In January of 2022, Luke Stewart was an artist in residency in New Orleans thanks to KO Arts. Through this residency, Stewart returned to the region of his childhood and performed, collaborated and recorded with many of the local creative artists.

This album features the captivating first musical meeting of Luke Stewart, Justin Peake, and Chris Alford. This live gig recording represents one specific night of collaborations and a first meeting for Alford and Stewart. The music was performed as two 40-minute sets that have been split up on this recording for ease of navigation and listening.

The music here is best experienced as an immersive long form piece, just as it was performed.


Ad hoc groupings in improvised music come with an added layer of challenges yet have the potential for immense rewards for the audience and musicians alike. At their best, these first meetings have a raw energy with the musicians utilizing a heightened sense of awareness, intensity and inventiveness.

This was indeed one of those meetings and the performance contains an unconfined energy and inspired presence throughout each of the two live sets. The trio's hyper sensitivity and deep listening give the music a confident flow from which a plethora of alluring sonic events emerge. The gradient variants in textures and approaches emanating from the musical performance are especially noteworthy.

All this says a lot about having first-rate collaborators like Justin Peake and Luke Stewart, who are not only sensitive and open minded but have an awareness, imagination and boldness enabling them to travel down the many paths the muses may lead us. I certainly enjoyed where we journeyed on this particular night and hope you do too.