"It was snowing heavily, and Robert Ryman had just passed. I had a nice drive to the venue, arrived early, had a fantastic espresso, and read a small catalogue on Ryman, aptly titled Variations + Improvisations. Ryman once said about his music, "I wanted to compose: to compose with my instrument, to find all the things you can do with the instrument. In that respect it's related to painting." He went on to leave music and find out what could be done with the color white and the square format. I want to find out what can be done with the double bass.

I approached this concert with the idea to work towards a solo recording. I wanted something definitive, an overview of my work as it stands. I think it captured that. A solo is something I've put off for years, something that would always "be better later." I love the idea of solo bass. I've played many concerts, I own most available solo bass recordings and I love doing it. It has always been easier to make albums with others. The music recorded at this concert is a good place to start.

The cafe sounds are as much a part of improvised music as pure silence, so no effort was made to remove them."-Damon Smith, April, 2019

"Robert Ryman (May 30, 1930 - February 8, 2019) was an American painter identified with the movements of monochrome painting, minimalism, and conceptual art. He was best known for abstract, white-on-white paintings. He lived and worked in New York City.

Ryman was born in Nashville, Tennessee. After studying at the Tennessee Polytechnic Institute in Cookeville, between 1948 and 1949, and at the George Peabody College for Teachers between 1949 and 1950, Ryman enlisted in the United States army reserve corps and was assigned to an army reserve band during the Korean War. Ryman moved to New York City in 1953, intending to become a professional jazz saxophonist. He had lessons with pianist Lennie Tristano, which later informed his painting. Ryman soon took a day job at the Museum of Modern Art as a security guard to make ends meet, and met the artists Sol LeWitt and Dan Flavin, who were co-workers with him at MoMA. Immediately after quitting his job at MoMA, Ryman spent the next year working in the art division of the New York Public Library. He also met artist Roy Lichtenstein during this period of the 1950s.

Captivated by the newly acquired abstract expressionist works of Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Clyfford Still, Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman, Ryman became curious about the act of painting. From 1953 to 1960, he worked at the MoMA as a guard in order to be close to painting. He purchased some art supplies at local store and began experimenting in his apartment in 1955. That year, Ryman finished what he considered to be his earliest professional work, a largely monochrome painting titled Untitled (Orange Painting) (1955-59).

Ryman had a close relationship with the late conservator Orrin Riley, who would frequently give him advice on archival materials, many times testing the acidity of media the artist was interested in using. He was interviewed by the television writer and producer Barbaralee Diamonstein twice, once for the book and video production Inside New York's Art World in 1979 and again for Inside the Art World in 1993.

In 1961 the artist married art historian Lucy Lippard. They had a son together, Ethan Ryman, in 1964, who was first a sound engineer and recently began making art. The marriage ended in divorce. He later married artist Merrill Wagner. Robert Ryman's sons from his second marriage, Cordy Ryman and Will Ryman, are also artists and currently work in New York City.

Ryman died on February 8, 2019, at the age of 88."-Wikipedia