Begin Again by Akiko Pavolka Trio

For my third album I took a very different approach from the previous two, partly out of necessity but also by design. Times were tough in New York in the aftermath to the events of 2001. Many of the larger venues closed down and those that remained became mostly "door gigs" with little or no guarantee for the band. I managed to keep performing in smaller venues like The Cornelia Street Cafe and Barbes in Brooklyn and I was writing more music than ever but another opportunity to do a full band recording had not presented itself. At the same time I was feeling that my new material called for a more intimate, acoustic treatment, and wanted to accompany myself on piano for this one. So I stripped everything down to a trio with husband Matt and my longtime friend and collaborator Matt Renzi, with Pete Rende adding a little of his wizardry here and there to flesh things out. Pete suggested that we record it in his apartment in Boro Park (you can hear an ice cream truck on one of the tracks) and engineered it himself. And then the amazing Andre Fernandes offered to release it on his sadly now defunct Tone Of A Pitch Records in Portugal. The results are my most intimate and exposed on record. I think this is the recording where I really came into my own as an artist and for that reason I'm very fond of it. It's long been out of print so I'm pleased to share it with you here now.

Timbuktu Records