November 16, 2006
Interviewed by Shannon West

In the mid-70s a new type of adult oriented music was emerging and Warner Bros. records was cultivating and nurturing it. The artists who were creating it put a jazzy spin on pop, rock, R&B, and even folk. Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carly Simon, and Carole King were adding electric guitars and saxes to their previously acoustic settings. Names like David Sanborn, Larry Carlton, Joe Sample, Hubert Laws, and Lee Ritenour were popping up all over the liner notes. Jazz guitarist George Benson started singing and ended up on the pop charts, Al Jarreau was (as a press release said) “finding still more places for the human voice to go.” Flora Purim hooked up with Earth, Wind, and Fire, Randy Crawford with the Crusaders. The lyrics were smart, the melodies were catchy, and the instrumentation was decidedly jazzy. Michael Franks was right in the middle of it with the release of his jazzed up and lyrically clever The Art of Tea. He has managed to maintain the same level of uncompromised artistry over 30 years. His latest release, Rendezvous In Rio, captures the essence of that place where progressive adult contemporary and contemporary jazz intersect. It was fun to talk to him about those heady days when a lot of the artists who defined the genre were starting out and hanging out, and how he has continued to keep that thread of originality alive in his music to this day.

SmoothViews (SV): Around the time your first major label release, The Art of Tea, came out Warner Bros. was becoming this hotbed of innovation with a new kind of adult-oriented music emerging. Tommy LiPuma was bringing in people like you, Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, and George Benson. You had Sanborn, Larry Carlton, and Joe Sample and Wilton Felder from the Crusaders playing on your major label debut. What was it like to be a part of that?
Michael Franks (MF): It was like wish fulfillment in the extreme. I made a record before I signed with Warner Bros. that came out in ‘74. It was for a little satellite label under the Buddah group. I was still teaching part-time and I wasn’t sure I could make a living as a songwriter or a singer. That album was a great experience and actually Tommy, Al (Schmitt) and Mo Ostin at Warner heard some of it because it did get some airplay. I worked on a movie at Warner between that first album and signing with the record company. I signed in ’75 and recorded The Art of Tea even though it wasn’t actually released until the next year. In the interim I wrote the music for a film at Warner Bros. Pictures and the guy who was the head of music for the movie studio introduced me to the people at the record company. I had an acoustic guitar and played a few tunes and they asked me if I’d like to sign. I sort of got hooked up with Tommy. I met Al Schmitt sooner. He actually came to my apartment and I had played him some songs.

SV: So this major label executive actually just comes to your apartment?
MF: Yes! I forget exactly how I met him. I was teaching a class at UCLA extension that was sort of the history of popular song and I met some really good musicians that way. I guess it was through one of those contacts that I met Al. I had this miserable little apartment in Venice, California (laughs) and he came over. He was really instrumental in getting me on the label. I got some tunes together and I didn’t really have anything to record on, so I did all that stuff in this very kind of naïve way and I’d just go to Tommy’s house and play them as I finished them. He asked me who I would like to have for the rhythm section if I could have anybody I wanted.  I said I really liked the Crusaders and the LA Express. I really liked their drummer, John Guerin, and I’d met David Sanborn and Michael Brecker, who was only 20 or something at the time. Tommy called me back a few hours later and said we were all set and we were going to start recording in two weeks. I asked him who we got and he said he got all those guys I wanted. I began to feel the perspiration in my palms (laughs) that I was going to be there with all those great guys. It was a magical kind of thing when we got in. I’d take my acoustic guitar in and just play them a tune sitting on the piano next to Joe (Sample). I did meet with Larry ahead of time. He had some great ideas and he sketched some things out before we actually got in the studio. We recorded all those rhythm tracks in 12 hours! We got all the rhythm tracks done in two three-hour sessions and one six-hour session which was phenomenal.

