[sound/field] by Tenor Jay

". . . a gorgeous ambient gem: 20 hazy, pieces that curl and drift like tendrils of smoke. The mood is open-ended—some tracks feel blissfully still, others more pensive, but they all balance out in a kind of Zen calm. It’s wonderfully unhurried and beautifully understated."
—Philip Sherburne on his “Futurism Restated” substack


"Not unlike Sakamoto's Async, Parvin and Vail have created an album with unlikely and surprising juxtapositions of sounds, instruments, and field recordings—sometimes within the same piece of music. Take the sequence of Wuthering to Pop 'n Fresh to Last Night—in turn—delightful, mysterious, and menacing, and at times, all at once."
— Colby Caldwell, REVOLVE Asheville

“I really dig this. The flow from song to song is marvelous and each song feels part of a narrative whole. [sound/field] simply sounds wonderful."
— Ryan Untalan, Harvest Records, Asheville


By most counts, 2023 was an annus horribilis for award-winning writer Roy Parvin—a horrible year of surgeries and worry during which he found it impossible to put words to paper. Music has always been part of his creative process, albeit in a background way. Parvin often recorded swaths of ambient melodies with various electronic instruments to avoid getting up to change the vinyl.

While writing proved impossible, somehow composing music wasn’t. He found he could immerse himself in a composition, which could remove Parvin from his difficult present tense for hours. One song after another, often thick with overdubs, then on to the next.

Thankfully, in the midst of this, the second operation took. Parvin didn’t return to the recorded material for months. There was the rest of his life to catch up on. He was also concerned the music might be bleak, given the circumstances.

Yet the cuts proved otherwise, the overall mood carrying a faint glow, playful, with a patient, muted hopefulness. One way or another, out of pain and worry, these beguiling songs bobbed to the surface.

Parvin finally shared them with his wife, Janet Vail, who also works in publishing. “Am I crazy?” he asked, about if the songs were any good. “Not crazy,” she told him. “At least not about this.” Vail volunteered to mix and arrange the tracks, adding guitar here and there, as well as field recordings culled from the Blue Ridge Mountains. They began to call the project [sound/field].

Then Hurricane Helene hit Asheville—utilities were sketchy for months, sidelining [sound/field] until after the New Year. Yet when services returned, the songs were still wide open, sunny, a necessary reminder of better times. Parvin and Vail knew what to do with album by then. It was something they could do for Asheville. A bit of healing can go a long way. All proceeds from this album will be donated to BeLoved Asheville for recovery purposes and all the good days that lie ahead.

Tenor Jay is Roy Parvin, an award-winning writer, and Janet Vail, a career publishing professional. They live and make music in Asheville, NC.

tenorjay.com
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