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Speaker 1: Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: All Right, ladies and.

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Speaker 1: Gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Quest Love Supreme. Young

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Speaker 1: addition is Quest Love and we are Team Supreme here?

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Speaker 1: Why yeah, what's going on? You had another room?

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Speaker 3: How about right? More talk show?

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Speaker 1: We now you're the queen of the castle because your

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Speaker 1: room choices. You literally know how to make new environments

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Speaker 1: in every episode.

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Speaker 3: We've worked on it every day. Yes, but look, seriously,

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Speaker 3: I mean you see the difference though, right.

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Speaker 1: I'm impressed. There's funktually going on. Y'all can see. I'm

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Speaker 1: clearly cluttered.

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Speaker 2: Take it from mister himself.

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Speaker 1: Well, also, freaking star wars beams on me. What's good, Steve?

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Speaker 1: How's it going good?

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Speaker 4: How's everybody doing today?

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Speaker 5: Hi?

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Speaker 6: Bony than good to see us, Steve.

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Speaker 1: Steve are our resident instrumental music collegist and on paid bill.

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Speaker 2: Yes, sir, how's life man? As a former tenor sax player?

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Speaker 2: I could be more excited to this is the day? Man,

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Speaker 2: I'm into it.

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Speaker 1: Wait. I learned more and more about you each episode.

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Speaker 2: You know this? So I I was a saxophone player

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Speaker 2: all my life, and then I like.

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Speaker 1: Then, how come you never came to a jam session

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Speaker 1: on paid.

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Speaker 2: Bill because I was never invited to a jam session.

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Speaker 1: To invite you on paid bill unless you've made it

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Speaker 1: known that you're more than a producer songwriting.

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Speaker 2: Well, okay, sorry, no, not at all. In fact, those

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Speaker 2: are Ludwig Quest Love drums behind me, just so we're

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Speaker 2: all on the same page.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 2: The tom is the Tom's from the Breakbeats thing. This one.

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Speaker 1: I was impressed. I was a little jealous. I was like,

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Speaker 1: how come you were rocking Quest Loves.

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Speaker 2: I like to pretend that this side of the room

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Speaker 2: that I pretend to play all of these things. I

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Speaker 2: also pretend to play all of these things. You'll know

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Speaker 2: it that none of them are on. But it's okay,

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Speaker 2: it's cool. They look awesome. I guess that body James

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Speaker 2: only plays the saxophone to his left. All that other

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Speaker 2: shit is all fake too. I feel like that's the

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Speaker 2: vibe for sure. I'm kidding all right.

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Speaker 1: Anyway. Anyway, you know, we've had many musicians on the show,

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Speaker 1: Ladies and Gentlemen in the past couple of episodes of

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Speaker 1: Quest of Supreme. Today's no exception. Our guest today is

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Speaker 1: a multi Grammy nominated chart topping arrangers, songwriter, musician, saxophone

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Speaker 1: player who's built an incredible career for the last forty

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Speaker 1: plus years with Luminaries, starting off with Barns Day. Okay,

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Speaker 1: I'll get to the Marris date part because I'm very

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Speaker 1: familiar with the color of Success era of Mars, which

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Speaker 1: I definitely want to ask you questions about the Isley's

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Speaker 1: collaborations with al Ji Rod, George Duke, so many others.

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Speaker 1: Right now, he is just released his new LP called

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Speaker 1: slow Burn with Corey Henry, dubbed Corey Henry mister Egyptian Musk.

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Speaker 1: I think he bathes in about four gallons of Egyptian

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Speaker 1: musk a day.

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Speaker 6: I didn't we spent together, Dude, If you shake Corey.

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Speaker 1: I shook Corey's hand once and had to like shower

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Speaker 1: four times when I got home.

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Speaker 2: And that was like you and the good old days

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Speaker 2: with Shade Butter. You used to smell like a bakery

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Speaker 2: all the time. That was the joke that went around.

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Speaker 2: Now you don't as much, but you used to smell

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Speaker 2: like that too.

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Speaker 1: Right, But I think Corey puts it on his hands,

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Speaker 1: which I'm like, wait a minute, I'm like, why do

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Speaker 1: I smell like Egyptian musk. Like literally, I'm like being

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Speaker 1: Corey's oils on like other people us.

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Speaker 3: He's going through that stage, you know, I see.

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Speaker 1: Well, not to mention Marcus Miller. October, London's on slow

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Speaker 1: Burn just got released, and uh, you know it's rather

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Speaker 1: fitting that, uh, we have a conversation with one and

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Speaker 1: only Bonie James on Quest Love Supreme. Welcome to be here.

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Speaker 1: So this is the first time we're seeing you without

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Speaker 1: your signature? Is we say a ballero?

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Speaker 6: No, it's a fedora?

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Speaker 1: Really okay, I thought it was balleerro. This means that

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Speaker 1: you allowed joing your life if you're still this young environment.

