"Don't ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun - and neither can stop the march of events." - Lazarus Long (from Robert Heinlein's 'Time Enough For Love', 1973) I love this quote from Heinlein, and coupled with another bit of Lazarus Long wisdom "Pessimist by policy, optimist by temperament..." I think the sentiment aptly sums up the creation of this record. 'Convergence' was first started in 2020, after Brown and I returned from our Canadian National tour with Ben Duff and Jacob Wutzke. Ben and Jacob are a special breed of player. Brown and I developped a real chemistry with them on the road, and we desparately wanted to record this incarnation of the group. Tunes were written, players assembled, a tour was booked to get us ready for the studio... and everything was very quickly cancelled by the subsequent "march of events" - the Covid pandemic. At the end of 2021, amid more lockdowns and a new unknown Omicron variant, Brown and I decided "screw it, let's take a gamble on 2022". So for the second time, we assembled our band, we booked our tour, we booked our studio time... and we hoped beyond hope that circumstances would allow us to prepare and record this album. And then, a series of amazing things happened. We got a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts... and then another one from the Toronto Arts Council... and then finally the Ontario Arts Council came back with a THIRD grant. Suddenly not only had I the budget to pay my musicians what they deserved, we could record in Canada's top recording studio AND hire a crack team of videographers to get stunning footage of the sessions - all for a project that Brown and I strongly felt had the right mix of tunes and musicians for something magical to potentially happen. This was both incredible and terrifying. We had such an opportunity, but so much depended on no lockdowns, no cancellations, and no-one catching Covid. When you listen to the record, hopefully you'll agree with me that this story has a very happy ending. This record's name 'Convergence' owes to the extremely fortuitous circumstances that allowed its completion, but there were many near misses that could have spelled doom along the way - all in a global environment that was anything but fortuitous. What I've learned from this, and another lesson I plan to teach my quickly-growing daughter, is that Convergence depends on your autonomous choices just as much as it does on blind luck. Without being an "optimist by temperment", you'll avoid the risks necessary to chase your goals. Without being a "pessimist by policy", the contingencies and planning vital for mitigating those risks will be inadequate to see those goals through. On very rare occasions, those who strive to embody these principles will be able to turn random good fortune into Convergence. Because they were very lucky, yes. But also because they were ready. This particular instance of Convergence hopefully hasn't finished with the record. We were very lucky to receive support from the Canada Council of the Arts to do a cross-Canada tour in the spring of 2023, and spanning 2 months and 40+ bookings, it is the largest one we've ever attempted. As of this writing there continue to be enormous challenges to be surmounted before we leave and whether our luck will hold remains to be seen; but by golly are we ready... ... and I cannot be more excited or grateful. ------------ ABOUT DARYL LANGIER -------------- NEEDS TO BE REPLACED Iconic Canadian jazz piano player, and former teacher to Nick Maclean - the luminous David Restivo was asked to write this album's liner notes. This is the third Browntasauras album for which he has written liner notes and his extreme versatility as both composer and pianist as well as his deep knowledge of the jazz artform made him the only choice for this recording's commentary. Below he thoughtfully dissects the album with an insightful breakdown. --------------