Sweet Tooth is a collection of six original compositions, past and present, by bassist Neal Miner. This recording features long time band mates and friends, Chris Byars, Peter Bernstein and Joe Strasser. The recording session for Sweet Tooth took place in Neal’s apartment in Manhattan on May 18th, 2010. From start to finish this session was only three hours in length. Each of the six tunes had only a couple of takes to choose from. This music was not edited in any way. Mixing and mastering for this project was done at Lofish Studios by Walter Fischbacher. CD design by April Kuo. Photo by David J. Murray. About the music – by Neal Miner: Blues Okura, composed 2010 in the famous Okura Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. While staying there on tour, I got the idea for this minor blues while practicing in my hotel room. Manhattan Spring, composed 1997. Growing up on the East Coast and experiencing extreme season changes, this tune pays tribute to the beauty of New York City in springtime. Locke Bop, composed 2006. This line, written over the chord changes of Irving Berlin’s The Best Thing For You, is dedicated to the great jazz drummer, teacher and personality, Eddie Locke. I was lucky enough to attend the grade school where Eddie taught lessons. Once a year he would play a concert for the kids featuring the likes of Roy Eldridge, Tommy Flanigan and Major Holley. Eddie generously introduced jazz to many generations of children. Inner Beauty, composed 1994. The name came from a brand of hot sauce that I loved but is no longer available. I just liked the name and felt that it fit the music. Blackout, composed in 2003. This tune was written during the actual blackout in New York City that summer. Until the lights came back on, with nothing else to do I found composing this tune to be my only source of entertainment. Sweet Tooth, composed 2003. Sweets are definitely one of my guilty pleasures. This tune is written over the chord changes of a favorite standard of mine, Gus Arnheim’s Sweet And Lovely.