Doug Sertl-Beautiful Friendship (Province Records 2012)

"This album was recorded during two - three hour recording sessions in one day in July, 1998. I had worked with and been friends with Rick Montalbano for many years. In addition to being a wonderful pianist, Rick is a great B3 organ player whom I've worked with on a few occasions in that setting. The organ trio has a different feel and sound then a piano trio. After recording several small group albums with piano trios over the years, I decided it would be fun to record an album with an organ trio and set about putting the session together. Once complete, the album sat on the shelf until finally being released now, long overdue.

On addition to Rick, the choices of Peter and Terry were easy. Peter Bernstein is simply one of the most talented guitarists around. He provides wonderfully inventive ideas in every aspect of his playing. Terry Clarke I've been a fan of since his days with Rob McConnell's Boss Brass. He has such great time, tasteful playing and solos.

The last ingredient was a great engineer. David Baker was simply a master at his craft. We just came in, set-up and started recording the first tune. He got the levels right, the whole thing recorded beautifully within the 2 - 3 hour sessions. He mixed the tunes as we played them direct to DAT. He also recorded a back-up multi-track DAT, but we never needed it. The levels, sound, everything was wonderful. We went straight from recording to mastering at Northeastern Digital. He was a rare talent.

The session was a blast. With each tune, we briefly talked about the format and then just played it. Each tune was recorded in one or two takes. It just felt great. As I listen to the album, I love the taste, inventiveness and amazing "ears" of Rick, Peter and Terry. They inspire me and made the session a complete pleasure. I hope you enjoy this album. Doug" cdbaby
http://www.dougsertl.com