"I think I'd like to retitle the record "My Close Friends Play Great Music". Lisle and I went to graduate school Together and were members in The New York Bass Violin Choir. Paul West and I have exchange gigs, laughs, hugs and handshakes down through the years. Al and I have played together with Blossom Dearie and countless others with great satisfaction and mutual admiration. Richard and I have recorded several albums together and Lisle's wife is a frind of mine that I had not heard play before, and I am smiling at the results… Great!!" – from the original liner notes by Ron Carter.
