One day in November 1987 Ten Part Invention gathered in an ABC Studio in Sydney to record a program for “Its All Music”, hosted by Julian Lee. It was not a session where the music would be grafted together through re-recording and overdubs; instead, the band went straight ahead, live to tape, and laid down the first eight works in the band book – all first takes. It is a measure of the brilliance of this group, not only that this was possible, but that it was done so well.

This album is a milestone in the history of Australian jazz.  The eight compositions are the works that Ten Part Invention performed when it made its debut at the Adelaide Arts Festival in 1986 – a concert series, indeed a band that resulted from a recommendation made by Sydney SIMA President Peter Rechniewski to the Festival’s Artistic Director, Anthony Steel in mid 1985. As a result the legendary John Pochée was able to translate into reality a musical concept he had harboured for years.

Only a musician of Pochée’s personality and standing could have gathered and held together such a group, whose personnel reads like a who’s who of Australia’s most creative modern jazz musicians. The band has had a remarkably stable personnel, which has enabled it to evolve into the finest large ensemble we now have in Australian jazz.

Eric Myers – Extract from Cover Notes