Stepping way back in time to the high school years there were a bunch of us..and I mean a bunch that played together in bands.   This was in north Dallas and we were in and out of each other’s bands, playing and jamming constantly..a way of life really. Those were some great times..some of the best of my life.

Coming back to the present, I recently caught up with an old friend and it’s a sincere pleasure to write this piece. Lewis Hutcheson kept playing and has kept playing for all these years. When he sent me a copy of his latest CD I was thrilled to not only hear it, but to tell a Houston audience about the masterful guitar of Lewis Hutcheson.

Lewis will tell you he enjoys playing just about any kind of music, but lives and breaths jazz. Soundtrack For Wandering Minds is the culmination of years of effort and study and in my mind rises to world class rank.

Writing all the songs, Hutcheson displays a genius for overlapping themes, rhythms and melodies. The complex is handled with ease and the textures that emerge are nothing short of world class.

The 1^st track called Frisellian Jelly (http://www.amazon.com/Frisellian-Jelly/dp/B000QLNO7E) sets the tone for the rest of the record. It’s a slightly dissonant soft jazz song which sounds like it should be a sound track to a mystery thriller.

Kim Stone (bass, Spyro Gyra, Rippingtons) is featured on tracks 3 and 8 with the late Austin keyboard virtuoso Doug Hall appearing on tracks 1,2,5 and 6.

Track 4 is called New York and it’s playing now on my player…I’m thinking it’s after hours and I’ve stopped into a slow little corner club to catch a nightcap. You know the kind, where the music is dark and free. No one notices you while the veteran players paint layer upon layer of sonic textures. The song fades…and the silence caves in.

Of particular note is the last song on the record called Ditty Gone Wild which is a classy duet between Lewis on acoustic guitar and Chris Maresh on acoustic bass. Both musicians display a mastery of their instruments and to hear them interplay is phenominal.

The entire record plays in the best traditions of Miles, Zawinul, Monk and DiMeola and is truly a work of art. Connect with Lewis on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lewis.hutcheson.92. Let’s see if we can bring him to Houston.