April 11, 2006
Interviewed by Shannon West
The last two years or so have been quite a whirlwind for Gerald
Albright. After falling in love with the Denver area, the
Los Angeles native relocated his family to Colorado. He signed
with Peak Records – his first experience with an independent
label. He toured with Phil Collins during Collins’ farewell
tour while continuing to tour as a solo artist and as part of the
Groovin’ For Grover tour.
He is also joining Jeff Golub, Richard Elliot, and Peter White
for this year’s Guitars
and Saxes Tour. During the recording of his new CD, New
Beginnings, he had a level of creative control
he has never experienced before, and the result is his finest
work. It’s
a CD that his fans will be as thrilled with as he is.
Family has always been the most important thing in Albright’s
life, and his fans and friends were saddened to hear that he lost
his mother in late March. Our conversation began on that
note.
Gerald Albright (GA): The
last few words that she told me were that she loved
me. There’s not much you can say
after that. So she’s with her Maker now. We had her funeral
on the 25th of March. Then I jumped right into work again. Getting
back into work and keeping myself busy helped.
SmoothViews (SV): Some people want to take a little bit of time
and others want to jump back in and immerse themselves in their creative work.
GA: Exactly. That’s really therapeutic for
me. I love performing and writing music. Over and beyond that,
music has been like therapy for me, and it takes me to a place that I love
to go. The addendum to that is that my mom would want me to get back
to work and take care of the family and do my thing, and that’s exactly
what I did.
SV: Tell me about the process of making this CD and why the title
is so significant.
GA: Out of the 12 CDs that I have made, this is
probably the most unique because New Beginnings is
directly reflective of some things that transpired during the
past year and a half. I moved to Castle Rock, Colorado from Los Angeles, where I was
born and raised and lived all my life. My family and I moved here last
year in February. So that was a step out on faith. My wife and
I were at a point in our lives where we wanted a change, and LA didn’t
feel the same now as it used to. I still love it for many things and
I still consider myself a west coast guy, but I was looking for something more. I
did a concert here a year-and-a-half ago and the gentleman I did the concert
for is a dear friend. I mentioned to him just in passing that I never
get a chance to see or capture the essence of Colorado. I come here to
do a show and I have to leave to go to the next city. He invited my wife
and me to stay for a few days, and said he would show us around. We literally
fell in love with it, so 45 days later the movers were driving up to the new
house that we had just bought. That’s part of the new beginning. The
other side of the coin is the fact that back in May of 2005 I signed with Peak
Records after being on the Verve Music Group label for three or four years. Prior
to that I was on Atlantic Records. This is the first independent label
I’ve been with, so it is a new beginning and a new experience. All
this music tells the story in both a vocal and instrumental way of where I
am in my life right now. Just very content. I consider myself
very blessed on various levels and that’s how we came up with all this
music.
SV: You said you had more creative control on this one that you
ever had before. In what sense?
GA: It’s been my experience with previous record companies
that everyone always wanted to fit the music into a little box of smooth jazz. As
radio play lists changed and got so much tighter, the labels and executives
started trying to get their stuff played, so their natural tendency is to fit
the music into this bubble that may be Gerald Albright or may not be Gerald
Albright. It was a breath of fresh air when I got to Peak and started
working with Mark Wexler, who is a long-time friend and definitely one of the
guys of wisdom in the music business. He said, “Gerald, I’m
not going to bug you on this record. I just want you to bring me the
best music you can bring me. I know your track record. I know you
will.” He said that as I submitted some of the tunes, they may
have some little footnotes or something, but he knew I could bring them what
they needed, and that’s why they signed me. When he gave me full
autonomy I said, “Now we can go to work!” I rolled up my
sleeves and went to work on this New Beginnings project. What
came out of it was a celebration of being able to do it this way, and at the
same time a release of the frustration involved with not being able to do it
that way on previous projects. That’s not to discount those projects,
because I consider them chapters of my life and where I was at that given point
in time. I think some great music came out of it, but when I finished
this one, and we mastered it, I told my wife that it just felt different. I
can’t put my finger on what it is, but it works and it feels like it’s
timely, and it’s something that really mirrors where I am right now.
SV: That’s exactly how I felt about it when I got it and
put it on in the car with no liner notes or press releases and just turned
it up and listened. It’s hard to pin down, but it’s like
a presence that has always been part of your live performances but more of
an undercurrent in your recorded work has come into full bloom on this one. You
stretched out, played loose and powerful and put in more improvisation than
is typically heard on a commercial smooth jazz release.
GA: That was one of the approaches that I took
to it. I
didn’t think “format” when I did the record. I knew
it would be conducive to the format once we finished it, but I wasn’t
thinking that I couldn’t play too busy in some part of a song or couldn’t
hit that high note and scream because that is beyond the boundaries of smooth
jazz. I just played what God gave me, and when you step out that way,
you can’t lose. That’s basically the whole premise behind
this project.
