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Make it Better
Allison Philips
Label: Dox Records
Released: 2025
Views: 72
Tracks
Welcome Back Daisy; Pulaski; Door Song; Interlude; Make It Better; Hit The Ground; Tandem.
Personnel
Album Description
Like photographs, music has a way of capturing moments in time. For trumpeter Allison Philips, her new album ‘Make It Better’ is a documentation to perseverance, community, and the power of creativity in the face of adversity. Written primarily during the peak of the pandemic, this record is both a personal reflection and a shared experience of a world in flux. In the fall of 2019, after five years in Amsterdam, Allison Philips returned to Brooklyn—just months before the world shut down. The timing was far from ideal. Without access to the unemployment benefits many of her peers relied on, she took a job with a catering company that had shifted its focus to feeding those in need. For over a year and a half, she worked in a warehouse in Queens, biking six miles each way through the bitter New York winter, often spending long days on an unheated loading dock. The experience was isolating yet unexpectedly humbling and inspiring, and much of the album’s music was written during this time. As a graduate of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Conservatory in Amsterdam, Philips has spent years honing her craft as a trumpeter and composer. Her previous album, Placement and Longing, emerged during a period of transition as she grappled with the decision to return to New York from Amsterdam. Infused with personal reflection, it wove together themes of memory and connection through collages of objects linked to her late grandmother and aunts. With Make It Better, Philips continues this exploration. The album’s cover art holds deep personal significance, featuring these women— outspoken, resilient figures whose lasting presence shaped her life. Their images serve as a tribute to their enduring spirits and influence, with the last of them sadly passing toward the end of the pandemic. Like ‘Pulaski,’ a standout track, is an ode to the Pulaski Bridge, which Philips crossed daily on her commute— sometimes basking in sunshine, other times braving sheets of ice and wind. Other songs born from this period include ‘Make it Better,’ ‘Tandem,’ and ‘Hit the Ground,’ each carrying echoes of resilience, fleeting moments of connection, and the emotional highs and lows of an uncertain time. While starting a new project wasn't Philips' immediate plan, the opportunity presented itself when she was awarded a City Artist Corps Grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts. This grant allowed her to fund concerts in non-traditional venues, reigniting her creative momentum. The album took shape over two years of performing around the city, leading up to its recording in September 2024. Philips is joined by a stellar quartet of long-time friends and collaborators: Neta Raanan on tenor saxophone, Isaac Levien on bass, and Connor Parks on drums. Having known Raanan since high school and worked with Parks for over a decade, their deep musical connection is evident throughout the music. Levien joined the group through these organic connections, solidifying a band that is as tight-knit personally as they are musically. By embracing both the weight of the past and the promise of what’s ahead, Philips turns a time of uncertainty into an artistic statement of resilience, remembrance, and hope. Her music serves as a powerful reminder that it can transcend time, while simultaneously deepening our connection to one another.
Album uploaded by Allison Philips
