Gosh, I can't keep up with the lovely comments from you wonderful people! I just finished putting up my new gallery, "Edgefest 2007 Performing Musicians," (CLICK HERE to see it), and almost before I could catch my breath, the comments started coming in. Cyndy wanted to know where my words were, but that wasn't my PaD, so it had no words. Here are my words:

I had told you that, after hearing The Trio at the Edgefest--the highlight for me and for many--I wanted to create an abstract image to show how their improvisational music had touched me. I'd ended up being grateful that my camera's batteries had died, so I was able to turn all my attention to listening rather than being distracted by trying to take pictures too. Last night--well, more like early this morning--I created this composite in honor of those three magnificent musicians and the wondrous sounds and silences they had shared with an awestruck audience. When I saw my composite in its finished state, chill bumps stood out on my arms. I can't remember that ever happening before. And the fact that I could use a cityscape I'd taken in Chicago during last March's train journey home from San Diego gave it even more authenticity, for Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis and Roscoe Mitchell began their long musical careers in that dynamic city. It was in Chicago in the 1960s and 70s that these three men helped establish the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) as the acknowleged heart of creative music in the Midwest. And even now, decades later, they continue to push the edges of improvisation, incorporating electronic music on the laptop with live trombone, piano, sax and flute. The Trio rarely performs together, so if you hear they are going to be anywhere near you, do whatever it takes to be there! I consider the improvisational pieces I heard, especially the first, as perhaps the best live music I have ever heard in my 50 years as a jazz lover.

I will never forget them, and, hopefully, now you won't either.