Walking In Central Park, Singing After Dark

The scuffle of footsteps mate with emergency sirens and the honks of car horns. Snippets of conversation jarred by the warning bleats of trucks moving backwards and mix with sonic wind-blown harmonies that cling to the air. 

Glens Falls native Karl Bertrand performs and produces for Air Bertr&.  Instruments include, guitars, pianos, organs, synthesizers, and sometimes drums. Field recordings are often utilized as well. Mix in Connor Dunn of Ballston Spa, whose saxophonist is featured on a new piece, “City Walk,” to be released May 28.   

How did this project form?

“I began to get into ambient music in 2018, initially as a listener. The music eased my mind as I wrestled with insomnia and anxiety. I’d already been writing and recording songs for years by then, so it was pretty natural for me to start making ambient music myself,” Bertrand writes. 

Not surprisingly, the band’s influences include ambient artists such as Brian Eno, and Harold Budd. 

Local music aficionados will recognize Bertrand and Dunn as founding members of Saratoga Springs based indie rock jam band Let’s Be Leonard.

“City Walk” was recorded on a handheld cassette recorder during a walk from Manhattan’s upper east side to midtown. An improvised electric piano was later added to the field recording with the sounds of the saxophone layered across the top. The piece clocks in at 27 minutes. “A nice meditative amount of time,” Bertrand says. 

For more information, go to: Where: Spotify – distrokid.com/hyperfollow/airbertrand/city-walk-feat-connor-dunn, and Bandcamp – airbertrand.bandcamp.com.