COMING HOME. Sean Carey (S.Carey) and John Raymond — with their musical project, Shadowlands — will return to the Chippewa Valley for a one-night performance at 7:30pm on Oct. 3 at the Pablo Center at the Confluence. The duo will be joined by the UWEC Jazz Ensemble 1, a group both Carey and Raymond performed within during their years attending the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. (Photo by Ingo J Biermann)

Sean Carey (S. Carey) and John Raymond, who once studied music together at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, have spent the following two decades telling their own stories through respective interpretations of the jazz music scene.

Through their latest collaboration — the musical project titled Shadowlands — the two will once again explore new sounds, arrangements, and collaboration in the place where it all began. Shadowlands will be joined by UW-Eau Claire’s Jazz Ensemble 1 for a one-night performance at 7:30pm on Oct. 3 at the Pablo Center at the Confluence (128 Graham Ave., Eau Claire).

For this performance, Carey, Raymond, and the university ensemble — under the direction of Robert Baca, UW-Eau Claire professor and director of jazz studies — will perform a premiere of new arrangements from the self-titled album, Shadowlands, released in 2023.

Carey and Raymond, both deeply connected to jazz techniques, have manifested their musicality in diverse ways throughout their careers, Raymond said. In 2019, when the duo reconnected to form the Shadowlands ensemble, a combination of spontaneity and exploratory styles unfurled, to create the 10 tracks on their debut record.

S. Carey, left, and John Raymond, right. (Photo by Kyle Lehman)

Those improvisational sequences will be played at the Oct. 3 performance, Raymond added. The tracks will be re-arranged in a “big band format,” a style UWEC Jazz Ensemble 1 has been recognized for over the years.

“One of my favorite parts of the whole Shadowlands (project) is the community that has been built around the music,” Raymond said. “Whether it's the musicians, the recording or mixing engineers, producers — and now, getting to extend that community back to the Eau Claire students.”

Raymond believes that although Shadowlands can feel “undefinable” by nature in a stand-alone genre, the record was always meant to be a form of artistic expression that embodied music at its current state in the world.

"One of my favorite parts of the whole Shadowlands (project) is the community that has been built around the music."

john raymond

trumpeter, co-leader of shadowlands

He and Carey are both eager to embed this shared philosophy through the interpretations of new students in the jazz ensemble of UW-Eau Claire.

Raymond added that, most importantly, the performance will be a celebration of the profound beauty of reconnecting with faculty like professor Baca — who have served as both mentors and friends to the two musicians over the years.

“Every time I think about the time I had with (professor Baca) in school, I realize more and more just what a master teacher he is,” Raymond said. “He has this incredible way of facilitating an environment that instills belief and confidence; he empowers students to have the willingness to take risks and try things.”

As part of Shadowlands' fall 2025 tour, both Carey and Raymond will join the UWEC Jazz Ensemble 1 students for a master class and rehearsals before the Oct. 3 performance.

There, the duo hopes to inspire students in the act of creation — catalyzed by the landscapes which surround them, much like the Eau Claire arts scene influenced their life's work.

To purchase tickets (about $33-$46 per ticket plus fees) to S.Carey and John Raymond, “Shadowlands” with UWEC Jazz Ensemble 1, visit the Pablo Center webpage online at pablocenter.org.