WEBVTT - Samara Joy Part 2 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:09.840 Quest Love Show is a production of iHeart Radio people. 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:12.200 What's Up? This is Quest Love And last week we 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.600 brought you part one of my in studio conversation with 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.680 Samara Joy. At the top of the month, she'll be 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.560 competing for two Grammy Awards, all right, including Best Vocal 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.800 Jazz Album for a Late Selpe Portrait. If you haven't 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.720 heard already, to make sure you spend time with that album. 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:31.240 And with part one of this interview, this is where 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:33.280 I really got to learn her story and dig into 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.920 her craft. So part two we're gonna have a little 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.440 more fun. We talked about her time in the studio, 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:41.479 her ensemble, and yes, where she gives her Grammy Awards. 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:47.680 She's already one, all right, enjoy What was your first 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:48.680 job ever? 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:51.720 I was a cashier at shopwrite part time? 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:56.600 Okay? What album have you committed to Memory from start 0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:02.080 to finish? No Skips, perfect album. 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:03.960 The Audience with Betty Carter. That's live with John Hicks 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.679 on piano, Curtis Lundy on bass, in Kenny Washington on drums. 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.240 And he was actually my professor, but he was eighteen 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:10.800 years old. 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:15.640 Kenny Washington. It's nothing like I Got Gods with me. 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.280 I mean, he was an incredible professor but also an 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:21.120 amazing musician. I've gotten to play with him. But that 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:25.120 album Betty Carter, she does things, the arrangements, the songs, 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:26.600 the compositions. 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:30.440 I love it, Okay, So it's kind of mad libby. 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:34.039 The singer to whom everyone compares you to is. 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:36.000 Saravon. 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:41.240 However, the singer that you really pattern in your style after. 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:45.240 Is Oh my gosh, Carmen McCrae. 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:48.040 I'd love you say that if you can ever find 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.880 there's a rendition she does of a song called The 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:55.720 Mystery of Man. Got to look it up. It's devastating 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.040 to hear, like just the way that she emotes in 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:01.440 her voice. But what is it about Carmen mc Honestly? 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:04.720 I think it's that, like she she's not necessarily mos 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:09.120 acrobatic of singers. She comes from the school of Billie Holliday, 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:11.520 as she says so herself, like that's one of her 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.239 main inspirations, and so I think she just kind of 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:15.960 gets right to the heart of a song, you know, 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:18.440 And that's something I feel like I need to learn. 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:20.440 It's like, as I'm learning the possibilities of what you 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.800 can do with your voice. There's also something to be 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.520 said about having taste and knowing when to withhold and 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:30.200 knowing you knows more. Yeah, so I just in some cases. 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:32.520 And so I feel like I listened to her over 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:34.440 and over again, and I find something new every time, 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:38.360 even if it's the simplest, you know, idea or riff 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:41.280 or And she was also pianist too, So I admire 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:43.760 that because I feel like she could pick out the 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.840 pretty notes to improvise on on a melody that still 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:50.160 go along with the chords without you know, maybe disrupting. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.600 But her rhythm was insane too, So yeah, I think 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.800 her the way that she improvises on a melody, the 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.960 way that her feel is like rhythmically interacting with the bank. 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:01.119 And that's what I love. 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:03.240 What other instruments do you play? 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:05.680 I used to play bass electric. 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:08.560 Used to, I mean like you forget after I used to. 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:10.560 I used to because my dad he got me a 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.000 Fender jazz bas for Christmas, along with our brothers Johnson 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.360 Record and a couple more so, I was like learning 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:22.399 their songs. Actually, host Johnson is like my I love 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:24.400 his playing to the point where I was I looked 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.240 up like an educational video that he did from the eighties. Yes, 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:29.120 and I started off with I was like, Okay, I 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:30.760 think that's time for me to put it out. Actually, 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:35.800 but I play piano now, but I used to play bass. 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:36.440 I miss it. 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:43.840 Okay. Uh, name me an artist that we would be shocked. 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:48.000 Is an influence on you or that we didn't see coming? 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:51.040 I don't know if I'm non jazz predictable. 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:57.760 You know, how's your Metallica history? How's your I. 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.200 Feel like I'm so predictable. I don't know. My My 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:08.280 origins are pretty clear. Hmmm. As far as lyricists, do 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.880 you know of a lady named Margo Gierian. No, she 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.000 only released one album to her name, but she's from 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:19.880 Long Island and she is She was a vocalist. I 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:21.400 can't remember what the name of the album is. I 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:23.160 think it's like sing a song or something like that. 