Happy Holidays to all. Lots of good health, happiness and good notes to everyone. This has been quite a year. Lots of playing and writing, and the re-election of our illustrious president. If that ain't making the same mistakes and expecting different results, I don’t know what is!

We recently went into a beautiful new recording studio in Ossining, New York called BiCoastal Music. Hal Winer is the proprietor. I brought a quartet there (John Riley drums, Phil Markowitz piano, Jay Anderson bass). We recorded 9 tunes in about 3 hours. Mick Guzauski (recorded Eric Clapton, Yellowjackets, Earth Wind and Fire) and Neil Dorfsman ( Paul McCartney, Dire Straits, Sting) shared the engineering duties. They both live in the neighborhood and wanted to mess around with some new gear in this amazing studio. We were the guinea pigs I guess. We came away with a really nice cd worth of music that sounds absolutely great.! Anyone in the market for a killin' studio should check out BiCoastal Music. The studio is in a beautiful setting out in the woods (45 minutes from NYC) and feels really comfortable to play in.

Now I have to figure out which record company wants to release this project. Back to square one! It seems no matter how long you you are at this music thing you have to re-prove your artistic worth to the record industry with each subsequent project.

I remember running into Eumir Deodato a few years ago. We played together in 1974. He had a hit recording at that time on CTI Records. Yet here he was, having to make a demo for record companies before they would even talk to him about doing a new recording. That’s just the way it is, I guess.

Anyway, back to the music. The four of us in this quartet have been playing together for quite some time, and it always manages to fit together in an effortless fashion. I wrote a bunch of tunes, arranged a standard, and expanded a few tunes from the new etude book due out next month. Everyone knew just what to do. Every tune except one was a first take. That one tune was re-cut because the form needed improvement. It’s really great to develop a relationship with a rhythm section, particularly when its three solid players like Phil, John and Jay.We have arrived at a place where there is an articulate conversation going on in great part due to knowing how each other phrases.

One of the key elements that contributed to the successful execution of the music we played was the arrangements. They were crafted in such a way that there was a sense of composition to each tune without having the writing be too cumbersome. I made sure to leave lots of room for each individual’s interpretation of the music. With players like these you want to provide a setting where they are able to do their own thing freely. There is a balancing act between establishing form and guidelines and allowing the room for individual expression within the arrangements.

Hopefully this recording will see the light of day down the road. In the mean time it was a gas to play the music and work with two luminary recording engineers in a state of the art studio. I learned so much from the experience.

This experience reinforced the concept that we have to work on our music in earnest and document it regularly. That process is integral in forming a musical personality. I urge you all who are pursuing a performing life in music to write music for your group of musicians, play together regularly, and document the music. Keep at it!