Firstly, I'll be back.

Secondly, it definitely feels like the end of a chapter and it's caused some amount of reflexive pondering. There were a lot of warm send off parties and parting gigs, and I can't express what it I felt like to receive that sort of  attention from friends and colleagues.  Thank you for all those who sent me off so well and made me feel some sense of accomplishment.  It's nice to leave thinking that some musical efforts really have been understood. 

 ...Now I find myself here in California, on the precipice of the Pacific, thinking so hard and gratefully about the last 22 years in New Orleans.  I would always rather be there but I suppose musical exploration is driving me right now, more than location. New Orleans offers both in a way I love, but there are some directions that, artistically and, yes, even in music, that the city doesn't really foster at this juncture.  There are, of course, still other well known features where the city shows itself to have no ceiling.  I feel lucky to have benefitted a great deal from those limitless directions.

The music community that accepted me so easily when I first got to town is really composed of individuals.  I can't really say enough about these figures. On the outside we spend a lot of time talking about the groups.  And that is important from the outside, as music goes a long way in describing co-effort and harmony within groups.  Yet, from the inside, particularly while playing, one is really feeling the