About half way through writing this album, I realized that I'm not what you'd call a 'jazz purist'. In fact, I've got a constantly nagging arsty, singer-songwriter side. I've known that for years, really, but I figured I'd better acknowledge it before I had a vocation built soley on novelty numbers. All the tracks pretty much still go 'ding-dinga-ding-dinga-ding' and, to quote Mahler, 'It is well known that I cannot do without trivialities.' But towards the end of the CD, things start to get a little different - stylistically and especially content-wise. I think this is my new direction. Stacey, my twelve-year-old niece, likes 'The 'Possum' the best. And preteen girls know music, man. Okay, maybe they don't really KNOW music, but they sure as hell dictate what the music industry does. And even if you don't agree with Stacey on 'The 'Possum', I'll bet there's a couple tracks here right up your alley. The record really is that eclectic. 'Kitchen Swing' features my old bandmates Brenden Kearney and Steve Grams (KGB Trio, Kings of Pleasure) as well as other seasoned swingers like Harvey Newmark (Anita O'Day, Harry 'Sweets' Edison) and Carl Sonny Leyland (Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys). Despite the fact that I mixed it myself, it sounds pretty good thanks to mastering by Mike Cogan (Lavay Smith, Indigo Swing). I like playing music you can take a bite out of, that you can drink in. Written music is just like a cookbook. Some people can follow the recipe and some people can't, and even if you put in all the right ingredients in the right order it doesn't guarantee it'll be delicious. And, of course, like Zappa said, 'unless you're really weird you don't eat the recipe.' I think I got a handful of cats that know how to cook. What do you think?