MM: Yeah‚ it's the next chapter.
MS: Yeah‚ yeah‚ a lot of these bands are doing their own thing now.
MM: So what about the guys you're playing with now? What are some of your thoughts on this group you got together?
MS: It's a great band. Did you see us last time we were up there (Burlington‚ VT)?
MM: Yeah‚ I've seen you the last couple of times you've been up here.
MS: I have a different organ player now. You might have heard of him; his name is Ken Clark and he's out of Boston. He's a dynamite guy‚ man. This is probably the best band that I've ever had. It's all the same musicians that you saw except a different organ player. Yeah‚ yeah‚ this is good -- I'm having fun with these guys‚ man! (Laughter)
MM: Yeah‚ well every time you play up here it gets cooking. You've been playing with Joe (Hrbek‚ alto sax) for a while now‚ right?
MS: Yeah‚ he's been with me for about three years. Yeah‚ he's the senior member of the band (laughter). I've known Eric (Kalb‚ drums) and his ex-wife since the mid-1990's; they were in Deep Banana Blackout then.
MM: That's great to hear that this is one of the best bands you've had.
MS: Yeah‚ so far. The band you saw is the band that I made a record with. We have a record coming out in a month or so.
MM: That's great. What's this record going to be called?
MS: It Is What It Is.
MM: (Laughing) It is what it is…
MS: And that's what it is.
MM: Is this a studio record or live?
MS: It's a studio record. It's with a jazz record company called the High Note‚ but we're on the Savant label. We're looking for some good things to come of it‚ but we'll see‚ we'll see.