1. Persistence (6:09)(J. Walrath, Zordott and Gort Publishers/BMI)
2. Wedding Dance Of The Quintapeds (7:30)
(J. Walrath, Zordott and Gort Publishers/BMI)
3. Requiem For The Masses (5:36)
(J. Walrath, Zordott and Gort Publishers/BMI)
4. Cleopatra (7:38)
(J.Levy, Jed Levy Music/BMI)
5. Postal (2:30)
(J. Walrath, Zordott and Gort Publishers/BMI)
6. Island Girl (7:14)
(J. Walrath, Zordott and Gort Publishers/BMI)
7. Higher Fire (6:55)
(J. Walrath, Zordott and Gort Publishers/BMI)
8. You Subdue Me With Your Silence (4:41)
(J. Walrath, Zordott and Gort Publishers/BMI)
9. Hello, John [for John Hicks]* (9:46)
(J. Walrath, Zordott and Gort Publishers/BMI)
10. Them Old Folks* (10:38)
(L.Willis, Yanina Music/BMI)
José Davila, Charlie Persip and I played and toured with Ray Anderson's Pocket Brass Band for about eighteen months, until Ray broke up the band because he wanted to return to playing a more traditional New Orleans style. I always liked how the three horns sounded together in counterpoint and decided to try it without drums in a modern jazz setting. It turns out that José and Jed Levy, who I played with for decades, were the perfect cats to help capture the sound I was chasing.
In Latin, Triceratops means "Three Horned Face". It was the last dinosaur to die. I chose Triceratops as the namesake for this session because of its strength and aggression, not wanting this music mistaken for tepid chamber jazz.
"Persistence" introduces the trio's faces and gives listeners fair warning they can expect to hear something swinging, hot and not exactly pretty. Beauty isn't always pretty! This is straight ahead and owes something to Sonny Rollins----my second favorite trumpet player, (My first is me or else I would go nuts hearing that same freaking sound every day! Members of my and previous generations in jazz will know what I mean in the statement.)
"Wedding Dance Of The Quintapeds" was an ear worm that made me think of a five-footed alien at a wedding reception. I don’t name my compositions until after they are finished. This is in 5/4 time and to me sounds danceable. Bring a walking stick!
"Requiem For The Masses" I was listening to a lot of ancient music at the time and it came to me when the country seemed to be becoming more chaotic and dumbed down. (I never dreamed how more relevant this became at this writing in 2026.) I pray that this music will make folks think and leave them happier and smarter than before. Audiences deserve respect, so I don't dumb it down for anyone.
"Cleopatra" Jed wanted to contribute something exotic and he nailed it! I am always open to the worldly and exotic. After traveling to Egypt and Tunisia, their musics were very influential and gave me a new understanding of harmonic concepts. Jed has been to the Near East too, and being such a creative open-minded writer, he brought this new (at the time) and challenging tune for us to enjoy.
"Postal" The title came to me at the time when there was a lot of violence against postal employees. A humorous term came out in society that was termed "going postal". It meant to give an aggressive response in a situation. Again, the title came afterwards and is somewhat
tongue in cheek.
"Island Girl" I’ve always loved music from the West Indies. This song reminded me of an experience I had at the Nice Jazz Festival in 1976. As the concerts were closing down, a beautiful doppelgänger of former supermodel Iman appeared from the darkness. She sat down by me on a bench and, within minutes we were kissing! When I was playing in Nice 11 years later, she called to me from the crowd and came to America a few days later. She was originally from Martinique, so the tune evokes her memory.
"Higher Fire" was inspired by Jackie Wilson, of course, and New Orleans 2nd Line music. The highly intervallic melody is one of the things I do to create variances from many standards that may move in step-wise motion or stay primarily in one key or with one scale. I love the art of surprise and if I can, instilling a sense of wonder and anticipation for what will happen next.
"You Subdue Me With Your Silence" reminded me of being in the throes of an emotional argument when the other person sadly stops talking. You can hear some of my own Near East influences in this song.
"Hello, John" is a blues that I wrote for John Hicks a few days after he passed. Serendipitously, Larry Willis happened to be in town when we were recording this album, so I asked him to play this tune with us. Since then, we’ve lost Larry too. The jazz community has been deprived of two of the greatest pianists of any generation. I played with John a lot when I was leading The Mingus Dynasty. Larry and I played together on several Mapleshade releases including ‘Portraits in Ivory and Brass’, an previously unreleased session with Carter Jefferson, and a killer session with Hamiet Bluiett (Young Warrior, Old Warrior) I hope will be remastered one day.
"Them Old Folks" After “Hello, John,” Larry asked if we’d like to try one of his songs and our answer was unanimous. He began with a beautiful extended introduction that led us into a lovely, pensive jazz waltz. It was always an honor to play with Larry and John!
I've tried to avoid delving into technical aspects of the music for these tracks because I want people to just listen to the songs and not think about the mechanics of the compositions. That may happen at the right time, anyway.
"TO BE LISTENED TO IN THE SPIRIT IN WHICH IT WAS MADE!"
Recorded in October 2005 at the Mapleshade Beacon Hill Studio in Upper Marlboro, Maryland
