From joy to sorrow in a matter of hours. Mourning the loss of one of our Bay Area musical icons, maestro Mark Levine. His supreme touch and harmonic sensibility were endless sources of inspiration. I remember taking a private lesson with him when I was around 17…as intimidated as I was, he told me flat out there were no shortcuts; I would need to shed. Years later he requested my help with his groundbreaking first book, introducing me to his then publisher, Chuck Sher. That proved to be one of the pivotal moments in my career, for which I will always be grateful. Mark: thank you for lighting the way, and for sharing your love of music with all of us. I will treasure your memory always.