This album represents a long-overdue showcase of Hoyt Bohannon’s arrangements. Now gathering dust in the garage where they had been played for so many years, they deserve to be heard and played again. I met Hoyt at Disneyland, playing in Harry James band. It was 1975, I was a traveling member of the band living in Los Angeles, and Hoyt was subbing with the band that night. Hoyt asked me to play in his group the following week and I continued to do so until the group finally ceased to rehearse around 2003. Hoyt’s group was a right of passage for trombone players in Los Angeles. It was an honor to be invited to play, and If you were invited back you knew you were an accepted member of the professional trombone community. The challenge, the camaraderie and the musical education were vital to my development as a player and as a person and I know that I wouldn’t be the player I am today without the experience of playing at Hoyt’s. In 2003...