In 2012 as I was biking home from a gig when, while stopped at an intersection, I was hit from behind by a drunk driver. As I flew through the air, I experienced a dilation of time; I recall those few seconds passing as hours while I realized that I was about to die. I survived, but my body was destroyed. I broke my back, shattered my knee, and broke many other bones but I landed on my saxophone case which prevented me from striking my head on the pavement. I believe that, if not for my instrument, I would be dead or paralyzed. Following months of immobility, I learned to walk again. After a dozen years, I still experience chronic pain.

This event, which took place as I completed University and set out on my adult life, established a profound context for everything that has happened since, imbuing my worldview with a distinct perspective. I persistently contemplate the infinite possible outcomes of every moment and choice, considering the infinite versions of myself making every possible choice at all times. This unabating interrogation of life, decisions, and consequences has come to saturate my artistic practice, shaping the conceptual framework through which I work, as well as my technical methods.

As an improviser, I deal in chance. I come from a localized school of improvisation brought to Halifax by my mentor, the late legendary jazz drummer, Jerry Granelli. Through his Creative Music Workshop program, of which I am now faculty, Jerry espoused a singular but universally relevant improvisational process which, drawing on spiritual concepts, supports the improviser in divorcing themself from their ego in service of the ‘aggregate’. This practice has trained me to be in tune with chance, respond to unexpected decisions and consequences, and relate to material and experience that is revealing itself directly in front of me without trying to control or resist. Meeting Jerry is another example of a chance encounter that shaped the direction of my life and practice.

I have investigated this perspective at great length in my personal practice; Many Worlds is my first time exploring it in an ensemble setting. My compositions are amalgams of schemes for improvisation, guides for the performers providing them context and starting points, and chance based scores. The chance element involves each performer rolling dice to create their parts for the composition. Before each performance of the material, musicians have the ability to completely rewrite their parts through chance.

Our self-titled debut record was recorded at Fang Studios in Dartmouth, NS. It is coming out in February, 2026, on Watch That Ends the Night records. The album was co-produced by Michael Cloud Duguay (Scions, Quinton Barnes’ Black Noise) and recorded by Graeme Campbell (Buck 65, Jerry Granelli, Aqua Alta). The album was funded by a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.

- Andrew MacKelvie