After a recent concert, a gentleman came up to me and said, “You guys actually play like a group! You don’t just sound like four individual players – you really play together!” Simply put, this is the key to what we - Bill, Rufus, Ed, and I – do. It is one of the key elements that make this quartet so special.

The four of us have known each other, and have played and taught together over many years. We have become very close friends and enjoy touring and “hanging out” together. And whenever our various schedules allow, we try to socialize with our wives who have also become good friends. So it would seem that our relationships on and off the bandstand complement one another.

When we come together to perform, regardless of time, location, or circumstances, we come to play! No “hit” is too insignificant, none is beneath giving of our entire selves. The group plays, and the music flows freely; there are no constraints. Our sensitivity to one another is the only boundary; and because this is an innate quality within each of us, it allows us complete freedom of expression. This is the joy of our playing together.

I began focusing on forming a group to play around New York City after the 1990 release of my CD, Bop Boy. I had then recently made the decision that instigated my leaving the NYC studio scene after twenty-three years as a first-call musician there. After performing with various configurations of musicians for several years, this current quartet emerged as an entity around 1995, and we have been playing and touring together since that time.

Music, to me, is more than merely being on the bandstand “blowing” my solo. It is being right in the heart of what is happening every moment, hearing and being a part of every note that each of my colleagues plays. This expresses fully what I feel about this group and the music that emanates from each of us. The sensitivity and musical respect we have for one another and for the music always come to the fore; the music is pure.

When the quartet plays, all of us are totally immersed in the music. We take joy in being part of one another’s music, and it shows clearly on our faces as we play. People often tell us that they can see how much fun we are having, how much we are enjoying each other, and how evident is our exuberance. I love to hear this because it means they are “getting the message.” They hear it, they see, and they feel it. This is what it’s all about!

 The concert from which this DVD and CD were filmed and recorded took place following the November 2006 Jazz Cruise, sailing in and out of San Diego, California. The quartet was invited to be one of the performing groups on that cruise and had just come off of a week of relaxing together, but also performing four full concerts during our week aboard the ship. Because we were already in California, George Klabin, the founder of Rising Jazz Stars Foundation, and I felt this would be an appropriate time to present a program at his intimate concert space and to film and record our performance. Immediately upon our disembarking from the ship, the quartet drove from San Diego to Beverly Hills to set up for the filming and to do a sound check for recording. The results are this DVD and CD. As with all my recordings, I view this effort as documentation of where our music is at this particular time in our musical development.

One can talk and write about the music, but in reality, it is all in the listening. All I truly want to say is how much love and respect I have for these marvelous friends and the music we create together. After my many years as a professional musician and these last seventeen years concentrating only upon performing as a Jazz artist, it is most rewarding to be at this place in this time in my life. Fame and fortune are irrelevant; our own recognition of our efforts is what truly matters! It is a good place to be.

                                                                                    Marvin Stamm, October, 2007