Altin Sencalar: Unleashed

Unleashed is an album that captures my overall headspace as an individual. This year I turned 30 years old and welcomed my firstborn child into the world, John Altin Sencalar. Two major milestones in any person's life, but especially mine this year. Unleashed represents my playing, my personality, and my overall attitude towards my career development. When thinking about this album, I take many chances that I would not have done in the past specifically playing the trombone in an aggressive manner that showcases both my vision as a soloist, and as an up and coming innovator. This album showcases my love for playing at difficult tempos, extended ranges, passages that are unusual for trombone, some extended techniques, and my compositional process, which is now taking a large turn from what I have written in the past. The recording session for this was so much fun, especially being able to record with players who have much more experience than me, yet are able to push me and have fun at the same time.

The first tune on the album, Unleashed, represents my playing on this particular track. Along with my playing, the intro of vibraphone playing ominous chords really set up the excitement of this track. At no point in time do I hold back from playing and filling up the spaces within my solo. This was the first track we recorded and I was definitely eager to get in and play with that rhythm section. I wanted to make sure to set the mood for the entire day. Along with that, the angular interlude and shift to Samba at the end represents me unleashing a different side of my thought process.

The rhythm section theme of the baseline between the bass and vibes in "Obsession" represents the ongoing sounds in my head whenever I get obsessive about certain kinds of musical devices. Having an ostinato bass line in my opinion can be very freeing, which is counterintuitive of its initial belonging to music. Whenever you think of this kind of device, you feel like you might be tied down, however, I feel like when you have such a solid foundation, it's limitless what you can do musically, both as a soloist and composer. The harmony of this particular piece seem to be able to lay over the baseline and create different contours, as well as emotions through the melody. Having the texture of vibes on this tune was really what made me consider using vibes for the entire record. It's a perfect example of my compositional process changing, as I'm now writing to work instruments that are not normally paired together, such as trombone and vibes. Forgiveness represents the cathartic and reflective emotions that come from forgiving a person, situation, or entity. For me I wanted to capture these solace and joyful parts of moving on from any kind of difficult situation, hence this being like Poinciana, with major sounding chords and harmony. I wanted it to represent all parts of happiness while being a dance and some kind of lilt.

"Set Adrift" is a tune penned by Behn Gillece, who was a fantastic collaborator on this recording. I had the pleasure of being a collaborator on his record, Between The Bars. Ever since I've played with Behn I've been figuring out a way to include him again, and this record was the perfect opportunity. I wanted to aim for something that hasn't been used much yet, such as trombone and vibes. His compositional process is absolutely fitting for this record, and I found it to be extremely thought-provoking the way that he arranged for both myself and saxophonist Greg Tardy. I also really liked the tonality of the piece. I found that his compositional process added a whole other layer to this record.

Marc Free, the producer from the record label, always brings in tunes that he believes will fit with the album. "17 West" is by the great Eric Dolphy. Someone who is thought of as a free jazz pioneer as well as innovator. This song is arranged in a way that captures the second line vibe of the origins of jazz as well as capturing Dolphy's melody in a way that shows inclusion and forward motion. I also re-harmonized some of the ending harmony in order to provide another take on the song. The original recording features Dolphy on flute, but I wanted to showcase Greg's most well-known double, and that's his clarinet playing. Greg is one of the finest clarinet players in the world and I wanted to showcase that collaboration between him, and I, especially with the unusual pairing of clarinet and trombone. All of this paired with the second line and the original composition melody is the making of a memorable track.

It's no secret that Michael Dease is one of my mentors. He has been instrumental in helping and guiding me through my career over the last decade. When I told him the concept for this record, he threw me "Solid Gold," one of his hardest compositions that he's ever recorded (from his 2023 release, Coming Home.) This tune is an extremely difficult melody to play on Trombone as well as difficult chord changes to navigate. However, because I am somebody who is always up for a challenge, I decided to record this tune with a small twist on the bridge. I am a huge lover of Latin music and all things that I can make into some kind of clave. So because of this, I added a double time feel on the bridge with a mambo type of underlying rhythm. I found this to make me want to play this tune with even more excitement. While difficult, this song was a great way to push the envelope for the trombone and pay homage to somebody who I respect and admire.

"Buenaventura" represents my love for Latin music. Normally all my records have two or three Latin based tunes on them. I wanted to stray from my normal tendencies and write a new type of set. This tune showcases my compositional process for woodwinds and trombone. I feel having Greg Tardy on clarinet as well as Bruce Williams on flute combined with a trombone adds one of the most unique textures in music. The hollowness of the clarinet on a Bolero, as well as the flute soaring above at times, as well as the Trombone being able to be a chameleon between all of the instruments I believe is one of the most unique timbres there is. The ending also represents a unique cord to end on. Lastly, I love a classic jazz ballad, but for me and my musical heart, being able to play a Bolero just feels much more romantic and I want to do that on all of my records. Romanticism is one of the most obvious things in improvised music and I want to make sure that it's heard no matter what type of album I release.

"Straight Street" is a tune that I first learned when I moved to New York City. It has difficult changes yet warrants the blues whenever you play over it, and all of the horns solos. I wanted to showcase the saxophone's on this as well as add an intro that caused a little bit of chaos as well as a thematic play. This is one of the first tunes where I felt like I could connect with John Coltrane's compositional process, and I wanted to record this tune because I don't know any trombone combo that has recorded it, and I absolutely adore the fact that I was able to play this with a vibraphonist that I could comp as well as play specific parts, which in my opinion, enhanced the arrangement.

"Softly, As in A Morning Sunrise" is a classic jazz standard. However, I decided to take it a step further and completely rearrange the minor sounding tune into a brand new total center of major chords along with other types of movement within the harmony. I also wanted to feature Bruce Williams, who is an excellent woodwind doubler. While he is known as an alto saxophonist, his ability to play different woodwind instruments is unparalleled, which is why he is a well sought after musician here in New York City and beyond. Bruce and I played next to each other with him on soprano saxophone and myself on trombone, which is a sound I have written for on every record I have put out with Posi-Tone. I feel this combination is one of the most underrated front lines. The solos on this tune are over the new changes as well as the changes we all know from the jazz standard. The ending of this tune also is a much different interpretation. This arrangement is one that I spent lots of time with as I wanted to ensure that I was thoughtful about everything that I wrote, and how I wanted to change this song's well known sound.

"What's Next" represents my compositional process of including more styles within my albums. Many people know me for my Latin and up-tempo swing music. However, on this record, I wanted to make sure to write something that is somewhat representative of the music coming out today, which does have a lot of influence from hip hop/ R&B kind of music. In the melody, there is a dense type of rub between the chords and horns, and that is on purpose. I wanted to showcase me pushing the envelope with Harmony as well as the inclusion of a new style for me. This tune represents my outlook how I'd like to develop and compose music for future releases.

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