There exist here on Planet Jazz lots of wonderful drummers. However, only a select few play with that special quality I like to call "live time." When drummers who have it play, you can't miss it; you simply can't sit still when they play. You are inexorably move to dance, or to finger-pop, or to shake various parts of your body. Bruce Ditmas is just such a drummer, and his debut disc, What If, swings like mad throughout. Along the way, it visits some extraordinarily compelling vivid music vistas, and I am proud to have had a part in bringing it to be.

-- RS

WHAT IF . . There was a chance to do a project for Postcards
WHAT IF . . I could get Ralph Simon to produce it
WHAT IF . . Sibyl Golden was executive producer
WHAT IF . . Paul Bley played keyboards
WHAT IF . . John Abercrombie played guitars
WHAT IF . . Sam Rivers played saxophone
WHAT IF . . Dominic Richards played bass
WHAT IF . . Joe Barbaria engineered it.
WHAT IF . . We recorded it at Electric Lady
WHAT IF . . Allan Tucker at Foothill Digital did the digital editing and mastering
WHAT IF . . We could create an enlightened society Om Mani Padme Hum
WHAT IF . . .
Thanks to everyone for making it happen.

-- Bruce Ditmas