'Modern Vinyl Blues', the final title of the LP after abandoning 'I Never Sang Blues On Mont Blanc and 'INSBOMB' has been mixed and adjusted for vinyl by Martin Freitag of Küß Mich Musik and has been delivered along with graphics from Dirk Borho to the pressing plant. The firm making the records, intakt!, is actually in Berlin. Which is far from obvious as firms in Schwaben and the Czech republic have been used previously for CD's. However, the particular graphics style of the LP was meant to be similar to my last LP 'Understatement' from 1991 (I think). Record Partner, who made that LP, no longer does vinyl so I checked around and intakt! got the deal. Unfortunately the pressing takes a long time, about 11 weeks. So it is touch and go as to whether the record is ready for Christmas. On the other hand the 'platte' will of course be ready for the LP release party in Art Stalker, Berlin on the 29th January 2027. More about that later.

Well into '26. Finished recording the LP with the top pianist Carly Quiroz adding some wonderful touches. Now waiting for Martin at Küß Mich Musik to find time for the mixing. An associated product is also being introduced in the form of sticks - usb flash drives. Whilst working on the LP I came across some early solo recordings. This material was taped on a 4 track machine in 1990. There is enough of this rough 'Dachbodenfund' to make an EP. How to go about releasing this stuff these days is a bit complex, even for AI. My daughter suggested I get a 'SM beauftragte'. Somehow blues and social media do not gel. Previously one would send copies to magazines and radio stations but these days it does not work like that. Just need to beam my music to the world.

Winding up the year. All good. Great recording session on 09.09. 'Mont Blanc' material which needs a lot of work. This was the first time I recorded with the Suzuki harmonicas. Started playing these regularly a couple of years ago as I was impressed with the quality control. They were always in tune with the keyboard. However, the recordings of these harps was too harsh. Hohner harps have a warmer tone. Unfortunately, the quality control at Hohner has not improved over the sixty plus years I have been playing their harmonicas. The Christmas video was finally completed but was not the biggest youtube hit. Maybe next Christmas! The 'Washing Machine' videos did also not reach interesting numbers. The algorithms seem to be somehow biased towards the USA. About time Europe got its' software scene together.