Unquestionably, the specific influences which led to the band's formation and style derived from the music of the John Coltrane Classic Quartet and my apprenticeship with Miles Davis in the '70s, playing music referred to as the "On the Corner" sound. This was the time of fusion where jazz musicians versed in bebop, post bop, modalism and free jazz were turning to rock and funk rhythms as a resource as well as electronic and synthesized textures with shades of "world" music. It was a truly eclectic period meaning a typical set might have an acoustic rendering of a standard ballad like "Lover Man" played next to a tune featuring a roaring funk oriented back beat feel with electric piano and electric bass, followed by an Indian sounding line featuring myself on flute. There were no holds barred and Lookout Farm unabashedly performed in this manner as revealed on these live recordings. This is definitely music of a particular time period. Dave Liebman: soprano sax, tenor sax, flute Richie Beirach: piano, electric piano Frank Tusa: bass Jeff Williams: drums About the recordings: For most jazz musicians there is a significant difference between live and studio recordings, hopefully not qualitatively, but in terms of energy and inspiration. This is definitely true of the music that Richie Beirach and I have played together over the decades. We began together in the late '60s jamming in my loft in Manhattan, putting together Free Life Communication (musician’s cooperative), apprenticing with masters, listening, talking and exploring music towards constructing a sound that would reflect our influences, the times we lived in and whatever contribution we might ultimately make to the jazz legacy---in summary, the past, present and future. (Check out the bonus track of the 2009 discussion between Richie and myself that discusses our history.) Over the years we have played in three different configurations: the Duo and quartets Lookout Farm and Quest. Throughout you will hear certain recurring themes, albeit with a particular emphasis depending upon which setting. We have always looked back at the jazz repertoire interpreting it in our own manner. There have been traces of free jazz, fusion and world music along with an ongoing interest in the harmonic implications garnered from contemporary classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries; all integrated into an improvised jazz context. These commonalities can be observed over the four decades of our collaboration. As in any jazz, multiple takes of a tune are of interest because they can and often do differ so much from each other. It goes without saying that the sound quality on some of the tracks is less than desirable but we felt the music itself took precedence. Some of these tracks have been previously released on the Select line from Mosaic Records in the 2000s, available here for the first time as downloads. Dave Liebman, 2010