SHOES, New Silent Film Score

I’m thrilled to announce a new project: An original live film score of the silent film Shoes (1916), directed by the American pioneer filmmaker Lois Weber. Shoes is a drama that follows the story of a Eva Meyer, a young woman who struggles to replace her only pair of shoes, which are falling to pieces, while supporting a family of six with deadbeat father. The score is a dialogue through time meditating on the fight for women’s rights, poverty and workers’ rights over a period of a century, reflecting how these issues continue to plague our world today.

Shoes follows up on my live score of the classic Charlie Chaplin silent film The Immigrant (2015), and continues a body of work focused on social justice commentary. It will be premiered at Jazz at Lincoln Center in the fall of  2018 (Date TBA)  and it’ll feature a wonderful and diverse group comprised by some of my favorite musicians: Kavita Shah - Voice, Nadje Noordhuis - Trumpet, Amy Kang - Cello, Luis Perdomo - Piano & Keys, Christos Rafalides - Vibraphone,  Shirazette Tinnin - Drums,  and myself on Bass and everything else ;)

In a time in which our government is led by an alleged sexual predator, Shoes becomes a relevant statement that makes us reflect on how (or how not) we evolve as a society. One of my missions has become to bring awareness to the importance that these social issues have in our contemporary American society, and I believe that can be done one note and one day at a time.