Here's an excerpt form Rich's blog about the Juno nomination. Congrats to Demon Mike Murley for his nomination as well!

Golly gosh it's true. Even though the Juno folks neglected to invite me to the press conference, I had an inkling that something was up when they asked for some press materials a couple weeks ago!

Yay! Oh what fun. I'll be having a Juno Nomination Party at Lula Lounge on February 13th at 8pm. It'll be a great time and I have a fantastic band, so come on down if you can.

The really exciting part is that I am now trying to get into the Juno hockey game! That would be really awesome. I have been playing jazz hockey 3 times a week this year, and even though I suck, it would be great to play the game!

This time will be great fun, no pressure to win, 'cause I won in 2003. It will be a great chance to expose people to what I think is my best album to date 'Moment in Time.'

Now for some thank you's. There is no way that this album would have turned out sooo great without the talents of Luis Guerra. He is an absolutely phenomenal pianist, and he was able to re-harmonize and re-work some of my songs. He also plays some absolutely amazing solos on the record, so hats off to Luis! My other main co-conspirators where Graig Earle and Joe Poole. These guys were instrumental in work shopping my tunes and making them sound great. And, when they couldn't do all the sessions, Mike Milligan and Daniel Barnes stepped in to make it swing hard! Let's not forget the tough tenor of Bob Brough, the sweet trombone of William Carn (also a nominee!! yay William) and the groovy drums of Davide Direnzo.

The man behind the scenes is producer, mixer, and editor Jono Grant who has the best jazz ears in Canada in my view. Absolutely amazing to work with him. The woman behind the look of the album is Suzanne Johnson of Graphic Attack! (she also designed William Carn's album...she has the touch!). Thank you, my darling. And Mark McNeilly took the wonderful front cover photo, while Steve Payne took the back cover shot. Thanks one and all!!

The biggest thank you's go to FACTOR (the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Record) and the Ontario arts Council. Both of these organizations generously funded this project and continue to support great Canadian Music and Arts.

What a day! I'm excited and can't wait to party. Hope to see you on the 13th at Lula!

Rich