Just days after the release of his latest CD In The Zone,  popular saxophonist Richard Elliot sat down with Smoothviews to discuss the new project as well as his touring schedule and insight into his playing and time off the road. After years in the music industry, it was good to get his perspective on where he is musically and with himself. The new music conveys what a perfect time this is in his life and how everything has come together for him.

Smooth Views (SV): Well the new CD is called In The Zone that just came out this week. Tell us a little bit about it.
Richard Elliot (RE): Well what I tried to do with In The Zone was basically call on my influences with different instrumental artists that influenced me growing up particularly during my formative years and my musical education which really was the ‘70’s and ‘80’s for me. What I did on my last CD Rock Steady was call on my influences in R&B music more kind of vocalist who influenced me.  Particularly I picked three cover tunes on Rock Steady which was Eddie Kendricks’ “Keep On Trucking”, “Move On Up” by Curtis Mayfield and “Rock Steady” by Aretha Franklin. Then I built the original tunes around those artists. Again for In The Zone it was sort of the flip side of that which was people like Bob James, David Sanborn, Grover Washington, Jr. and Ronnie Laws. These were all instrumentalists that really influenced me. It was really an amazing time the mid to late seventies for instrumental music. Because quite often you would hear instrumental artists getting air play on pop radio. It was fairly common, and these guys were great because they were able to sort of fuse. You definitely heard the jazz influence but you heard the R and B influence and they put kind of a pop kind of a finish around these songs and again would get on pop radio on a regular basis. You never felt like they were compromising what they did in order to get on to the radio. It just sort of happened. So what I wanted to do with In The Zone was kind of pay tribute to those people mainly with original material as opposed to cover material. I did do one cover song which was “Inner City Blues” which is the Marvin Gaye song. But this was more of taking after the instrumental version from the time which was by Grover Washington, Jr. So again I felt like I had to do this. This was something that was inside of me and I kind of wanted to get it out there. I should also add in terms of this project and influence that I was lucky enough to co-produce it with Jeff Lorber. Jeff is another pioneer from that time. He’s someone that I listened to a lot back then, and he was right up there with the rest of those guys. The fact is that we forged a friendship and have actually worked together quite a bit over the years. But this is the first time we have actually done an entire CD together. That was a great experience. I’ve always enjoyed working with him.

SV: Well tell us, how did you come up with the title, In The Zone?   
RE: You know, it was sort of an afterthought. We had already completed most of the material for the record. I just listened to it and reflected on it. It’s funny but song titles or album titles are the toughest part of the project for me. The music’s easy, the titles are hard. I was kind of reflecting on kind of where I’m at in a number of different areas of my life and just the fact that everything felt right on this CD. Almost a calmness although some of this material has an edge to it, some funk to it and all that. I kind of felt like everything was clicking, sort of working. I remember where my head was at when I started getting into the artists who influenced the CD. You know I was seventeen or eighteen years old and really felt like I had something to prove, almost kind of an angst, sort of a driven sort of feeling that you want to get out there and you really want to beat people over the head and make an impact. I still feel like I want to make an impact with my music but I don’t feel quite as compelled to beat them over the head with it. It’s not as urgent a feeling. Everything just sort of feels great right now, personally in my life, my family. I don’t feel like I have as much to prove musically. I just want to go out and make as sincere music as I can and then hope that the people respond to it and like it. It’s sort of like everything is working, and hitting on all cylinders. That’s where In The Zone came from. That’s what I consider being in the zone. Everything’s just sort of working. Feels right, feels good, and just kind of working. That’s where the title came from.

SV: That is awesome. How many CDs did it take to get to this point? (laughing)
RE: What is this? I think this is my sixteenth original CD, and nineteenth overall if I’m not mistaken. It’s amazing to look back at those and you’re not conscious of the years that have gone by and how many you have out there. I just kind of do it and then look back and go “whoa, wait.” I’ve been doing this a long time now.

SV: Tell us about “Boomtown”, is this the first single?
RE: Yes, “Boomtown” is the first single. “Boomtown” musically is a little different than any other song on the CD. But it still sort of follows the original inspiration for the CD over all.  It reminds me kind of like if I were to pick a particular artist from that period that we talked about in the late seventies I want to say sort of a David Sanborn type of tribute. A little more hard hitting, a little bit of techno in there, but definitely sticking to the jazz influence.  It’s a little retro sounding but with that pop finish to it. That’s sort of what “Boomtown’s” about musically.

