Carm Carm II

Innovative horn player, producer and songwriter CJ Camerieri returns with his deeply collaborative CARM project. CARM II, the second album due out this fall with 37d03d, was produced in Minneapolis by Ryan Olson and features Edie Brickell, Sid Sriram, Kristian Matsson, Justin Vernon, Gabriella Smith, SeanCarey and others. It is a genre-defying, heartfelt exploration of the possibilities in provocative musicmaking and provides a homespace for a profound variety of voices. Where the first record used horns in place of other instruments, CARM II places them even more prominently in the musical texture. The experience of playing live shaped this approach. "Standing at the front of the stage was a new experience for me and I wanted to create a record of songs that justified my being there." On CARM II, there is no mistaking that the lead "singer" of this band is Camerieri's horn. CJ also wanted to feature bandmateTrever Hagen, who takes on both production and performance roles. The featured artists on CARM II have opinedon their various roles in this project. Brickell contactedCamerieri asking him to participate in her short-formsongwriting project that she introduced on social mediaduring the pandemic. Camerieri and Olson were in themiddle of writing songs for the record, and one stood outas perfect for Brickell's request. Sent as a work-inprogress,she quickly responded, writing the first verseand chorus to what would become "More and More."They knew it needed to be fully realized. Says Brickell,"CJ's trumpet melodies and phrases inspired `More andMore.' I just listened to him and followed his lead, trustedwhat came to mind and sang it. It all flowed from hismusic.""For `I Fall' Ryan and I created the basic track and I reallystruggled to write on it. It wasn't in song form, and Icouldn't find my way into making it a coherent thought."CJ thought of Gabriella Smith, one of the leadingcomposers of our day, and on a whim sent her the track.Smith sent fragments to experiment wi...