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:27.320 But she's a really dope lyricist. And I've been learning 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.680 how to write lyrics to jazz compositions and she did 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:31.200 that a lot. 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:33.760 So yeah, I was going to ask you about your 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:37.440 vocal least game because I'm realizing that y're like. 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:40.640 She wrote lyrics to an ornate Coleman composition called Lonely Woman. 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.920 It's unbelievable. So she's one that I that I look 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:45.440 up to that might be unexpected. 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.560 Okay, I'm skipping now because since she brought it up. Okay, 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:52.040 So in portrait of course, you know, every jazz artist 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:56.400 does the American Songbook, you know, and they'll choose the 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.840 safe ones. They'll choose autumn leaves or whatever. But you're 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.920 like the you lay the gauntlet down, like you're choosing 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:07.120 like Mingus' craziest period, even with sun Rot, so with 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:11.119 Mingus alone. And I have an obsession and a love 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.919 for jazz vocalise and you know, name it King Pleasure, 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:21.680 Eddie Jefferson, Lambert Lambert Hendricks and Ross like all of 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:26.479 the for our listeners. Vocalist is where I guess the 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:32.719 rule is basically, you add lyrics to an existing jazz 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:35.120 song and do you have to follow the pattern of 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:36.000 what the solo is. 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:39.440 You can, And I started off doing that, like writing 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:41.920 lyrics only to the well writing lyrics to the melody 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:44.000 and the solo. But now I just kind of write 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.240 lyrics to the melody because the solo can be a 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:49.839 little hard, a challenging when people doing triplets and sixteenth 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:50.640 notes and stuff like that. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:54.440 So have you ever heard the grand Royal of all 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.480 jazz vocalist posse cuts? Have you heard Freddy Freeloader by 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:00.480 Yes Farren? 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:02.520 Yeah? 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:04.760 Yeah, all right. So during the pandemic, that was one 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:08.400 of my favorite exercises. I would DJ like five hours 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:11.600 online and I think one night I read the comments 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.039 where someone was telling me that there's a story of 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:20.200 how Hendrix like literally micromanaged Bob McFerrin, George Benson and 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:26.040 Algio to follow the Coltrane Miles solos on the original 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:30.920 Freddy Freeloader, And I was like no, and I stopped 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.720 the record and I put both albums up and played 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:38.800 them and realize, oh god, they're literally they left no 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:44.200 stone unturned. So with vocalists, gee, and you started on 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:49.640 the highest mountain, you started only Mount Fiji. How did 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:55.200 you even decide for that particular song? Like because Mingus 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:57.279 is frightening to conquer? 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.800 Yeah, I mean, it's a blessing to have memusicians around 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.440 you who put you on, for lack of a better word, 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:06.240 like musicians they like I didn't listen to Sun Raw 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:09.400 or Mingus before the band that I currently work with 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.040 and so they're you know, listening to songs on their 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.160 own time. They're listening to Mendelssohn and Revel and all 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:18.120 this kind of stuff, and I'm just listening and absorbing. 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.040 And so when I heard Reincarnation of Lovebird by Mingus, 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.360 I realized that even though the melody is complex, it's 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:28.600 still melodic, it's still lyrical, and I had the crazy 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:32.040 idea to put words to it. And you know, standards 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.040 one of I guess, or the bedrock of jazz music. 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:40.440 You hear so many musicians, Max Roach, Bennigolsen, Miles playing 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:43.680 standards and adding their own flair while also writing their 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.320 own composition. So there's merit to doing it. But I 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:50.560 guess they all learned form, they learn harmony, they learned 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.760 ways to make the songs their own, and then wrote 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.200 their own composition. So I guess that's how I tried 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.400 to do it, as learned standards, learn you know. 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:02.040 That's literally the best way to learn jazz is vocal wise, 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.800 Like walk me through the process of I listened to 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:11.080 the original and even as far as your lyric phrasing 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.560 and whatnot, Like how long did it take. 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:18.200 You to Oh, it took me like to learn the song. 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.160 It took me at least six months because there were 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.120 certain parts of it that I just couldn't I had 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:25.520 to like slow it down because I couldn't hear like 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.280 the exact pitches, and I need it in order to 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.760 be able to think of words. Yeah, I have to 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.040 like internalize the song and be able to sing it 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.200 without the recording. And of course the arranger at the 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.160 time had the idea for me to sing it completely 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:40.840 acapella before all the music. 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:45.120 That's what I say, and like, what the hell, you know? 