"Waltz from After the Fall" was written for Arthur Miller's beautiful play in 1963, for its premiere at the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater. Since then I have performed it several hundred times, until it has evolved into its present form. The score was done almost entirely with my jazz quartet, using all the instruments as a chamber music ensemble. Since Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan, the play's director, were appreciative of the spiritual impact of jazz, it was one of my most rewarding experiences in the theater.

"Wind from the Indies" is a musical tribute to [he culture of the West Indies and to all m friends and brother and sister musicians who come from there. Al Harewood, the great percussionist, organized the guest quartet of drummers to capture the authentic polyrhythms of this rich musical heritage. The Clarke flute I play is used mostly in English and Irish folk music. Toward the end of my solo I play a Bombay G flute at the same time, while simultaneously humming in a lower register. This is a device I learned in Paris from a Yugoslavian folk flutist.

"Pull My Daisy" was written in 1959 for the underground film of the same name. It was a silent film, with Jack Kerouac's narration and my music. I also appeared in it, playing Mezz McGillicuddy, a deranged French horn player. Jack, Allen Ginsberg, and Neal Cassidy wrote the lyrics to the song. In the music I tried to show the poetic side of the 1950s and to capture some of the magic of Jack's spirit. The song was recorded here for the first time. In 1971, "Pull My Daisy" and most of Jack's work were overlooked. Now his work is more appreciated than ever all over the world, and the entire soundtrack, with Jack's spontaneous narration over my music, is finally being released, as well as a video of the film.

"Brazilian Memories" was the first composition I wrote for the guitar after my trip to Brazil, during the summer of 1969. Bob Dylan and his family were staying about a mile from me at the beach on Long Island, and I enjoyed visiting them and playing French horn behind him. One day he suggested I get a guitar and I learn to play it. Late that August I did, and I've been practicing ever since.

"São Paulo" was written during my first visit to Brazil, in 1963. I stayed in São Paulo for three weeks as a visiting composer-conductor- jazz player, working with Brazilian musicians. Since almost everybody there can play some instrument and everyone sings and dances at Carnival, I felt at home the minute I stepped off the plane. I wrote "São Paulo" the second week, after eating a delicious Pizza Portuguese at a diner across from the little hotel I lived in. The Chinese chef, stopped when he saw me walk in with my Pakistani flute and asked if he could borrow it. He played for ten minutes, while all the customers sat smiling and laughing. I had soaked up 'so many good Brazilian vibrations by this time that I wrote the piece that afternoon and performed it during my remaining concerts. It is - dedicated to all my friends in São Paulo.

"Going North" was written in June 1971 while attending a rodeo at Madison Square Garden with Ramblin' Jack Elliott, an old friend from the Village. Since Jack was heading north to the Mariposa Folk Festival we decided that I would come along and sit in with him as a surprise guest. I kept imagining the tune during the rodeo, and after the bull-dogging event I wrote it down the back of my program. I sang Jack the melody, and he decided to record it with me. Because he is a master flat-picker we did it in one take, including his yodel.

"Tompkins Square Park Consciousness Expander" was written in 1966 for a concert in the park. Like the "Waltz from After the Fall," it has constancy been evolving. Our guest performers include the late Ali Hafid, a Moroccan drummer, and George Mrgdichian, an oud virtuoso. Ali, George and I had played together at the Olive Tree on MacDougal Street, where musicians from Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and Lebanon get together after hours to play for fun. Violist Midhat Serbagi, who turned me on to Middle Eastern music in 1953 when we were both in the Seventh Army Symphony in Europe, improvises along with the rest of us. He is now a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, but still performs and improvises in the classic Arabic style.

The composition is long, so chat everyone gets a chance to play his kind of toxim,, the Arabic form of improvising. After Pepper's beautiful solo I switch from Pakistani flute to bouzouki and kazoo. By simultaneously playing the kazoo an octave lower than the bouzouki, the effect is similar to the sound of the Turkish zoorna. During my final flute solo I repeat the melody by slapping my cheek and then thumping on the top of my head, varying the pitch by changing the air column. This may seem far our, but it is common practice among folk musicians in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.

The tide signifies what we all felt chat night at Tompkins Square Park back in 1966: how in music we all became part of one another, the players and the audience, and how music can take you on a trip and let you gently down again. Once you have experienced this feeling it seems to always return in a new way and expand your consciousness again.

Twenty six years after the original recording, it is gratifying to have this music available on CD to inspire a new generation to hang in there and pursue their dreams. In music, as in life, if it's good, it stays good.