in the 1990s, on the recommendation of peter erskine and john abercrombie, copland recorded with vince mendoza, in the process making the acquaintance of japanese producer takao ogawa. a few years later ogawa and copland bumped into each other in a new york studio, agreeing to meet to discuss recording possibilities. ogawa subsequently organized and produced "stompin' with savoy" (savoy), featuring an all-star quintet including fellow philadelphian randy brecker and bob berg. because of the limited distribution in the u.s. of his previous cds, this release effectively became copland's american debut. it garnered high praise in the american press, which cited his unique way of re-interpreting the standard repertoire, an approach which was widely copied by younger musicians later in the decade. the release led to three years of touring with the quintet in major clubs around the country. savoy recorded three other albums, as well as a fourth cd that was never released.