January 2004
Interview by Bonnie Schendell
Michael Lington gave up the clarinet as a teenager, and switched to the sax after hearing musicians like David Sanborn and John Coltrane. He left his home in Copenhagen, Denmark with dreams of hearing his own music on American radio. His breaks came during tours with Randy Crawford and Bobby Caldwell.
This year he released, Stay With Me, his fourth CD and debut effort on the Rendezvous label. He was a featured artist on tour with Brian Culbertson, appeared as a guest with Dave Koz, and wowed crowds everywhere. Recently, Michael took some time out of his hectic schedule to talk with SmoothViews.
 SmoothViews (SV): We are talking today with one of the brightest stars on the smooth jazz sax circuit, Michael Lington. Michael, how are you?
Michael Lington (ML): Fantastic!
SV: It has been quite a year for you professionally. Signing with Rendezvous; playing about a million tour dates with Brian Culbertson; a dynamite CD; two singles; playing at the royal wedding; and the Tivoli Gardens celebration. I’m tired just thinking about it! What’s it been like?
ML: Well, just about that. It’s been very, very busy. It’s been quite a terrific year for me. My signing with APA [Agency for the Performing Arts] has certainly been a big achievement and I am looking forward to next year to continue building. I kid around, but it is really quite serious. This last year has been more effective for my career than my previous five! I didn’t plan it that way; but you know it just takes time for the moon and the stars to align and make the right decisions. It’s just little by little, no giant leaps, just little steps one at a time and somehow you end up getting to your destination.
SV: How did the relationship with Rendezvous come about?
ML: Well, basically, I was going to move on from Three Keys, and I had another record label interested, which is a fantastic label. But I was really interested in talking to Rendezvous for my Everything Must Change record. But when we were doing that record… this was right after my label before Three Keys, this was Samson. We started the Everything Must Change record for them, and that company kind of dismantled in the middle of my project. So, I made a deal with them and bought back four masters. Four songs off of Everything Must Change. They ultimately became my demo that I shopped around and got a new deal with. We had played them for Rendezvous at the time and they were very, very interested except that they were just starting out and hadn’t gotten set up as far as distribution and financing yet. So they weren’t really doing anything at that moment in time. And I didn’t have the luxury of waiting an undisclosed amount of time, whether it was six months or a year. So that’s how I ended up signing with Three Keys. But then, after the Everything Must Change record, I had this other offer, and I knew I wanted to talk with them [Rendezvous] before I made any deals. And I went in there. Actually I started recording the new album… a couple of songs, and proceeded ahead like I was making the record. I knew I had a home, so I was going to make the record basically on my own dime. The first two songs were “Show Me” and “Appassionada.” I went to Chicago to mix them, and when I got back from mixing them, I went in there and played them for them. I think I could tell that they liked them very much (laughs). There’s a lot to be considered when you sign an artist, you know. So, basically, I think what they did was… I was in a time crunch because I needed to get this record finished. This was in the beginning of December last year, and I was in a time crunch because I was going out on this national tour with Brian, and I wanted to have a product to go out on the tour with. Otherwise it wouldn’t make a lot of sense because the year before we toured on Everything Must Change, and so this year [with] me being a featured part of the bill and going out and promoting an old record, didn’t really make a lot of sense. So I wanted to have the new record. Knowing that I was in a time crunch, and that I had another offer, I was looking for an answer pretty quickly from them. I think they asked me when I was looking to make a decision, and I think my answer was tomorrow! (both laughing) And this was when they proceeded to ask my manager if I had considered taking acting lessons! I thought that maybe that was a little rough, but, oh, well…! But anyway, they came back after FedExing the proposal to Dave, who was on his Christmas tour at the time in Florida. The next day they called and said they were going to make me an offer. So, I ended up calling the other label and told them that I wasn’t going to be able to do the deal and that I’d be signing with Rendezvous.
SV: How did you and Brian Culbertson originally get together?
ML: We met a few years earlier at the release for my Vivid album. He came down to my record release in Santa Monica for the record label, Samson. He came down, we hung, we talked and I told him that maybe for the next album we could work together and he said yeah, he’d love that. And that was for Everything Must Change, and we worked on two songs for that. They were the first two songs from that album. That was about six months after the record release for Vivid. Then about six months after that, he asked me if I would go out on the road with him. The following year he said he had a proposition that if he put me as part of the billing, would I consider doing another year with him. That’s when I knew I needed another record.
SV: You and Brian seem so in tune with each other… great chemistry on stage and in the studio. Do you see yourself working more with him down the road?
ML: Oh, yeah. I’d love to. Brian is a very, very talented guy. And he’s very young, which is pissing me off! (both laughing) And he is so good. Just kidding, but the reality is that for his age, for any age really, but for his age, it is really remarkable that he is really, really musically mature. His sense of composing… which he and I are having a lot of fun doing… a lot of give and take, a lot of collaboration when we write. I write other songs where I never see the other person before the song is finished. With him and me, it’s back and forth getting together physically. Just working until we both are completely happy.
 SV: What was the touring experience like with Brian and the band?
ML: It was great. Brian just understands what it takes to put together a good song, a good record, or a good show. He just has a good understanding of all of these factors. I respect him very much as a musician, composer, producer and a person. I’d love to work with him again.
SV: Life on road can be interesting. Besides touring with Brian, you did some guest spots on the road with Dave Koz this summer. Any favorite road stories?
ML: I did about 12 shows with Dave. And I also did about 15 or 18 of my own show dates, so there is a lot to grab from. The latest road story happened on Dave’s tour. It was a little run where I played with him in Kettering, Chicago and one other place. And, this was the first time I was getting on the bus with them. Anyway, we were all hanging on the bus and, you know, there are bunks on the bus. And from my old days on the road, whatever bunks were available, meaning if you didn’t have your bags on it or your name written on a piece of paper, they were available. I guess that, well, I didn’t realize… but I didn’t really want to sleep in a bunk, so I went to the back of the bus, but I grabbed a pillow from one of the bunks and went to the back of the bus and slept. The next day when we woke up in a new city, I get a call from Dave, and he says, “Michael, I just got off the phone with Stevo and he’s pissed off.” I said, “What happened?” He says, “You stole his pillow.” I said, “Oh my God, I did?” Dave said, “Yeah. He’s pretty upset. He had to sleep without a pillow. He didn’t have the heart to take it back.” I said, “Oh no…I am so sorry. I had no idea.” Well, that had been Stevo’s bunk for the past eight years, and he gets on the bus and his pillow is missing. So, I called him up right away. Dave was kind of kidding, I believe, even though he led me to believe he was upset. So, I call him up, and I said “Stevo?” He said, “Who there?” I said, “This is the pillow thief!” He says, “Man, you took my pillow. I had to sleep without a pillow. I can’t believe it.” I told him, “I’m sorry, man.” Stevo said, “It’s cool. I just didn’t have the heart to pull it back from you. You were just out.” But we’re cool!
SV: Well, I personally have seen a lot of changes in you over the last year or so. Your whole attitude has changed and you seem more comfortable with the crowds than you did two years ago. How do you think you have changed?
ML: Well, I’ll have to take your word for it. As with anything else, the more you do something… but the thing is, is that I have been doing shows since 1997. They’ve always been different kinds of shows where interacting with the crowd in the same manner… well, like when I toured with Randy Crawford, for one thing. It was a different kind of crowd and a different kind of show. So, maybe in the aspect of Brian Culbertson, where it’s a very high energy, in your face, all over the place kind of thing, sort of a party… that probably was a little new to me when I first started. Because, I mean, you have to understand me and the difference with my personality compared to some other players. We all have different personalities. And musical integrity is very, very important to me, so sometimes I would sacrifice jumping up and down for playing the right notes. But that to me is important. So, ultimately when everyone is running all over the place, and you’re standing there to play the right notes, you have to make some adjustments. You have to say, well, okay, how do I pull this off, and how do I figure out how to do both. So maybe that is what I tried to figure out in the beginning. How can I be a part of a high energy show and still have my music or my playing as good as if I were not. So maybe that’s what the changes are and maybe I’ve gotten to be more comfortable still being able to do the show aspect and but also to still be able to play.
SV: That must be it. You have just meshed with Brian and the band so well.
ML: Well, thank you.
SV: Let’s talk about Stay With Me, your latest CD. It’s gotten rave reviews, and you recently released a new single from it “Two of a Kind.” How is that going?
ML: Really terrific, actually. They all braced me for having a slow first couple of weeks because of Christmas and the exact opposite happened. It was funny. For one thing, Broadcast Architecture said they were freezing their list, this was at the end of November, until the New Year, and then the next week they recommended the track for medium rotation. We get eight adds a week when we thought we would get one or two because of Christmas music. We were the number two most added three weeks in a row and we are already four weeks out and almost reaching top 20 for the single. It’s really amazing, and we’ve got major, major markets.
 SV: How do you feel this CD is different from your previous three?
