, percussion
Tony Passarell : clarinet
Mark Wyman : accordion
Chuck Ehlis : tapes
Christian Heilman : floor tom

Sangre de Toro
My signature piece. I began composing it pretty shortly after starting lessons with Jack Warren at Pease Studios in Sacramento. He was a wonderful teacher and this is dedicated to him.
DP : classical guitar