Diddle is a project I began in late 2022. I love the name primarily because Diddle is an instrumental CD consisting of new jazz and a few borrowed instrumentals from Jazz: The 2920 Sessions, and Park North. And, to me, instrumentals are sometimes just diddling around. Like in Hondo Pass. Hondo Pass is actually the first time I have ever played

Diddle is a project I began in late 2022. I love the name primarily because Diddle is an instrumental CD consisting of new jazz and a few borrowed instrumentals from Jazz: The 2920 Sessions, and Park North. And, to me, instrumentals are sometimes just diddling around. Like in Hondo Pass. Hondo Pass is actually the first time I have ever played lead guitar for five straight minutes...it's a jam. I love it. I think you will love it too. In essence, Diddle is a clean, consistent album with my favorite instrumental jazz compositions to date. When I first considered an all-instrumental project I knew that I could borrow the composition Be Flat featuring saxophonist Frank Zona and keyboardist Ruben Gutierrez from my inaugural jazz CD, Jazz: The 2920 Sessions, and the songs Stone Edge and Run Johnny from my sophomore adventure, Park North. All I needed were five new pieces and the puzzle would be complete. A note about Run Johnny - there is no bass guitar in this song. I began writing. Devil’s Tower, my first work, was catchy and fun to play. For a while, I performed Devil’s Tower live with just the drum track and my guitar. Then jazz bassist Curt Bushaw added his expertise to the mix. I threw in what I call “melody #2” and then Ruben Gutierrez came in and added the stellar piano work. Devil’s Tower was the first tune written and the last to be completed. Brookside Drive is brand new. My attempted goal with Brookside was to use a wah-wah peddle through the entire song. I wanted to create a defined use for the wah-wah and not just play wah wah wah wah. I just could not make it work, or let’s say that I didn’t concentrate for a long enough period of time to perfect my goal. So, what you get is the unique use of the wah-wah in the third passage. You will see what I mean once you give it a listen. Mesa Verde is a beautiful composition. Curt Bushaw and Ruben Gutierrez added their expertise. The slow blues, I Won’t Have It is a very fitting last song on the CD. It is possibly the most powerful song I’ve ever written. In need of one more song, Hondo Pass was an impromptu jam late one evening toward the end of the sessions. After three takes, the first take was selected. Straight through - just diddling around.