Diane Moser (b.1957, Kansas City, MO) is probably best known for organizing (in 1996) and maintaining The Composers’ Big Band. Mark Dresser (b.1952, Los Angeles, CA) first met Diane in San Diego in 1977 and was the one who, over a number of years, suggested to me she was an artist worthy of documentation. I was familiar with Diane’s recordings [2 Rivers Records and New Arts Records] but not her work in smaller settings. A demo soon arrived. I listened and this session is the result. Marc and I made the six hour drive down from Rossie, NY, and arrived around 8:30 a.m. at the Central Presbyterian Church in Montclair, NJ. We set up and Mark and Diane then arrived around 9 a.m. They set up (Thank you, Epifani, for lending Mark a speaker for this date.), we did a sound check, worked on placement of the musicians/instruments, and began recording at 10 a.m. Or so the church bells suggested. The duo opened with Diane’s Hello, a piece that sounds built off of the title’s syllable tempo. At this point the cicadas were obviously in full song and lent a nice under-cadence to the flow of the music. This, along with the occasional counter-cadence of birds, was clearly much to Diane’s delight. I’ve always felt an affinity with these natural settings, having often heard music performed outside among audible critters and fireflies. In fact, I remember as a youth listening to John Lewis’ solo piano recording [Atlantic Records] and hearing crickets on a take from the Lenox (Mass.) Music Inn. A couple of takes of Mark’s Para Waltz followed, maintaining the sober reflective mood. Nothing obviously reflective about Diane’s If You’ll Call Me, Then I’ll Call You, a delightful if pugnacious piece that, according to Diane, somehow relates to robins. At this point we broke, ate lunch, and celebrated Diane’s birthday with a homemade cake imported from upstate New York. That dispensed with, we moved into the second part of the session with Mark’s Yeller Grace, an amalgam of “Yellow Rose of Texas,” “Amazing Grace,” and “The National Anthem.” They then attacked Mark’s Big Mama Heart, a piece composed the previous day for Diane, on the occasion of her birthday (July 29). A jocular stumbling piece—in many ways well suited to both Diane’s style and personality. The two had rehearsed it the previous day but, even so, satisfaction was not reached until after a number of takes. Then, well into a very fine (fourth) take, one of Mark’s bass strings snapped. String replaced, they decided to later revisit that tune and instead launched into Diane’s tender melody of memories, For My Mother. Scenes of a life. After a story-filled break, Mark and Diane returned, rejuvenated, for Big Mama Heart (issued take), followed by Mattress… and finished up with a redress of Star Melodics, the take issued here. Much to contemplate in this noirish session. And much to contemplate. Time well spent. -Robert D. Rusch July 29, 2008 Mark Dresser can also be heard on CIMPs 105, 121, 251, 295 and Cadence Jazz 1171