A few years ago I met through the internet an old American friend whom I had first met in Rio decades ago. At that time Dave Johnson was timpanist with the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira in Rio while I was a percussion student. After sharing good old memories Dave sent me some recordings of his daughter Katie Johnson. I liked very much her compositions and lyrics and I was especially touched by her voice and artistic talent. A little later Dave contacted me with plans to record a CD with just my vibraphone compositions. I got excited with the idea and I did suggest him that Katie should write some lyrics to which I could compose a piece for vibes and voice that could be included on his new CD. Katie gave me great lyrics telling about memories of peoples and places and it was easy to write a music for it. We were so enthusiastic with the result that I again suggested to make a second part for Memories, but this time I would write the music at first and she would write the lyrics later.

Memories 1 and 2 are lovely pieces for voice (alto) and vibraphone. Memories 1 is slower and more meditative and, Memories 2 is a lively dance to celebrate life. Besides being different in style both pieces share a common theme to connect them. Soon it became one of my favorite compositions.