The improvisation of the Carries Fire sessions often starts with a motif created on the spot. This one, however, contains a musical motif that dates back at least to the Renaissance, and is probably much older based on its simplicity. It’s the motif in “Hit the Road Jack,” which is also referred to as “lament bass.”

The title of the album is a play on “lament.” First, lemon, then La Menta, which means “mint” in Spanish but also sounds just like “lamenta,” lament. So La Menta Limón, Lemon Mint, the flavor of a nice beverage, but with none of those ingredients, just music.

The cover lemons are taken from Cézanne, just because he was so good at painting lemons. The mint images are from old botanical drawings, so the entire image became a plate notating this new botanical musical creation.