Ralph Hepola, tuba * Kyle Aho, keyboards * Marty Morrison, drums

Genuine Plastic Ralph Hepola                        Captain Sibley, bass

How High the Moon Morgan Lewis  

Cherokee Ray Noble

Mr. P.C. John Coltrane                                                                                                                                 

Original Thought Ralph Hepola, Kyle Aho       Seth Darby, bass

Impressions John Coltrane

All of Me Gerald Marks, Seymour Simons

Perdido Juan Tizol

Rocket Science Ralph Hepola                          Bob Bowman, bass

Stella by Starlight Victor Young

Limehouse Blues Philip Braham

Kalarama Rex Bob Bowman

Body and Soul Johnny Green                            David Dove, bass

This Goes Like This Ralph Hepola

About the Music

Genuine leather, genuine diamonds, but what about Genuine Plastic? It’s a curvy melody that bends every which way plus high-speed tuba & keyboard solos. Ralph also wrote three other fusion-oriented tracks for the album: Rocket Science, This Goes Like This, and Original Thought which was co-written with keyboardist Kyle Aho.

Several tunes come from the Great American Songbook including How High the Moon; All of Me and Limehouse Blues from 1921, the oldest song on the recording. The high-speed standard Cherokee is played on tuba. In true Bebop fashion, the tuba solo quotes other songs including the verse from The Saint Louis Blues, Reuben and Rachel (two different quotes) and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.

John Coltrane’s up-tempo minor blues Mr. P.C. is a tribute to bass player Paul Chambers.

Renowned bassist Bob Bowman contributed his driving shuffle tune Kalarama Rex which is named after a champion American Saddlebred horse born in 1922. Bob grew up on a farm in Kansas. His mother bought a descendant of Kalarama Rex named Dr. Sea. Bob explains, “We had his family tree. I saw that name and thought, ‘There’s a song in there!’”

One of the greatest ballads ever written, Body and Soul, is here played on tuba. Stella by Starlight was originally background music for the 1944 film, The Uninvited. The tuba quotes Willow Weep for Me.

Watch the live video sessions on the VIDEOS page.

The Lord is my strength and my song. – Exodus 15:2