Tides, by A2G3

This album is the debut by the Ann Arbor Guitar Trio. The songs featured here are our own arrangements of a mix of local composers and iconic 20th century jazz composers pieces. These arrangements and tunes were all developed and cultivated as part of our live set beginning about 2 years earlier. The unique challenge of this record and this group for that matter was exploring the boundaries of what the guitar can do. Seeing as this group only consisted of three guitar players, we had to learn how to coexist as an ensemble and not occupy the same space musically. We would all take turns playing bass, being “the drummer”, accompanying (comping), and playing lead. We also would play with the different tonal possibilities of the instrument. Harmonics, behind the bridge playing, weird open string cluster chords, and even modified fretless guitars were all on the table. Everything on this record was tracked live with all of us in the same room, almost entirely on the same three instruments. Outside of playing, my main contribution to this one was my arrangement of “You Still Believe in Me” by the Beach Boys. This is the first and only Jazz record I’ve made, and it’s definitely been one of my most challenging projects to date.