Morningside: Vinyl LP Stuart Bogie

You’ve likely already listened to Stuart Bogie. He’s played on records by Taylor Swift, Run the Jewels, The Hold Steady, Beth Orton, Logic, Tomberlin, and Alanis Morrisette. And that’s just in the last three years.

Bogie’s the go-to guy for woodwinds – saxophones, clarinet, flute, etc. His expansive discography is filled with a diverse list of (often repeat) collaborators. He is not only extremely proficient and talented, but also understated and understanding – he gives each song all it needs and nothing more.

During COVID, Bogie was, like a lot of us, trapped inside his Brooklyn apartment, trying to not hear the constant sirens ricocheting down Atlantic Avenue. A few days into the ordeal, his partner Karyn suggested he start playing his clarinet for friends online, and so, with nothing else to do, he fired up Instagram Live.

At first, he started playing over simple things he found on iPhone apps, but eventually friends started sending in other instrumental accompaniments. All in all, with the crucial support of Karyn, Bogie played and broadcast at least once a day for 150 days straight.

Among the proffered backing tracks were two twenty-or-sominutes- long drones from James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, who had connected with Bogie via DFA house engineer and LCD band member Korey Richey. The first was a recording of treated piano, with all of the attack removed, from the mid-2000s. The other was extended drone featuring multiple organs, recorded all the way back in the 90s. Low-quality recordings of Bogie’s Instagram sessions were great – simultaneously trancelike and pastoral – so why not make a proper go of it in the studio?

Bogie eventually recorded new versions at DFA Studios in Brooklyn with Richey, who had an idea to route his clarinet through a stack of Korg delay units, creating a fluttering, glistening sound that effortlessly dances across each of Murphy’s drones. After a few takes, they had two perfect side-length pieces: “Morningside” and “Eveningside,” which you find here.

TRACKLIST

1. Morningside

2. Eveningside