December 11, 2005
Interviewed by Bonnie Schendell
Jeff Lorber is an icon in the jazz fusion and smooth jazz genre. He
has worked with almost everyone there is. His latest CD, Flipside,
has just been nominated for a Grammy, and he continues to thrill
crowds with his unique and creative style. Jeff took time
out of his busy schedule to chat with SmoothViews.
SmoothViews (SV): With me
today is one of the most fantastic and well-known keyboardists
in the industry. He has been around for a long time
and created a ton of music in his solo career, as well as creating
with and producing for almost everyone else. Today, we
welcome, keyboardist, Jeff Lorber.
Jeff Lorber (JL): Thanks so much. Glad
to be here.
SV: Let’s
dive right in and talk about the success this year of Flipside. It
was just nominated for a Grammy. Congratulations!
JL: Yeah, how about that. I am
pretty surprised and excited. It’s great…a
very cool thing.
SV: It’s a great CD
and unique in a lot of ways. Tell me about the creation
of it.
JL: Well, I worked with Steve Dubin
who is a guy that I met about four or five years ago. I
started hearing a lot of stuff that he was producing, and was
pretty impressed by it. We got together and my last three
CDs were co-written and co-produced by Steve. One thing
that’s pretty ironic is that we actually grew up in the
same little village outside of Philly, a place called Cheltenham. We
went to the same high school and he was a year younger than
me. We never really knew each other from back there,
but we had a lot in common just being from the same area. Then
in the mid-80s to mid-90s, remixes were really big. Record
companies would hire people to do remixes and we were both
involved in a lot of production and remixes. We actually
worked on a lot of the same projects although not together. We
ended up having a really good chemistry and worked together
on the Kickin’ It and Philly
Style CDs. This latest record, Flipside,
is our third album and that’s a lot of music. Obviously,
each time you have to find a new approach and re-focus. Our
main idea with Flipside was to make
a record that people could play in a restaurant or a salon
and it would sound really fresh and really hip. A little
bit of electronic influence; a little bit of European dance
music. That sound is really modern and fresh. We
incorporated some of those influences on the record. I
think that gives it its unique sound.
SV: There seems to be a
lot of improvisation on this CD, too. Something not found
on past ones.
JL: Well, that is always important on
a jazz record. You want to feature that. If you’re
the artist, that’s how you really express yourself, especially
on the ballads, like the songs “Angel in Paris” and “By
My Side.” We’ll create a structure, chords
and a groove. Steve is really great at that. And
then I’ll just improvise on top of it and a lot of the
stuff that I improvise becomes the melody, and then we refine
that, or not. Sometimes the whole improvisation becomes
the melody of the song. On those two ballads it was like
my first take, my first impression of the song became the whole
thing that you hear.
SV: My favorite has got
to be “Santa Monica Triangle.” A very funky,
get up and dance track.
JL: Really? Wow. That’s
the one out of any of them that has the most of that Euro-beat
feel to it. It’s actually called a dance hall beat,
which is sort of reggae. There’s a lot of Reggae
on the album. “Sun Ra” is reggae influenced. “Ooh
La La,” definitely has a lot, too. The title “Santa
Monica Triangle” came from, well… we did a lot
of work both at my studio and at Steve’s studio, which
is in Santa Monica. There’s something about his
house where you can’t get cell phone reception. It’s
like the Bermuda Triangle. It’s like you’re
lost; you’re off the map when you go to his house. It’s
kind of nice because then you can’t be interrupted by
any calls!
SV: Let’s turn back
the pages a bit. Let’s talk about how things were
when you released your first album back in the 70s versus now.
JL: Back then technology was so different. One
of the main things that are affected is the fact that now,
with digital recording, you can record as many tracks as you
want. If you want to try something, you can record it,
and then undo it. Recording to tape, you can’t
undo. Once you record over something, that’s it. There’s
no undo button like on a computer program. So, in the
earliest days of recording, you recorded on a 16-track tape
machine. You wrote music, you got the band together,
rehearsed, went in and played. That’s a lot of
what you heard…the band playing in the studio. Kickin’ It and Philly
Style were actually recoded like that. We
put a fantastic band together and we went in and recoded, did
some overdubs and that was it. With Flipside,
we didn’t really do that at all. We built the songs
in the studio and brought each musician in separately. We
kind of crafted it that way. It was more of a sculpture.
