A Conversation WithGerald Albright
by Baldwin "Smitty" SmithGerald Albright has the most flamboyant sax sound in the business and he has a great new CD out, it’s called Kickin It Up, and he’s an authority on kickin it up. Gerald sat down with Baldwin "Smitty" Smith for a moment of conversation...
Gerald: How are you doing Smitty, it’s great to talk to you.
Smitty: I’m cool, thank you. How’s the golf game by the way?
Gerald: Probably a little slower than usual, I haven’t been on the golf course for a number of months now since I’ve been on tour. But that’s one of the things I plan on tightening up, as I’m in town now and I’ll be able to get to the golf course a little more often.
Smitty: Cool. Speaking of being on tour, you have been a part of the “Groovin for Grover” Tour, you are fresh off the “Phil Collins Farewell Tour”, and you have your 11th CD out there, man life is very good for you.
Gerald: Life has been good, it’s been a blessing and this year has been a stellar year as regards to being a part of the various tours that you just mentioned, in conjunction with doing some other projects production wise and I’m doing a lot of songwriting this year and just trying to get setup for 2005. So it’s been great, it’s really wonderful.
Smitty: You were also in Bermuda.
Gerald: Yes, however we did not actually perform there, unfortunately the weather did not permit us to perform there at the jazz festival, but we did go there for 4-5 days. And Bermuda is definitely one of my favorite places to go. So I had a nice little holiday there, I got a chance to meet some more of the island folks and develop some nice relationships there. So all was not lost, but I really wanted to perform, as we came a long way to give them a good show.
Smitty: Let’s talk about the beginning of the career of Gerald Albright, because your love of music began at an early age, and I know you began with the piano like a lot of musicians, and it seems like the piano was not quite your favorite instrument. However, when you were about 8 years of age, you received a saxophone from someone special in your life and that’s where it all began.
Gerald: Yes exactly Smitty, I had a teacher whose name was George Turpeau, in fact he’s in his 70’s and is still teaching. It’s a wonderful thing to from time to time, to run into some of his students in my travels. So you’re talking about at least four decades of teaching. And he’s also the one who started me on piano, and at that early age, I wasn’t too interested in preparing for my lessons from week to week, sitting at the front of a piano for hours learning my skills while my friends were playing football in the neighborhood. It just didn’t add up at the age of eight (Both laughing). So, with the interest being a little substandard, one day my private teacher Mr. Turpeau shows up with this old ping nickel plated saxophone. So I ask what was going on, and he said “well were going to try something new today”. So he opened up the case and put the horn together and put the reed on the mouthpiece and said “this is how you blow it and make a sound” and I’ve been making a sound with it since. So I owe that direction of my musical career to him wholeheartedly.
Smitty: That’s a very cool story. Now, you’re not really noted for this, well in some circles you are, but for the most part, we know you as Gerald Albright the sax player, but you’re quite the bass player too. Talk about your experimenting with the bass.
Gerald: Well, I love the bass. I still play in different ensembles from time to time, and I do recording sessions on various artists’ records. It really all started from a show I went to in San Bernardino, California, The Brothers Johnson back during college. They were in their hay-day, and Louis Johnson played a solo that night that I’ve never forgotten. It just inspired me to say to myself… ”I ever get my hands on a bass, I would at least learn a scale or something on it.” When I got back to the college, which was right up from San Bernardino, University of Redlands, I had a friend there name John Jorgenson who was the son of Jim Jorgenson who was the head of the jazz department at the school. John Had all of these different musical instruments, and I borrowed a bass from him and ask him if I could just hang out with it in my dorm room and kinda teach myself how to play, and that what I did. At that point I join a little called “Your Kind Of People”, which was a group around the Redlands area that did high school proms and different things like that. So I started being known as the bass player in that area, and now, over the many years I’ve kind of worked it as an integral part of what I do. And now I’ve had the pleasure of recording with a lot of different artists both on the bass and the horn, and it’s been one night’s ride for sure.
Smitty: Nice. I’ve yet to see you at a live gig with the bass, so I’m looking forward to that.
Gerald: Yes, I definitely want to implement the bass into my live show. I’ve done it a few times. In fact we’re in the process of revamping my show; in that case we’re going to incorporate more of the bass playing in there.
