Rocco John Iacovone & Tom Cabrera - Out of the Maelstrom (2021) Hi Res

Maelstrom: a large whirlpool or confused, turbulent, agitated state of mind, emotions, and affairs. This is what we all experienced with the onset of the Covid-19 Virus. Everything changed. Too dangerous to get together and play, this duo recording with Tom Cabrera came out of an urgent need to find new ways to create.

After discussions by phone, here’s what we did. I would compose a motif, develop it, record it then send to Tom. Tom would listen until he really “got” it. Then he added his part. In Monday Meditations, I recorded one track, then accompanied myself and sent both tracks to Tom. We reversed the process with Segments1 and 2. Tom recorded first and sent me the tracks.

We also left space for each other to play. We did so with all the pieces but is most evident in the only standard, “Softly”, on the album. Both Tom and I very much enjoyed the process and found it to be very rewarding. All the music grew from the consciousness and way of life at that point in time.