New recordings of 17 compositions composed in the 80’s while I was working with the great multi instrumentalist Arthur Rhames. They reflect my thoughts on the work required to survive being on the bandstand with Arthur.

   That working relationship also got me thinking about things like the relationship between form and content, making melodies with harmonic clarity, playing with rhythmic drive, extended solos with emotional intensity and reinterpreting the Blues.

  During the first half of the decade I composed extensively, experimenting in my own way with what I had learned. I worked with the tensions between symmetry and asymmetry, explored chord sequences and their emotional meaning, and devised new relationships between the melodies and the chords.

  I moved on to writing for other projects but these pieces have always remained in the back of my mind. Friends have continued to ask to hear or play them over the years, so here they are.

Greg Glassman - trumpet

Stacey Dillard - tenor & soprano sax

John Esposito - piano

Ira Coleman - bass

Peter O’Brien - drums

Recorded, mixed & mastered 2014 by Scott Petito at NRS, Catskill, NY.

Executive Producer - John Esposito

Interior cover art - Lyra Esposito Steele

Package design - Laura Steele