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This year was largely filled with consistent work toward my Master’s in Recording Arts and Technologies at MTSU. Not only did I have a blast recording emerging artists like Joska, Jayme Graves, Arbor, and The Sewing Club, but I also played drums for a number of projects like Audrey Hollowell, Jayme Graves, and Joska. I even played my first live gig since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic drumming with pop punk artist Jayme Graves. In the fall, I had the great opportunity to go up to Nashville to assist producer Eddie Spear on some major label sessions for Sony out of the renowned Sound Emporium Studios where I learned a ton. As a goodbye to 2022, here is my top 20 albums of the year, ranked in order starting with the best of the year. Happy New Year!

James Powers and JP3 released their debut album, Damnation of Memory, which I had the pleasure of tracking and mixing in the winter of 2020. That’s right. The dark winter of 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US. We recorded the album in late January 2020, and I was able to partially distract myself from some of the horror of that winter by mixing the record. It would seem that both Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble and Bandcamp have taken note of the emotionally raw and technically fluid performances by JP3. Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble (PJCE) picked up the album to release on PJCE Records, and Bandcamp listed the album as one of the best jazz releases of November 2021. Dave Sumner of Bandcamp writes, “There’s a rawness to this music that meshes appealingly with the JP3 trio’s proclivity to roll with a thick groove. It’s an approach that leads to some very fun music, and a personality with big charisma. It’s an impressive debut from the trio…” You can read more about the album in Bandcamp’s review.

Congrats James, Machado, Matt, and David. Y’all were inspiring to work with on this one!