Now Why The Hell Would I Want

Melodies Can Be Good Depending On The Context. You Can Have A Simple Melody, And If The Harmony Behind It Is Interesting, It Can Make A Very Simple Melody Really Different. You Can Also Have A Complex Melody. The More Complex It Is, The Harder It Is To Sing, And Then Sometimes It Can Sound Contrived. You Could Write A Melody That Would Be Fine On A Saxophone But If You Give It To A Singer, It Can Sound Raunchy.

I Took Some Lessons As A Kid But Trained Myself By Ear. I Did It The Way Jazz Musicians Used To Learn Years Ago, Which Is To Play Records And Slow Them Down To Figure Out The Notes. At First I Tried To Imitate Red Garland, Who Was My Favorite Jazz Pianist.

I've Never Been Comfortable As A Lead Performer, And I Never Wanted To Be A Singer, Particularly.

I'm Starting To Get Older, And Began To Think About Mortality A Little More. My Mother Died In 2003 And That Was A Big Shock. When Your Parents Start To Die Off, That's Going To Be A Revelation. So For Me, This Album - Although It Might Sound Quite Cheery - Is Really Talking About Death.

It's Great To Know That Our Old Stuff Still Sounds Good To Our Fans, Just As It's Wonderful To Think That We've Turned A Few People On To Jazz Over The Years.