In 2021, I made it a goal to put out an album each year in perpetuity and in 2022, I managed to sneak one by right at the buzzer in the form of this impromptu outing featuring the stellar musical stylings of my friends Daniele Germani, Simón Willson, and Adam Arruda. With one short rehearsal followed by a quick recording session, this 7-track mini-album embodies an approach to creative output and improvised music that I strive to get better at in the years to come. I tend to get mired down in a perfectionist mindset that prevents me from sharing more of my music with the world, so here’s to an ongoing effort on my part to be prolific and release new music all the time. The project title sums it up perfectly: One and Done!

Recorded September 28th, 2022 by Sam Bishoff at Feirstein Studios and mixed/mastered by Jeremy Loucas at Sear Sound Studio B, we chose for the session a few originals by myself and Daniele Germani, plus a couple of jazz standards. The first, third, and seventh tracks are Daniele’s compositions, their titles derived from dialogue in films and documentaries that he found particularly striking. My tunes are nestled in the middle of the album: Señor de las Tres Piernas (an homage to James Bond) and Whirlpool (aptly titled by one of my young piano students who said the composition made her think of circling round and round in a stormy sea). Finally, I made an arrangement of the great Woody Shaw composition, The Moontrane, and wrapped up the session with a solo rendition of my favorite jazz ballad, Lament by J. J. Johnson.

Grant Richards - piano

Daniele Germani - alto sax, soprano sax

Simón Willson - bass

Adam Arruda - drums

Sam Bishoff, Danny Schwartz - recording engineers

Jeremy Loucas at Sear Sound Studio B - mixing and mastering

Spencer Cole Porter - artwork and design