Liner Notes

--Dr. Roger Wood ... Noted Blues Historian and Professor of English at Houston Community College. The BopMeisters, the eponymous CD by some of Texas' most talented contemporary jazz musicians, is aptly named. No poetic attempt at deep meaning or fanciful statement, this title -- like the group itself -- is straightforward in proclaiming what really matters: the bop, the music, the common master that the group collectively serves so well as each member demonstrates and celebrates his individual mastery of the instrument.

And that is the special appeal of this recording: it lacks a central star only because everyone who contributes shines brightly. For these masters -- players who are not so much "on top of their game" as truly "into" it -- the music is the ultimate star. They are merely its honorable servants.

Granted, at numerous moments a key individual glows so luminously that listeners may initially assume we're hearing the main man, the real reason the rest of the musicians are gathered in the studio.

For instance, the glimmering saxophone work, on both alto and tenor, by producer Mark Holter, could convince us that this is the debut CD of some young genius of the reeds. But then there's the equally brilliant presence of Tom Cummings on vibes, and we marvel to ecognize a virtuoso who can lead and collaborate behind others so gracefully. And what about that guitarist? Well, it's actually the two Mikes -- Sunjka and Wheeler -- both of whom, alone and together, demonstrate themselves worthy of dazzling frontman status in any band. And there's that bopping daddy Nelson Mills III on trumpet, splendidly blazing, a major source of the musical light on display here. Finally, there's the iridescent rhythm section, Bill Murry on bass and Ben Atkinson on drums, whose efforts illuminate and accentuate the whole glorious production. Together these seven men enlighten us all about the transplendency of jazz.

The tracks collected here range widely in their sources of musical inspiration, from Sonny Rollins to Gershwin to classical blues shuffles and beyond. And the players seamlessly interweave five original compositions of their own, songs that syncretize numerous influences and musical instincts to proclaim the brilliance of bop.

The BopMeisters thus makes it possible for twelve songs, some old and some new, to move in and fully inhabit that space between our ears, to switch on the light and stay there long after we have played the CD. These outstanding musicians are just the movers. It is to their credit that they collaborate to accommodate the music rather than themselves, the art rather than the artists. And paradoxically, each one's individual genius is thereby granted the space to glow.