Album Notes

David Azarian - piano
John Lockwood - bass (tracks 1&2)
Jamie Haddad - drums & percussion
Marty Ballou - bass (tracks 3-7)

LINER NOTES:
1998 was a unique year for David in many ways, one being that David performed only two US concerts that year. This album contains a selection from those two performances. There are several aspects of these performances, which make them extremely special. The MFA perfromance marked the first time David had ever played with Jamie Haddad. Additionally, the performance at the Regattabar marks the first time Jamie and Marty Ballou had ever met, let alone played together. No rehearsals or dicussions over how the material should be played ever occurred. David believes that improvisation, at it's best, is entirely spontaneous, intuitive, and sometimes even a mindless process representing the soul of the musician in that particular space and time. Let this recording be a perfect example of the magic this practiced theology can produce.

Theoretically, there are 3 components of music: Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm. David extends the boundaries in all three departments. His classical training and Armenian background give him a completely unique, non-imitative sound. This is hardest to achieve in jazz, and David does it while pushing the theoretical expectations of what jazz can be.