Jazz
Self-released · 24 October 2026
The three friends on the cover of “Stray” are orphans drummer Joey van Leeuwen met in Sri Lanka in 2021, and according to the album notes they inspired the title track. He put the album out himself, digital only: ten pieces and over 73 minutes of music, among them “Mou’s Blues”, “Rickshaw Blues” and “Beren and Luthien”. His last album under his own name, “Retrospect”, came out on 9 August 2021; he then played drums on “Vexed Perspective” (11 November 2022), by the band of the same name.
Roger Lin (guitar), Sharik Hasan (piano) and Chris Worden (double bass) play on it, and Worden also mixed it. It was recorded at The Record Co., engineered by Eric Engler and Worden himself, and Alex Haley mastered it. In the notes, Van Leeuwen thanks Umayalpuram Mali, Neelamani Rajaraman and Rajna Swaminathan for his training in Carnatic rhythm, and names Anthony Coleman and Hankus Netsky among his teachers at the New England Conservatory.
Release profile: this page collects the verified details of the album. We haven’t reviewed it yet.
Text by Aina Torrents