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:46.920 And it took me. It took me another couple of 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.439 months to write the words to it because it's such 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.920 a deep song. I wanted the words to kind of 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.320 reflect that and be a compelling story that doesn't take 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:57.480 away from the melody and take away from the story 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.480 the melody is already telling. So yeah, it was a process, 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.679 but I love singing it and now I feel like 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:06.040 I've added another layer, you know, And I'm able to 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:08.880 sing complex melodies that might not be written for voice, 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:11.680 but you know, I can if it's in a certain 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:13.840 key and in a certain range, I can make it happen. 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:18.000 So will you try to conquer old Faris Sanders or 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.760 Don Cherry or like, when you get into free. 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:24.160 Jazz, maybe there's a vocalist, the one who sung Lonely 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:28.080 Woman by Ornat Coleman, Jean Lee. She does she's like more. 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:31.000 I guess she's classified as avant garde or free and 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.200 she played with this pianist called Ran Blake, and so 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.000 listening to her music and the stuff that she does 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.520 with Anthony Braxton and stuff, I'm like, there's there's something here. 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:41.440 I don't know quite yet. I'm still digging, but who knows. 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:46.720 God damn, I never thought I'd mean someone who outschools 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:50.079 me my own podcast. I want to know more sitting. 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:53.360 You were born in Castle Hill? Yeah, right, all right, 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:55.920 So that's not exactly the South. When I hear the Bronx, 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:57.520 of course, I think of like, oh, well, hip hop 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:02.040 started the Bronx projects. Isn't exactly the South Bronx. So 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:06.520 what are your earliest memories or your fondest memories of 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:07.720 growing up in Castle Hill? 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.320 Well, it was my grandma's house. She bought it. She 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:13.840 was from Virginia. She moved to Philly and then she 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:18.199 bought that house. I want to say, in the sixties 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.160 maybe late fifties, early sixties, because she wanted a family 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:23.360 house and she wanted to be able to host people 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:25.600 and have family and just have a place where we 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:27.920 all could kind of settle. And so I grew up 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.440 in that house. I grew up with her, and I 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:32.679 grew up, you know, being friendly with the neighbors and 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:36.960 my brother. You know, they're playing basketball outside my grandma, 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:39.120 you know, making food, salmon croquettes and all that kind 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:39.520 of stuff. 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.840 So you're saying that, technically you should be a Philadelphian. 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.960 I know, there's so many connections leading towards that. I'm 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:49.880 that's adjacent, that's home. 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:52.800 And then there was just a migration to the Bronx. 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:55.040 Yeah, I don't know how it happened. 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.840 Got it? Okay? Do you still have family in Philly? Like? 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.600 Yes, yeah, all spread out. God, my grandfather still lives 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:02.959 in West Philly. 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:09.160 All right, So what TV show would best describe your childhood? Great? Now, 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:10.240 I feel another like. 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:16.480 No, I actually did watch Saturday like cartoons and stuff. 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.520 Okay, so cartoons still existed when you in your memory back, 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:23.680 So what TV show best describes your childhood? 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:26.360 This is not a cartoon, but that's a Raven. I 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:28.040 guess maybe that's still new school. 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:34.880 No, that's old school now, Okay, Raven's forty. 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.400 My uncle used to also burn CDs of like Looney 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.600 Tunes and The Jackson's Variety Show and stuff, So I 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:42.480 used to watch that too. 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:46.240 Man, it's so dope. All right, who's your first celebrity crush? 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:50.520 Oh my gosh. It was probably from some Disney Channel movie, 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:54.120 maybe like zac Efron or something. Probably gotcha, which means 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:56.800 it was ultimately Corby and Blue as well. So I'll 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:57.400 say those two. 0:11:57.960 --> 0:11:59.320 I'm gonna pretend I know what those are. 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:00.560 What's the. 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:03.240 The style of cooking? 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:20.240 I know, did posters adorn your childhood bedroom? And if so, 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:21.640 who was there? 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:23.599 I had a mix of posters. See, we would go 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.760 to Blockbuster. I went to Blockbuster. I did rent DVDs 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:29.000 You were. 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:32.360 You was so born in. 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:37.280 And so they would have like I think it was 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:40.400 like Tiger Beat, like teen magazines, and my mom had 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:44.160 a standing subscription with Jet in essence, and so it 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.840 was a combination of like teen magazines and you know, 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.240 black magazines that were on my walls. 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.520 Got it, Okay, So I'm kind of placing a position 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.760 as a musician where I'm judged by pop rules and 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:05.280 hip hop, so everything's circular, looped and whatnot. And often 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:07.960 I'm told, like, just keep the song as simple as possible. 