Smitty: Cool. You’ve hooked up with some of the great musicians over the years, I can recall off the top of my head, Rex Rideout’s Club 1600, and I hope he does another one by the way, the great B-3 player Joe Kurasz, there’s Lee Ritenour’s Twist of Motown, and we can go all the way back to Patrise Rushen, The Temptations, Anita Baker, it seems that you have been a collaborative favorite. Talk about some of those collaborative efforts and what that has done for Gerald Albright.
Gerald: I consider each one of those experiences kind of like a chapter of book I’m writing. Each one of those experiences was a learning experience on various levels. I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to work one-on-one and share the stage with a lot of these musicians and vocalist that you just mentioned. And I think that’s what keeps the music fresh, when you’re able to expand and play different types of music, from R&B to Classical, to Rock n Roll, to Pop, or whatever. It can only enhance what you are trying to do within your own sound, and your own musical right. So I have nothing but total gratification and elation that I have been able to be with these wonderful people like Quincy Jones and Whitney Houston and folks like that who pretty much changed the sound of music as we hear it today. So I’m in a good place right now and as I continue to work with these folks, and even at the young age of 47 I’m still learning (Both laughing).
Smitty: That’s cool when you keep your capacity to learn something new. You have collaborated with so many heavy hitters, but there's one musician that caught my attention that really showcases your musical versatility. You were featured on Joe kurasz' latest CD Soul Searching, on the song called "Crossroads". I say that it showcases your diverse talents because this music features the Hammond B-3 as a lead instrument, like only Joe Kurasz can do. But you rocked on that track. Tell me what you were feeling on that track?
Gerald: Yes, it was a pleasure to record with Joe. A fine musician. It was a unique session for me because I don't get many opportunities to play on a project that heavily features the Hammond B3. So in doing the session, I just went into a "blues" mode to capture the essence of what was happening in the track, and I let the musicians involved take me in a direction that suited the song. With great songs, you just flow with it.
Smitty: Yes, I can feel that. You and Patrise (Rushen) went to the same high school.
Gerald: Yes, Patrise was a couple of years ahead of me in high school, but we played in the Msingi Workshop, which was the jazz ensemble at the time that was headed by Reggie Andrews back in 1972-73. That was a great experience for me because at that point in time at Locke High School where I attended school, it was a nice musical platform for the students there to really spread their wings. We were playing in the marching band, we were playing jazz, we in the concert band, and most of these ensembles were award winning groups that were around either the state of California or different parts of Los Angeles that would compete with other high schools. And it was just a good time to be there because a lot of the musicians that were along with me were people like Gary Bias who is now with Earth Wind and Fire and has been for a number of years, and of course Patrise Rushen is breaking ground as the recording artist that she is. And she was the first black female musical director for the Emmys a few years back. So being around these people can only make you better individually, so that experience of being with her was great.
Smitty: We touched on the subject of the Groovin for Grover tour just briefly, but how did that tribute come about?
Gerald: It was an idea that a promoter out of Cleveland put together. We actually did it in February of 2003; we did one show in Cleveland at the Palace Theatre which sold out. So because of the popularity of the concept, everyone looked at each other and said “Hey, we need to make a tour out of this”. We talked with Grover’s family and the “Protect A Dream Foundation” which was Grover’s foundation. And we worked out a deal that was a win win for both the foundation and the tour itself, where we would donate proceeds of the tour to the foundation to enhance music in the schools. So with everyone really appreciating the music of Grover Washington Jr. and also appreciating the man that he was, it was pretty much a no brainer in being a part of keeping his legacy going. He was a dear friend of mind, and I was glad that I was one of the chosen ones to be a part of the tour along with Richard Elliot, Paul Taylor, and Jeff Lorber.
Smitty: Yes, that’s a kickin show man.
Gerald: Thank you.
Smitty: And it’s a fitting tribute to Grover and what he did over the years as well.
Gerald: Thank you.
Smitty: You also were among the sax players that got to hang with President Bill Clinton at his inaugural celebration (both laughing). That had to be cool, talk to me a little bit about hanging Bill.
