“The Return of Ivan” features four new songs, plus four alternate versions of songs from last year’s full-length “Ivan Variations” album, to compensate for our being unable (or, if you prefer, unwilling, due to the pandy) to perform our usual Groundhog Day all-Ivan ceremony live this year, dammit! So sixteen songs, between the two releases, all fathered by one, a throw-away instrumental released on my 1998 solo album, both titled “Ivan in Paris”. Sometimes the lineage is easy to trace, involving little more than a change of rhythm; and sometimes it involves a thorough dismantling, as in our backwards and upside down versions from the original release, or in the addition of vocals and lyrics on several cuts (even I can’t remember exactly how “Eventually There’s A Rhyme” from “The Return…” related to the original, but I know it did!)
It’s the ultimate in deja vu, and it’s our way of wishing you and yours a happy and safe Groundhog Day!
The Return of Ivan