“I’m not really one of those guys who like to be in the spotlight. I just like doing my job well. If it gets recognized, I’m grateful. All I want to do is keep doing a good job.”
For several years now, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the ultimate music vacation, a floating jazz festival called the Smooth Music Cruise. This cruise was one of several around featuring high profile smooth jazz acts at sea. While the headlining musicians and the fabulous ports were the main attractions, I was impressed by the members of the house band; those musicians who held it down every night for a week backing every headliner on board. Drummer Chad Wright was one of those musicians. Though Chad has been a professional musician for some time now, and has played with many artists, he did not appear on my radar until I saw him last year, and again this year on the Smooth Music Cruise. Smoothviews is happy to feature Chad Wright for this months’ On the Side.
Atlanta native Chad Wright began playing at a very early age. “I started playing at age two. My parents gave me my first [drum] kit when I was four. Then, I really got serious with it when I was seven. That’s when I think I got the bug.” Chad would listen and learn on his own before beginning formal lessons at around age seven or eight. From any early age, he knew what he wanted to do. He never deviated from that, except once, ever so slightly. There was a time in high school when he thought maybe he would go into medicine. “It was always in the back of my head, but at the same time, I just loved playing.”
While in school, Chad began playing other instruments as well. He grew up playing the piano, thanks to his maternal grandmother, who still plays, and encouraged all of the children and grandchildren to try and play. He also played the cello, trumpet, and French horn over the years. In fact, Chad counts the cello and the French horn as his two favorite instruments in the world to hear, but his least favorite to play. “They are challenging instruments. I was a small kid anyway, so the cello was a bit big for me to handle. And the French horn is a very temperamental instrument. You have to be spot on perfect when you hit all of those notes. And, it is a left handed instrument, and I’m right handed.” As if those are not enough instruments for one person to play, Chad also played timpani, marimba, and other related percussion instruments in high school and in college. He was even named first call sub for the Atlanta Chamber Orchestra on timpani. Chad has a twin brother who is also a professional musician. His instrument of choice is guitar. His brother works more in the pop genre. Chad attended Valdosta State University in Georgia as well as the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Chad considers Steve Gadd his favorite drummer and the reason why he reads music, and why he even plays drums at all. “Steve had a band back in the ‘70’s called Stuff, with Eric Gale, Richard Key, Cornell Dupree, and Chris Parker, another amazing drummer. They were one of the first bands I was aware of that had two drummers. Steve Gadd was absolutely amazing. That’s all I cared about. I wanted to play just like him, so Steve Gadd was definitely a major influence.” Chad also counts Rufus drummer J.R. Robinson and the late Jeff Porcaro, a founding member of the group Toto, as some of his favorite drummers. There were other musicians who influenced Chad, including the some of the obvious greats, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea. “There’s not anybody that I’m not inspired by, whether they’re a drummer or not. For me, I can learn from everyone who plays. I’m inspired by everyone.”
And that is the approach and the mindset Chad uses every time he plays because the process never stops. There is always something to learn. “Let me keep my ears open, keep my eyes open, and let me play for the music and for the inspiration. Let me try to make a fellowship out of this thing. Because the day you stop being a student, to me, is the day your career is over.”
Over the years, Chad’s has accumulated an impressive list of credentials. Smoothviews caught up with Chad while he was out with Keiko Matsui. He is a longtime member of Keiko’s touring band and considers this gig one of the highlights of his career because she was someone he was aware of while in high school learning what would become his craft. Another highlight for him was playing with Lee Ritenour. “That was a dream gig. It was so great because it was for me four days of straight learning, just turning on my ears and learning, talking, and listening. Lee’s totally got a knack for putting young guys in situations and bringing the best out of them.” Chad also played one of the very last shows of with Rufus and Chaka Khan. “That was great because it was the original line-up. I was really pleased to be a part of that.” He also played with Teena Marie and Rick James on their last tour together. On the pop side, Chad has been a part of all of the Disney High School Musical concert tours. “I’ve never been a part of a phenomenon like that at all. It’s like a Beatle-esque type of thing. That was definitely a highlight.” There are others that he’s played for including Eric Marienthal, Eric Benet, Michael Lington, Corbin Bleu, and Alan Hewitt.
Alan Hewitt chose Chad to be the drummer for the house band on the Smooth Music Cruises. This is a huge responsibility because the house band is required to back all of the headlining musicians whenever they played. For the 2009 cruise, Chad and the other members of the house band had to learn 115 pieces of music for all of the individual musicians booked to perform on the cruise. Let’s put this into perspective. Chad makes his living as a professional drummer for hire, so in addition to learning 115 songs, he’s still playing gigs and touring (locally, nationally, and internationally) with other musicians, working his family owned production company and maintaining his home life. In my opinion, that is no small feat.
The production company is a family venture with his wife, brother, and sister-in-law. Chad would like to spend a little more time working this side of the music business. “We’re looking to produce some pop acts. We’re trying some different things and different sounds in the pop genre. We’re trying to fuse the R&B pop sound with the rock sound. We’re trying to make these two worlds live together.”
Chad dream gig would be to play with Eric Clapton and with John Mayer. “They’re so soulful in their approach to music. With Eric Clapton being a blues man, it’s not about playing notes; it’s really about making every note that you play count. It’s about meaning what you say. And John’s the same way. I look at him a younger Clapton; doesn’t mind taking chances, doesn’t mind going against the grain and just doing something for personal soul satisfaction. Those are two gigs I would love to do.”
When not making music, Chad likes to play golf, (“I make a very poor attempt.”) and go to the park with his two year old. “It gets me out of the house and away from any work and I can focus on him.” He also likes getting in the car and driving through and around the hills of L.A. catching the wonderful sunsets.
As a sideman, Chad prefers to go unnoticed. He would prefer the emphasis to be on the headliner musician rather than on anything he is doing. “If you’re noticing me, I’m probably not doing my job. I would rather someone focus in on the artist and say that person was fantastic, and felt more sure that I had something to do with that. That means I did my job. I got the music out the way they needed it to get out.” And he does it every time. He gets the music out. However, try as they might, musicians like Chad Wright don’t go unnoticed. Because of his talent and work ethic Chad continues to work with some of the major talents in the genre and will for a long time to come.
Look for Chad on tour with Keiko Matsui, or perhaps cruising with the top down through the hills of Los Angeles.
