From the liner notes: I believe that the first time I played with Jimmy Halperin was in the early 1980's. I had a weekly gig at a Mexican restaurant in Pelham, NY & Jimmy would make the gig from time to time. It was then as it is now - 20+ years later - a total gas to make music with him. I have said in the past that I was able to inhabit musical places otherwise unavailable to me, when playing for, & with my teacher & mentor Sal Mosca. I experience the same phenomenon when playing with Jimmy, & have since our first musical encounter. Jimmy Halperin evinces that perfect combination of immense talent, combined with unwavering dedication, focus, & hard work. After a 10+ year gap in playing together - for no other reason than our being in different orbits - Jimmy & I began playing together again in January 2007, this time as a duo in an Upper Westside Manhattan venue. Strange though it may sound, I think that we began playing telepathically before the actual gig night - this I believe to be the result of an unconscious awareness of each other's playing, in anticipation of again making music together. Playing our first tune of the evening was akin to resuming a conversation started years ago, as if there had been no pause. Happily, our saxophone - guitar duo is a positive example of the 'less is more' concept. I toyed with the idea of titling this CD "Small Big Band", because while we benefit from the musical intimacy of a duo, we create a lot of sound, & make use of textures & spatial relationships to create from a broad palette. About the music...We improvise - we de-construct & re-build harmonic structures from the Great American Songbook...we generally do not state the melodies, but instead allow our deep awareness & knowledge of those very melodies to inform our improvising from within. Please note that on 'Round Midnight we play not only the brilliant Thelonious Monk melody, but the classic intro & outro associated with this tune.We are both improvising at all times - when I accompany Jimmy's solos, I am improvising the background, & reacting to, & commenting on what he is saying. When I am soloing I can feel his acute listening, & know that what I am playing will impact his next statement. We play simultaneous improvised lines... This is perhaps my favorite aspect of playing together & is the fullest realization of spontaneous musical discussion. A note of love & remembrance....Love For Sal & Carla-la are offered respectively & respectfully, in memory of Sal Mosca & Carla White. Their music, wisdom & love live on... Joe Giglio-NYC-October '07 Jazz guitarist/vocalist Joe Giglio lives in Manhattan, where he teaches improvisation. He performs throughout the NY/Metro area, across the U.S & abroad. He has an MFA from Purchase College, and a BA from SUNY New Paltz. Discography: 3 Spirits; Clairvoyant Avenue; Flashback Premonition; InsideOut; Sound Scape; Disassembly. Performances w/ with jazz greats Houston Person, Joe Beck, Jack Wilkins, Howard Alden, Vic Juris, Carmen Leggio, Ralph Lalama, Joe Wilder, Yoron Israel, John Purcell, Wayne Andre, Bucky Pizzarelli, Bobby Buster; Lew Tabackin, Joe Puma, Peter Bernstein, Gene Bertoncini, Russell Malone, Frank Vignola, Bill Crow, and with Pop Legend Bobby Rydell, Broadway Star Melba Joyce, and Jazz Divas Judy Niemack, Amy London and Carla White, among others. A prolific composer, with compositions featured regularly in “Just Jazz Guitar Magazine”, he is currently recording two new CDs - trio CD with his group "Threedom", & a solo CD featuring his vocals & guitar in a program of tunes from the "Great American Songbook", and has just completed a soon to be published collection of jazz etudes, and re-harmonized standard tunes. Giglio hosts three popular websites devoted to his performance, composing and teaching: www.joegiglio.com; www.myspace.com/joegiglioandfriends; and www.myspace.com/threedomnyc, and can be seen performing in numerous video clips on youtube. Jimmy Halperin has been & continues to be one of the greatest improvisers ever to play the saxophone. He is a direct heir to the legacies of Lennie Tristano, Sal Mosca & Warne Marsh. Jimmy’s musical vision/scope is a panoramic one with far reaching influences that range from Bach to Bartok, Bird to Trane, & Tatum to Pagannini. He began playing the saxophone at 9 years of age and was introduced to Lennie Tristano at 18 years of age with whom he studied for two years until the passing of the great teacher/pianist. He then continued his studies with Sal Mosca with whom he received 3 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship grants for study. He has frequently toured in the States and Europe with his own bands, and has recorded for television, film and radio both in the USA and Europe. He has played with musicians such as: Warne Marsh, Sal Mosca, Lee Konitz, Ted Brown, Johnny Or, Ram Ramirez, Eddie Gomez, Barry Harris, Peck Morrison, Sonny Dallas, Michael Moore, Albert Heath, Dominic Duval. Jimmy has been associated with Bill Evans, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Eldridge, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Stephane Grappelli, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Henry Grimes, Sarah Vaughn, Percy Heath, Jimmy Heath, Tito Puente, Max Roach, Red Rodney, Cecil Taylor, Buck Clayton, Red Mitchell, Anita O’Day, and Roy Haynes among others. He can be heard on a duo recording “Psalm” with Sal Mosca (Zinnia Record 1998), with his own quartet Liquid Jazz (Mystic/Eclipse 1999), a trio CD with Don Messina and Bill Chattin entitled Cycle Logical (Cadence 2003), several releases with the quintet Line Up (NORCD 2001 & 2004), a trio release with Dominic Duval and Jay Rosen (CIMP 2004), Back Home with Warne Marsh, Tootie Heath, and Barry Harris (CrissCross 1986), and on Sonny Dallas Plays and Sings (1987) among others. Jimmy has also taught at music conservatories, colleges, and universities as an associate professor and has led master classes.