Album Notes

It was summer '96, when I came for the first time with my friend Thomas Gulz to Savannah,GA in our search for good live music. We were recommended to Hannah's East. And there he was: swinging, with brilliance and passion, but most of all, with warmth and heart. And after talking, letting us play some tunes, Jim Belt reached out his hand, invited us to his home next day, and from there on a deep friendship began. Phone companies made a fortune from our calls between Vienna & Savannah, but each year I couldn't help coming over, listening to his music, and also, recording him live on stage. And here the idea began: being so enthusiastic about these recordings each year he once said, "Why don't you come over and record - let's just have fun, cut some tracks, and see what happens.” So when I came over from Vienna to Savannah in summer 2001, I didn't know what to expect…. He had a Christmas CD in mind, and he had some digital recording equipment which was good enough for piano. My part was to engineer a sound-recording in his home, and man, it really worked. Jim was in an exciting mood for recording; without any preparation, he spontaneously called "Come on, let's cut!!" As soon as he settled at the piano, he opened his heart and started playing like wonderful paintings of sound, profound but still recognizable by everybody, with a variety and wealth of impressions from a musical cornucopia. Unfortunately, this was the last time he would play piano. Jim passed away three weeks later. I had never heard those well-known Christmas songs like that before, and never loved them more.

Thank you Jim - your forever friend,
Reinhard Leopold