The Davi Det Songs had an origin that was mysterious and miraculous.
It began as a 1968 collaboration between myself and Fluxus artist Davi Det Hompson in Indiana. After 30 years, it remained unfinished for a variety of reasons. My career, after some twists and turns in Los Angeles, found me working on the road for 40 years as the pianist for singer Neil Diamond.
Davi Det, meanwhile, had moved with his family to Richmond, Virginia, where he died suddenly in 1996 after a heart attack while running.
His premature passing was tragic, and his loss meant it was another 22 years before I thought about the songs we’d begun to work on so much earlier.
That came about when Neil Diamond announced his retirement from touring, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. It resulted in my retirement from touring as well, and a boost in attention for the sketches and written material that had been stored in a box in my studio since their beginning.
I remembered my long-ago promise to Davi Det that I would complete these songs someday. I realized that I had many years that were not given to Davi Det. I also found that the songs, which had seemed too strange and difficult for me back then, had somehow fallen into what was now my new mainstream.
I knew that I would have to find someone to sing then, since my attempts at vocalizing had mostly crashed and burned. The job of singing, fortunately, fell to my dear friend Daisy Press. The daughter of two or our band members, and someone who was entirely comfortable with the genre.
A job which had seemed like it might be difficult became a joyous party.
So here we have art inspired by music inspired by poetry inspired by conversation.
Or something. Davi Det says his work, or rather his play, is more about sculpture than poetry.
So we have painting inspired by music inspired by inspired by sculpture inspired by, what?
The album is available for download at all the usual locations.