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Just to announce a few things - late this Fall I will have a 2 cd set out on ESP called A Love Supine: Ascent into the Maelstrom And next Spring, hopefully to coincide with a May 3, 2023 appearance at Dizzy's I will have 5 CDs (a 2 set set and a 3 cd set) out, also on ESP. The 5 cd project is called In the Dark: A History of American Song (or: All the Blues You Could Play By Now if Nicholas Payton was Your Third Cousin Twice Removed) The first 2 cds are basically blues re-done; some of it is from a concert with Marc Ribot at Roulette. The second set, of 3 CDs, is something of a milestone for me, based on various odd song forms. I started composing last Fall when I could barely see the music or the piano, and I was sleeping about 2-3 hours a night. These recordings were done in several sessions featuring Ken Peplowski, Lewis Porter, and Aaron Johnson (and others of course). I play tenor on these and I am just amazed we were able to pull it off (about 40 songs). Peplowski will shock you; he plays free, he plays bebop and he is translucent (Ken is not doing well physically these days but still playing perfectly). Aaron is an alto saxophonist and I think he just may be the best saxophonist alive, stylistically nimble and fantastically creative (he is also a great clarinetist). Lewis has bloomed more and more on keyboards, and his solos are a constant delight. The rest of the rhythm section, bassists Kyle Colina and Alex Tremblay and drummer Rob Landis, is like a clean but warped machine; Rob in particular (he is a close friend and pediatrician) swings and is musically changeable, in the best possible way. All of this will hopefully coincide with a new book I am trying to finish, which is a collection of essays, notes, and commentary. I am unsure of the title, but currently leaning toward Letter to Esperanza. I'm not dead yet.