Well, it's been a long time since I've posted anything here. What can I say? Sure, I've been busy. But that's no excuse. We all are. Guess I've just been lazy – and spending way too much time surfing the internet, toggling between various wine-related sites. (It's the most effective form of procrastination I know!) . . . . Anyway, I thought I'd better give my web browser a bit of a rest and take this opportunity to wish all of you a very, very

Happy Holidays!!!!

This is a season where we're often inundated with annual retrospectives: "best of"s, "top 10"s, "person of the year" etc etc etc. Generally, I don't care much for this sort of stuff. But I certainly am thankful for all the wonderful musical experiences I've had in '07. And since I've only had a chance to mention a small handful of them in previous blog entries, I figured a short list might be the simplest way to at least recognize just a few more highlights of my year. In roughly chronological order:

1) The Dewey Redman memorial concert at St. Peter's Church in New York City on January 7.

2) Getting an advance copy of the new Kneebody recording from Ben Wendel in Calgary in June. Had it on heavy ipod rotation the whole summer.

3) Hearing the young British band Empirical for the first time at the London Jazz Festival (on Thanksgiving night).

4) Touring again (for the first time in 5 years) in November with the incomparable rhythm section team of Reuben Rogers and Gregory Hutchinson. Ah, yes: forward motion!

5) Singing (an excruciatingly out of tune version) of "Hush Little Baby" to my son, every night since I've been back home from this last tour. (Poor child. What horrors I suffer upon him!)