My trinity

As 2007 drew to a close, I reflected on having a very good year, with the promise of 2008 being even better. Many things have fallen into place and some of my long-term efforts have begun to bear fruit.

It occurred to me that three people have been very important in my adult development as a musician, something that is on a very slow, but steady track.

The first is Kate Hammett-Vaughan, whom I have known since my first year of university, one of my oldest friends. Now that she is of a certain age, I should rather say ours is one of my longest friendships. She has inspired me many times over, and after we both moved to Vancouver just a couple of years apart, she opened my eyes to the possibilities of improvised music, both with her great trio Garbo's Hat and with the NOW Orchestra.

Next is Stan Karp, who is the most amazing teacher of the saxophone. He has given me the tools to become a much better player than I could have hoped. His dedication, enthusiasm, patience and support over the last dozen years is unmatched. I am being totally selfish when I say I hope he never stops teaching, and I'm sure many of his students would agree.

Finally there is Hugh Fraser, who gave me the confidence to step up and play with the big boys. He encouraged me to start composing again and enabled me to have my pieces performed and recorded by wonderful groups of the most amazing people. My most intense and life-changing musical experiences have been working with him and the guest artists he attracted, like Maria Schneider and Chucho Valdes.

I owe these three people everything and I feel compelled to make that acknowledgement public.

If there was a fourth person I could add to my triumvirate, my fifth Beatle as it were, it would be Coat Cooke. Especially over the last few years, working with him has afforded me many great opportunities, and certainly the ion Zoo cd would not have been released this year without his vision and support.

Now of course, nothing happens in a vacuum and there are many, many people who have been and continue to be important in my musical life. Particularly, there are my bandmates in my two main groups: Carol, Wanda, Lisa, Chris, Clyde, Mark and Tom. Without a doubt, there is my wife Clara, who endured dating me back in the prog rock years and has supported me right up to my latest New Years ordeal, has been an unwavering support. And the many musicians that I've worked with in Vancouver, Seattle and Banff. The list grows ever larger, spreading out to the big names in jazz and improvised music who inspire me, some of whom I have had the honour to work with in some manner.

The music I play does not occur in the isolation of a bedroom or a studio. It takes a very large community indeed. And lately I've been feeling very grateful. Maybe tomorow I'll get cynical again, but hopefully not.