I'll never forget the first time I heard this album:  I was ELECTRIFIED!  STUNNED!  FLABBERGASTED and SPEECHLESS with amazement, wonder and sheer admiration!

From that moment foreward, Rich Matteson was my idol. His unbelievable, stand-alone swinging rhythm, his walking bass lines with super-human drive, his spectacular solos - man, this guy was the TOTAL PACKAGE. In fact, it was at this point, even though I was playing, touring and recording with The Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Pops and other great groups, that I determined THIS is what I wanted to do. 

It was my great privilege to get to know Rich (who by the way, was from my home town of Davenport, Iowa), study informally with him and hear him play live many, many times. I learned that besides being a world-class musician and educator, he was a wonderful human being with a fantastic sense of humor and my idea of real man as well. Any way, if you get me started I'll just keep going on and on. Suffice to say that in Rich Matteson, I found everything worth being. 

Bear in mind that when Louie recorded this album with the Dukes, he'd never heard tuba playing like Rich's (who later was much better known as a euphonium artist). His natural modesty prevented Rich from replying in detail to my question: "Just how did Louie react when he first heard you play?" From what I was able to glean, Louis Armstrong was just totally, completely blown away by Rich Matteson. You will notice on the album that the only person who could follow one of Satchmo's solos was - in every case - Rich Matteson.

Naturally, you'll hear The Dukes in their prime playing classics such as: