I am me is my coming-of-age record. It closes a youthful chapter marked by insecurity and uncertainty and depicts a more mature Austin. One that has begun to see previous "weaknesses" as "voice". My playing has always contained some amount of frailty. Hearing the monstrous, flawless playing of saxophonists like Cannonball Adderley or Michael Brecker has always intimidated me. Now I feel in this modern day of perfectly molded social media narratives perhaps a dose of real, raw, and blemished is exactly what we need.

Included are 5 of my original compositions for chordless saxophone trio, a long-standing tradition in jazz that connects this work to the master pioneers (Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman).