BLOWOUT: the story Although I have been a professional musician for over 15 years, it has taken me up to now to produce my first album. To me, being a composer is like being a photographer for the National Geographic. Maybe one in a thousand pictures is worth publishing in the magazine. It has taken me a long time to collect enough "good" tunes worth publishing. BLOWOUT is the result and each song comes with its own little story: BLOWOUT was inspired by Bob Berg's tune: "Friday Night in the Cadillac Club". It is a high energy swing tune. SHARP NINE BLUES was inspired by the sharp nine extension of the dominant seven chord, which has a very characteristic sound. It is a tension creating chord that can only be used if alternated by more relaxing chords. BANFF BOSSA was written during a composers workshop with Hugh Fraser at the Banff Centre. It was a last minute assignment that had to be written in one night and performed the next day. BACK TO BASSICS is a word play. It is a tune featuring the acoustic bass and bass clarinet. Not an easy combination to write for. I only succeeded on the third trial. WELL #1 was the result of an attempt to create a different style of music. It is a half way home between jazz and classical music and somewhat reminiscent of one of my classical idols: Claude Debussy. The title also reminds us that this tune was written in Alberta with wells of a different nature. STEPHEN AVENUE WALK takes us for a walk along Calgary's Stephen Avenue. And, of course, you cannot complete this walk without visiting one of the many Irish pubs along the avenue. This tune was inspired by a Chris Potter composition in which he sequences three 4/4 measures followed by a 2/4. HUGHMUNGOUS is a high energy tune written in honor of Hugh Fraser who has been my teacher and mentor in several Banff Centre work shops. LEAVING is a tune I wrote after a very sad moment in my life. It is slow moving and beautifully interpeted by my fellow musicians from Jazz Winds with whom I have been writing and performing for many years. Thank you Cédric, Frank, Trish, Aaron, and Robin for accompanying me on this musical journey.