I don't think I was really expecting to hear back from Timeless, and, as it turned out, I didn’t. Then, one Sunday morning relaxing at home, several months after writing to Timeless, I received a most wonderful phone call out of the blue. It was from Chris Barber in England. At first I thought a prank was being played on me. I just couldn’t imagine why on earth he would be calling me. But, as he explained it, Timeless had passed on to him that cassette of Durante songs I had sent them, thinking, I suppose, that he might enjoy it. Now he was phoning me to tell me how much he enjoyed the music and to find out something about me.

Chris told me that he very rarely ever put on a recording he wished he had made himself, but he had with my little tape. This was a remarkable thing for me to hear. I hardly knew what to say. I told Chris that I laboured in obscurity on the very edge of the music profession, that I had had very little success playing this music and that it meant the world to me to have him now reassure me that I was in fact producing some interesting music.

We had a lovely chat that day and it became immediately evident that musically we had a lot in common. We talked about all the things I love in music that seem to be so lacking today: things like space and nuance, understatement and dynamics. It was a great talk. Chris suggested we might try to do something together, and before signing off we arranged to speak again soon. We spoke again at length several times. We decided the easiest thing would be for Chris to come to Vancouver and play with us. I was able to interest a local producer, Kevin Mooney, in taking on the project and he in turn was able to interest CBC Radio Canada to record us live.

It was easy as pie working with Chris. He is a most generous and gracious man to know and share music with. His playing is bright, confident, and always on the money. If you listen to our recording the high level of energy is tangible. For me, personally, it was an electrifying experience, as it was for us all. We had such a good time, we knew we had to do it again. Chris returned for another series of concerts and CBC again recorded us before a live studio audience. We then listened through the tapes and selected ten that we felt would make a good recording: One Of Your Smiles. The hope is that Chris's fans worldwide will be pleased to hear him in a different setting, playing at the top of his form, some interesting jazz and blues, music I know is close to his heart and mine.