June 23, 2006
Interviewed by Mary Bentley

Smoothviews (SV): I saw the Triad show you did with Steve Oliver and Michael Paolo up at Berks this past March, the second one, the three hour show.  That was incredible.
Gerald Veasley (GV):Oh yeah!  Wasn’t that something?  That was amazing. I don’t know.  The collection of musicians, the band, and the music is different.  It touches on so many different styles of music and different emotions.  People get really emotional listening to that music.  I hope we get a chance to do it often.

SV: I hope so too.  And speaking of Berks, you are such a staple of the Berks Jazz Festival.  You’re such a big part of that whole scene.  They definitely get their money’s worth out of you for the two week duration.  You have the Boot Camp. You do your own show.  You have the Jazz Base and you’re in other shows – like the All Star Cruise Jazz Jam.  How did you get to be so much a part of that whole Berks scene?
GV: I was very fortunate.  It’s actually a year-round kind of relationship because of the Jazz Base now.  But even before going back to the Jazz Base.  They’re all my friends.  You said they get their money’s worth out of me.  Well, I certainly enjoy the closeness.  Living in Philadelphia, there’s a close physical proximity to Reading.  It’s only about an hour away.  It’s just great.  It’s a win-win for sure.

SV: Can you give us a little detail about your Bass Boot Camp that’s held at the festival every year?
GV: Our mission is to inform and inspire in a challenging, yet nurturing, environment.  That’s our guide every year as we put together our program, our list of instructors, and our curriculum.  We hope that people walk away with some information, for sure, but also with the motivation to keep going and pursue their dream, whatever those dreams may be.  And the response has been gratifying.  People are doing all sorts of things they may have been reluctant or afraid to do, like joining bands or starting projects or starting entire new businesses.  We had one gentleman who just recently left a business; actually it was his family’s business, and he decided he would do a specialty bass shop because that was his passion.  So the camp has really become bigger than our initial mission, in that it inspires people to do things that they never thought they could do or to recapture their dreams.  It’s very gratifying.

SV: So what do you get out of it?
GV: Well, first of all, I get to see people who do that because I’m living my dream.  It’s great validation for me in terms of the potential for people to really live the way they imagined they would live when they were younger and had more freedom to dream about living a certain way.  So that’s first and foremost.  It also connects me with the bass community.  It’s very important to me.  There was a time, as a young player, when I would read all of the bass magazines.  I was enthralled by bass players I would see on television or in concert.  Somewhere along the line I decided that whatever I could do to give back, to inspire people the way I was inspired coming up, that I would do that. The other thing is it’s interesting how it’s a multi-generational type of event.  We have kids and we have retired people who have decided that they want to be musicians for the latter part of their lives.  And they come from all walks of life: people who are physicians; business owners; teachers; factory workers; and, literally any occupation you can imagine. They’ve come through our doors with the common ground being their love of music, and the bass, specifically.

SV: I want to talk about the club, Gerald Veasley’s Jazz Base, there at the Sheraton Reading.  You recorded your latest CD there.  How did you become affiliated with the club?
GV: Well, it’s kind of a convergence of a lot of things.  The Sheraton already had very creative management there that did a lot in terms of entertainment year-round with the comedy club and other kinds of programs there.  Of course, with their synergy with the Berks Jazz Festival, we realized that Reading should be a great destination – not just once a year, although it’s 10 days during the festival and it’s a big event, but what about the other 355 days?  The real emphasis of putting together the Jazz Base, with me as sort of the centerpiece for it, was to connect people with the music year-round.  So, there again, what I get out of it is helping to carry the torch, great music, and a great location all year- round.

SV: They have some great shows.  I’m on the Reading mailing list and I always get the updates for the shows.  All the big names that tour hit Berks and the Jazz Base.
GV: You get the big names on tour, and you also get a pretty diverse kind of programming – big band, singer-songwriters, a little fusion, some straight-ahead, a little of everything.  You’ve got local, regional, and national acts, which I think is a very nice mix.

