Mike Caruso Quintet - Song for Amy Music CD

I took guitar lessons in grade school and started exploring Jazz in High School. I studied Electrical Engineering in college and my career is in the field of Integrated Circuit Design. Since college I have continued to play music but got more serious about Jazz and performing the last 8 years. For the last several years I have been studying the double bass and regularly perform on that instrument with the Metro West Jazz Project. The CD was a chance for me to document my compositions as well as my love of playing the guitar and upright bass. Most of all, it was a real honor to play with such a great group of musicians. I owe a lot to Molly Flannery who enthusiastically supported the project from the beginning in January of 2007. She helped to arrange the music and also with production while in the studio. I could not have done this without her help and am very grateful. I owe so much to my wife and children who took care of me, got me back to health and who's artwork graces this website and CD. I love you all very much. As for the music on the record, I like something with a memorable melody and/or rhythmic hook. Some of my influences are The Pat Metheny Group, The Yellowjackets, Lee Rittenour and Wes Montgomery. Several of the songs explore different time signatures. Three Flowers for example starts out in 3/4 time, modulates to 5/4 for the improvised section and then back to 3/4 for the end. Song For Amy, which was written for my wife while we were dating was originally composed in 4/4 time. Upon looking at the lead sheet, Molly started to hear it in 7/4. Playing it in 7/4 really gave it a swirling feeling, kind of like being in love. The song \'What Exit\' has a very simple form but for each improviser we changed up the underlying drums ( bebop for the head moves to funk and hiphop for each of the soloists ) so as to provide a rhythmically varying backdrop. The song \'Wes is More\' ( a 3/4 swing blues ) is a tribute to Wes Montgomery who I never tire of listening too. Music is a powerful medicine and I strongly feel that it can help heal the mind body connection. I hope that people enjoy the music as much as I have enjoyed putting the CD together. Along the way, I wish to raise awareness about Bone Marrow Tranplant as an option for blood cancer treatment and to help others explore healing the mind and body through art.