Brian Grace Music

The Early Rock Daze (1987-1992)

From Fort Dix, N.J. to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA - the formative years

The Early Rock Daze is the raw, unfiltered beginning of Brian Grace's musical life - the years when he was discovering who he was as a songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and eventually a multi-instrumentalist. These tracks were recorded across a patchwork of locations: Fort Dix Army Band studios, barracks rooms, makeshift setups, and eventually the practice rooms at Berklee College of Music. Every song captures a moment of becoming - the sound of a young musician pushing forward without yet knowing where it would all lead.

These were the years when Brian was performing in the U.S. Army Soldier Show, learning the discipline of professional musicianship, and writing constantly. Some songs were recorded on borrowed gear, some on early 4-track setups, some in proper studios when he could get access. The imperfections are part of the charm - tape hiss, room noise, uneven mixes - but the heart is unmistakable. This is the foundation of everything that came later.

Listening back now, you can hear the seeds of the artist Brian would eventually become: the melodic instincts, harmonic curiosity, willingness to experiment, and emotional honesty that would later shape albums like Explorations (1999), Re-Sounding (2000), and Hodgepodge Jazz Garage (2001). These recordings aren't polished - they're alive. They're the sound of a young musician learning to speak.

Track List

1. Unite! (1989) - 04:04
2. The End of Summer (1988) - 04:06
3. Round and Round (1992) - 04:04
4. 12-String Solitude, Version 1 (1987) - 04:39
5. The Inside Looking Out (1987) - 03:39
6. Oh, Lisa (1987) - 02:40
7. Habituation (1989) - 07:57
8. Holding on to Love (1989) - 06:39
9. The Magic Candle (1992) - 04:17
10. Don't Give Me Your Religion (1992) - 05:25
11. Movin' On (1991) - 04:08
12. Sometimes I Can See the Light (1991) - 03:30
13. Open Your Eyes (What You Can Be) (1991) - 05:08
14. Life Has Just Begun (1991) - 04:01
15. Under the Gun (1991) - 04:01
16. What About Love? (1991) - 03:49
17. Cerebral Psychosis (1991) - 01:02
18. Wait and See (1988) - 05:53
19. The Right Time for Love - All My Life (1989) - 08:31

Album Notes

These songs represent Brian's earliest surviving recordings - raw, emotional, and full of the creative spark that would later evolve into his jazz-fusion and cinematic writing. Captured across bedrooms, garages, and early home-studio setups, they show the beginnings of his melodic instincts, multi-instrumental approach, and constant drive to write and record.

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Explorations (1999)

Explorations is a jazz‑focused collection showcasing Brian’s formative work throughout the 1990s. Although it includes one early piece from 1988 (Korean Morning), the album is primarily a document of Brian’s 1990s jazz writing and recording - the earliest complete expression of the sound he would later develop more fully.

The album blends two professionally recorded studio tracks (Blues for Bob’s Blues and the original 1996 version of Exploration) with a series of deeply personal home‑studio recordings made on Brian’s Tascam 488 8‑track cassette machine. Tracks 4 through 10 were performed entirely by Brian, playing every instrument and learning the craft of tracking, bouncing, mixing, and arranging long before the DAW era.

While Exploration appears here in its earliest form, it is simply a sketch of an idea that would eventually evolve into the fully realized Exploración on the Long Beach (2022) EP - a modern re‑imagining written with world‑class players in mind.

As the first entry in the Early Years trilogy, Explorations represents the jazz side of Brian’s 1990s output. It is followed by Re‑Sounding (2000) - a rock/pop collection from the same decade - and Hodgepodge Jazz Garage (2001), which combines three newly recorded jazz tracks (1999–2001) with additional 1990s jazz compositions that Brian wanted to preserve in one place.

Explorations remains the earliest full portrait of Brian’s jazz voice: melodic, exploratory, and shaped entirely by hand during a decade of becoming.

Track List

1. 1. Blues for Bob’s Blues - 3:42
2. 2. Korean Morning - 4:14
3. 3. Exploration - 6:02
4. 4. Poem - 5:33
5. 5. Ketch It - 5:25
6. 6. Uno Mas - 4:47
7. 7. Portrait of Elizabeth - 4:49
8. 8. Saxomatic - 4:14
9. 9. Slink - 4:54
10. 10. Song #49 - 6:54

Album Notes

Most of these tracks were written and recorded before Brian had any formal musical training - before Berklee, before the Presidio of San Francisco, before he knew anything about production. They come from a period defined by curiosity, instinct, and constant experimentation.

You can hear a young composer reaching for ideas he didn’t yet know how to execute, trying out harmonic shapes, layering instruments by feel, and discovering the musical language he would spend the next decades developing.

Rough around the edges but honest at their core, these recordings capture the earliest sparks of the jazz voice that would eventually define Brian’s later work.

 Behind the Album →

Re-Sounding (2000)

The Rock/Pop Counterpoint to Explorations

Re-Sounding is Brian Grace's second album and the clearest window into the rock/pop side of his musical personality - the part that predates his later prog jazz journey. Written, performed, produced, and sung entirely by Brian, the album features fourteen vocal-driven rock/pop songs with full lead vocals, stacked background harmonies, and lyrics written by Brian himself. The lone instrumental, Helloweird, was written and recorded the day before Halloween in 1994 - complete with backward masked vocals added for extra sinister flair.

The album reflects the turbulence of Brian's 1990s: emotional intensity, hard edged guitar work, and flashes of near grunge attitude shaped by the era's rock landscape. While influenced by 90s artists like Beck, Alanis Morissette, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sublime, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Radiohead, the songwriting foundation is unmistakably rooted in the melodic, expressive sensibilities of the 1970s - especially Stevie Wonder, Chicago, Brecker Brothers, Steely Dan, and Brian's long-time fascination with Todd Rundgren. Discovering Rundgren's music in 1989 became a turning point; Todd's adventurous songwriting and fearless genre blending left a deep imprint on Brian's rock/pop writing throughout the decade and beyond.

Across the album, aggressive riffs and raw emotion sit alongside heartfelt ballads and introspective moments, showcasing the many sides of his musicality during a period of personal upheaval and artistic searching. Every instrument, every vocal harmony, and every arrangement is Brian - a one man band approach that gives the album its unmistakable personality and reflects the creative freedom of the mp3.com era. Re-Sounding stands as a rare snapshot of Brian before he fully committed to jazz and fusion - bold, guitar driven, vocal forward, and unfiltered, the pure rock/pop counterpoint to Explorations (1999).

Track List

1. Love's Great Highway - 5:25
2. Destiny - 5:10
3. In the Garden - 5:26
4. I'm a College Dropout - 4:53
5. I'm a College Dropout (rap) - 1:50
6. (I Can't Get You) Out of My Mind - 5:23
7. Can You Feel My Heart? - 5:00
8. So Wrong - 4:10
9. Drowning - 5:25
10. Feed me Consolation - 3:59
11. Helloweird - 1:27
12. Laughing Out Loud - 4:52
13. Rise of the Midnight Son - 5:06
14. Somehow, Someday - 4:32

Album Notes

Re-Sounding captures Brian's full rock/pop expression at the close of the 1990s - a self-contained world of guitars, layered vocals, and emotional storytelling. It is the mirror image of Explorations (1999): where that album was jazz-focused and introspective, this one is outward, electric, and unapologetically raw. Recorded entirely by Brian, it stands as the definitive statement of his mp3.com era and the bridge to his later fusion work.

Behind the Album →