Mike Prigodich - 'A Stitch in Time'

A November 2008 cancer diagnosis spurred Mike Prigodich, a software industry worker in Portland, Ore., to aim to become a professional musician and record an album by raising more than $10,000 on Kickstarter. com. The result: 11 musically adventurous/challenging tracks that are, at times, mind-boggling in their intensity.

Prigodich’s Chick Corea-influenced music is often a millennium away from smooth jazz – indeed, far removed, at times, from traditional contemporary jazz. His inventive fusion compositions are internally variegated in tempo and texture, seemingly effortlessly by Prigo­dich and his empathetic musicians.

The aptly titled “Chaos Theory” is a standout. From its very mellow beginning, the track slowly picks up steam, with alternating sparseness and rapid chord successions, before returning to its Latin-tinged phrasing. There’s a fitting nod to

Prigodich’s muse (“Corea­town”), and Stevie Wonder (the funky “Stevieland” featuring saxophonist Patrick Lamb).

– Marvin Leon Lake

Tracks to download “Chaos Theory,” “Stevieland”

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