20 Years of Tracing

20 Years of Tracing a wheel on Water

20 years ago, I released my first album: Tracing a wheel on water. Born due to the beauty of the title track by Kevin Siegfried and gems by Lior Navok and the late Daniel Pinkham.

Kevin and I met in 2002 or 2003 at the St. Botolph Club in Boston, sitting by each other at a birthday dinner and concert for Daniel Pinkham, where I performed Pinkham’s ‘Two Wind Dance’.

Kevin informed me that he had not written for guitar, which I found sad, so I asked him to try writing a dance. At the time, I was going through a new-dance for guitar phase inspired by David Starobin’s masterful album ‘New Dance’. A few months later, I very happily received a small package from Kevin and out I pulled ‘Tracing a wheel on water’. Inspired by the ebb and flow of the ocean inlet where his family was living on the Maine Coast, the piece is a masterclass in meditative intensity.

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My teacher at the time, the amazing Dmitry Goryachev said, “Aaron this is impossible to play.” I told him I had already agreed to perform the premiere on Kevin’s recital in 2 months’ time so we needed to figure out a solution that would not destroy my left hand.

He looked at me with tired eyes, rubbed his head and mumbled something about Americans and had me play it again. Moving his stare from my hands to the score, while I played and breathing slowly and deep in thought, he turned to me and said in the most beautiful Russian-accented English, “Aaron we will tune A string to B, and all will be good.”

Kevin Siegfried

click to enlarge

This small, but out of the norm, solution turned the work from no-go into a sonic masterpiece of both rhythmic complexity and melodic grandeur. I find it to be one of the best ‘minimalist’ works on the guitar. Be warned, even with the “fix” it is not easy, but the reward is worth the work.

The premiere at the Boston Conservatory went smashingly. We celebrated at Brasserie Jo’s on Boylston People and listeners asked about a future recording. At a house concert soon after, Monegasque painter Claude Gauthier approached me and said he would do the cover art of my next album, which had only been an idea to that point. I accepted and told him it would be my first album, and with that I was committed to the project.

Claude Gauthier

Inspired by the premiere and commitment of Claude Gauthier, I assembled a program of dances by Dan Pinkham and Israeli composer Lior Navok. I then added more works from my rep and started learning new ones.

I sent Claude the titles as requested and he sent me six different covers to choose from, a gesture of artistic love I shall never forget.

Once I finished the program for the album, I went to MDI Studio in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Run by the late Bob Yen, it was a perfect place for a first full album recording: inexpensive.

My prior studios experience taught me that I hate scented candles. MDI taught me that 10pm-4am recording sessions followed by a 2hr drive is not good.

The process was intense, taking about 9-month from conception to release. I threw myself into the fire, learning as I went: screwing up, starting over, moving forward, choosing, learning and discarding repertoire, picking a recording studio and pacing oneself. Then the recording, editing, album design and notes, plus dealing with others, only to learn that when the album is complete, the REAL work starts with post production and making sure the album has a life.

Tracing a wheel on water came out in January 2006 and has since had multiple pressings. It was released digitally in 2020 on the UK label Stone Records and streams everywhere.

Lior Navok

Daniel Pinkham, longtime NEC faculty

Dan Pinkham passed away in late 2006. Lior Navok lives in Israel, and Kevin teaches at The Boston Conservatory. I have re-recorded the Takemitsu and Pujol. The Dyens and Barrios still pop up in recitals, and the two Brouwer solos inspired other projects.

The universe being what it is, I received multiple notes this week from people in different parts of the country complimenting the album. I want to say, “thank you. I was so young, so check out…” but I don’t. I just say, thank you.
– February 12, 2026, Boston

Kevin, Aaron, and Ryan Vigil. Ogunquit Muesum of American Art, 2007

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