"Everything Is Blue" is a musical snapshot of one point in time. At the core of the quintet is pianist and composer Tom Luther, who wrote and arranged the material for this recording. "Every one of the pieces on this album came from some event of greater or lesser significance, anything from taking out the trash to painting a portrait of a good friend. There are pieces about friends, for friends, and even just about the weather. I like to think about it as 'functional music'". "Storm", the opening track, was originally written as an ambient work, that featured recordings of a one of the first blizzards of the season. "Luddite Bee Bop" was written for Luther's wife, who is an avid beekeeper. "Beginnings" is about a friend dealing with a transitional period in his life, involving a cross country move. "Mike Whitehead" was written as a feature for the group's trumpet player, with whom Luther credits the beginnings of this ensemble. "I met Mike at a jam session and subsequently saw his group doing a self-produced concert featuring the music of another local musician. It inspired me to start this project and Mike was the first one I asked to join. He's been a great inspiration and mentor through these last three years." The title track, "Everything Is Blue", was inspired by the color of the sky just before dusk, when Luther was taking out the trash. "I stood out there and thought, 'hmmm..everything is blue', and this little line came to me, and the rest of the tune followed". There are two "model" compositions on the record, which Luther describes as deliberate interpretations of another composer's style. "After Coltrane" (John Coltrane) and "After Ahmad" (Ahmad Jamal). "This is something my teacher had us do in college. You would pick a particular composer, and try to write as close as you could to their style. It's similar to transcribing a solo, and gives you something of the experience of walking around in their shoes. I think of these not only as exercises but tributes to these masters who have given us so much." The album is rounded-out with "Precipice", and "Precipice Reprise". This composition was originally part of "The September Project", which is Luther's year- long daily composition blog. "The challenge was to write, record, and post something everyday for one year. This piece came out right around the time a friend was working on a similar challenge, which was to produce a piece of art every day for ninety days. The difference with her's was that she had a daily word that she was to use as a starting point. The same week I wrote this piece, she had a work entitled "Precipice", which I really like, so I grabbed that for the title". The musicians on the recording are a diverse and adventurous group. Mike Whitehead (trumpet/flugelhorn), studied at Berklee and has a long resume of projects from acoustic jazz, through experimental funk, to Electronica. In addition to the Tom Luther Quintet, he writes and performs with Luther in an ambient/electronic group called "Algorithm". Gideon Forbes (tenor saxophone) is a student of music at University of Southern Maine. He participated in the Maine All State Music Festival for both classical and jazz, as well as the New England Music Festival. He has performed with the Fog Cutters Big Band and The Portland Jazz Orchestra, as well many large and small ensembles through the University’s School of Music. He was the recipient of the Outstanding Jazz Solo Award at Festival Disney in 2010. Noah Fishman (acoustic and electric bass) was a winner of the Bay State Chamber Nathan E. Corning Jazz Prize in 2011, as well as a Maine All-State and District 3 award winner. He was an participant at the Sligo Jazz Festival, studying with Michael Manring, John Goldsby, Bill Carrothers, and Mike Nielson, and also the "Keep An Eye on Jazz" Festival at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam. Jacob Forbes (drums) has been playing music in Maine since 2007. He has performed on drum set and percussion in Maine All-State and New England festivals. He is studying music at University of Southern Maine, and performs with the Maine State Musical Theater, UNE Players, and Windham Center Stage theater organizations.  He is a recipient of the Bay Chamber Concerts’ Nathan E. Corning Jazz Prize. Tom Luther (piano) is a former student of Anthony Davis and graduate of the Hartt School of Music. In addition to composing, performing and managing the Tom Luther Quintet, he is writing a daily music composition blog called "The September Project". He also collaborates with Whitehead in the ambient/electronic group "Algorithm". Bruce Boege recorded and mastered the album, and plays soprano saxophone on "Luddite Bee Bop", "After Ahmad", "After Coltrane", and "Precipice". Bruce is a master engineer, working out of his studio Limin Music in Northport, Maine where he has recorded Gordon Bok and Paul Sullivan among others. Bruce performs frequently on tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, and guitar.