This track has been sitting for a while. I recorded Mark about ten years ago in Maine, at my mom’s place, on her old piano. He and Anne have been friends since before I was born. When I was young, he would often babysit me—which usually meant crafting giant paper airplanes out of Providence Journal newspapers, hiking up to the attic of our apartment on Holden Street, and launching them toward I-95 with grand hopes of clearing the highway and making it all the way to the State House. On at least one occasion, I’m pretty sure we lit one on fire for added dramatic effect.
To say they shaped me—and my sense of what an artistic good time looks like—would be an understatement.

There’s a pile of material from that session, but this one felt right to share now, given the state of things. It’s an old Paul Butterfield tune, written by Paul Butterfield, Jim Haynie, and David Sanborn. It’s a little shaky here and there, but to me that’s where the magic lives. Mark is a beautiful player and an artist in many mediums, and he’s still out there creating.

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