SV: With musicians saying
that they send files back and forth these days, and sometimes
don’t even see each other, does that make the feel of
the recordings different?
JL: For sure. To be honest, having
the band in the studio is more fun. You create more quickly
and with a great band, the band has a great chemistry which
kind of transforms the music. Everybody interacts and,
hopefully, the sum is greater than the parts and you get something
great out of it. I love to work that way and I’ll
probably work that way again soon. But you don’t
have as much control when you do that. When you create
the music piece by piece, then you can really control it and
get exactly what you want. For this record, we were going
for something that was a little more synthesized and European
influenced. That’s why we approached it like that
and wanted to do something different. Even though it’s
not as much fun as getting the band together, it doesn’t
mean that the results aren’t as meaningful.
SV: You seem to have found
a good home with Narada Jazz. How is that going?
JL: I really like them. They’re
very unusual because they’re based in the Midwest. Most
music companies are based in either New York or LA. I
think because they are sort of removed and in this smaller
town of Milwaukee, they can better focus on the work and their
jobs. I think they do a terrific job of marketing the
records. It’s great to know that they’re
still into this music and they support it. Unfortunately,
there have been a lot of changes in this record industry. Many
companies have consolidated. A lot of the majors have
gotten out of the jazz area entirely. So, it’s
great to see they’re still in it. I hope they can
stick with it.
SV: Where
do you see smooth jazz radio going in the future?
JL: Well, it’s interesting if
you look at it as a business. As a musician, I look at
it as art. But there are two tracks. On one hand,
there is radio, which is doing quite well. I think a
lot of these smooth jazz radio stations are making money. They’re
getting advertisers. They’re getting good revenues
and are thrilled with what’s happening. And then
you have musicians and record companies, and they’re
not quite as happy. Partially due to radio, the live
part of the equation, going out on the road, is still doing
okay and there are places to play. There is still money
to be made in touring. But the record part of the equation
is more and more difficult because of piracy, downloading…there
is so much competition for people’s attention. You
have to compete against TV, movies, video games and pod casts. It’s
a modern world with everyone busy, so you are competing for
time. It’s not the simple world it was 20 years
ago when records and music were one of the few means of entertainment
you could spend your money on. It’s a new world
and we all have to try and figure out a way to rebuild our
idea of what this record business is all about. In the
meantime, I’m just thrilled that I got this Grammy nomination
and to be recognized by my peers. I am really looking
forward to going to the Grammy’s, which is such a fun
event. It’s great to see all of that talent on
stage…not to mention all the parties! (laughs)
SV: With the state of the
industry as it is, and schools cutting back on their music
programs, how do you think today’s youth will be inspired
to participate in music?
JL: It’s funny you should say
that because there was just a huge event here in LA called
Grammy Jam. It was this big concert designed to raise
money for music in the schools. I think that’s
what has to happen. Parents have to step in, along with
organizations like Grammy and NARAS, because it is so important
for kids to be exposed to music, music education and to have
a chance to learn to play an instrument. It’s something
that really enriches life. It’s the kind of thing
that really helps kids learn how to think. It’s
an important experience that can be good for you when growing
up. No matter what you decide to do, if you have some
talent in music, that is something you can enjoy for the rest
of your life. Whether it’s playing an instrument
or just listening, it’s just something to enrich your
life. It’s always important to encourage kids to be creative. Chris
Botti is one who always takes a few minutes out of his concert
to talk to his audience about bringing kids to concerts and
expose them to music. If people don’t do that,
where are the new John Coltranes, Thelonius Monks, and Miles
Davises going to come from? We need those people. Where
is the next John Lennon going to come from? Every musician,
when they were a kid, had to be exposed to music, and they
had to get very, very excited by something they heard to get
the motivation. It does take time; it does take work,
too, to play. It takes a lot of time, like when the other
kids are out there playing ball and you are practicing the
piano or trumpet! I grew up in a musical family. My
mother was a pretty accomplished piano player and every night
when I went to bed, I would hear her play. She played
beautifully. I had two older sisters who took piano lessons,
so in our house it was just sort of very natural to want to
be involved in music. I wanted to learn how to play the
piano just because I heard my mom playing and my two sisters
playing, and they looked like they were having a lot of fun. I
wanted to get in on the fun, too! (laughs) I had this
one cousin that was into jazz and had this great record collection,
like Coltrane, Monk…a lot of Bluenote Records. Horace
Silver. When I was about nine or ten, he gave me three
albums, a Thelonius Monk record, a McCoy Tyner record, and
an Andre Previn album. I just played those over and over
and over. I gravitated toward that cousin and jazz! That
helped me out a lot. The stuff on the radio was basically
Top 40 music and hadn’t heard any jazz other than the
records my cousin gave me.