SV: Had you met Larry Carlton before?
MF: I went over to his house and played the songs for him and he did make some “road maps” that were very helpful. I think we changed about half of it when we got into the studio, but at least it was something we could look at. So much of it really just happened on the fly. I instantly bonded with John Guerin. I had actually hung out with him a little bit because Tom Scott was very kind to me when I first started and invited me to some sessions that he was doing. Whenever there would be an interesting session he would sneak me in if he could. I was teaching at night and working as a house painter in the daytime. I was making about three times as much painting houses as I was teaching! I would leave my house painting job to go to a session. I’d call in sick for that (laughs). I’d met David before too. He was working with people like Paul Simon and James Taylor. He introduced me to other players, too, and it was great to segue out of the academic life and feel like I could make a living playing music.

SV: How did you get into the academic life in the first place? And being a house painter and a professor is quite a combination.
MF: Well, you can’t make any money teaching at the university level unless you’re tenured. I started teaching by default really. I got interested in music in high school and I made a little money doing some gigs in college. I met this guy who was a much better musician than me and we started doing gigs together around the mid-60s. He taught me a lot of stuff; in fact, I thank him on the Anthology CD. He could play anything – piano, bass…pretty much anything.  We were doing standards and some of the Jobim songs.

SV: You actually flew down and worked with Jobim on your second album. How did you connect with him?
MF: I did something that I actually I couldn’t believe I was doing it when I was doing it. I was in Tommy LiPuma’s office at Warner’s and he was on the phone with somebody from New York. I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation, and they were talking about re-signing Jobim. He had been on Warner’s and I think he had been on Verve but he was unsigned at that point. I heard Tommy talking about going to New York to meet with Jobim. When he got off the phone, I said I was really sorry for eavesdropping but if there was any way I could meet Jobim I would do anything. I said I’d pay for the travel myself and hang out and as you’re walking out of an office or a restaurant or something I’ll be on the street and just please introduce me. So he says “come with us” and invites me to stay with the Warner Bros. people. I spent about three days in some really nice hotel and I got to be there for everything that happened and all these meetings. It was mostly just social and fun. It was a state of shock and awe for me to be around these people. One time we went with Jobim to the Village Vanguard to listen to Bill Evans. After his last set they decided we would all go to Jobim’s apartment.  I was talking to Bill Evans – I couldn’t believe I was talking to Bill Evans – and he gave me a ride, which was pretty amazing. While we were there Tommy played the rough mixes of the Art of Tea for everyone in the room. Jobim said he liked the songs, and one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever gotten is that as he was walking through the room to go use the facilities I heard him kind of absentmindedly humming “Eggplant.” That’s like the ultimate rave review for one of your heroes to be humming your song!  I decided to stay in New York, so after the Warner’s people went back I got into a cheap hotel and stayed another week. I got to spend some more time with Jobim and he was really sweet, kind of paternal. He said I should come down to Rio to do some recording. So that’s how we got headed down that way in summer of ’76 when we recorded Sleeping Gypsy.

SV: That’s just amazing to have somebody that you’ve admired and then you get thrown into the same milieu as them, especially so early in your career.
MF: I was really so fortunate in this regard. I always loved Peggy Lee. After I made The Art of Tea and I was getting ready to go on the road, I worked with this great guitarist named John Pisano who was going to put a band together for me. I was completely green then. I’d worked as a duo and a solo, but I’d never thought of a band or anything like that. He was Peggy Lee’s musical director and he played some of my stuff for Peggy. Then he asked me if I’d like to meet her. We went up to her house one afternoon and it was just phenomenal to meet her, to meet someone I’d just idolized. Over the years I was blessed to get to know Peggy and correspond with her. She recorded one of my songs which was a thrill, and I got to have her on one of my records so I actually got to know her from that point on, which was amazing.

SV: That’s an amazing collection of serendipities isn’t it?
MF: It really is. And it’s the same with Astrid Gilberto, and over the years so many people that I idolized. And in the case of Jobim, who as a composer and a songwriter I still feel is unrivaled.

