Longer Table

Field Notes collects live recordings from Sound Sanctuary evenings at MacKay in Ottawa. Drawn from several performances, the album documents spontaneous compositions created by an ensemble of saxophone, guitar, piano, and drums.

Each piece begins without a score or predetermined form. Structure emerges through listening, response, and shared decisions made in real time. The recordings follow the movement of ideas as they develop, change direction, or come to rest, revealing improvisation as a process of collective composition.

The performances are shaped by the room, the musicians, and the audience. Rather than smoothing over the unpredictability of live performance, Field Notes preserves it. Every track reflects a specific gathering and a set of musical choices that could not be repeated in the same way.

The title points to the album's role as a document: observations collected over time rather than finished statements. Together, these recordings trace an ongoing conversation between four musicians working without a fixed plan, relying instead on attention, trust, and experience.

Recorded during Sound Sanctuary at MacKay, Field Notes offers a record of music made in the moment—where composition and improvisation become the same act, and each performance leaves behind a map of its own unfolding.