A New Album for the New Year!
Mystery To Me gets a refresh
It is with immense happiness that I share this 20th anniversary edition of my first album as a band-leader with you.
It has been some months in the making now, searching for old session files on hard drives I was doubtful would ever spin again.
There was a gauntlet of emotion to navigate when working on this anniversary project, and as I fired up each track to re-record the bass parts I was reminded just how lucky I was to start my career as an artist like this.
We were able to assemble this cast of musical giants, and pull off the almost-impossible in an eye watering timeframe of just 5 days from start to finish.
We rehearsed at Euphoria on a Wednesday, tracked the entire record in front of a live studio audience, in one take, the next day at Manhattan Center Studios on Thursday, mixed it with Juan Pablo Alcaro on Friday, and Mastered the record at the Hit Factory (the last ever mastering session there before they closed) with Nathan James on Sunday.
I wish I had literally any video footage of this, but in 2004 the last thing on anyone’s mind, or in anyone’s budget, was a film crew for a project already stretched to the limit with resources. We were still two years away from YouTube being a thing, and not a single person scrolled social media all day. It mercifully didn’t exist!
I think that’s maybe the thing I lamented the most as I worked on this updated version of the bass parts and the mix/master with Juan Pablo Alcaro: The process.
We were so focused in on the music and the project that there were little to no distractions during the process.
I remember a photographer in the studio was a big deal back then. Luckily I had one of the best in Jonas Bostrom, and having been a musician he really understood how to exist in the space without getting in anyone’s way.
More than anything this project reminds me that anything is possible. Mystery to Me was possible in 2004 the first time around, it’s possible to update the bass parts and remix the album to give you something new now, and just about anything I can dream up in the future can be committed to tape and shared with the world.
I hope that by putting this anniversary edition out there with all-new bass parts, the music can have a second chance at life. It was, as you might imagine, not even close to being a commercial success the first time around, and I have no expectations for that in 2025 and beyond.
“Success”, commercial or otherwise, is never the goal. Contributing to society and getting to work with my favorite humans is always first and foremost. Playing this music again with Jojo Mayer, Tim Miller, Elliot Mason, John Ellis, Gretchen Parlato, Gregoire Maret, and Mark Turner, has me motivated to be 10x’s more focused and productive with creative ventures in the future.
I can’t wait to bring you details of the limited edition vinyl release we’re doing for this album later in the week. Until then, I hope you enjoy the music, add it to your playlists, share it with friends, and help breathe life back into these songs.
More soon,
Janek
Just put the 'new' album on and as soon as the first bass note was played I went, 'yes!' Time really doesn't stand still. Great work.
Congrats on the release! Love this album. 👍🏻