After finishing ‘Deal’ last spring, I was looking forward to working on something a little more intimate. I loved the luscious instrumentation on my last album; still I couldn’t wait to get back to one of my favourite settings: bass and drums. In 1996, I recorded a trio album, ‘Café Alto’. At the time, I planned to release a series of recordings of standards which I’d learned playing in bars. There must be a couple of hundred evergreens and Broadway tunes I’ve got to know by heart over the years, and it’s thanks to the cafés around Amsterdam’s Leidseplein that I learned to play them well. It’s the songbook that kept me from starving when I started music college at 18. In the end, I did a whole bunch of other stuff and moved the idea of recording standards under my own name to the back burner. I’ve been out in the field though. There’s nothing better for the soul than a long workout in some sweaty dive. It’s something musicians have always done, young and old. Once you stop playing in bars you’re on your own trip, you’ve made different plans. That’s fine for some. It may be exactly what they want. Not for me though. I need those gigs. Some of my best musical experiences and happiest moments have been while playing for punters. As long as the club owner is into the music and there’s a few drinks for the band when the bar closes, I’m happy. This album is special for me because I wanted the actual sound of the horn to be the focus - not my chops or compositions. I never really tried recording an album like this. Joost and Ernst set up behind me and I leaned back in a chair (!), we recorded the first tune and it turned out lovely. So we stayed with the format for the whole session. Once again, kudos to engineer Joeri Saal at Studio 150. While the old Studer reel-to-reel tape-recorder and the studio’s jumbo collection of vintage equipment is wonderful, it’s Joeri who does the magic. Namely You I learned from a Carmen McRae recording and from the Sonny Rollins album ‘Newk’s Time’. It’s a quirky old standard from the Broadway hit Li’l Abner. It has a lovely set of chord changes that lets the melody shine through crisp and clear. Reflections is a Monk tune that I learned from the Steve Lacy album by the same name. I’ve recorded numerous Monk tunes over the years in many different settings. I’ve been playing this piece for nearly 25 years now. Summertime. Ernst called this one. If I think I know a tune and somebody calls it, I’ll play it. If it’s good enough for Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane and any of my other heroes, I’ll play it. Cabin In The Sky I first heard by Roland Kirk. It’s a Vernon Duke song from the film by the same name featuring Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Lena Horne. Isfahan. Taken from Duke Ellington’s ‘Far East Suite’, this is a beautiful standard that I’ve been playing for years. The chord changes, as in many Ellington\u002FStrayhorn compositions, are wonderfully different and lovely to play on. Cole Porter’s Begin The Beguine was a massive hit for clarinettist Artie Shaw and his orchestra in 1938. I used to play this regularly about 20 years ago. Ernst surprised us b calling the tune and I managed to feel my way through. We only needed one take. The End Of A Love Affair is a great tun to play. My favourite version is by Billie Holiday on ‘Lady In Satin’. I usually play it the way Dexter Gordon recorded it on ‘Dexter Calling’. I love listening to Dexter, especially before a gig, he always makes me play better. You’ve Changed (That sparkle in you eye has gone, your smile is just a careless yawn...). Some of the most bitter-sweet lyrics ever written. I learned this song listening to Dexter Gordon. The last two tracks on the album are from a live recording for Holland’s only ‘private members club for the media and arts’, De Kring in Amsterdam. I started doing regular jam sessions there in 1995. As I mentioned on the ‘Café Alto’ sleeve, at one point their music licence was revoked. They got it back a few years later though, and we’ve been doing sessions twice a month there for the past six years. They asked me to record a gig as a freebie for their 90th anniversary magazine. The recording turned out so good I begged them to let me use two tracks for this album - for which they generously gave permission. Yakhal’ Inkomo is an amazing tune by legendary South African tenor player Winston ‘Mankunku’ Ngozi. He recorded it on his debut album in 1968. That whole album is a classic. I first heard it last year while preparing a special on South African music for my weekly show on Dutch Radio 6. Soy Califa is one of my favourite Dexter Gordon tunes. It’s a great show stopper. I especially love the version he recorded in Denmark with Kenny Drew, NHøP and Tootie Heath. The whole gig is on Youtube, it’s fantastic. Cheers, Benjamin Herman