iN ORBiT - VERY NOW NOW

Jeff Coffin - soprano/tenor sax, flute, bass clarinet
Davide Di Renzo - drums, percussion
Michael Occhipinti - electric guitar, effects
Felix Pastorius - Fodera 6 string electric bass
Tom Reynolds - Fazioli piano, Fender rhodes, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hammond B-3 organ

Very Now Now is In Orbit’s second project, following their self-titled debut recording in 2018. The band is composed of musicians from both sides of the Canada/USA border, co-led by American 3x-Grammy winning saxophonist (and 2024 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee) Jeff Coffin and multi Juno Award winning Canadian guitar wizard Michael Occhipinti, rounded out by brilliant electric bassist Felix Pastorius, legendary and inventive Toronto drummer Davide Di Renzo, and the soulful Nashville/Toronto pianist Tom Reynolds.

IN ORBIT: DAVIDE, JEFF, MICHAEL, TOM, FELIX

01) Hayward Bound 5:01
02) Jinx The Pig 4:47
03) Papillon 5:40
04) A Tale Of Three Cities 7:35
05) Song For Evan 3:35 
06) Disco Ramen 5:32 
07) Freddie’s Dread 4:45 
08) Enter Before Exiting 4:10
09) Exit Music 5:18
TOTAL TIME         47:00

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01) Hayward Bound (comp. In Orbit)
Jeff - bass clarinet
Tom - wurlitzer electric piano
Michael - electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums, goat nails, ankle bells

vocals??

02) Jinx The Pig (comp. In Orbit)
Jeff - tenor sax
Tom - rhodes
Michael - electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums, shaker, tambourine

03) Papillion (comp. In Orbit)
Jeff - soprano sax
Tom - piano
Michael - electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums, triangle, caixixi, blue egg shaker, goats nails

04) Tale Of Three Cities (comp. In Orbit)
Jeff - soprano sax, flute, bass clarinet
Tom - piano
Michael - electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums

05) Song For Evan (comp. Tom Reynolds)
Jeff - bass clarinet
Tom - piano
Michael - electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums

06) Disco Ramen (comp. In Orbit)
Jeff - tenor sax
Tom - wurlitzer electric piano, B-3 organ
Michael - electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums, tambourine

07) Freddie’s Dread (comp. In Orbit)
Jeff - tenor sax
Tom - rhodes
electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums, bongos, tambourine

08) Enter Before Exiting (comp. In Orbit)
Jeff - soprano sax, flute
Tom - rhodes, piano
Michael - electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums

09) Exit Jam (comp. In Orbit)
Jeff - soprano sax
Tom - piano
Michael - electric guitar
Felix - 6 string electric bass
Davide - drums

When five inventive musicians come together for a week in the studio to compose and record all new material – each bringing their deep musicality, creative spirit, and unique approach to jazz across many styles – something  magical happens.  Very Now Now is the result, emerging in the moment, much of it improvised and all of it composed collaboratively.  The energy and sympatico between musicians uplifts the performances, capturing the joy felt in playing together.  From top to bottom, the music grooves and goes to unexpected places, representing a diverse palette of offerings.  All of it expresses something imaginative and soulful – and beautiful!
- Tom Reynolds

In Orbit had a bold and ambitious idea for its album VERY NOW NOW:  Instead of playing compositions brought in by Jeff Coffin and Michael Occhipinti as the band had done previously, the five musicians would get together in the studio with no existing material, no melodies, no forms, no compositions, and they would improvise, edit, and compose and arrange the music together.  The group members, living in three different cities, were able to gather in Toronto and undertake a challenging but ultimately magical process that resulted in the nine compositions on the album.  

Each morning started with a group improvisation.  It might be a drum pattern or guitar riff that kicked things off, but however things started, the full group soon would push and pull and develop ideas over the course of the morning.  When someone in the band recalled a moment that stood out, we'd ask our engineer John Bailey, who recorded everything,  to flag it.  At lunch, the band would spend time listening to these select moments and various band members would suggest the elements that ultimately helped turn jam sessions into compositions.  Forms, melodies, chord changes would get discussed and sketched out, and then In Orbit would return to recording mode, this time capturing their performances of the songs written through a process of improvisation.

It takes a lot of belief and trust to make a recording via this process, along with a lot of laughs, passion, compromise, and humility.  

A special thanks has to go out to the generosity of the Canada Council For The Arts for supporting the project.
- Michael Occhipinti

For me, the most exciting prospect of this recording was to come in with literally NOTHING prepared! We had all played together in various configurations before and we had obviously recorded together as well but to go down this path felt brave to me and it felt like there was a high level of excitement because of it. I don’t know that there were particular expectations other than ‘let’s see what happens’ but even that dynamic was something I had never done on this scale before. I knew that everyone would bring their best and most creative elements to the table and the end result is something that I don’t really have words for. It’s more of a feeling to me than anything. To try and find words to describe it would be like trying to describe the breeze to someone. Or an emotion. Or even a sunrise. It’s nearly impossible to convey the full depth of it I think. Listening to this music brings me back to a time and a place that isn’t too far gone but it also feels like an eternity. Everyone’s art is wrapped up together in these pieces and I can’t tell where one person’s idea ends and another’s begins. It feels like these tunes have always existed and somehow we mined them together those few days we were in the studio. It’s a beautiful, creative, thoughtful recording and I hope people will be listening to it for a long time to come.
- Jeff Coffin

Recorded June 2-7, 2019 at Noble Studios, Toronto, Canada
Engineered & mixed by John ‘Beetle’ Bailey
Assistant engineer Trevor Anderson
Mastered by ???????