John Stetch & Vulneraville Steve Kortyka - saxophone Philippe Lemm - drums Ben Tiberio - bass John Stetch - piano 1. Do Telepromptu 7:01 2. Oscar's Blue-Green Algebra 9:27 3. Phun Toon 10:11 4. Vulneraville Suite 11:33 5. Rondeau 8:30 6. *Polonaise in A-flat major 8:55 All music by John Stetch, copyright SOCAN *Polonaise in A-flat major based on F. Chopin's Heroic Polonaise in A-flat major Recorded live at the Carriage House Café, Ithaca, NY on September 9, 2016 by Ray Ackerman Polonaise in A-flat major recorded live at the Carriage House Café on April 22, 2016 Recording and Mixing: Ray Ackerman Mastering and editing: Louis Brown at L. Brown Recording, New York City Cover Art: Erica Norelius, detail of "Taxis in the Rain" Special Thanks to: The Chandler family at the Carriage House, Ray, Lou, Erica, Marguerita and Andy, Steve, Ben and Philippe Do Telepromptu is kind of a Bulgarian bluegrass tune in 9/8 that I mostly improvised and dictated to a student combo while coaching them on odd-meters. The combo had an unusual instrumentation which was more suited to bluegrass. After the session, one of the students e-mailed me and asked what 'we' were going to call 'our' new piece. I immediately registered it with SOCAN publishing under my own name. Oscar's Blue-Green Algebra is a salute to Oscar Peterson's sense of blues, gospel, and healthy timing/counting. In 1987, I left Edmonton to study at York University in Toronto for a year. Part of the allure was that Oscar was listed as an adjunct. I never saw him, but they did announce one day that he was in the building. Phun Toon displays my love for jazz tradition. It was one of 2 tunes of mine that both made it to the short list of 20 out of hundreds of entries in the 1994 Thelonious Monk Composer's Competition. Vulneraville Suite is a love song that I wrote for a woman who lived far away. Each section represents aspects of her life - for example, the opening trills and ornaments stand for the Renaissance woman that she is, and so on. Soon after she received my score in the mail, she broke my heart which left me confused about whether to keep the piece or not. The title refers to a place of vulnerability which is very important to me in music. Rondeau is named after the classical rondo form of ABACAD and so forth, where the main theme keeps coming back but followed by a new contrasting theme. I never thought it was that great, but I'm learning that everyone loves playing it - especially sax players who get TWO solos. The heroic Polonaise in A-flat major is based on Chopin's piece of the same name. I changed it quite a bit and altered various elements: modes, roles of the left and right hands, keys, time signatures, sequence directions and more, but all the while kept the heroic flavor of the original. This is my first and only live album, after 14 previous CD releases. I'm very thankful for the lively audience that packed the Carriage House in my 2nd hometown of Ithaca, NY. The venue is one of my favorite places to play, and there is plenty of risk-taking and conviction because of all the love in the room. I'm grateful to have a new and loyal quartet that I call Vulneraville, and look forward to many more performances and albums with them — thanks for listening! John Stetch November 11, 2016