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:13.360 What is your process for writing original composition? Like what 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:16.720 ritual do you have? Do you need to be in 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:20.600 a space alone with your thoughts or is it you 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:23.880 and someone else riffing and figuring out what it is. 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.560 I don't write as much original material as I should. 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:27.880 Eventually, you will say. 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:29.920 I would say the one that I have that's on 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:33.280 the album Peace of Mind was written and inspired by 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.760 an Abby Lincoln record called straight Ahead. And there's a 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.199 song on the album called in the Red and the 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:44.800 composer and trumpeter Booker Little he wrote it to and 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:47.199 he like, there's no defined time on the song. It's 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.160 all like conducted, but it's like kind of slow and suspenseful, 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.640 and he wrote it because he wanted to mimic or 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.360 mirror the suspense that people feel when they're broke and 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.520 when they're in the red. And I just thought about 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.040 that tool, like that musical tool of like, oh so 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:01.560 I didn't I didn't realize you could do that and 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.480 express that kind of feeling through music. And if I did. 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:06.400 I just didn't know it consciously. 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:08.960 I'm totally channelling you out right now. 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.079 And so with my first song, there's no defined time 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.240 because it kind of came after the Grammys and I 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.560 was feeling a little bit uncertain. There were people kind 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.840 of projecting what they felt I should do. You have 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:25.840 this attention, you can do anything, you can sing anything, yeah, 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:28.720 or make the same record that you did that you know, 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.080 and so I was just like, I don't want to 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.680 do that, which is not a new feeling. Every artist 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:35.840 has had to make that decision at one point or another, 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:38.920 and so I was feeling that, and that uncertainty matched 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.120 the suspense that I heard on that song, and so 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.720 I wanted to write something that was dissonant that eventually 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.760 had a constant resolution, which is Dreams Come True by 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:51.320 Son Raw. But that feeling of being uncertain, of wondering 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.840 what decision to make, of feeling like I'm trying to 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.080 stay grounded by my life is just changing so much, 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.200 and so I wanted to present that in the song, 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:01.840 and so that was my inspiration for songwriting. At the time. 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.680 I guess, uh, do you have siblings? Are you the 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:05.280 only child? 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:06.520 I have four siblings. 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.040 Where do you fall in the. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.680 Second to last? I have three older siblings and one younger. 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.920 And are they also artistically inclined? 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.360 Yeah. My eldest brother, he was like in the early 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.520 two thousands, he was like writing for Genuine and work 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:28.160 with doctor Dre and all these different people. Is Antonio Okay, 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:32.680 Antonio McLendon. My sister not so much. She sings when 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:35.320 she's like around us, but she's more of a she's 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.120 more of a business woman. My second oldest brother, Daniel, 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:40.640 he was the one who put me onto Voodoo and 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:42.960 you know he was he was listening to Kanye like 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:44.560 he was listening. Sorry, I don't want to mention all 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:49.960 these names out here, but but he was listening to 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.240 a lot of stuff that I just hadn't seen or 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:55.960 hadn't really been exposed to, Like Ryan Leslie. I had 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.360 never listened to Diamond Girl and was like, I was like, 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.960 what this is crazy? On ye sure, it was like, 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:04.080 oh iTunes. I never I don't have my own laptop, 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.480 so I don't know what that is. And my younger 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:09.680 brother's into it too. But I think I think we're 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:12.520 all musically inclined to one way or another. But they 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:13.760 all influenced me in. 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:18.880 An I gotta know what is it like recording at 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:26.960 Van Gelder's studio. And I have to say, of the 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.840 ten albums of Note that I know that we're recorded 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.640 there in the last five years, yours is the only 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:40.680 record that I feel really takes advantage of why that 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:42.040 studio is so important. 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.080 Thank you, because thank you so much. 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:49.720 Yeah, because the thing was I listened to it and 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.080 when I got to the fourth song, I stopped it, 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.040 and then I went to my boys record and I'm like, wait, 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.640 this sounds like this smooth jazz, like this is me. 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.960 And I was just under the impression I always wanted 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.720 to go there to record, but after nine or ten 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.080 records where I'm like, well, wait a minute, besides the 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:12.720 physical space like different is it like? And I was 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.240 just so that I've been recording all my joins in Brooklyn, 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.840 where the dap Kings are and whatever where it feels, 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:20.760 and when I heard your record, I was like, wait 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:24.800 a minute, it's possible, So what gives. 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:27.960 I wanted to match the chemistry that my band shout 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.480 out to my septeent, that my band had built on 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.159 stage and the setting that we have where it's me, 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.600 then the horns, and then the rhythm section. I wanted 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.240 we've built this chemistry of playing together and matching each 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.639 other's dynamics and stuff on stage. I didn't want that 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.560 to go away and have to hear everybody through headphones. 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.600 So I had the drums in the room. Rudy van 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.480 Guelder is perfect. Shout out Maureen and Don Sickler. It 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:53.040 was an incredible, incredible and Brie Lynch it is an 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.800 incredible room. It is an incredible room and it's perfect 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.240 for acoustic music. Drums in the room, horns in the room, piano, 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:00.840 I think the only thing no base was in the 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:02.560 room as well. I was the only one who was 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:04.960 isolated because I make mistakes and I want to fix them. 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:07.440 But other than that, I wanted to capture the same 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.919 acoustic sound and that feeling that we get when we 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.639 play together. And so everything was like two to three takes, Max. 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:18.320 What you talked? You serious? Yeah, Well how long did 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:19.280 pre production take? 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:21.720 I mean pre production was touring, so we were on 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:23.480 the road for two years. We went into the. 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.760 Studio, but even when you're in a room together, they 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:28.640 have to place things perfectly. 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.879 Once we got adjusted, though, two to three takes eighteen 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:33.000 songs three days. 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:35.480 Are you ever going to return to that studio? 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:35.920 Yes? 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:42.000 Absolutely, Okay, we're friends now. Before I give them my business, 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:45.840 I just want to witness this happening, because I refuse 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:51.440 to believe that I was just on the impression that 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:55.280 it'll never sound nothing will sound as good as any 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:57.320 of the blue note stuff that he did, or any. 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.720 Of the and they have so many great Mike's too. 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:05.159 Yes, amazing, That's what I'm saying. How did you figure 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:08.160 out the code that no one else figured out? 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:10.879 The thing is Maureen, she's the only one. She's the 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:14.160 only protege of Rudy van Gelder, and so she knows everything, 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.000 the radar system that they use, all the buttons and stuff. 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:21.119 They're all named in sort of an unorthodox way, and 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.040 she's the only one. Like, nobody's allowed. 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.560 Behind Yeah, are they preset or they're not? 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:28.600 I think she sets them, but nobody's allowed behind her 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.280 and behind the board. You can't be behind the board. 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:37.320 So okay, one of those studios. Yeah, what is these 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:41.399 significance behind the dear Beverly name for your imprint? What's 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:42.560 the story behind that? 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:47.760 My late aunt Beverly was a pianist and a vocalist, 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:51.000 and the only time I met her was when I 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:54.360 was just born. I was born on November eleventh, and 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:59.919 a couple and a couple of weeks later was Thanksgiving 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:02.239 and she was sick, and so she was kind of 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:04.960 she was a little bit weak physically, and she got 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.239 the chance to hold me a couple weeks after I 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:09.200 was born, and that was the only time I ever 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:11.639 met her. And since then, everybody says that I sound 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.440 like her, and I even look like her sometimes. 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:16.399 The genetics, Yeah, that's where it comes in. 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:18.800 And so I wanted to name the imprint in honor 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:19.160 of her. 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:24.000 How did you choose the ensemble that worked with you 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:27.320 on these and even with their producers? I know, Brian Lynch, like, 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:31.439 how do you go about choosing this album? 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:34.720 Was our first time meeting and working together. He's arranged 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.560 and he's played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:40.440 but he also arranges and composes in his own right. 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.800 And because this band disorted my first my first time 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:46.600 playing with a larger ensemble with horns, how many pieces 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:51.520 seven four horns, trumpet, alto, sacks, tenor sax and trombone, 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:54.000 in rhythm section. I wanted to have somebody who had 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.920 an ear for that music, but who also didn't try 0:20:56.960 --> 0:21:00.720 to come in and assume themselves as higher us, because 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:02.720 we were the ones who I mean, the writers in 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:04.639 the band are the horn players and the pianists, so 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:06.720 they're the ones who are writing and we're the ones 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:08.840 who are shaping it. And so I think he came 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.320