ML: Every CD represents a time in my life, where whatever I was doing at the time I was doing it the best that I could. So, it is hard for me to sit and favor one. Like when people ask, especially when I am signing CDs, if I had to buy one CD out of four, which one is your favorite? Well, it’s kind of like asking you which one of your children is your favorite. They are all different with different personalities. They were in different times in your life and represent a different you. It is so hard. I mean, like “Tell It Like It Is,” off of my first record, I’m very proud of that. I made a timeless song. That was a timeless song to begin with, but I think with my version, you can put that song on in thirty years and not hear someone say uh oh… the ‘90s! I don’t think anyone is going to say that. There’s maybe other tracks on that CD that won’t quite stand the test of time. The reality is that I am particularly proud of Stay With Me because I feel I took some chances. Smooth jazz is so heavily R&B-influenced. Basically instrumental R&B, but we did some very mainstream pop on this CD, which I am very proud of because I think it’s important to sometimes take a chance; to challenge. I was so excited about Mindi’s [Abair] record, because she, from the get-go, took a chance on something that really wasn’t… I mean, she wasn’t reinventing the wheel, but it’s just that they’re putting different rims on it. Do you know what I’m saying? Doing something that just has a different flavor is important for a format to grow and for people to understand. It doesn’t have to be R&B in order to be played or for people to embrace it. Even though that’s what tests well. You know, I consider myself as much a pop influence as an R&B influence and am happy to be able to blend the two of them and be successful at it. In other words, people embracing what I am doing. I’m considering something even more unique for my next record.
SV: Can you elaborate on that?
ML: Not at this point because there are a few people I have to convince! (laughs) I think continuing to push the envelopes, for me, creatively not to stay stagnant. I think it’s just important to keep moving upward and forward instead of saying alright, well this worked, let’s do another one… take 2! It worked, but it worked for the time. Maybe people don’t want to hear another one. Or maybe I don’t want to hear another one. So, it is interesting when you begin on a project because that’s when the creative juices all suddenly start to flow and almost direct themselves. So, with Stay With Me I was really excited to be working with Paul Brown. I’ve been wanting to work with Paul Brown since we all heard about Paul Brown. What’s so crazy about this business, particularly when you come from another country… let me take you back to about 1984. I was just finishing up with the Tivoli Boys Guard, the clarinet was no longer doing it for me. You know… it ain’t happening! Sixteen years old and playing the clarinet… ain’t happening! So, I was looking for inspiration; was I going to continue in music? I knew I wasn’t going become a classical clarinet player. Then I discovered David Sanborn and knew that the saxophone was going to be my instrument. Those records at that moment in time were either produced by Michael Sembello or Michael Colina. Also, Marcus Miller. One of the songs, the big song, “The Dream,” was written by Michael Sembello, but produced by Michael Colina. And here we are, I have a song on the charts produced by Michael Colina. It’s such an interesting journey to be inspired to become who ultimately I am going to be for the rest of my life, and end up working with the person… you know, I did “Appassionada,” which was written by Michael Sembello and produced by me and Michael Colina. It is so cool to be able to look at the people who inspired you and then… then…
SV: And now you are working with them.
ML: Yes. Exactly. These are people that if I told my friends back in 1984 that one day I’ll be having a song on the U.S. charts with Michael, they would have told me that I was probably out of my mind! And that I should start taking my medication or something like that! You know, it’s just not a reality when you come from a country that is 7 or 8,000 miles a way. A tiny, tiny, little country and nobody ever leaves. Nobody. It’s very secure, a very secure society and everybody is taken care of. The people are okay with that. I had different dreams.
SV: So, what are the folks back in Copenhagen saying about your success?
ML: It’s interesting, because I get e-mails now from old friends, and old girlfriends. It’s quite interesting and everybody is forgiven, but when I said in 1990 that I was going to leave and come over here, people assumed that I was going to be back after three months. It was just a stage that I was going through. Yeah, right… Michael from little Denmark is going to go over there and make it. And now I get e-mails from the same people saying they always knew! In a funny way it is flattering, and I respond to them saying that I appreciate them reaching out and showing their support. It is very cool to be in a position like that because I did take a chance. But, it’s a really amazing journey.
SV: What do you want people to get from your music?
ML: Well, I want them to really enjoy themselves. I very much want to take them through a journey of who I am by the songs that are on the albums. I try not to have two of the same songs on one record, or two similar songs. I want to take them through different flavors and have different emotions. I want them to get up on their feet and dance on one song and then I want them to feel solitude on another song. I mean all these songs with different emotions.
 SV: You have definitely done that with this CD. There are so many emotions running through the tracks.
ML: I put as much emotion into it as I could. It’s really wonderful getting all this fan mail from people, which I don’t think are trying to impress me, but are trying to describe how this CD is making them feel. The latest fan mail I just got was from a woman whose father is dying. He has cancer in multiple places and she, the daughter, is obviously very upset, and she wrote me a note saying how the CD calms her down while driving in the car and having time to think about it. She bought the CD for her father, as well, because of the effect it had on her, she thought that maybe he could relax a little bit with the challenges he was facing. You talk about the ultimate compliment. If that is the effect my music has… I can’t imagine that people in that particular state, unless they really, really mean it, I don’t think would take the time to write. Think of how many records there are out there. I don’t even know how she came to know about me, but that to me is the ultimate compliment, to make people feel at ease with whatever they are going through. I can consider the job done if those are the type of emails that I get.
