‘I’d always wanted to write a large-scale piece which had the structure of a symphony but wasn’t written for an orchestra and didn’t sound like ‘classical’ music. I’d been making sketches for years and I finally sat down and worked it all out. It wasn’t as hard as you might think, it was easier for instance than ‘Heaven and Hell’ because I didn’t have to write lyrics or sing. I suppose it comes across as a kind of jazz-rock symphony and some people have compared it to Frank Zappa’s instrumental stuff. I never expected it to have a big audience but I think it was successful on three counts; one, I think it holds up and works as a composition; two, I got some fantastic musicians to play it and they were extremely supportive (Terrence Blanchard, for instance, came up and hugged me at the end of the sessions, and Steve Vai became a friend) – and three, it won a Grammy, for Best Pop Instrumental Album, which is as good a category as any.’