1987 was a very strong year for the touring of the Octet. The band had changed radically especially the rhythm section. The first composition "Train whistle" was visualized from reading a novel by Albert Murray called "Train whistle guitar". Albert had always been my literary mentor and one of the strongest minds in America. Duke Ellington used to pick him up in Harlem in his limo to ride around New York for a few hours and talk about everything then drop him off to leave to airport where Dukes band was waiting to go on tour. Thats how heavy Albert Murray was and still is. "Blues in the Pocket" is one of my favorite John Hicks compositions that I arranged for this aggregation.