With Eyewitness in disarray, I was honored to be asked to join Joe Zawinul's Weather Update in 1986.
At the time, I was hoping that we would remain a group for
years to come, but, this was not to be either. Still and
all, it was a tremendous experience, some musical moments
I will treasure always, and Joe and I remain good friends
to this day. I learned so much from him! Upon my return
from the 7 weeks of touring, I was offered a chance to possibly
record an 'all-digital' CD for a new record division of
Denon, for which Christine Martin was assembling various
projects. I had an idea and went right to the brilliant
keyboardist, arranger, composer, Rob Mounsey to see if he
was interested. He was, and "LOCAL COLOR" was born. When
I look back over my recording career I can see this distinct
little pattern.....three recordings 
for
Columbia followed by an all acoustic guitar recording....then
three Eyewitness recordings followed by "LOCAL COLOR"...again,
an all acoustic recording! I guess this is my way of 'cleaning
house'....recharging the batteries, etc.? "LOCAL COLOR"
remains a very unique project....and for me the highlights
will always include: "Tafiya"; "I See a Long Journey"; "The
Blue Rose," and "The Hunt." Because of all the improvising
done in the composing process and the performing of the
music, it felt like the 'spirit' of jazz was all over this
recording(though it obviously does not 'feel' like a recording
with Ron Carter and Elvin Jones), but somehow the CD was
nominated for a Grammy in the "New Age" category! A great
honor, but, very unexpected. Rob is not only one of the
greatest musicians I know of but is also one of the most
thoughtful and intelligent people as well. Somehow, when
we start to make music together, it always falls into a
'World Music' area, which makes it hard for business types
to fit the finished recording into one convenient category.
This is not generally a ticket for great success!
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[1] Tafiya(Khan-Mounsey)(9:47) [2] The Blue Rose(Steve Khan)(4:45) [3] I See a Long Journey(Mounsey-Khan)(10:20) [4] Gondolas(Mounsey-Khan)(8:40) [5] Intruder(Mounsey-Khan)(7:12) [6] The Hunt(Khan-Mounsey)(6:35) [7] Mahana(Rob Mounsey)(5:37) |
Photos: David Tan
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