Finally - my debut blog contribution.

Nadim, Ian, Margie - many thanks for all the fantastic work on the 'site during these last few weeks. Everything looks and feels great! I'm very excited and pleased with the progress and feedback so far.

I'll try to keep this brief but I must discuss how I got involved with Ian and CJ3 for those who may not know me or my background.

I am an old rocker/pop/fusion/jazzer/bass/musician/producer/engineer/ /nerd/geek/bad-golfer type from Boston Mass. who spent most of the last 20 years doing session work in Los Angeles and bringing up two very cool daughters given to me by my wife, Patrice. I met Ian years ago via drummer Steve Smith but didn't really get to know him until early summer of 2004 when we both were hired to work with Pat Leonard on his '10 Commandments' rock musical. It was a very large production starring Val Kilmer and was staged at the new and large Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. There were a few months of arranging and rehearsals involved followed by 2 months+ of performances. We all saw each other 6 days a week for that entire time period and Ian and I ended up hitting it off very well (the bass player - drummer bonding thing came easily, especially after a chilled gin martini or three).

One day, Ian asked if I would like to hear some of the CJ3 demos he had done at his studio in Nashville w/ Jody and bassist Alana Rocklin. I really loved what I heard. The concept of doing Crimson songs in a jazz trio setting I thought was brilliant and I told Ian as much. Later in the year, after the '10' was finished with it's run, I got a call from Ian asking if I was interested in getting involved with the Crimson Jazz Trio. Since he had moved away from Nashville he was trying to figure a logistical way to continue this original idea, now that he was in Los Angeles. We talked a bit and I was much interested in doing it but told him that we really needed to discuss this in person, and in our usual fashion; Gin Martinis at Stanley's. He agreed.... to my astonishment! :) Anyway..... our bartalk covered timetables, Crimson material that I liked and whether or not we could record the entire thing at my studio. When all was agreed to we had one more of those gin things and then wobbled home. Next thing I knew we were recording the darn thing at my house!!! How the heck did that happen?

Seriously, it has been an incredible experience working with Jody Nardone and Ian Wallace and I'm very pleased with the result. We had a lot of fun recording and eating lunches at Sagebrush Cantina and the music just seemed to magically come together. Jody and Ian's musicianship and heart and soul are all very evident on these recordings. I'm honored to be involved and I'm very much looking forward to our upcoming live shows and the possibility of a CJ3 II record sometime in the future!

Alrighty then, me thinks this is enough for my first blog, besides daughter Shaelen has swim practice and I'm the taxi.

See you all soon,

Tim L.