With Highway 10 Blues, the first disc from the newly-launched Lunaticworks Jazz imprint, Reeves set out to make an album capturing the vibe of long drives through the desert, the big open spaces, the earth tones, and also some of the neon and glitter. Instead of going for heavy upfront beats or a dance sensibility, the set floats and cruises, with melody and mood in the foreground. The album evolves out of Reeves’ journey through rock, reggae, jazz, and dance as he travels the road between jazz (“Jackpot”) and nu-jazz (“Pretend Gems”): a place where thematic melodies merge with challenging harmonics and a chilled vibe.

What about the desert does Reeves find so inspiring? Everything - “whether driving aimlessly in the middle of nowhere or poking around the underbelly of the glitz of places like Vegas or just having a cocktail poolside somewhere,” he admits. With a wide range of influences, from Miles’ Quiet Nights to Evans’ Out of the Cool (Reeves covers the tune “La Nevada” on the album) to the 1961 film The Misfits, Highway 10 Blues, Reeves offers, is “all about the mood, the tension and relief in the harmonies.”

Considering the organic sound, one might be surprised to learn how the record was made—all the players recorded in their own studios, and files were swapped over the internet, between LA, San Francisco, and New York. Sheet music and charts were shared as PDF files, and rough mixes and various takes bounced around as MP3s until Reeves brewed everything into the final productions in his LA studio. The record is, among other things, a testament to the effect the internet and new accessible technology has had on how music can be made. And, it should be noted, that in addition to all the new techniques employed, some older ones were put to good use—the album was mastered to analog tape.

The Highway 10 Blues journey begins with the breezy and seductive title track, which Reeves considers to be the heart of the record. “The word ‘blues’ in the title is inspired as much by things such as Horace Silver’s Cape Verdean Blues as it is Jack Kerouac’s Mexico City Blues… the blues in this case being sort of a meditation,” he says. Next along the road is “Mesa,” inspired by Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Tide - not in a direct bossa nova way, but “just in the way his melodies seem so simple and the arrangements restrained, but the overall effect is something panoramic,” says Reeves.

Other highlights of the record include the subtle “Gwen,” the explosive “Equator,” the cinematic “Motel Coffee,” and the gentle closer, “Another Soft Shoulder.” The album’s range of sounds and feelings reflects the mysterious, ever-changing ambiance of the desert. “The light out there, and the feeling you can get is hard to describe, hence the skewed melodies and the almost blurred, unclear harmonies underneath… mellow, but pensive,” Reeves says. “I love the desert, and this is my soundtrack for it.”