Hey F.M.M.

Your kind wishes are most appreciated and your remarks about my jazz musicianship are as sobering as they are uplifting. You know, there's something funny about the guitar: It's the easiest instrument to play right away. Learn three chords and you're off to the races.

But when you try to advance to the level of modern pianists and horn players, it turns into the nastiest, most difficult instrument. Think of a piano keyboard wrapped around itself 6 times. You can play the same thing in four different positions. Unlike the piano, you can't play two notes a half step apart without using more strings: a heavy penalty. The cost is not having enough strings left to get that piano voicing onto the guitar.

That box has been my voice since the age of 7, so there's no walking away from it.

Good to hear from you man.

Dean