This is one of my very first albums (it's actually my fourth, but that's another story for another time), and it's a collection of all original music played mainly by me. It's got a very fun, lively, and free spirit and there's a reason for that which I'll tell you about in a moment.
This may sound weird, but I owe my music career, in some significant part, to envelopes. Yes, envelopes.
You see, I've been musical all my life - it's always been very strong in me - and as I grew up and out I played in lots of great bands and had tons of great experiences. But I never made much money at, mainly because I had no business sense. I was living in LA at the time, and It got so bad - we were making something like $20 a night - I decided I had to get a, ahem, real job.
Through a series of unlikely incidents and subversive actions, I ended up getting a job as a sale rep for an envelope factory, suit and tie, expense account, the whole thing. The cool part about it was that I made some decent jack. I was no longer totally all the time desperate for cash. And I learned some fundamentals about business that really opened my eyes about being a professional musician.
So eventually I tried again to make a living in music. I bought some recording gear and some beautiful new saxophones and I made some recordings of some songs that I had been toying around with. Kokopeli is part of that initial discovery of the joys of discovering professional musicianhood.
I was hanging around quite a bit with my boyhood friend, the dearly departed Paul Reeder, over in Tucson where he lived and so absorbed a healthy dose of both desert and hippy culture (Paul was an astrologer and a complete hippy). Here's my buddy, Paul Marshall Reeder:
Paul was a great guy, a dear friend, and very talented musician and saxophonist. He was instrumental in the genesis of this album, and he plays some sax with me on a few songs.
I dedicate this album to you, old friend. I miss you!
Anyway, in this period of my life I was learning that I can compose music while simulaneously learning how to be a better musicbusinessman. Part of the result of that was this album, Kokopeli. It's a lot of fun and is an expression of my experiences with a bunch of Arizona hippies, whom I still love very much. We first sold my CDs (and cassettes back then) at the street fair in Tucson, and that really opened our eyes to how we could market music.
People still tell me how much they love this album. I hope you do, too.
Enjoy!
Paul was a great guy, a dear friend, and very talented musician and saxophonist. He was instrumental in the genesis of this album, and he plays some sax with me on a few songs. 