Album Notes

From Jeanie Wilson's liner notes
I am honored to be part of bringing Barbara Lea's loving tribute to Wes McAfee to you. Wes left us much too soon but his music will keep him with us forever. This CD, which wasn't professionally recorded, is an intimate look at the extraordinary interaction between Barbara and Wes, with nice support by Saadi Zain on bass. The recording itself was not done with the idea of releasing it but then we lost Wes. It isn't technically perfect - you will hear noises of people eating, sometimes talking, and the sound of Wes's foot pounding in time to the music. You'll hear laughter and whistling and applause and Barbara humming along to the final track. But mostly you will hear Barbara Lea's beautiful burgundy alto brilliantly supported by Wes's rich and varied accompaniment, the two often as one "voice", testimony to their more than 20-year association. No singer digs deeper than Barbara into a lyric's meaning, whether playful (Frasier) or rueful (A Rainy Afternoon), giddy (What a Little Moonlight Can Do) or haunting ('Round Midnight). And no accompanist anticipates what is needed and skillfully makes it happen as effectively as Wes, who consistently wraps Barbara in mink. Poised and ready, he answers her every thought and fills the spaces where she isn't singing with elegant and inventive interludes producing a richly woven tapestry of complex emotions. On invisible wings, his seemingly effortless finger stylings float in and out and all around Barbara's textured vocals. OUR LOVE ROLLS ON is your invitation to attend this special and intimate gathering, a gathering no one could have guessed would be their last appearance together. Thank you, Barbara and Wes, for sharing your unique magic with those who were at RED that night, and now with so many others. Everything we ever do with love rolls on and on and on....

Barbara Lea writes
Wes McAfee departed from this plane of existence much too early, much too young, ending a collaboration with me that had been a happy one for over twenty years. Most of my "charts" were in his head. He read music brilliantly, transposed at sight, and in addition had a unique harmonic and melodic sensibility. He was witty and charming. That he will be irreplaceable is an understatement. This treasured and beloved friend will be sorely missed by his treasured and beloved friends. I am sure he is treasured in heaven, playing for God and the angels.