New Beginnings

As the follow-up to my last recording The Atlantic Sessions, I had planned to do a quintet recording featuring Brian, Lorne, Jerry and Neil in a program of new compositions. While starting preparations for the recording, I had an opportunity to do a short septet tour of Eastern Canada with the faculty group Of St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. With both projects in mind, I started writing and arranging a number of pieces for the septet, thinking I could also adapt them for quintet as the recording date grew closer.

After hearing the new tunes for septet in a number of concerts, it became obvious to me that this was the way the work should be recorded. At that point, I asked Rob Smith (who was on the septet tour) to join us on the recording. Rather than add another horn to fill the ensemble, I decided I would overdub the alto parts at a later date. This would leave me more room to feature the quintet with Rob acting as a guest. I thought it would make sense to include a few quintet pieces as well, as this was my original idea.

I would like to thank André for the many hours of hard work he put into this project, and Lorne, Brian, Jerry, Neil and Rob for the outstanding musicianship they exhibited throughout these recording sessions.

the revellers::reminiscence::atlantic sessions::new beginnings::pure and simple