For his fourth solo CD, L.A. — based saxophonist/flutist/producer Maurice Gainen (www.mauricegainen.com) worked with musicians and engineers from all seven continents from within the comfort of his own project studio. Thanks to the Internet and file exchanges involving various storage media, the resulting album, 7 CONTINENTS — Global Jams (Empyrean Records), features at least one song per continent — including Antarctica. “Ironically, that was the first one that came together,” Gainen notes. He found his collaborators through mutual acquaintances or Internet research.

“I've been involved with world music over my career, so it came naturally for me,” Gainen says. “It was a personal challenge, with the idea of trying to reach out to people.” Gainen arranged, produced, recorded, mixed and mastered 7 CONTINENTS. He wrote or co-wrote seven of the 11 tracks, plays sax and/or flute on each track, and worked on the project while continuing to serve his studio clientele. “I've been in the same location for 19 years,” he says, “There's a steady flow of stuff, and everything else sort of fell into place.”

Gainen relied on Pro Tools HD3 hardware and Apple Logic Pro Version 7.2 to work on files that were recorded abroad. The CD mainly comprises overdubs on tracks created in his L.A. studio. The production process varied, although typically, Gainen would send out contiguous audio files. “I always ask for a reference point at the very top,” he says. “I prefer to be with people, but when you're not with them, some interesting things happen — they kind of take it their own way. It gives me a great attitude about what I'm doing for other people, and it's been more rewarding than I can tell you.”