SV: How
do you feel about the onslaught of cover tunes these days?
JL: I totally understand it. Radio
decides what to play based on their research. If someone
hears a song that they are already familiar with, you are going
to “research” a little better than with music they
are totally unfamiliar with. It might take longer for
the listener to get with that new song. I understand
it even though it is not something I have done. I haven’t
done a whole album, but have covered songs here and there,
but I think the main thing is that if you are going to do a
cover, it should be of something you really love and that you
can reinterpret. Bring something creative to it. If
you are going to do something that is arranged just like the
original, then why bother? You can just listen to the
original. I think Chris Botti did some terrific arrangements
of those standards, and that is something that works.
SV: You have collaborated
with just about everyone in the business at one time or another. I
know you are working with Michael Franks on his next release. Who
haven’t you
worked with that you would like to?
JL: I am working on a couple of songs
with Michael. You know, I have to admit, this long distance
thing…he’s living in Woodstock [NY] and I’m
here in LA…and we’ve been working over long distance,
it has it’s challenges. But Michael is such a great
talent, such a wonderful artist, that I am delighted to work
with him again. His writing hasn’t lost a thing. The
songs we are working on are really fantastic and I can’t
wait for the world to hear them. As for who I haven’t
worked with that I would like to, well, I mentioned earlier
the Grammy Jam I went to and I happened to have a chance to
hang out with George Duke. Wow, that would be fun to
work with another great keyboardist and collaborate. That
would be wonderful. There are some pop artists I like,
like Seal, Annie Lennox, Sting. I would love to work
with those people. I have worked with so many people
in the smooth jazz/contemporary jazz area. You know,
they call it smooth jazz as a radio format, but I tend to not
want to call it that for some reason.
SV: So,
do you lean toward calling it pop instrumental?
JL: I don’t know if I really like
that either! That’s what the Grammy’s call
it. I think contemporary jazz would be okay. It’s
modern jazz. There’s a problem with labels, I think.
SV: On the personal
side, I wanted to ask how you’ve been feeling these days
after last year’s kidney transplant.
JL: It’s been quite a year. I’ve
been doing okay. Thanks for asking. I was very,
very lucky and thankful for modern medicine and all the miracles
they can do. So far, so good. (knocks wood)
SV: So,
what do you enjoy doing when you have some time off?
JL: I’m sort of an information
junkie. I’ve just, sort of, always been a big fan
of the MacIntosh computers and like to learn about that. I
like to read about science and technology and spend a lot of
my time doing that. I like watching movies. I used
to travel a lot and still do, but used to travel a lot for
my own recreation. But traveling is not quite as much
fun with all the security and they’re always packed,
so I’m not doing that as much, but still enjoy it. It’s
nice to get away and see how other people live, like Europe
and Southeast Asia.
SV: Can
you tell us what’s
ahead for you?
JL: Well, as you mentioned I am working
on some songs for Michael Franks. I also finished some
tracks for Gerald Albright. I worked with Brian Bromberg
on a new record he is putting out that is basically a quartet
album. I am probably going to start working on a new
album in the next couple of months and I hope to be working
with Bobby Colomby, who worked with Chris Botti on these last
couple of records. So, I am looking forward to that.
SV: Jeff, I want to thank
you for your time. Best of luck at the Grammy’s
and with your future projects.
JL: Thanks for having me.
Visit Jeff's website at: www.lorber.com
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