SV: We talked a little bit about “Inner City Blues” it certainly has some major influences in it. Tell us how it came about. 
RE: “Inner City Blues” I actually started playing this song on a tour that we did a few years back called Groovin’ for Grover. Jeff Lorber was on that Gerald Albright and Paul Taylor and I started playing that song because it was one of the songs that Grover did, that did very well for him. After the tour I kept playing it just because I enjoyed doing it. I didn’t realize at the time that I was setting the stage for what I was going to do with In The Zone. Actually Grover’s version of that song was the first I ever heard. I didn’t hear the Marvin Gaye version until later. So my familiarity with song started with Grover. On Inner City and a lot of other songs, part of what helped me capture that feeling of the late seventies was in the arrangements, particularly the horn arrangements. David Mann is an incredible saxophonist, did all the horn arrangements for me and played on it too. He was able to kind of use instrumentation that was sort of more indicative of that time in contemporary jazz, using muted trumpets, bass clarinets, flutes and things like that. It adds more of that feeling of how music sounded back in that day by using those kind of voicing and that type of instrumentation in the horn section.

SV: That’s always been a favorite of mine as well. You start the project off with a catchy little number called “Island Style” that has classic Elliot written all over it. Tell us a little bit about that one.
RE: Most of the songs on the CD I started where Jeff Lorber put together some grooves for me then sent those to me and I would write melodies. This was one of the few songs that I actually started myself with kind of a groove, and I sent that to him then he embellished on it. It just had a very up and positive feel to it from the beginning. The reason we call it “Island Style” besides the fact it has kind of an “islandy” feel. One of my favorite places my wife and I go is Maui. The first thing when I played it for her and she said it reminded her of Maui a little bit. It’s sort of cruising along, kind of up feeling, and that’s where that came from.

SV: Sounds fun! Like it could take us away a little bit. The title track is a real fun one too. Tell us a little bit about that one.
RE: Well there’s actually three songs on the CD like “In The Zone,” “Panamera,” and another song called “Bring It.” They kind of represent a retro funk type of approach particularly from the period, where you’ve got the horns pumping and just have that driving beat underneath it but not over the top. To me that was the real trick. It bubbles. It’s got that consistent kind of funky drive to it. That’s kind of why it’s the title track. It’s sort of the flagship of the approach I wanted to take from that period, that kind of seventies period. It sort of rolls it all up.

SV: Do you have a favorite song yet?
RE: Wow, good question. You know it’s funny; “Boomtown” was my least favorite song. And when I say least favorite I mean it wasn’t the one I listened to over and over. Now I’m sort of getting into “Boomtown” because it is so different from the other songs. There’s a song called “Metropolis” that I’m kind of into right now which is a little more lowered keyed, it’s still kind of funky, still kind of grooves along, kind of bubbles but at a much lower level. It’s more like a simmer than a boil. (laughing) Again that instrumentation and the horns that I talked about with the flute and bass clarinet is really dominate on that song. So I’m going to say that’s my favorite right now.

SV: Good, we look forward to hearing that. Speaking of which, what’s in store for tours this fall?
RE: This fall I’m actually going to stay home. Spend the holidays at home with my family which I’m really looking forward to. Then when we start up the year, we’re working on a package for next year. I’m not sure what the makeup is going to be of it. This year has been tremendously fun for me working with Norman (Brown), and the year before with Rick Braun. Actually Rick and I have done things for several years in a row. He and I might get back together and do some stuff again. We’ve been talking about that. So we wanted to take a little bit of a rest because like three years in a row we were out together. We’re not 100% sure what we’re going to do next year.

SV: I’m sure it’s going to be good, whatever it is. May be you’ll start singing like he does. (laughing)
RE: That I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s going to happen. Rick can sing. I cannot sing.

