After Lunch ~ Walter Ellison & Ray Mercer

*AFTER LUNCH — WALTER ELLISON & RAY MERCER* Chicago, October 1998. Two old friends, one empty recording studio, and an afternoon neither had planned. Walter "Walt" Ellison, 62, was a veteran Chicago pianist whose career stretched back to the South Side blues and jazz clubs of the 1950s. Raymond "Ray" Mercer, 56, was a seasoned drummer who had spent decades working the city's soul, blues, and R&B recording sessions. They had known each other since 1972, when they first played together backing a local soul singer. Over the years, their paths crossed in studios, nightclubs, and on the road. They were never a formal duo, just two musicians who understood each other. One afternoon in October 1998, they happened to be working on separate projects at Chicago Recording Company. Walt was recording keyboards in Studio A, while Ray was cutting drum tracks in Studio B. They ran into each other in the hallway and decided to go to lunch. An hour and a half later, they returned to the studio, still laughing about something that had happened over lunch. Studio C was empty. Ray noticed a drum kit already set up. Walt found a Fender Rhodes electric piano. "You got a minute?" Ray sat down and started playing. Walt listened for a few bars, found the groove, and joined him. No charts. No rehearsal. No producer. No discussion about what they were going to play. An assistant engineer, hearing the music through the open door, quietly started recording. What followed was an effortless musical conversation between two old friends who had nothing left to prove. The piano wandered, the drums answered, and somewhere along the way, the two found themselves making something neither had anticipated. When they finished, there was a moment of silence. Then Ray laughed. "Man, we should do lunch more often." The recording became known simply as *After Lunch*. A fictional musical history inspired by the spontaneous spirit of Chicago's great session musicians. Walter Ellison and Ray Mercer are fictional artists; Chicago Recording Company is a real recording studio. Released November 2026. Written and produced by AI&I – Roger Jacobs. © 2026 AI&I – Roger Jacobs / All Rights Reserved. #AfterLunch #JazzFunk #Rajaphonic