SV: Your second album was very much under the influence of Jobim. Then later you segued into hooking up with Becker and Fagen from Steely Dan, who were really doing some innovative stuff bringing jazz influences into rock.
MF: That was quite a bit later. I met Donald before I met Walter. I met Donald through Rob Mounsey who produced and arranged three records for me.

SV: Mounsey has worked on so many influential albums and some of his stuff has that same quirky humor that Becker and Fagen have.
MF: I really was impressed with him as a player and as an on-the-fly kind of arranger and how he comes up with ideas. He played on Objects of Desire. That’s how I met him. He did some great arrangements for Steely Dan and for Arif Mardin. He introduced me to Donald and Donald showed up the day I was doing vocals. I met Walter originally in the studio when I was working on Tiger in the Rain and they must have been working on Gaucho. We met briefly, but I didn’t get to know either of them until later. Walter had made a few records as a producer when he was starting to work on Blue Pacific.

SV: Was it not until Blue Pacific? Because there seemed to be that influence on Skin Dive and Camera Never Lies.
MF: I think we always used some of the same players and I probably thanked Donald for stopping by on the liner notes.

SV: You’ve recorded with top name musicians from just about every facet of jazz music, from traditional, to smooth, to jazz-rock, international, progressive, you name it, and you’ve come up with this kind of genre busting hybrid that seems to take the elements of what they do and put it in the context of your music and make it all fit together.
MF: I was really lucky. Even a record like the one I thought of when you mentioned Ron Carter, Kenny Barron and those guys, Tiger In The Rain, that one actually made it onto a pop chart that Rolling Stone had. Back then radio was more open so people got to hear more types of music.

SV: As a songwriter you’ve always been an original and the quality of your songwriting has been so consistent. You’ve put words together to nail down atmospheres and feelings. It’s really present on the new one too.  How do you maintain that quality?
MF: (Laughs) That’s the question! It’s just mysterious. I’ve slowed down obviously, compared to those early albums. I was at Warner’s for 24 years and I think the first 10 or so I was doing a record almost every 18 months or so. Over the last 10 years I’ve slowed down.

SV: Well it’s harder to get something released now and after it’s out you have to nurture it so much and be so proactive just to get it heard.
MF: And even if it does well it’s so different. My wife and I were saying how lucky we were that we were youthful and more active during the period when you could actually make a great living at doing music. This new record, much to my concerned chagrin, debuted at #4 on the Billboard contemporary jazz chart and didn’t stay very long. They used to hold things back. You wanted to come on lower then climb. I’ve been very fortunate, though, because my fans have been really loyal and they buy the music and support me.

SV: You’ve managed to maintain the same kind of musical and lyrical sensibility that you had back at the beginning when originality was something to be cultivated. It’s as present in the new one as it was back then, but now the music business culture has made it hard to maintain an original vision. It’s hard to do that. Maybe living up there away from the industry hotbeds has been a positive thing.
MF: I think it has been. The early success I had was really great because it encouraged me to follow my own vision, to stay in the direction I was headed in, which was kind of being a man without a category, that kind of thing. In the beginning Warner’s had no idea what to do with The Art of Tea. The reason they sat on it for several months before they released it was that they were waiting to get some other records together which they also didn’t really understand how to market. Their first George Benson was in there, I think, and some others. I believe having that enthusiasm at the early stages was a real vote of confidence, so I was able to kind of continue in my own direction. I did explore some different sounds and things, a little more pop and R&B.  One Bad Habit got a lot of airplay on WBLS, the big R&B station in New York City. Frankie Crocker was playing it. It comes down to a lot of things and it really helps to work with great players. I always enjoyed the enthusiasm of great players and great arrangers. Now there’s a kind of shorthand with people I’ve worked with so much over the years like Jeff Lorber, Jimmy Haslip, and Chuck Loeb. When you have that kind of continuity it makes things easier.

