Butch Morris was quite eloquent and specific about what he needed from his music —- He came up in that modernist age where everything always had to be new, and he had enough perspective to see what parts of “new” were useful and what wasn’t —– He worked hard, the conduction method wasn’t born over-night, it took years to develop —- I was lucky to know him from our California days in the 70s —- and J.A.Deane was a close associate of the maestro and lived here in New Mexico at the time, so a radio show with his perspective was within our grasp —- I had interviewed Butch via telephone already a couple times on this Thursday jazz show, and he even called during this broadcast to say Hi and that he was listening in NYC via the Net —- (J.A. Deane was the production engineer for the 10-CD box set TESTAMENT that covered the first 50 conductions. Dino was a participant in many subsequent conductions with Butch performing all over the world. Dino also explored conduction from behind the podium himself when he launched his own long-standing ensemble Out of Context in 1996.) At the time of this radio show we did not know that Butch’s body had been assailed by cancer, nor did Butch. We were innocent that such dire history lay ahead. (Dino & Colleen relocated to Colorado in June 2o14.) — Mark Weber Continue reading →