Yes, after all those years I still have moments where I get the “Flensburg Blues”, when I miss my family, hometown friends and this beautiful area on the Baltic Sea, and not being able to visit for more than a year during the epidemic was extremely difficult. Solitude - I wrote this piece during the COVID-induced lockdown in the spring of 2020 after a friend had sent me photos of a particular beach on the Flensburg Fjord called “Solitüde”.Fortunately, I have been able to play the music of Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer, Jim McNeely, and others with that incredible band over the years. I arrived at the club early, played that first open A note and marveled at how warm, big, and clear my bass sounded. Mean what you say - I will never forget playing with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (former Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Band) for the first time.Bill, Scott and Matthew: I’m eternally thankful for your friendship, encouragement and the countless lessons you’ve taught me over the years! And just as important, if not more so, the woman who made it all possible, who’s been my best friend for the past 25 years, and who allowed me to live my dream: Maria, my Astorian Queen…
Among these, the musicians on this album stand out as the three most important musical partners since my move across the Atlantic Ocean. This album is a tribute to the many truly extraordinary human beings that I was fortunate enough to meet and share sounds with. New Yorkers are resilient and witty, improvisational and helpful, and, most of all, toughened by the extremes of traffic, weather, income gap, racial inequalities, and the daily overstimulation of one’s senses. Immigrants from all corners of the world settled here and created a multi-layered cultural fabric in the process. New York has undoubtedly been one, if not THE most exciting and trendsetting global metropolis of the last century and a half.
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