SV: You had established an identity with several hit smooth
jazz releases and then you did a live traditional CD in the early 90s that
actually had a version of “Georgia On My Mind” on it. How
did Live at Birdland West come
about?
GA: That project and Giving Myself To You,
which was the second traditional project I did, were statements
to let the industry and my listeners know that I love all different
types of music, and I like performing all different genres of
music. I’ve never been
one to want to be pigeonholed into one style of music. I was influenced
by people like Cannonball Adderley, Grover Washington Jr., Stanley Turrentine,
Ronnie Laws and Earl Bostic. I have that kind of stuff in me and I wanted
to get it out. Live at Birdland West and
the other traditional CD were reflections of that. I knew stepping out to
do it would be taking a chance, because it was separate from what people normally
know me to do, but I took the chance that my audience would come with me and
they did. That was a very successful record for me.
SV: You’ve brought certain elements of that into New
Beginnings too. Not in the sense that it’s
a straight-ahead album, but you are soloing more around the melody lines. It’s
more like you’re playing live.
GA: That’s what we tried to do, because we get such
a great reaction in a live setting. We wanted to bring that into the studio. This
is the first time I’ve ever used my road band to some degree in a studio
setting. I’ve always used the big name studio players, who are
great players and I love them. On this project, which I considered a
specialty project, I wanted to use the band that has been playing behind me
for years and knows me like the back of their hand. To bring that kind
of spontaneity to the studio could do nothing but uplift the record and raise
the bar in terms of some of the previous stuff that I’ve done.
SV: There is nothing here that would be too over the top for the
so-called average listener. Do you think there is a mindset in the industry
that underestimates the audience’s ability to be open to a broader range
of styles?
GA: I think we do. I think there are less pioneers in
the music industry who are willing to take the chance on new music. Everybody
is trying to chase the flavor of the day. I think the listening audience
is a lot more astute than that. If you put it out there in its purest,
most genuine and honest form, they will grab it like glue. They will
listen and reap the benefits of whatever that given music is. But if
you just play it safe and bring guys out who haven’t really done the
homework on a creative level, then it hinders the music and the ability for
the listener to get the real stuff. I look for players like Kirk Whalum. When
you hear him, you know where he’s been. Music is a language, and
through the horn or whatever your given instrument is, that is the medium by
which we translate what we have experienced in life. If you can’t
do that, then you’ve already lost the battle when you put out a record.
SV: The technology we have now makes it very easy to record an
album and make it available. Formula smooth jazz CDs seem to be easy
to put together because you can play some melodies over keyboard tracks and
loops. As an artist who has had a long recording career and continues
to raise the bar artistically, if you were going to advise a musician who is
beginning this journey and eager to put his/her work out there, what would
you say to him/her?
GA: First, you have to know that music is your
passion and not a hobby. It’s a lifelong commitment. It’s more
than just putting in a couple of hours on an instrument or writing an eight-bar
phrase and looping it, then throwing in some riffs over it. You really
have to take it seriously because people are listening. Music is life-changing. I’ve
gotten countless emails and letters saying that certain songs I did helped
to save a marriage or were used in a wedding. During the Persian Gulf
War, a guy wrote me to say that he had a gun in one hand and a walkman with
my tape in it in the other, and that was the only thing that kept him sane
out there on the frontline. When I hear things like that from people,
it lets me know that this is more than just plugging some notes in the computer
and spitting them out through the speaker. It’s about changing
lives. It is a universal language. For those who are starting out,
they have to know that because it is a commitment. It’s fun! When
I get onstage to play I feel like I’m in a candy store. I’m
jumpin’ around, I’m bonding with my band, and wherever the moment
takes you you’ve just got to run with it. At the same time, I’m
mindful of the fact that somebody in the audience may be dealing with something. They
may need that concert to make them feel better. If I make one person
in that flood of 5,000 people change their life or make them feel better, I’ve
done my job. I think that’s the most important thing. After
that you have to be as unique as possible. Use the masters and the music
they have left behind to see where the music goes, but after that you have
to put your own ingredients in it and make your own fingerprint within the
music. At that point people know who you are. The greatest thing
for me after so many years is for people to tell me they heard a few notes
of a song and immediately knew it was me. There are a plethora of sax
players out there who are working on having their own sound, so when someone
tells me they knew it was me, that’s what we live for!
