Bassist Tim Seisser is celebrating the release of his new recording It's Just Ok at the Epiphany Center for the Arts (201 S Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL) , Thursday May 19th at 7:30pm. We talked with Seisser about the recording and what people can expect to hear at the performance.
Chicago Jazz Magazine: Your upcoming performance at Epiphany Center for the Arts on May 19th is a Record Release celebration for your new recording, "It’s Just Ok". Can you talk about the recording, who performs on it and the very special producer you worked with?
Seisser: This recording is very special to me. It was born out of my desire to stay busy and still create art in the pandemic years. We all knew things would be interesting for musicians and this project helped me focus my energy and time into something positive. The core of the band is myself on bass, Jonathan marks on drums and Andrew Lawrence on keyboards. Then we were lucky to get a handful of very specials guests involved. Most notably, the great bassist Tim Lefebvre, who guests on bass for a couple songs and also produced the album. Tim is a legend in the bass world and really made a mark on this project. Also, guesting is Donny McCaslin on tenor sax, Fareed Haque on guitar and Howard Levy on Harmonica.
Chicago Jazz Magazine: How long of a process was it to write, record and coordinate schedules with all of the guest artists in order to make this recording a reality?
Seisser: The remote demo recordings for this project started in early 2020. The actual studio time for the core tracks was booked in April of 2021. The album was wrapped up in late 2021. Thankfully, most of the guest artist material was completed early on in the process, since most everybody had more free time than usual in early 2021.
Chicago Jazz Magazine: Let’s talk about the upcoming performance at Epiphany Center for the Arts, who’s in the Band on May 19th?
Seisser: The performance at Epiphany will consist of just the trio. We were hoping to get some of the guest artists involved but unfortunately times are difficult with scheduling between COVID still being an issue for some, and touring starting to become more consistent for others. But we are going to bring the heat as the trio nonetheless. Also, we will be joined by visual artist Lewis Achenbach, who will be doing live art sketches of the band during the performance.
Chicago Jazz Magazine: Talk about the music that people will hear performed. Are you playing all the music from the recording? Will there be any special guests or surprises?
Seisser: The music being performed on 5/19 will be primarily material from the album. We want to showcase those songs primarily. But we have been working on new material and will be performing some new original material, as well as a few choice covers. The audience can expect a high-energy performance, with material consisting of rhythmic complexity, catchy hooks, and loads of improvisation.
Chicago Jazz Magazine: Tickets are still available for the performance on May 19th at Epiphanychi.com. Where can people purchase the new recording?
Seisser: The new recording will be available initially on all of the digital/streaming sites. I eventually plan on making a short run of CD’s, which will hopefully be available sometime mid-summer. You can follow us on the socials (@tslice.shreds on Instagram, TS3 music on Facebook) plus there will be updates on the new website coming soon, Ts3shreds.com.