When John B. asked me if I would write a little something for his latest CD, I didn't hesitate to say yes. Because this is John B's first CD where you really get to hear what he and a bass can do together. You see, John B. and I go back a few years, where we first met when he was playing on "The Arsenic Hall Show" and knocking audiences out with his music and poetry. Already his love for the spoken word was evident. Then I wrote some words to his music, which he performed at Maria's Supper Club in South Central Los Angeles just after the Rodney King civil unrest. Then I wrote a play with jazz music for he and his beautiful wife, Jessica, and poetry became monologue. Music and the spoken word together like they were never apart. John B. doesn't just play music, he lives it. He is music. His bass is simply an extension of his arm, and extension of his heart. John B. doesn't just speak poetry, he personifies it in the way he lives is life, his integrity, his honesty, his passion. His music. But this CD is also a tribute to the high-density talent of Lew, Roy and, of course, Nancy, all of whom have shared their music these last several years on the road and in concert halls. Life is hard. Of that there is no doubt. The road is hard. Music is hard. Friendship is hard. But there is indefinable grace inside the hard road. There is beauty. There is gentleness too. There is love. There is music. Thank you, John B. for helping me to hear. Bradley Rand Smith