“Liberia spelt backwards. Liberia is a jazz tune made famous by John Coltrane.  This is a common compositional device in the jazz world, where the composer takes a well loved standard piece and writes a new original melody to go over the chord structure.

Written earlier in the composer’s career, this piece is remarkable in that it wasn’t thrown out like much of his compositions as a newbie.  It is most likely that he was on tour with DT Thompson during this composition.  DT was an excellent Canadian tenor saxophone player and he definitely would’ve loved playing this and helping Bob to embrace his role as jazz composer.

This piece is almost a teaser as it implies the ii V structure but doesn’t take you down to the root Major chord until the end of the A section.  The structure is challenging to solo over as it meanders through many minor b5 chords and only two times arrives at the key center.”

-Jessica Erlendson van Remmen