The Acadian Orogeny, by The Ben Geyer Trio

The Acadian Orogeny

by The Ben Geyer Trio

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1.	Reminiscing 05:58	buy track
2.	High Tide 07:43	buy track
3.	Giant Steps (John Coltrane) 05:40	buy track
4.	Movable Cogs 08:41	buy track
5.	The Acadian Orogeny 07:14	buy track
6.	Five-Tone Blues 06:17	buy track

about

I finished composing this album’s title piece the day before I migrated from my New Hampshire hometown to a new life in Kentucky, but it found its name more recently, thanks to a geologist friend. The Acadian orogeny, he pointed out, is a mountain moving event stretching along the path of that move. His suggestion brought me back to my little blue two-door hatchback, bulging with all my possessions, as it rolled through the 375-million-year-old echo of shifting rock.

Funny—the title clarified something for me that I hadn’t heard in the piece… or maybe the piece morphed in my mind to embody its title. But the topography of the piece—the peaks and valleys, slopes and cliffs—became suddenly salient. These were, I realized, metaphors for my nomadic journey, never living in the same place for more than a few years, always chasing the next thing. I’ve since found a more permanent home (in Georgia), but this album is an artifact of my winding past.

The album’s five original pieces, originating between 2006 and 2014, create topographies of all sorts. Each constrains the musicians differently, sending us on different kinds of terrains. “Reminiscing” and “The Acadian Orogeny” are hikes: we create the vivid details of the landscape as we follow a predetermined path. “Movable Cogs” is a crawl through the daily grind until we break away, eventually returning home to find ourselves transformed.

The other pieces are quick laps around a track. “High Tide” and “Five-Tone Blues” are old favorites composed during college, revisited over the years, and finally recorded here. John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” the only track I didn’t compose, is a perennial challenge: a practice piece for years, but never just for practice.

The band—bassist Peter Dominguez and drummer Zaire Darden—handled these challenges with incredible grace: always present in the moment, yet always ready for the next turn in the road. They helped me turn roadmaps into journeys, sometimes navigating and sometimes driving. Unlike my solo drive along the Acadian orogeny years ago, this journey was made all the better by the people I took along for the ride.

credits

released May 17, 2018

Produced by Ben Geyer
Recorded and Mixed by Andrew Tripp at Oberlin Conservatory
Mastered by Jay Frigoletto of Mastersuite
Cover Images and Videos by Istvan Lettang of ECLIPP INC
Copyright 2018 Ben Geyer - All Rights Reserved

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about

Ben Geyer Atlanta, Georgia

I’m a pianist, composer, bandleader, and music professor based in the Atlanta area. My second album, The Acadian Orogeny, is out as of May 17. I hope you enjoy my music!

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