When you look up at the stars on a warm summer evening, what do you hear? That’s a question multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer Sean Wolcott endeavors to answer on his new album Cosmic Consciousness.
The album blends elements of jazz fusion with a moody film score style and library music. Wolcott creates sonic adventures that conjure images of dramatic worlds and people fit for the big screen, but designed for a pair of headphones.
In an interview with KNKX, Wolcott said he found early inspiration in his dad’s records from the '60s and '70s, particularly in the distinctive guitar sounds. That sent Wolcott on a 35-year journey, which now continues at his own Sound Analog Recorders studio in downtown Everett, Washington.
To be clear, Wolcott’s musical journeys are specific and planned out. Cosmic Consciousness, he explained, is a “journey to the edges of the cosmos. So, by necessity, I think it called for something bigger and grander.”
Wolcott explained that he develops detailed scenes in mind for these melodies, harmonies and moody flights of fancy.
“All my albums have plots,” he said. “I make every album thinking about it as if I’m a director. When I’m recording it, I’m making it almost in the way a film gets made, where you just hire the right actors for the right parts that you’ve written.”
Getting real “actors," — in this case real string players, real voices and real drums — is key.
“I don’t use samples unless I’m doing a synthesizer part. But if you hear a string section, those are actual top tier players that I hire," he said.
On the record's opening track, “Persevere Through Gravity’s Pull,” Wolcott sets a cosmic scene with synthesizers and strings underneath an open, searching saxophone solo from Seattle multi-instrumentalist Jay Thomas.
A vocal choir joins the strings as the rhythm section develops an urgent 5/4 groove that supports another horn solo, this time from trumpeter Jake Bergevin who's also the director of bands at Edmonds-Woodway High School.
Along with Thomas and Bergevin, Wolcott brought in jazz musicians Conner Eisenmenger and Steve Treseler, both prominent Pacific Northwest players.
“I’m inspired by his curiosity, persistence, and ability to grow a community of top-shelf studio and creative musicians," said Treseler, of Wolcott. "He brings musical themes, grooves, and a narrative arc, and lets musicians bring their own creativity and personality to create organic, and sometimes unexpected, results.”
Wolcott returns the compliment, calling Treseler a “freak of nature, so, so talented. You can just, like, throw him off a cliff—musically—and he’ll just start, you know, skydiving!”
The world of library music and film scores is growing in popularity but still comprises a tiny share of the music industry. Wolcott, however, saw a business opportunity.
Wolcott licenses his music for “placements in film and TV. There’s income I get from artists sampling my stuff,” and he’s also been hired to make music for the movie "Paradise Records" by rapper and filmmaker Logic.
Then there are the albums themselves — a lot of them. Since 2022, Wolcott has released a dozen albums, including limited runs pressed on vinyl. If you don’t have a turntable, or the vinyl goes out of print, the music is always available digitally as well.
“The purpose of that is not so that people can’t get it,” Wolcott explained. “It creates value in music, particularly physical music, which is something that this world needs."
Cosmic Consciousness is the third in a trilogy of library-style albums, following the oceanic-themed Liquid Landscapes and airborne collection Flying Free. Other albums in his growing discography include nods to Italian horror (Voce d’Ombra) and his love letters to Japanese cinema (Lady Swordfighter and its sequel).
“I’ve always been overstimulated with ideas,” Wolcott smiled. “Also, as someone who’s self-employed, what better way to make money than doing what you like to do the most?”
Around the world, Wolcott has also found a lot of fans of his music.
“There is a small community [of library music lovers], but it happens to be global,” he says.
With Cosmic Consciousness, Wolcott hopes to continue to attract open-minded music lovers, the kind who enjoy the drama and discovery found in jazz's improvisational flights.
