Sophisticated Lady jazz quartet pays homage to the Great Tradition of American Jazz but most of their repertoire is written by members of the quartet. Unlike the majority of contemporary jazz recordings, which are carefully and surgically patched together in postproduction, this album remains raw and fresh. These tracks are complete takes, 'live to tape,' without editing. The music on this recording is how Sophisticated Lady plays without the help of digital manipulation. Left Coastin’ celebrates bass player and composer Gary Wicks who composed and led improvisations on three of the four tunes on this LP. Pianist Misha Adair Bigos helps us celebrate a busy day and stumble into a quiet night with the last track. The quartet rehearsed and performed some of these tunes before our concert and recording but many are the first time through; the quartet discussed the tunes and who would take what solo in which order but without rehearsal. I wanted the intensity of raw improvisation. This is possible when superb musicians tackle new material together, listening carefully to each other and playing as a single organism. Music cannot get fresher than this. I am always grateful when musicians of this caliber share their talents with us. —Bob Attiyeh, producer
