...And Now The "Bad News" is a project that actually began in 1992. During the past year, many listeners and musicians have asked me why I named the new recording, ...And Now The "Bad News".

In August of 1991, I was told that I had throat cancer. At the age of 32, this was quite a shock. The doctor told me he had good news and he had bad news. After several operations and 2 months of daily radiation treatments, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands to reflect. It was during this period that I wrote this collection of songs.

I continued to live in West Virginia for a few years. Later, I relocated to New York City and stayed there from September 1997 until March 1998. April 1998 I arrived in Japan and spent several years trying to overcome and recuperate from the effects of having been bombarded with cancer, radiation and depression.

Pianist, Yuichi Inoue and drummer, Mike Reznikoff were two of the first musicians I met when I came to Tokyo. I was very impressed with Inoue because I could really feel his spirit for playing and thought that he had absorbed the vocabulary of past masters and was comfortable to communicate a new kind of bebop vocabulary. In other words, I felt like he thoroughly understand the past but, certainly wasn't trapped or stuck in it.

I felt comfortable playing with Mike from the beginning. Mike understands the importance of communication in a group improvisational situation. His sound is wonderful. I've never felt like he is struggling with his instrument. I think this mastery of his instrument, frees him up to be more aware of his surroundings.

I was introduced to bassist, Tsutomu Kuroda, through Yuichi Inoue. I told Inoue that I wanted to play with a young player. This is because I wanted to draw on his youthful energy and I thought it might be a great experience for a young bassist to be involved in a project with two other rhythm section mates who have had as much experience as Inoue and Reznikoff. I think Kuroda is blessed with a beautiful bass sound. Check out his introduction to, ...And Now The "Bad News."

We played together (rehearsing and performing) for 9-12 months before making this recording. Scheduling was a bit difficult for this session because everyone was so busy. I was in the middle of a tour and recording another CD at the time. Our recording session was only 4 1/2 hours. So, we didn't have time for retakes. All of the cuts on this CD are first takes. Actually, I didn't want to go into the studio and spend days recording an album. I wanted the band to play together for months, absorbing the music together and then walk-in and "lay it down."

Because each of the songs on this CD has a story, it was important for me to play with musicians that could understand what I was trying to communicate through each composition. I'm happy because I felt like we understood as a group what was behind each tune.

Recorded December7, 2004
YAMAHA Ikebukuro Center Studio, Tokyo
Recording Engineer: Hideyuki Hirata
Recording Assistant: Tomoyuki Sumi
Recorded direct to 2-track
Mastered January 12, 2005
Saidera Paradiso, Harajuku, Tokyo
Mastering: Masato Morisaki
Mastering Assistant: Toru Hoshino
Photography: KIKU
Production Assistant: Michiyo Nomura
Special Production Assistant: Hiroshi Hanaue-TGS (Tokyo Guide Service)