I hope each track tells a story - having a beginning, middle and an end with a unifying theme and/or emotion.

For this album I found I was composing in song-like forms (either AABA, like many of the Great American Songbook forms) or that a track may have a 'hook' or recognisable theme that was returned to. The solo sections would serve the melodic and emotional content of the pieces. For many of the pieces I tried to sing the melody rather than compose at the instrument. I am drawn to music where the melody is lyrical and linear. I want the quintet or quartet line - up on this album to sound as big as possible by carefully considered arrangements.

I hope the tracks have am uplifting quality that - on reflection, the tracks seem to have a consistent feeling of hope.

We had gigged the material a couple of times. The night before the initial recording I came down with the flu. The recording had to be put back - which was a blessing, as I was able to focus on a few weak aspects of the compositions. Here, I must give thanks to Jeff Alexander - musician and friend, who gave me some invaluable musical advice - the composition sounds much stronger for that advice!

The musicians on the album were just incredible. We all share a love for different styles of music, and I feel because of this the guys played without imposing any one particular idea or style.

Learning to Fly
I came up with the chords for the 'hook' of this composition first - I Iike the way open strings sounds amongst fretted notes to create particular chord colours. The melodic ideas seemed to come first, with a key shift to help create a climax. I arranged the piece so thatthere was light and shade - harmony lines between sax and guitar/ backing lines during solo sections, moments where there are just a few instruments playing contrasted with denser moments.

Dream Of A Dream
An AABA form with extended solo sections, the melody is lyrical with a strong hook. This composition first appeared on Jo Doolan's Album 'Dream of A Dream." Jo felt the melody to be lyrical enough to pen lyrics to it, which i was most flattered by.

Wichita Lineman
My nod to one of the great songwriters, Jimmy Webb. I discovered this song through Glenn Campbell's recording but was inspired to arrange this piece from hearing Jimmy Webb's direct and personal approach to this song on 'Ten Easy Pieces." Jimmy Webb is an inspiration to me - amalgamating so many different styles and creating his own true sound. He is an artist that has deep musical understanding - his songs are sophisticated yet have great commercial appeal. My arrangement takes the melody through two keys creating a climatic feeling towards the end of the guitar solo.

Letting Go
Many years ago I came up with the main bass line on the piano. This piece had been lurking around for many years in different versions before I felt happy to record it.

Solar
I wanted to record a standard, but there are so many definitive versions available to listen to. Recording a free interpretation of Miles Davis' 'Solar' with my friend Paul Booth felt appropriate and personal to me. Paul is someone who is so intuitive. We didn't speak about the way we would record this piece - we just hit record and off we went. There is a (unrehearsed) nod to Pat Metheny's recording towards the end of the performance.

Remembering
Another piece that had been floating around for years before I felt happy to record it. This is a quartet performance, and has an AABA form with an added piano feature before a return to the main chords for the guitar solo. This piece seems to has a reflecting quality - 'remebering' those friends and family that are no longer with us. I hope that the piece is hopeful - that these memories do not make you sad but remembering with fondness. The guitar solo was inspired by this feeling.

Closure
One of several free improvisations that Paul Booth and myself recorded. This was the first performance of that session. Again, unrehearsed - we spoke about a sense of key and off we went. Again these recordings were intuitive. I think our friendship comes through in this recording - we are both aware of each other's musical influences and share a love of folk music, which i think comes through in this performance.