I remember bidding and winning an alto clarinet on Ebay while I was working at Sam Ash at the late Music Row in NYC. This was right around the time I met Giuseppi Logan. The only time I saw or heard anyone play the AC was Sabir Mateen. At the time I was in 3 of Sab's bands. I was playing trumpet and bass clarinet at the time and was just mad curious about this horn that he was a master of. I got an open hole plastic Bundy for $300 and started checking it out. Once I started playing out with it, I was on a gig with the great JD Parran, the other living master of the AC. JD gave me some pointers and as I recall a lesson.

Other than that, I went my own way, and in time, the AC and BC were battling for space. I decided to focus entirely on the AC for about 3 years, with of course my trumpet always being my home base and first priority. BC came back when I encountered a great one that I could get in a trade for my silver Bach Cornet. I may have maxed out 3 credit cards to finalize that deal, all that had mad low limits.

The turning point for me with the AC was at Ornette's. Almost everything I did or played with OC was under tight scrutiny. The most extreme for me was he told me to stop playing my Bass Clarinet mid solo, and said, "give me that." He took it and put it on a couch outside the music room. He handed me my trumpet and said, "This is your horn."

So when I brought the AC over, I was gambling and afraid it would backfire somehow. We played a free duet for about 40 minutes. Afterwards I asked him what he thought and his whole vibe was different. He said, "Oh man, you're onto something with that horn."

I've never looked back from that moment.

The next learning milestone appeared when I was in Bern Nix's quartet. (Rest in Peace Bern). I asked him if he wanted the AC, and he said "Sure, as long as you can get down on it just as hard as when you play trumpet." I doubled down, and gave it everything I had in 100's of sessions with Bern.

Incredibly to me, I've been grinding on AC now for about 17 years. I've definitely passed the 10,000 hour mark, though I have not mastered it. I have limited classical chops. Mostly, I try to sing, and do my thing.

As ever, I remain fascinated as to why the sound has been cast aside from not only classical players, but jazz. It has a unique voice, and a viable function. I know there's jazz AC players out there, but the only one's I know personally are Sabir ,JD, Andrew Lamb, Gerald Thomas, and Dawoud up in Harlem. As far as I know, this is the first solo AC album ever made in the United States. (Update:props to Marco Colonna in Rome, who made one in 2016, brilliant, very different from mine, more classical)

The horn is part of my spiritual equation here, but the music it led me to is very personal.

Heart Warriors is for those whose music and spiritual power comes from the heart. Charles Gayle's work on bass clarinet is a profound influence on me. Another tenor player, the Rev. Nat Dixon has been another strong influence on me, and he is a strong supporter, which means a great deal to me

On ML on AC I'm attempting to play as if Ornette were in the room here in 2020 with his alto. The challenge to me is to see how I would play with him now. Ornette on tenor is my favorite Ornette album. Anyone that has read my thesis knows I've listened to a lot of Ornette.

My friend the late tenor player Bob Feldman used to be neighbors with the great Ellingtonian clarinetist Russell Procope at Manhattan Plaza in NYC. Another friend, trombonist and Ellingtonian Art Baron told me about him as well. Procope's deep and full woody sound is a huge signpost for me. Playing AC is like trying to play entirely in that sound world. You might hear some references to Duke's Sacred Music here.

2020 has been so brutal. I wasn't surprised to see a video of a fire tornado in California. This year, after everything else he survived, my friend Giuseppi Logan was swept up in a Corona wave. At the home where he lived, the nurses called him Mr. Logan. I tried to capture his vibe here, a genius battling mental illness on some level. Giuseppi was in there. There were days when his lucidity was 100%. I'm glad to be part of his story, but the way his story ended still stings big time. Miss you G

The late Bern Nix was a dear friend. He called me several times a week, even while we had a weekly music session for years. Tragically, I was the one that found him after he had ascended, an experience that has haunted me for some time.
Bern always had the blues, and this is one of his tunes with that vibe that we didn't get to record. I had a dream recently where he was happier than he ever was here. We miss you Bern

The next piece is a song that came to me as my orchestra the 12 Houses chanted Roy Campbell's name in concert just a few days after he rose to the stars. I segue into a piece William Parker wrote for Tazz at the Arts for Art memorial titled Accent. Roy was another big supporter of mine. There isn't a day that goes by that myself, Ras Moshe, Sabir Mateen, and Daniel Carter don't mention something that Roy said or did. I always looked to him as the example of how to fight for what we believed in on the deeper levels. His belief in the music was so strong. The biggest lesson I learned from him is not to lie to myself or others. One time he told me "If I tell you something, then you know it's true." Tazz lives

After another round in the ring with OC, I take a journey through several ballad vibes. Primarily one from the Godzilla movies I grew up on! Otherwise, I have learned that some songs can really switch up when you slow them all the way down.

Finally, Time Travel is a journey through jazz history with 4 tunes I wrote under the direction of Dr. Henry Martin at Rutgers. Henry is a harmony grandmaster, and studying with him helped me figure out my musical self.

Thanks again to all my people over the years.

This album is dedicated to Sabir Mateen and JD Parran