https://music.apple.com/us/album/first-love/1631642162

I don’t often listen to my own recordings, but sometimes they come up if one of my ipods is on shuffle. This one came up several days ago. I can’t believe that this song is pushing 30!!!! I was very influenced at the time by artists like Michael Brecker, John Abercrombie, and The Crusaders. I was a new father and happy in my daytime career which at the time was providing music therapy for children with Autism.

The album almost didn’t get made because I had many reasons not to but my older brother convinced me to make a list with him of pros and cons and lo and behold the pros won. It required borrowing money and taking much time away from my daddy duties and being tired much of the time. The record actually was profitable after about three months and was instrumental (pun intended) in getting me more gigs.

This tune is kind of interesting in that it is an 11 bar blues (hence the title “That’s Odd”). Blues form is usually twelve bars. It is Jazz music in a Reggae style within a Blues form. I hit three major stylistic influences in one shot. In 1995 I was a “straight into the amp” kind of guy. If I were to do this today, I might add a bit of delay and/or chorus between me and the amp. I think I might also write a lyric and make it a song and not merely an instrumental.

The Tenor sax player is Chris Savage, the Alto is Maurice Soudre, my buddies Jon Rehder and Charlie Guerin on Bass and piano respectively and Jeff Simons was the drummer. I was happy to have such sympathetic and supportive musicians for the project and am thankful that they helped me realize this record which was my dream.