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If I Walked on Water opens with a playful song of courtship in the language of the King James Bible set to a gypsy jazz backdrop of clarinet, accordion and exotic percussion. Next on “It's Cold In Here”, The Thousandaires lay down their best shuffle, for a tale of long-distance love and we're off on a jovial journey through the Jazz Age and its varied musical children from Dixieland and Rhythm and Blues to New Orleans style funk and Cajun Country. In the spectrum of American songwriting we find, at one end, the simple elegance and sophistication of Duke Ellington, exploring the instrumentation and spirit of jazz, to the lyrical virtuosity of Bob Dylan, dealing in folk and blues traditions, at the other end. In between, we encounter a myriad of ways to split the difference, between Johnny Mercer, Ray Charles, and Dr. John. Musician and songwriter Ted Hefko is finding his own way to toe the line with wry lyrics that make sense when you write them down and plenty of live improv over a backdrop of stirring rhythms all with the optimistic spirit and the dogged determination that define America's musical heritage.

Egyptland is a collection of scenes and stories set in New Orleans, where saxophonist turned songwriter, Ted Hefko, made his home for some ten years. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a decade's worth of ideas began to fit together to personify a city and a period in the author's life. Recorded in an era when living room studios began to rival the fidelity afforded our favorite artists and works of yesteryear, each track on Egyptland represents a collaboration with a close friend or two in an intimate setting. The songs on this album are as varied as the sounds emanating from the myriad of storefront concert halls lining the way on an evening jaunt down New Orleans's Frenchmen street.