A few days ago I was playing a venue in Texas and there was a
little kid who played saxophone. He couldn’t have been more
than eight years old, and it was like he saw Santa Claus. Even
at his age something hit him, and I saw it in his eyes. I
don’t know what I did or what the other musicians did onstage
but he was pumped! It looked like he was ready to leave the
concert and go home and practice because he was so inspired. That’s
the kind of stuff that keeps me going! I’m getting
ready to do a career day at my son’s high school. I’m
really excited about it because, at the age of 48, you start to
think about who is going to be the next in line. Who is going
to be the next Herbie or the next Miles? At a certain point
in my career I’m going to have to release the torch and give
it to somebody else, so my feeling is, “Who am I going to
inspire today? How can I help to plant those seeds?”
SV: In your liner notes and onstage you often talk about your relationship
with God. How has your faith influenced your music?
GA: It’s what drives me. I’m
sitting in the passenger seat. It is driving the vehicle.
Wherever the faith takes me, that’s where I go. That
is reflected in my music. That
is reflected in the move I just made. If you said something
to me two years ago about relocating, I would have said absolutely
not. Then something
hit me that was literally a calling that I needed to be here
for something. Since
I moved here things have started happening and opening up. Ironically
I’m geographically away from the music business. I’m
just going along with faith right now. Faith has been the
driving force behind everything in music for me. It was
faith that allowed me to do my first demo tape back in the early
80s. When I graduated from college with a
business degree and a music performance minor, it was faith that
said, “You
don’t want a desk job. You want to go on the road.” When
you put it out there like that and you’re in the Los Angeles
area, it’s
a crapshoot because there are a lot of guys going for those few
positions. It
was faith that got me through that. There were times in
the early days when I didn’t know where the rent was coming
from, but when it was the 29th and the rent wasn’t there,
there was always a call that came in on the 30th and provided
enough money to tide me over until the next month. I
was a family man playing in clubs for $50 here and $75
there. That
was faith!
SV: For awhile you were doing Groovin’ for Grover, touring
as a solo act, and you were a part of the big Phil Collins farewell tour. How
do you juggle so many different things?
GA: You just look at the calendar and get real
creative. Fortunately
things just kind of worked out. It’s that faith thing again. It
lays it out like it’s supposed to be. Sometimes I will have some
schedule conflicts and have to work it out. I’m going to be doing
three, if not four separate tours between now and the end of the year. I’m
just going along for the ride, and when my manager calls and says we’ve
got more dates that look like they’re going to work on the schedule I
pack and go do them and just keep it going.
SV: You’ve been collaborating with Jeff
Lorber since the Jeff Lorber Fusion days. How did you start working together?
GA: I joined his touring band when Kenny G left. A few
years ago, when I joined Chapman Management, Jeff was also one of their clients. So
along with our friendship, we now have a business relationship. We did
some touring and that led to him doing some production and co-production on
my last three projects. I found a person in the industry that I have
a real strong musical marriage with. When we compose it just kind of
flows. We know our strengths and we don’t override or overlap one
another. We do what we do and this wonderful music comes out. He
has a real keen ear and intuition for the ways of radio and for pushing the
envelope to the point where songs have more energy and depth but are still
adaptable to the smooth jazz format.
SV: Were you involved in the inception of Groovin' For Grover or
did Jeff start the ball rolling and then contact you?
GA: I was involved in the inception. I did the very
first one in Cleveland at the Palace Theatre. We thought it would be
a one-time thing where we could do the show and donate the proceeds to the
Grover Washington Foundation; it’s called the Protect the Dream Foundation. After
we did that show, it spread like wildfire. All the promoters started
coming to the table saying they wanted it.
SV: How did you pick the songs?
GA: It was hard! Grover had so many hits. We had
to go with the obvious ones like “Mr. Magic,” “Black Frost,” and “Winelight.” Over
and beyond that we had to find a barometer of what the people would want to
hear. Everybody came to the table and talked about the songs they liked. From
those songs, we developed a master list then decided which songs to play. It’s
been over three years, and it’s become an annuity. We’re still
donating proceeds to Grover’s foundation, and we stay in touch with his
family. It works well to uphold the legacy of a great man in the music
and away from the music. I love Grover. He’s a dear friend
and I miss him wholeheartedly. To be able to be one of the chosen people
who have a part in keeping his legacy alive is the greatest compliment for
me.
SV: What are your plans for the rest of the year?
GA: I’m going to be touring behind New Beginnings. Kirk
Whalum and I are going to do some dates. We did Berks Jazz Festival and
stemming from that there has been a lot of buzz created, so we have some dates
already scheduled. Guitars and Saxes may have around 50 dates lined up
before we get through. It’s going to be a lot of fun. And
there’s Groovin’ For Grover with Kirk Whalum and Jeff Lorber. So
there are three or four tours intermingled throughout the year and it’s
working well.
Visit Gerald Albright’s website at www.geraldalbright.com
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