“Brothers” is a meeting of the minds of some of Michigan’s premier jazz performers. Many of these players have crossed paths in various configurations over the last couple of decades. Cold Plunge Records was lucky enough to capture these great collaborations as a part of a house concert series in East Lansing, Michigan. This intimate atmosphere adds a real warmth and depth to these performances.
 
Four tunes on this album are led by veteran pianist/vocalist, Bill Heid. Bill is a true talent, and was the pioneer for our early house shows, where he would perform solo. Bill is equally comfortable at our small house shows as he is at the top jazz clubs of Manhattan and Washington D.C.
 
The other four tunes on this album are led by acclaimed Guitarist, Randy Napoleon. The youngest of the renowned jazz professors at Michigan State University, Randy is an exceptionally talented band leader and arranger. Randy is no stranger to our house concert series, performing in the past with the Freddy Cole Group, with whom he has toured the globe. Randy’s release Common Tones, is a true gem of an album, and a perfect showcase for Randy’s exceptional arranging skills.
 
Both of our band leaders teamed up on this project with the formidable rhythm section of
Randy Gelispie (drums), and Paul Keller (bass). 
 
While Bill Heid performs with Keller and Gelispie as a trio on this record, joining Randy Napoleon to fill out his quartet for this project is pianist, Rick Roe. Roe is an acclaimed “musicians” musician. 
 
These tunes are compositions from my first two books: Outrospectives and Spontaneity. All of my books and albums are available at: gregghilljazz.com. It was a thrill capturing the lightning in a bottle of these highly talented musical “brothers” in these two live recordings. I hope you enjoy this album as much as I have enjoyed putting it together with these extraordinary brothers in music. —Gregg Hill | Cold Plunge Records