SV: By now, most people know of your background of growing up in Copenhagen and about the influence your grandfather had on you. What do you think he would say today of your career?
ML: I think my grandfather would be proud. He, believe it or not, did not recommend me making a life in music because it is a big challenge. Very demanding. Very hard on relationships. He did it and was very happy doing it. He wasn’t discouraging me, but he was just saying that it is a tough life ahead. It’s not always easy, and has a lot of struggling between things. You’re always up and down. But I think I have reached a turning point in my career. It’s a little too late to turn back now and do something else! (laughs) But I also reached a point in my career where things are really growing rather quickly and coming together well. I think he would be excited to see that I stuck with it. I can’t say that there were many occasions where I wanted to quit. I never wanted to quit, but there were times where you were questioning yourself, asking why do you think you can make it.
SV: And wondering what’s special about you?
ML: Yes! Those type of things. Those are very common thoughts of artists. The biggest artists, whether they are painters, musicians or sculptors, artists like that are always thinking about what’s so special. What makes you think people should listen? These are the times where you just stick through those types of things. When you have negativity in your life, you just get rid of it immediately. It’s important to me to always have pure thoughts and get rid of any negativity, whether it is towards myself or to others. I’m better at that now. If I am heading down that road, I can quickly return.
SV: How far into your career was your grandfather around for?
ML: I had just left for the U.S. I had been here for about two years, so in my career in the U.S., not far. I was living here; he was over there, and he was not happy about me leaving in the first place because we became close as he became older. We were together almost every day, I mean we lived right across the street from each other. He became too old to drive, and I drove him. We would have dinner and just hang and talk about old days in music and what it was like. It was an awesome relationship. You know, I had some achievements back in Copenhagen and I could see that he was so proud to see that. But my father is here to experience it, and he comes over and loves coming with me to shows and seeing what’s happening.
SV: I know your fans are getting excited about your solo tour dates for next year. And you already have some festivals scheduled. What can you tell us about your band that will be touring with you?
ML: I am hoping that I can have the band I have been touring with lately. I’ve been using different… not different guys, but I have two people who can play each instrument. Just the reality of living in Los Angeles and using the greatest musicians, is that they have a lot of opportunities, and are not always available. But I am hoping I can offer enough dates and tours for them that they can just commit. Since we are not doing it like Dave Koz and not going out for two months straight, just doing shows a couple of days per week or not for a week, people have to make a living. So, it looks like I’ll have the same band I have had for the last six months. So that’s good. Roberto [Vally], Ricky Lawson… [and] my Danish friend, Kim Hansen. We’ve been using Tony Maiden, but obviously we know he’s going to go out during the summer with Dave, so I’ve been using another guy named Tommy Organ, who is really terrific… one of Ricky’s buddies who was on the Rhythm Nation tour with Janet Jackson. He’s very much into it.
 SV: People always want to know a little about the other side of Michael Lington? We know you are into water sports. What do you actually do to relax when you finally have some free time?
ML: Water skiing, scuba diving… but more water skiing. Scuba diving is more demanding. It’s a lot of work. It’s exciting, but water skiing you can do more often. You can just take off, where scuba diving definitely requires planning. And weather is a big factor; visibility in the water; temperature of the water. But I am considering taking flying lessons. I’ve been up flying lately with a couple of different people and it is something I am interested in. I did a very exciting thing, probably something that a lot of people wouldn’t have the opportunity to do in their life, but I not only was riding in, but was able to fly a fighter jet! It was actually set up through my buddy, Nathan East, of Fourplay, who is a pilot. One of his friends, who is in the movie industry, had bought a training fighter jet. They took me up, and it was extremely exciting. I was a little tense at the beginning because you are basically sitting on a rocket. But once you get up there and get a feel for it, it eased up. We took it step by step to get a good feeling. Once we did all of those things, like nose dives, you get comfortable. It’s unbelievable. We went out over the Channel Islands and then we went down from 15,000 feet to 100 feet, kind of like a dive attack. Then I flew it from the Channel Islands to the Mojave Desert, where we did some other stuff. It was pretty incredible. I won’t be doing the fighter jet thing anytime soon since I found out it sucks up 350 gallons of jet fuel per minute at $3 per gallon!
SV: Well, lastly, what piece of advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
ML: It’s very simple. You have to stick with it. Even when it doesn’t seem possible, you have to stick with it.
SV: It’s as simple as that?
ML: As simple as that! It certainly is true that you’ll have a lot of opportunities to quit, and saying that’s it for me. But if you stick with it, your turn will come.
SV: Well, Michael, thank you for taking so much time to speak with us. It’s always a pleasure. Best of luck with the upcoming tour, and I hope to see you out on the road next year. Thanks, again.
ML: You got it, Bonnie.
For more on Michael Lington visit www.michaellington.com.
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