Gerald: He’s such a personable guy. When you talk to him, you almost forget that he was the President of the United States. Because, like myself, he shares the passion of playing the saxophone. We had common ground to have some nice conversations, and he was explaining to me how, in his travels over the years, he’s been given maybe 40-50 saxophones of all different types, and he still plays from time to time. And you know, for someone who at the time he was President, was pretty much monitoring the globe, he sounded good. I know he doesn’t have much time to practice his saxophone, but from what I heard when we sat in this group together and played together, he sounds like he really knows his horn. So it was a pleasure not only to meet him, but to play with him on a couple of occasions actually. We still correspond to through you know, Christmas cards during the Christmas season and periodically he will send letters just to say hello, so he’s a very, very personable and I really enjoy his friendship.
Smitty: You get that vibe from him, that he’s that kind of a person, and that’s so cool. So that’s got to be a very nice experience that you will always remember.
Gerald: Yes, something to tell the Grandkids.
Smitty: Yea man (both laughing). Now you and I got together for a minute while you were on the Phil Collins Farewell tour, but I want to share some of our conversation with everyone. So talk about your experience of being on this tour, because you were featured so well on the tour and Phil, what can you say, he’s such a showman, such a musician’s musician.
Gerald: Exactly, Phil is a really, really special guy on so many different levels and a great friend. And like you said a great musician. He really knows how to entertain, and we’re talking 30-35 years of music here that he has in a lot of cases, literally changed the lives of some of his listeners. So to be a part of his first final farewell tour both in Europe and here in the States was one of the greatest compliments of my career. And to be in association with such great musicians such as Luis Conte, Chester Thompson, Daryl Stuermer, Leland Sklar, and all of these folks who made up the ensemble for Phil, it was like just one big musical family. It was a little different for me because I’ve never been on a tour where I had to not only play horn, but to consider staging, and we danced and I was part of a horn section as well. So it was a high energy…high cardio if you will, two and a half hour presentation and I was very, very fortunate to be featured on four different songs within the show. He was very gracious to do that in conjunction with allowing me to sell my CD’s at the show. Phil has always been very, very supportive and I appreciate that about him.
Smitty: Yes, and he turned you loose on that sax, he let you PLAY (both laughing)!
Gerald: Yes, well he’s a musician, so he understands allowing other musicians to stretch out and do their improvisation, and I think that all of this lent towards the uplifting experience of the show, with his energy and then the energy of each and every member of the group. Everybody shined in their own way and I’m glad that I was a part of that experience.
Smitty: I know it’s one that I will not forget for a long, long time. That was just an incredible show.
Gerald: Thank you on their behalf as well.
Smitty: Now let’s get into this new CD, I’ve been holding off but wow, it’s sensational! It’s called Kickin’ It Up. This is unbelievable stuff! Gerald, this is great, I mean, you’ve got some great players, musicians that are known around the world; Jeff Lorber, George Duke, Tony Maiden, Lil John Roberts, and the list goes on. You’ve got some great songs on here. Talk about birth Kickin’ It Up, the concept.
Gerald: Thank you for saying that, I’m glad that you are enjoying the music Smitty, and I’m very proud to say that on a couple of different charts it’s been #1 for the past three weeks, so I’m really excited about that. Kickin’ It Up for me is just genuine Gerald Albright music. I’ve always tried to be very loyal to my listeners, and my listeners have been loyal to me, from the traditional records that I’ve done, to the more contemporary and funky records that I’ve done. This is one of my favorite projects out of the eleven that I’ve promoted. I just call it feel good music, we have music of different tempos, from high energetic funky stuff, and we had some middle of the road stuff. We borrowed a tune from John Mayer called Why Georgia Why, which for me and my past productions is a little different for me. But it’s such a special tune that when I went into the studio and demoed it, it just felt very comfortable to play and I thought it would be a great candidate as part of the roster of tunes for the new CD. There’s a song that I dedicated to my father called Father’s Lullaby. My Dad for me was the ultimate father and he past away about a year ago, and I wanted to dedicate that song to him. Of course, he’s missed dearly but he’s had quite an impact on my life, and definitely supported my musical career, so I’m perpetually appreciative for that. So with all the great music, the musicians you mentioned who came together in the studio and performed, along with the songwriting and production of a Rex Rideout, Jeff Lorber, Luther Hanes, and even Chuckii Booker came back after years of not playing with me because he’s been so busy being the musical director of Lionel Richie. I got a chance to sneak him out for one day and play on the track 4 On The Floor. So, I think it’s a well rounded project and I’m very proud of it, and I hope it has a lot of longevity and people appreciate it for the type of record that we tried to implement.
