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Myles Sloniker

Myles Sloniker, bass - SummerFest 2019

Bassist

Myles Sloniker is an American bassist and composer who lives in New York City.

During the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent quarantine, Myles spent his time on a wide variety of creative endeavors. Below are the pandemic chronicles of that time. 

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Briefly, a little about me:

I come from a family of professional musicians and grew up dabbling with various instruments, settling on the upright bass around the age of 16.  For the last 10 years or so, I’ve played music full-time and although my musical interests have always been very diverse, I’ve worked primarily as a jazz bassist during that time.  In the past two years, there have been two major developments that continue to drive my musical journey in beautiful and unexpected directions, and are a good picture of what my musical life was like just before the pandemic.  

The Jacob Joliff Band

In July 2018, I began touring with the Jacob Jolliff band—a phenomenal progressive bluegrass quartet featuring what I believe are some of the finest and most creative young instrumentalists you’ll find anywhere.  This group not only forced me to dig more deeply into American folk music’s history and repertoire, but pushed me to strengthen my singing ability and playing in that style.  Every tour with this group of outstanding musicians has left me inspired and motivated for weeks afterward.

Giovanni Hidalgo

In August 2019, I traveled to the Dominican Republic with my good friend the pianist Marcio Garcia for the 5th annual Restauracion jazz festival where we met the legendary conga master Giovanni Hidalgo, who asked us to join a new trio with him that same night.  In December of 2019, we began the process of recording an album with this trio.  Tour dates and further recording were in the works, but were postponed due to the pandemic.  Though certainly not as rewarding as playing with this band in person, we’ve begun to get the necessary recording equipment in place to continue to collaborate over long distances.  Be on the lookout for music from this trio soon!

A New Normal

Although I’ve experienced my fair share of depressive practice slumps on the bass during this pandemic, I’m happy to report at the time of this writing, I’ve found a pretty good balance and sense of motivation to keep improving.  Like a lot of artists during this time, I’ve dipped my toes into recording music from home and collaborating with other musicians doing the same.  Even when done perfectly, long-distance recording can’t perfectly replicate the ‘feel’ of playing in the same room with someone, but if nothing else, these collaborations and projects have kept me practicing and allowed for new and beautiful music to be made despite the challenging times that we’re collectively living through.

“Bass Solo for Yoonmi Choi”

A solo bass intro I recorded recently for the fantastic pianist
Yoonmi Choi’s new project.
 
The full band video will be released soon.
 
In the meantime, check out Yoonmi’s other incredible work on her website at www.yoonmi.net

“On the deck in Divide, Colorado”

A Return to Guitar

Sometime in the last year or so, I got back into playing guitar, which has been a really rewarding thing to spend time on.  The simple joy of playing an instrument solely for oneself without being wrapped up in the ego that sometimes unfortunately can be associated with the instrument that one plays for a living has been a really soothing pastime for me.  I’m unpolished and still not able to reliably nail everything I’m going after, but it’s fun and humbling and a nice reset.  

Here are some things I’ve been working on, including my fruitless attempt to get a perfect take of the courante from Bach’s B minor
violin partita. Keep in mind it’s a video of a jazz bass player . . . playing Bach on the guitar . . . in the style of bluegrass flatpicking . . .
 
You’ve been warned. 

“Failing to Get the Perfect Take”

Episodes 1 and 2 of Myles Sloniker working through Bach on a guitar available now only on the OtHArts’ Alcove:

“Arthur’s Rock”

I also wrote an original guitar instrumental called “Arthur’s Rock” named for a favorite overlook in Lory State Park.

“Car Alarm Serenade”

Food

I’ve been pretty serious about cooking for a while now, with the collection of new cuisines, recipes, and methods being a treasured aspect of the traveling that I do for music. But the quarantine has definitely fueled my creativity in that area in ways I would never have thought would happen without all of the non-negotiable free time.

What began as an interest in cooking and baking quickly gave way to a host of foods, particularly fermented and “living” projects like sourdough, kombucha, ginger beer, ricotta, mozzarella, yogurt, kimchi, and home-brewed beer and wine. Beyond the gratification that comes from learning and pursuing these projects, the most rewarding result has been sharing all of these creations with loved ones as a way to contribute and spread some happiness.

Myles' Bread Dough

Ravioli from scratch including homemade ricotta, pasta dough, and tomato sauce.

My Mom's Vegetable Garden
A Small Harvest from the Vegetable Garden
Sourdough
Myles Brewing Beer
Myles' Cooking

Beer Brewing

Myles' Garlic Naan
Garlic Naan
Myles Apple Walnut Coffee Cake
Apple Walnut Coffee Cake
Myles' Ginger Beer
Lemon Ginger Beer
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