It’s almost a month into autumn, and driving through New England is exhiliarating, as the trees are vivid with color, and fallen leaves line the country lanes along Narragansett Bay and Long Island Sound. This is the first chance I’ve had to travel since midsummer. A bit of snow falls as I arrive in Guilford, and the temperature has fallen.
After playing that August with a quintet that included Joe Morris – the gig is documented on the Clean Feed CD No Photograph Available – he’d suggested that I take a few days to come up to Connecticut to do some playing with him, and maybe do a record while we were at it. Joe had asked Timo Shanko, one of Boston’s finest bassists, and at the time of this recording quickly becoming one of its great tenor saxophonists as well; and drummer Luther Gray to join the session. They are expected soon, probably following the same road I’ve taken from Boston for the afternoon session in Joe’s loft studio, still unheated, although the work to change it into a playing space has obviously begun.
Early afternoon has come, and all four of us are in place behind our microphones, with cold hands and noses. There are serious moments, and lots of joking around, like at the beginning of “Those Who Came Before”, where Timo begins to yodel and beat his chest…you can hear us laughing and snickering in the background…
But as the music unfolds, the chill is soon forgotten, and time flies, the songs coming easily. And before we know it, we have 100 minutes of pretty fine music which Joe and I have pared down to just over 78 minutes for this release. - Dennis Gonzalez
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