Modica Music has released Bells… Now and Then, a remarkable musical collaboration featuring the veteran multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson and the accomplished fingerstyle guitarist Rob Piltch.

Available on all digital platforms, Bells… Now and Then is a reissue of their seminal 1982 recording Bells, bookended by two newly-recorded compositions.

42 years after the release of Bells, these timeless compositions have been remastered and released by the Modica Music label, owned by Toronto-born bassist-composer Roberto Occhipinti.

Magic has no jurisdiction or timetable. When it happens it happens. Such was the case when multi-instrumentalist-composer and seasoned jazz veteran Don Thompson got together 42 years ago in his Toronto home studio with a young fingerstyle guitarist named Rob Piltch.

Thompson, the maestro who also ingeniously engineered the session, ensured that the tape continued to roll, capturing moments of pure magic that would forever resonate. The result of their encounter was nothing short of fate.

The nine tracks created from their three separate sessions on September, 17th and December 3rd, 1981, and January 28th, 1982, became the cherished album, Bells, originally released on the Umbrella label. Fast forward to today, four decades later, these timeless compositions have been remastered and reissued as Bells… Now and Then.

1. Circles (5:37)
2. Caribe (4:11)
3. September (7:04)
4. Stratford Stomp (4:23)
5. Bells (3:38)
6. Suite: Kyoto (4:56)
7. Suite:Moon Dance (1:12)
8. Suite:Red Dragon Fly (6:14)
9. Suite:Nexus (4:28)
10. Suite:Chant (3:44)
11. Days Gone By (7:02)

This blissfully elegant new recording opens on the veritably translucent Circles (which itself alludes to the coming full circle of their collaboration here) and the playfully spirited Caribe and then proceeds to brings us the harmonious September and then we get brought forth the upbeat, feisty even Stratford Stomp.

Along next is the dulcet Bells and the Suite Quintet: the atmospheric Suite: Kyoto, and they are in turn followed seamlessly by the charmingly poignant Suite:Moon Dance, the languishing Suite:Red Dragon Fly (a poignant traditional Japanese number), the album rounding out on the jauntily ethereal Suite:Nexus and the retrospective Suite:Chant, closing on the ornately sculpted Days Gone By (previously recorded by pianist George Shearing).

“It was like time traveling,” said Piltch about reuniting with Thompson after 42 years. “And both titles of the new songs we recorded — “Circles” and “Days Gone By,” were relevant to me, for obvious reasons.”

Listening to the two newly recorded tracks in mid-September of 2023, it’s clear that Thompson and Piltch seamlessly resumed their musical journey, picking up right where they left off 42 years ago. “I think there’s a continuity in the way that we relate to each other,” said Piltch. “We never talk about what we’re going to play, we just play.”

Don and Rob have not only preserved the original nine tracks but they’ve also breathed new life into their collective magic by adding two freshly recorded tracks, Circles and Days Gone By to this musical legacy. These two new recordings perfectly complement the original tracks and continue the enchantment that began 42 years ago in Thompson’s home studio.

Don Thompson @ YouTube