SV: Speaking of which, you play one of the more memorable saxes out there. Do you get a lot of questions about your black and white sax?
RE: Yes I do. I just sort of fell in to that. The company that was making my horns at the time was L.A. Sax. They had this approach that they took and said guitar players shouldn’t have all the fun with crazy paint jobs and they figured out a way to do these kind of paint jobs on the horns without affecting the sound which is a big deal. Usually when you paint a horn it dulls the tone on it. They gave me a couple of horns with a couple of paint jobs. They just asked me one day is there anything special you’d like. It just came off the top of my head, “how about a zebra?” Sure enough a month later I got a zebra. I’ve been playing that horn for about twelve years now.

SV: Wow. Everybody knows it when they see it, and they know that’s you. You also incorporate the EWI (or Electronic Wind Instrument) into a lot of your shows. Tell us a little bit about and your experience with that instrument.
RE: Well I used to (way back like in the eighties) I played an instrument called a lyricon which was kind of the first electronic wind instrument made. The idea of marrying a horn to a synthesizer. So basically getting any sound a synthesizer can make get but with the phrasing and nuance of a horn. I played that for many years and the company went out of business and the people who made them and maintained them fell away and I had to stop playing it. Then the EWI came along, I started playing that but it didn’t feel the same as a lyricon so I put it down and I didn’t touch it for years. So about two years ago I picked it up again, I started playing it, started finding more of an affinity for it, and just started playing it again. I’ve been working it in to my show and it adds another dimension. There are a few guys out there who play them. I don’t think people are completely alien to it, but it is a little bit different.

SV: Well it’s always a show stopper when you bring that out and go up and down the octaves and use the voice and everything with it. It’s really unique.
RE: Thanks. It’s really fun to have a different dimension or form of expression.

SV: Speaking of which, over the years your music has seemed to have changed from faster playing/more intense to slower and intense on that end. Has that been a natural progression or something you’ve done on purpose over the years?
RE: That’s a great question actually. You know one thing I try not to do is censor what I’m doing and do it out of conscious thought and try to go in a direction that’s natural and organic for me. I think that sort of gets back to what we were talking about the title, In The Zone. I think as I have gotten older felt that there’s less to prove, and what’s the point anyway. Do your music and don’t do what you think people want to hear or what you think is going to work commercially. Just play your music sincerely. Then you hope people respond to it. Again I kind of feel like I play what I feel. If I feel like playing fast I play fast if I feel like playing slow I play slow. I guess that’s the direction it’s gone, trying to convey a little more emotion in the music. I’ve always tried to do that but less of the urgency or angst and more about the joy of making the music you know.

SV: It seems like it’s a lot more passionate and slower as opposed to things that you did back On The Town for example. “In Your Face” has always been one of my favorites and had the opportunity to see it live one time, I just had cold chills all over me. But do you see what I’m saying? There’s a major direction change it looks like in what you played then versus what you’re putting out now.
RE: Yeah. I definitely, I hear what you’re saying and I think you’re right and you know as to why, I couldn’t tell you exactly. It’s just to where things have gone. Who knows next year I may come out with “In Your Face II.” (laughing) Who knows!

SV: When you’re not recording or on the road, what are some of the things you enjoy doing, Richard?
RE: I mainly enjoy spending time with my family. We’ve got five kids and they range from age six to twenty one. So there’s never a dull moment in our house. I do a lot of things with them. I’ve been flying airplanes for many, many years. I like doing that. Taking trips with the family and just doing stuff like that.

SV: Wow, sounds like a full time job with just that. Well Richard, in closing is there anything you want to tell the fans out there?
RE: The fans are what make it possible. I’ve had a couple of questions in interviews come up and they ask about longevity, what do you attribute longevity to in terms of doing this for twenty five years? I told them, there are people out there that care enough to buy the music or buy tickets to the shows. So the fans are the reason that I’m able to do this as long as I have. That’s something I don’t take for granted. I’m very grateful for that. I know this sounds corny, but every time I get on stage I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do something I love. The fans are the reason for it.

SV: Well the fans are what make the world go round basically, and I’m sure your appreciation of them is well worth it. I just want to say thank you for your time today. You’ve been one of my favorite sax artists for years now, and I’m so happy with the new release.
RE: Hey, we really appreciate that, and thank you so much.

SV: We just want to wish you the best of luck from all of us here at Smoothviews.