SV: What was the genesis of Rendezvous In Rio?  It’s so off the beaten path to come out with a collection of original songs that have such a contemporary jazz/progressive AC sounding project.
MF: I felt like I wanted to do another record and sit down and write again. I wanted to get in the studio with other players and work with my friends. After my short career at Windham Hill jazz, I decided I wanted to make my own records and then lease them instead of signing with a label. Ironically, when I made Watching The Snow I ended up licensing it to Warner Brothers because it came out on Rhino. When it came time to do this one I met with a few companies. I record for Columbia in Japan and they’ve been really kind to me. They gave me some money upfront that got me started. I felt it would be an interesting way to proceed.

SV: You had your core group on there, too.
MF: I did. And I worked with Romero Lubambo and his bassist. Between having them and Café, the great percussionist, we really had that Brazilian thing.

SV: I think Eric Marienthal did some of the best soloing I’ve heard from him in the studio in a while. He really cut loose.
MF: So did Gary Meek.

SV: Then you had some of that vibe from your mid-80s albums going on “Scatsville.” “Hearing Take Five” is another example of how you can pin down a moment and a feeling lyrically. “The Critics Are Never Kind” is a song from a musical you wrote over 10 years ago. How did you decide to bring that one on here?
MF: We’re trying to get organized to do an album that would be mostly tunes from the show.  I thought Robbie Dupree’s voice would be great for the Gaugin part and I might sing a more minor role.

SV: It was a surprise to see his name again and he sounds wonderful.
MF: He’s actually a neighbor of mine.

SV: You wrote “Songbirds” as a tribute to another singer-songwriter, Randy VanWarmer and it has one of my favorite lines: “What divine musician tunes the heartbeat of the songbirds?”
MF: I got to know Randy because he lived in Woodstock and actually we got together because the same guy cleaned our chimneys. Our chimney sweep introduced us. We became friends and it was great to know another songwriter and share stories. I actually got to spend more time with him when he moved to Nashville because I got involved in a few projects that were taking place down there. It was such a shock when he passed away. He was so young, and he and John Guerin died within four days of each other.

SV: One of the constant threads in your songwriting has been not just your ability to create a sense of place, which you do so beautifully on this CD, but also threading in references to art, music and literature. I think you’re one of the few songwriters who have done this effectively. How did this come about?
MF: I’m not sure. I guess it’s maybe spending all that time in graduate school and being familiar with all that stuff. I still read a lot. I still enjoy the same writers I always liked. I read everything from every period so I guess it’s kind of smoldering in the background.

SV: Your last CD was a celebration of winter.  The first two songs on this one are about escaping the winter.
MF: I wrote “Rendezvous in Rio” really early in the process then “Under the Sun” was written just as we were finishing up. I was hoping to finish the record in mid-January and head down to Sanibel. I love the winter until about January 15th. (laughs) I think we finished in the middle of February, so by early February when I wrote that I was thinking about how much I wanted to head south and the song just sort of appeared.

SV: It can bring that warm weather vibe to people who are stuck in winter places for the next few months. You’re going to be part of a holiday tour in December with David Benoit, Kirk Whalum, and Jonathan Butler. What are you going to be singing?
MF: I’m doing three songs from Watching The Snow and one song I recorded with David years ago, “Christmas Time is Here.”  Also “Let It Snow” which I recorded for a holiday compilation for the Special Olympics called the Jazz Noel. So I’m doing five tunes.

SV: Before I let you go I want you to talk about something that is really near and dear to you, and that’s your involvement with Hearts United For Animals.
MF: It started when we had a lapse between when we had to have our dog put down and we were heartbroken over that and not sure about adopting a dog for a while. Then we saw some Dachshunds and I remembered growing up around them and from what I remember they had the most incredible personalities. Someone suggested we go online and look up breed rescue organizations and we ended up looking at the HUA site and found our dog Flora. We got to know the people who run the organization and it’s been great because I’ve been able to get some things to sell online and donate the money from that. Now we have some nice swag type stuff with a company called Café Press and we give all of that to HUA. We’ve turned people on to HUA and we met the people who adopted Flora’s mother. It’s been a really nice relationship. I’m trying to put together a benefit concert for them.

SV: So that’s a great idea for holiday gift giving.