SV: Your latest CD is Live at the Jazz Base.  Was that released last summer?
GV: Yes, it was released last year.  And now, I’m working on new music.  It’s an interesting project.  I want to make a big announcement, so I won’t spoil it now.  But just to whet your readers’ appetites, I’ll say it will be something that I’m sure they will – if they like good music from back in the day, they’ll love this album.  That’s all I’ll say.

SV: That will be interesting to hear.  Would you say that Live at the Jazz Base is a live retrospective of basically what you’ve done so far?
GV: I think that’s a great way to put it.  That was my seventh CD.  We took at least one song from each of the six prior CDs in that recording.  What we tried to do is kind of capture them and present them in the way that songs grow after you’ve played them live.  A lot of times in the smooth jazz realm we develop the music in sort of an isolated manner. You know, you’re kind of working alone or you’re working with your computer in the studio, maybe with one other producer or writer.  Then you bring the musicians into the studio and you make that music come alive.  You take your band on the road, and the music starts to take on a personality.  These songs really start to develop and grow and change and evolve over time.  But then, what often happens is the song that you recorded sounds so different from what you’re playing live onstage.  So, we decided we would just spend weeks of rehearsing, reinventing the music, taking some of the music that now has evolved over time and recording it.  So it’s a retrospective, but at the same time it’s really a fresh look at some of my favorite music that I’ve recorded.

SV: I like what you said about the evolution of the music because I’ve said that to people.   It’s true that it doesn’t sound the same every time.
GV: I think there’s a certain restlessness that creative people naturally have.  Sometimes there’s a tension between that inherent restlessness and a desire to satisfy your fans.  So you kind of have to find out on that continuum where you feel most comfortable.  With me, I really like pushing the envelope, challenging the listeners to come along with us and experience something different. There’s an old saying that a philosopher, I think it was Heraclitus who said, “You can never step into the same river twice for new waters are always flowing onto you.”  And that’s how music is if you let it, because it’s so evolutionary that each time you visit it, even though it’s the same song with the same people, it’s a brand new experience.  So we really liked to capture that philosophy in our music.

SV: Why, at this point, was it time to do a live CD as opposed to last year, next year, or another?
GV: I was really fortunate over the last few years to have some pretty terrific musicians play in my band.  I really reached a critical stage where the band that I had at the time, still pretty much the same band now, I had to document it because the musicianship, the inventiveness, the funkiness, the soulfulness, was at such a high level that I just had to have that etched in stone for people to hear that.  That was the real main reason to highlight that great band of mine.

SV: One of my favorite songs on this CD is “Celebrating Sipho.”  It has that wonderful South African groove.  I read that you have a special relationship with South Africa.  Can you tell me about that?
GV: It’s true.  I love South Africa.  I think I’ve taken five trips to South Africa.  When I came home after my first trip there, I thought I knew everything about South Africa.  And [with] each trip, I’ve discovered I know less and less.  It’s such a complicated, interesting, fascinating place.  It’s like an onion; you peel away more and more layers.  Under every layer is another new layer.  But if I had to say what I love most about South Africa, it’s the people who have endured so much, but yet who are so forward-thinking and so positive.  It’s inspiring to me.

SV: That’s true.  If anybody has a right to be bitter and have that bitterness engulf them, they do.
GV: Absolutely.  They have a right to cry the blues.  They really could, and they could be bitter just as you’re describing.  As a nation, especially under Mr. Mandela’s inspiration, they decided to turn the page.  That’s not to say its perfect and that the new page is totally perfect and intact and the utopia that we’ve hoped, but yes, it’s positive, and it’s moving and it’s getting better.  They’re dealing with their issues and problems.  Is the country united as one people?  Of course not, because the legacy of apartheid will be around for awhile, just like some of the legacies of the awful things in other parts of the world, including America, will be around for awhile.  But yet, the will, just the will to overcome it, is so strong and so beautiful to witness.  There’s a unity that’s really wonderful to watch.

I’ve been there in different configurations.  I’ve been there with Pieces of a Dream.  I’ve been there with the Heads Up Super Band.  I was there also as a solo artist on two occasions, which was also pretty nice.  The first time, I actually recruited South African musicians to play with me, which was really nice because they were able to bring a whole other flavor to my music.  It kind of ties to what we talked about earlier in terms of revisiting familiar music with a fresh approach.  It’s really cool to do that with new musicians who live on the other side of the world with a different vocabulary.  So I learned my own music, really.  It was so cool.  South Africa will change your life.