Smitty: Yes, I think it will be, because the production is great, the music is just so resounding, man it’s incredible.
Gerald: Thank you, thank you very much.
Smitty: Talk to me about the artwork. Man this is some serious artwork on this CD! You know, I here so much about the artwork on this CD. Before I got a chance to see it, I was receiving email and phone calls out the wauzoo about the artwork of the record. Can you believe that?
Gerald: Wow, that’s special, that’s great to hear. Well, with the artwork, we wanted to go with something different. When I was talking to the Verve Music Group, the record company that I’m signed to, I was just feeling something more in artwork form verses just taking a bunch of pictures in the studio. The way this record was coming together, it was going to be a very, very special presentation. So I wanted something really unique and different. We went with an artist that I’ve yet to meet. He’s an artist out of New York, and he just came with this wonderful portrait and I was just blown away when I saw the first draft of it. I remember saying to myself; “Yes, he’s really captured what we’re trying to do with the music”. It really works well, so I’m glad that people are really appreciating the artwork because that’s an integral part of the whole concept of the record.
Smitty: Yes, Gerald this is a very solid project, and I’m not just saying that. What I was feeling when I first played this record, I said to myself; “this is the history of Gerald Albright”, sort of like an autobiography your life, career, and individual talents from the very beginning and move forward to where he is now. I felt a lot of different vibes here. From the people you’ve worked with, the great musicians, your experiences and influences. I could feel that in the songs and I think it’s a beautiful thing when you can feel a person’s life and talents through their music.
Gerald: Well thank you. I’m glad you felt that, and like we were saying earlier, what I try to do is bring the genuine nature of the music out of what I feel is the comfort zone. And it sounds like I was on the right track with you saying that, and I know that you listen to a lot of music and really study a lot of artists because of what you do in your craft. So for you to say that, I know that it’s genuine and I take that as quite an accolade, and I appreciate that.
Smitty: Oh man, thank you and you’re so welcome. Now let’s see, you’re catching your breath for a minute, but what’s going on next for Gerald Albright?
Gerald: The first thing is that we’re going to continue to do some more “Groovin For Grover” dates, we just finished the Catalina Island Jazz Festival. It just seems like a tour that never ends, because as we do the shows, more and more people find out about it and then they want us to come to their respective town. So we’ve been doing the tour since February off and on, in between everyone else’ schedule. So we’re going to do more dates, and then I’m going to be doing some more of my own dates with my band. It’s going to be nice to be playing with my band once again, as prior to this past week, I hadn’t played with my group since February this year, I’ve been on the road with different people. And then we’re just going to write some more music, produce some more music. I want to not only do music for CD’s but also I want to write for TV and possibly film coming up. So I’m putting some energy into gathering those relationships to make that happen. So there’s a lot of stuff on the clipboard to do, and just about executing and getting through 2004 and 2005 to make that they are going to be completed as projects.
Smitty: Well you’re a busy man and it’s great to see you out there doing your thing and really doing it right. So people can keep up with you and all of the things you are doing by going to your website. So give me your website address.
Gerald: Yes, www.geraldalbright.com
Smitty: Cool. Now they can join the Gerald Albright Fan Club from there, and get updates on everything happening, and listen to some clips of the new CD.
Gerald: Right, and I should also mention, since were talking about websites, there’s also a link to our family business website which is www.justsweetenough.com. We have a company called “Just Sweet Enough” that features desserts that are low in sugar and low in fat, but very flavorful. So for people that want to eat right and eat healthy, they need to check out that website as well.
Smitty: Yes, I remember that we talked about that, I’m glad you mentioned that.
Gerald: Yes, that’s something that is true to our hearts and very close to us, and my wife is doing a wonderful job with it, so we’re very proud of her and her accomplishments. People need to check it out. .
Smitty: Excellent. Gerald it’s always a pleasure to kick it with you ma man, and I’m glad that our schedules finally came together to get you into The Jazz Nation spotlight.
Gerald: You got it. Anytime, it’s my pleasure to talk to you Smitty, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
