In the fall of 1999, I was asked to do a Young People's Concert in Cologne, at the Philharmonie Hall, featuring a trumpet player named Till Brönner. I had heard a little of him on CD but was completely unprepared when we began 'Tah-DUM' at rehearsal. The jaw hitting the floor was mine. An amazing player AND he swung!! We became friends and planned to work together in the future – well, the future arrived in August 2002 and this may well be your introduction to him. I felt that I had two parts of the Suite that would work well for him (with "fixing") and the ballad ('For You') was specifically tailored for this recording. 'Over Here' comes from 1994 and had been waiting for us to do it justice. Till does many things musically but has maintained has integrity and desire and I am very pleased that he could join us. We don't invite guest soloists often and, from us, it’s an honor. He did us proud.

This – our third CD – also gave me a chance to show you more fully two of our most gifted members – Kris Goessens (piano) and Paul Heller (tenor). With the flood of tenor saxophonists surrounding us, finding Paul in 1994 was a new beginning for me and the instrument. He looks like an angel and plays like the devil. On ‘Get Well Soon’ he had a very difficult task for an improviser – basically playing over one chord type (a half-diminished) which shifts around a narrow center and gives you, in essence, a pair of handcuffs to deal with. His response was amazing AND he gets excited!! When the band begins to roar he cannot help feeling the excitement and joins in. This is NOT a normal response for most musicians playing any instrument these days – people have become careful and organized. Not Paul – he screams with delight! A stunning performance.

The ‘Get Well Soon’ wish was for my dear Norwegian friend Jan Horne, who was recovering from cancer. He, and his lady, Kirsten, were our witnesses when we were married in Norway in 1988 and Jan and I have been friends for 22 years since he made a documentary on me for NRK TV. He IS getting well and says the tune helped.

Kris Goessens is one of the world’s best kept secrets, something he and I hope to alter soon, playing duo on concerts tours. He has a depth of feeling and touch that I find unequaled by anyone I have heard. He also has a quiet, daring use of space and register that break accepted barriers AND patience to allow an idea to unfold and fully speak. His language is his and he feels almost painfully the act of creation. I am unashamedly biased – he and his wife Amanda were students of mine in 1991 when I lived in Rotterdam. They also take care of my beautiful godson, Ilya. My bias, however, is well founded and rarely given.

Another of my essentials is John Hollenbeck. I have extolled his virtues many times before, but every time the Orchestra gathers, he brings new energy and a growing experimental madness that allows him to create without fear. Besides this all, he has a beautiful sound, taste, delicacy and enough rockets and flares to light the sky for days. He is now becoming a composer and band leader but he promised no to forget us. We need him!!

‘Elegy’ is a special piece of music to me – I wrote it while my dear friend, Earle Brown (the great composer), was in the process of dying. He was a close friend, unfailingly supportive, my teacher and a walking sunbeam. I wanted his wife, Susan, to have a graphic “good-bye” that she could possess. When she can listen to it without crying, she will have begun healing. They remain to me two of the most remarkable people I have ever known. ‘Lovely’ just appeared – ‘Song, Sing, Sung’ is a movement from a larger work I did for the Danish Radio. I wanted it for Kris to sing on.

Thorsten Beckenstein is, to me, the best lead trumpet player I could hope for. I hear none that please me more. His presence and musicality guide us all and, surrounded by Torsten Mass and Sebastian Strempel, they don’t allow us to stray far from the center. It has been my good fortune to become associated with an incredible group of people – they love what they do, they thrive on their friendships and they give everything they have to me and my music. A friend told me: “You have found the perfect instrument for you music,” and he is right. What he couldn’t know is the love and heart and friendship these 18 people give to me and to each other. I have never experienced anything like it. Thank you, my dear friends.

--- Bob Brookmeyer

Recorded and mixed on August 23-25, 2002 at Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg, Germany.

Mastered on December 10-12, 2002 at Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg, Germany