Transit by Joel Baer / Ben Bergmark / Aaron Whittier

This album is culmination of a friendship between Joel Baer, Ben Bergmark and Aaron Whittier that began in 2009. As fledgling performers, the trio started playing gigs around northern Illinois, honing their chops and figuring out how to play music together. Life would eventually take them across the country and the globe; Aaron to Boston to study compositon at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Ben to study jazz at Western Illinois University, then to join the army and move to the Pacific Northwest and eventually to be stationed in Germany. Joel would move to the Chicago area and study jazz at Elmhurst College and DePaul University before becoming an established musician on the Chicago music scene. Ten years later, Aaron would move back to Illinois and the opportunity to record and play together again presented itself. Ben flew in from Germany to do a series of performances and then record this album and "Transit" is the result. The title is derived from the lengths which the performers had to go - both as players and over physical distance, to arrive at this album. Ben Bergmark contributed three original compositions to this album, named for his wife and two children. Joel also contributed two compositions, one newly composed for this album and a new arrangement of "Stanley's March", a tune that was featured on his debut recording Structures. The other two compositions are by Matthew Zottlemeyer and Stephen Kirkpatrick, who Ben met and performed with in the military. Together these tunes feature the band performing and improvising at the top of their ability. The band sincerely hopes that you enjoy listening to this performance as much as they enjoyed creating it.

joelbaermusic.com
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