“Leonardo was able to discern number in all the manifestations of cosmic life, even where profane eyes only saw blind chance and chaos.” – Antonio Gramsci

“Once again, words fail Norman Mailer.” – Gore Vidal, after being assaulted by Norman Mailer

While enduring 2020 in real time has been both unbearably slow and nauseatingly dynamic, the truth remains that few of us presently have the objectivity to understand or explain the big picture to ourselves, let alone one another. It’s my hope that where words fail, numbers may be the appropriate lens through which I can understand my place in the world as an artist.

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In 2020, I am pleased to report that assets under musicianship (AUM) increased to sixteen musical releases per fiscal year, thirteen of which are available across a diversified set of physical formats. They are enumerated, along with links where one can listen or purchase, on the discography section of this very website. Let’s take a closer look at the numbers.

Just look at this chart.

Overall, we saw staggering 228% increase in output measured over the past five years. Just over 50 percent of this year’s production was released on the unwieldy but popular analog sound storage medium of vinyl. This included two twelve-inch records from Sunwatchers, a mini-album from Modern Nature, and a “comeback” full-length from We Versus the Shark.

Beyond those “primary” concerns, I also contributed in small (but, I believe, crucial) ways to fantastic releases from Brigid Dawson, Julian Bozeman, and Ziemba, all of whom are talented solo artists and dear friends. Rounding out the vinyl yield is a seven-inch flexi-disc documenting a duet between myself and guitarist Jed Brewer under his San Kazakgascar moniker. (That performance was part of an evening at the beloved Sunview Luncheonette in 2019; it was there and then that I met Rick Froberg, who is one of my musical heroes. This is a cherished memory.)

While it’s not immediately clear from this data, one of the two compact disc releases is actually a 3-CD set, courtesy of master multi-instrumentalist/composer David First. This behemoth, “The Consummation of Right and Wrong,” is yet another work from David that is massive in both scale and depth, and I’m honored to be among the contributors. The other compact disc is a more modest but no less estimable work led by Doctor Eugene Chadbourne, which really must be heard to be believed, if not understood.

Outside of the market for physical media, a portion of this year’s output was available in the always-disruptive (but low yield) streaming format, including an augmented reality app from Modern Nature called Cycles, beautifully designed by Stephen Borden and available for download.

The numbers tell the tale.

As we can see from the above chart, the bass guitar took an unexpected dip in appearances in my 2020 releases. A rotation away from the “big bass” that dominated performance in pre-2020 showed significant progress in the value sector of alto saxophone and synths – what market analysts refer to as “the Edgar Winter curve.” The appearance of trombone may be surprising, but the reader is reminded that a margin of error is to be factored into all given data.

Oh jeez, what happened here?

While musical media continued to show steady growth, gigs took a tumble from previous years, stemming largely from a bear market due to public health concerns. While the supply chain is bound to be impacted by the cataclysmic effects of recent events for several years, at the end of the day, gigs are fully anticipated to eventually return to pre-2020 numbers, with market optimism spurred on by President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of Janet Yellen to the Treasury.

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Upon reflection, I’m not sure these numbers help me understand much about myself or the larger world. We live in a world of cold, hard data, attempting to cling to the empirical even as reality spirals further into chaos. The truth is, beyond bragging rights, the only real value in sorting through all of this information is to ground myself in the larger context of the friends, collaborators, recording studios, labels, venues, and audiences this music has woven its way from, to, and through – all of whom have been absent from my life since the third month of this year.

Everyone knows that quantity is never any substitute for quality. However, whereas quantity exists in the realm of data, our understanding of aesthetic quality is mutable, beholden to the shifting grind of culture, which itself percolates to the beat of the means of production. All that’s to say, I don’t know where this music will sit in the history of 2020 once the winners have written the tale, way down the line. I’m proud of all of it, though.

I’ll close this report with something investors (of time, energy, attention, and patience) can look forward to in 2021. I will be releasing my first solo full-length album next year. It’s called Recurring Dream. I hope to see you at the record release show.

Thanks to Scott Smith for contributing invaluable market research.