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So maybe I’m biased. My point isn’t so much that this is the greatest work of Jazz known to man (I’m in no position to judge). It’s more that I’m very proud of him.

The entertainment business is a very tough business. Music is probably one of the toughest businesses in the entertainment world, and it is arguably tougher to make it in Jazz than just about any other segment of the music business, particularly if you aren’t infusing your work with a pop sound. Now, it’s hardly like getting this album out means he’s “made it”, but it’s a huge milestone that is tangible evidence of what is already a significant achievement.

But the really gratifying bit is being able to point at the CD and say, “my brother did that”. I had my first experience with that last weekend.

For the first time in a long time, I had to come in on the weekend to get some work done. I was pretty despondent, particularly since it was a long weekend, and I’d already done some work the previous week when I was supposed to be on vacation (how fun is that?). I decided to bring along Circumstance to help me focus (normally I go with classical instrumental music… anything with vocals ends up distracting me, but music, particularly music with complex structure, seems to help). Since noone else was in the office, I decided to just play the CD through speakers, which really did create a pleasant atmosphere despite the somewhat poor fidelity of my laptop’s sound system.

Sometime in the evening one of my coworkers showed up. He had some friends visiting, and was showing them where he worked. It turns out he likes Jazz, and almost immediately after introducing his friends asked me who I was listening to. I think I was as shocked as he was when I said it was my brother. That brought a smile to my face for the rest of the night.

In the end, I lent my coworker the CD and after listening to it he returned it and ordered his own. His wife also likes Jazz and is in New York, so they’re planning on going to see Dave perform next time he’s in town.

I don’t think I could be more tickled by the whole experience if Dave had been to the moon.