Album Notes

"Personal Dedications & Percussive Tributes" is the third in my dedication series for people, places and moods. Most of my music is autobiographical on some level, some more obvious than others. The compositions on the two earlier albums in this series, "Double Dedication" and "More Dedications," helped me combine the traditions of jazz legends with my own concept of their style, as does "Something about Rollins" on this recording.

I originally recorded vocal versions of "October Song," "Rain," and "Bossa de Bahia" on my CD "Music and Lyrics." On this recording, I wanted to revisit them in their original instrumental form. I wrote "Bossa de Bahia" and "Afternoon in Mombasa" after trips to Brazil and Kenya.

The poems on disc 2, from my book "I'm Just the Drummer in the Band," are percussive tributes to many of the great artists who inspired me to play drums.