Michael Whalen – Our April Tigers (2023)
Michael Whalen, a composer who has won the Emmy Award and has gained international recognition as a recording artist, has put together a “supergroup” of musicians to collaborate on his latest instrumental recording, “Our April Tigers” (release date: April 21, 2023).
The project aimed to break free from conventional styles or genres, and Whalen sought out musicians who had experience in soundtrack, world music, ambient electronic, and alternative music, among other genres. He enlisted the help of acclaimed bassist Michael Manring, innovative guitarist Michael Brook, groundbreaking trumpeter Jeff Oster, and the great world music percussionist and remixer Karsh Kale. The musicians worked on seven songs in total, with Whalen starting the tracks and each musician doing their own engineering in their respective studios located in New York City, India, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
The result of the collective effort is a set of precious and finely crafted cinematic instrumental pieces where ambient and chill out electronica meet jazz stylings, neoclassical forms and delightful tranquility.
Whalen commented on the process, saying, “I have been completely blown away by the choices these amazing musicians made in the creation of these songs. They all thought compositionally. You can hear it in the music.”
Whalen initiated the seven songs by developing basic frameworks and melodic fragments, which he sent to Michael Brook. After receiving Brook’s input, Whalen organized the material and forwarded it to Karsh Kale in India. Kale then sent his tracks back to Whalen, who again organized them before sending them to Michael Manring. Once the bass tracks were complete, the formatted tracks were sent to New Hampshire, where Jeff Oster recorded his parts with engineer Tom Eaton. Whalen then mixed the final tracks, making decisions about what to include and what to exclude.
Whalen acknowledged that sharing tracks among musicians may seem unusual, but with the pandemic still affecting people worldwide, it was necessary to prioritize safety and transparency. “I have done several recordings on my own lately. Doing a project collaborating on writing, arranging, and performance with some of the BEST musicians on the planet has been such a wonderful experience and opportunity for musical growth.”
Michael Manring echoed the sentiment, saying, “The opportunity to contribute to this project was great. I am very happy how it came out.”
Our April Tigers is a significant milestone for Whalen, representing over three decades of musical experience that has been heard by billions of people worldwide. Whalen’s work includes hundreds of television shows and themes, dozens of films, thousands of international advertisements, video games, 42 solo albums as an artist, and hundreds as a producer and sideman.