SV: In your bio there’s a statement by you that says, “It’s better to play one note that sounds like you, than a hundred that sound like someone else,” which I thought was absolutely great.  Can you elaborate on that a bit?
GV: That thing that you are given to do – whatever you’re charged with, your mission – it doesn’t just have to be music, meaning the authentic you that God created.  That note that you play, that song that you sing, or that word that you write; anything you do, you do with authenticity.  The world would be so much poorer if you didn’t do it as your authentic self.  There’s no way to measure that and compare that with what other people do.  What I mean by that, bringing it back home to music is – if you are just imitating someone else, you’re really robbing the world of what’s special, what you’re brought here to say.  I probably feel stronger about it [now] than when I first said it.  But I feel like it’s not even an option.  That it’s really a calling to be whoever you are as an artist and as a person.

SV: At the Capital Jazz Festival this year, while they were setting the stage for Groovin’ for Grover, they showed one of Grover’s Capital appearances on the Jumbotrons.  I saw you there in the band.   Grover Washington, Jr. is such a huge influence on you.  Can you speak to that a little?
GV: How cool!  I didn’t hear about that!  So, how was it?  Do you remember what song it was?

SV: No, I’m sorry. I don’t.  It was several songs.  It was really nice to see that.  When it was over, everyone was clapping.  You could still see and hear how much respect people have for Grover and how much he’s still missed.  I thought it was cool that they did that.
GV: I don’t know if you’ve ever lost a family member, and you have dreams that they’re still alive.  I remember not focusing on the fact that he was gone for a long time.  And in my dreams he would be alive and we’d be together.  So with Grover, when I go and do my radio show, I can never say the late, great Grover Washington, Jr.  I just still don’t really accept it.  But in terms of the legacy that he left, how many people appreciate what he does, or what he did?  To me, that’s the most special thing in the world.  His music was so from the heart.  Grover definitely reached that level; where every note was a pure investment of his soul, every note. 

The other thing is that now Donald Robinson, who was Grover’s Musical Director, is in my band.  So when I turn around and look at him it’s really cool because we share these great stories.  So I feel like I’m still tied to Grover.  A couple of weeks ago, we did a concert here for our radio station.  Who’s on the bandstand but Grover’s son, Grover Washington, III, who is a professional sound engineer.  He offered to work with us.  How cool is that?  So he’s never too far from my life.  I’m grateful for what he was and what he is to me.

SV: I have one more question.  You are part of the Chieli Minucci Musicians for a Cause cruise in November and the All Star Smooth Jazz Cruise in 2007.  Tough assignments, huh?
GV: (laughs) I don’t hear any pity from you, Mary.  What’s up with that?  You have to be a little more compassionate. (laughs)  I’m going to tell you, cruises are dangerous because…I’ll tell you in one sentence why cruises are dangerous – 24-hour room service!  That’s all I have to say. (laughs)  I mean, that’s a dangerous thing.

SV: (laughs)  I guess they’re going to have to roll you off the ships when the cruises end?
GV: Exactly!  You know, it’s cool because, first of all, I’m playing with musicians that I love and respect.  That’s an awesome thing.  It’s one of the benefits when I first went into music.  I don’t think I really realized just how special that is, that you get to make friends and work with people who are really just super people.  And Chieli and I go way back. I love him.  Brian Culbertson is a new friend over the last couple of years, but he’s super too, [as well as] a lot of artists who are going to be on the cruises.  So that’s the first thing.  The second thing is, of course, going to great destinations and meeting the fans up close and personal.  It sort of reminds me of the Berks Jazz Fest in that the artists aren’t over there somewhere.  They’re right here.  I imagine on the cruises we’ll be poolside together, and eating dinner together. That’s a great thing.

SV: That is.  It should be a memorable experience for both the fans and the musicians.  Well, thank you very much for chatting with me this afternoon.
GV: Thank you.

For more info on Gerald Veasley visit www.geraldveasley.com