Smitty:  Yeah. Man oh man. And Howard?

TB:  Howard Drossin.  Howard Drossin is actually a guy who does all of my orchestration in my film career and what we needed Howard to do…. Howard was more of a tech guy on this particular session because what we did was we recorded a lot of the piano stuff and some stuff that I did with a foot controller and some of the stuff that Kendrick did with the drums, we had triggers mounted on these instruments and we recorded the MIDI information so that later on I could go back in and do a bit of orchestration with electronic sounds mimicking Aaron’s comp work or some of Kendrick’s rhythmic stuff.

Smitty:  Yeah, and I like Gretchen’s vocals too on “Over There.”

TB:  Gretchen, it was great having her on the record because she’s also a former student at the Monk Institute.

Smitty:  When I think about this band and just listening to you describe them, you guys have great synergy. I can feel that in the music too. You know, there’s a chemistry there.

TB:  Well, the thing about the band is that, you know, like I said, we were struggling trying to get there, but when Derrick joined the band, it call kinda fell into place, and when people saw how attentive he was in listening to everybody’s solos, it perked everybody else up in the band, and it makes for an enjoyable experience for us every night because, you know, we’re playing the same tunes over the course of a period of months that can get a little….it can wear on you.

Smitty:  Yeah, yeah.

TB:  But these guys, you know, I always look forward to playing with them every night.

Smitty:  Yeah. Man, this is really cool.  Now, talk to me about the title Flow because I know there’s much more here than just the word.

TB:  Well, yeah, the title itself is really an indication of what the band does every night because, you know, what happens is is that with this group, like I said, like I’ve been saying throughout the interview, you know, these guys are true improvisers in a true sense of that word, so when it came time to name the album….let me go back.  The tune itself?

Smitty:  Yeah.

TB:  You know, we were running out of material for the album and we needed some extra….we needed another tune, and it was Herbie’s suggestion.  Herbie said “Well, why don’t you guys just go in there and create something?  Make something up.  You’re jazz musicians.”  (Both laughing.)  You know?  So that’s what we did.

Smitty:  Oh.

TB: And that’s how that tune came about, so when it came time to name the tune, we were trying to find all of these titles for the tune and then my road manager, Vincent Bennett, he had been reading this book and it was all about stream of consciousness, and it talked about that flow and how artists have it, how athletes can have it, and so we just decided to call the album Flow.

Smitty:  Very cool and fitting. You did a little blurb here in your liner notes about the experiences of consciousness and how flow is involved in that and the concentration and focusing on something in the moment and really feeling that experience at the time, and I think that was a fitting explanation for this record because that’s where it puts you, in that kind of consciousness of total concentration and total focus on the music and what’s happening inside.

TB:  One of the best compliments, Smitty, we could’ve ever gotten was….there was a guy who came to our show in Seattle, and he came to the Sunday show, and he said that he had been there on Tuesday and Thursday, and he said when he came Thursday he wanted to just see what this band would sound like and he was surprised that the band sounded different, and he was curious to see what would happen on Sunday because he brought some friends and he was surprised to see that we were even different on Sunday night. So that was the best compliment we could’ve ever gotten because this is a guy who came to hear us three times in one week and saw essentially three different bands.

Smitty:  Wow.  That is a compliment, man, because you don’t hear that every day. I can tell you only a handful of bands could probably admit that they’ve heard that, and that speaks volumes for this band.

TB:  Well, yeah, it’s been a great experience playing with these guys because they are constantly trying to keep themselves open to ideas and constantly trying to push the envelope, and it’s been a lot of fun.

Smitty: I can just imagine because I can just feel the energy listening to the record.

TB:  Right, right.

Smitty:  Yeah.  So, now, you’re from New Orleans….

TB:  Yes.

Smitty: ….just to kinda switch gears a little, how’s things going for you?  I mean, I know there has just been just a total unusual experience down there in the past six months or so, and how are you doing?

TB:  Well, I mean, you know, it’s day to day.  I mean, when you look at what other people are going through, I mean, we’re doing great.

Smitty: Yeah, I can just imagine.

TB:  You know, because I still have my home, I just had broken windows and roof damage. My mom lost everything.  I mean, she lost her entire home and every….and all of the contents.

Smitty:  Wow, I’m so sorry my friend.

TB: Even with that I still feel blessed because we had another piece of property that we own where she’s gonna be living right now.

Smitty:  Oh, good.

TB:  So I still feel very blessed about that. But the city is recovering, it’s recovering slowly.