Odyssey was my companion from age twelve through my early thirties. Then twenty years ago, the guitar was lost to me, believed to have vanished forever. But after twenty years, Odyssey miraculously emerged again like a Phoenix, and I was able to re-acquire it for a happy and unlooked-for reunion.

Our history together creating my best-known early compositions is remarkable. It was with Odyssey in a small village in France that I first improvised "Andecy". Later I recorded Andecy on this same instrument in San Francisco for Windham Hill's iconic Guitar Sampler album. Odyssey also journeyed with me to Spain, where I played "Sunburst" for John Williams — an encounter that became a pivotal moment in my life as a composer. While writing "Evening Dance" for Christopher Parkening, Odyssey would accompany me to Chris's home so we could play through the compositional sketches together . . . And when I recorded my first album Perfect Sky, this is the guitar whose voice is captured.

This instrument is more than wood and strings; with it, I composed all my early works, and it carries within it the resonance of all the music and remarkable encounters we shared. Odyssey was my companion and witness to music that has since traveled the world.