Hurry Home / Hall Sprague Quartet

"Hall Sprague is in a sense the patriarch of San Diego's jazz scene, for his sons Peter and Tripp are among the best known of the areas jazz musicians. Hurry Home is the sound of four friends having the time of their lives. Running through standards like "My Funny Valentine" (stunningly gorgeous acoustic intro by Peter followed by heartbreakingly beautiful solo by Tripp on tenor sax), it is the sound of love, of life, and of the music."
Jim Trageser
North County Times
December, 2004

My brother Tripp and I grew up in a house with jazz as the main event on the family turntable. Miles, Bennie Carter, and Stan Getz filled the air and our father Hall was playing the bongos along with these classic jazz sides. Tripp and I first played rock and roll but in high school we morphed our direction into jazz and it came to us naturally. It was in our blood, thanks to our Pop.

Over the years our father has been part of our various bands and in Blurring The Edges he is an integral component of the group. He's recorded on the groups 2 CD's and has played on all of the gigs. Tripp and I got to thinking how he's never had the opportunity to be the main cat on any of these projects so we set out to create a CD where he is the band leader, the composer, the whistler, and the visionary of the group.

Hurry Home is Hall Sprague's first recording under his own name and he explores the classic tunes from the Great American Songbook. I suggested he compose some tunes for the project and he came up with 3 cool pieces that make remarkable sense, especially coming from someone with no formal composing training. He's a natural! His tunes have sweet melodies and are fun to improvise on too.

The band consists of Tripp on sax, Hall on drums, myself on guitar, and bassist Bob Magnusson. Bob has been our favorite for years and is like a family member to us. Dad was thrilled to play with Bob and his trademark swing. We had a couple of good days recording and we captured Hall's classic groove on the drums and his unique whistling improvisation on Just You, Just Me. This cat has good ears!

So we're leaning into 2005 and feeling good about the state of jazz in the Sprague Family sphere. We're hoping you like this new recording.
Peter Sprague
November, 2004

Produced by Peter Sprague, Tripp Sprague, and Hall Sprague
Recorded at SpragueLand Studios, Encinitas, CA
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Peter Sprague
Photos, art direction, and design by Barbara Rix