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Speaker 6: So I feel younger every day. I'm noticing more since

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Speaker 6: I turned sixty a few years ago, that I'm getting

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Speaker 6: younger every day. That's my feeling.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think as these generation passes, like you remember

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Speaker 1: what sixty looked like when we were kids, I think

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Speaker 1: it's the amount of stress that you allowed it in

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Speaker 1: your life that determines like how you're going to look.

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Speaker 6: So, but my career path is very very helpful to

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Speaker 6: my general demeanor and sense of well being, very fortunate.

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Speaker 1: So I take it you're in an environment that is

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Speaker 1: your home studio.

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Speaker 6: This is my home studio, the backyard.

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Speaker 1: Where do you reside in the world.

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Speaker 6: I live in West Hollywood in Los Angeles, okay, and

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Speaker 6: this is when I'm not on the road. This is

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Speaker 6: where I spend most of my time here in the

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Speaker 6: backyard studio.

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Speaker 1: Nice. Okay, that's what's up. How long have you had

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Speaker 1: this setup?

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Speaker 6: I've been living here for like twenty seven years, okay.

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Speaker 6: The previous owner had been a stockbroker and had an

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Speaker 6: office out here, and then when I moved in, I

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Speaker 6: turned it into my studio. So this is where I've

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Speaker 6: been working ever since. Then.

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Speaker 1: I see, I got it, I got it. Where are

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Speaker 1: you originally from?

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Speaker 6: I well, I was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, which is

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Speaker 6: a little town outside of Boston. And I grew up

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Speaker 6: mostly in New Rochelle, New York, which is a little

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Speaker 6: town outside of Manhattan.

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Speaker 1: New Rochelle. Okay, yeah, and I know that from brand

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Speaker 1: Nubian rhymes.

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Speaker 6: Halfway through high school, my whole family moved to Los

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Speaker 6: Angeles to my dad's job, moved us and I've been

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Speaker 6: here ever since.

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Speaker 1: Oh okay, So I always start with this question. Could

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Speaker 1: you tell me what your first musical memory.

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Speaker 6: Was my first musical memory. You know, there was a

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Speaker 6: lot of music in my house. My father was an

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Speaker 6: attorney that when I was young five sixty seven worked

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Speaker 6: for Columbia Records, so there were a lot of records around,

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Speaker 6: and I loved music right away, and I love to dance.

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Speaker 6: I remember he had a lot of film soundtracks and

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Speaker 6: I remember what is popping into my head is the

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Speaker 6: soundtrack for Zorba of the Greek. Really yeah, that music

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Speaker 6: just really excited me and I used to dance around

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Speaker 6: the living room to disorber the Greek. And I think

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Speaker 6: that's one of my very first musical memories.

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Speaker 1: Strangely enough, what era did your dad work at Columbia?

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Speaker 6: Well, this has got to be, you know, mid late sixties.

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Speaker 6: You know there was also Dave Brubak Records were there,

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Speaker 6: and golly, you know Bill Evans Records. And I mean

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Speaker 6: the very first record I remember buying with my own

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Speaker 6: money was Chick Courrey is No Mystery. So this is

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Speaker 6: what early mid seventies, yeah somewhere yeah, well, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 6: it was. It was early Return to Forever.

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Speaker 1: Okay. So that's a curious thing for me because normally,

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Speaker 1: if something outside of the pop frame speaks to someone

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Speaker 1: under the age of fifteen, then they kind of think

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Speaker 1: different to me, like, what was it about that period,

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Speaker 1: because I know that, you know, you were like ten

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Speaker 1: years old when when jazz was changing, like with Bitches

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Speaker 1: Brew and the Headhunters and kind of jazz was figuring out,

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Speaker 1: like what it's new metamorphosis was. How many siblings do

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Speaker 1: you have?

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Speaker 6: I had, Well, I I only have one brother left.

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Speaker 6: I had two brothers when I was growing up. My

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Speaker 6: older brother passed away about twenty some odd years ago.

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Speaker 1: Are you the youngest.

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Speaker 6: I was the middle child. Yeah, my younger brother is

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Speaker 6: five years younger. My older brother was like eleven months older.

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Speaker 6: You know, I mean to go back to your question.

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Speaker 6: I mean I also loved pop music and R and

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Speaker 6: B music too. I love to listen to the radio,

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Speaker 6: and I remember being really excited by you know, Stevie

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Speaker 6: Wonder and things like that, and Bitches Brew was not

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Speaker 6: my thing, even when everyone was digging it. You know.

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Speaker 6: I liked a little bit more accessible music. And I

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Speaker 6: think I still that's kind of you know, the tradition

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Speaker 6: that I'm in, and I think that that was probably

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Speaker 6: a seed that was planted when I was young. The

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Speaker 6: fusion thing, you know. I don't know. I think I

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Speaker 6: was just I loved instrumental music quite a bit. I

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Speaker 6: remember Barry White and Love Unlimited Orchestra. I was so

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Speaker 6: excited when there was a pop hit of instrumental music

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Speaker 6: on the radio, and that was always my thing.

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Speaker 1: It's weird, assuming, Matt, you played stacks all your life,

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Speaker 1: do you play any other instruments as well?

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Speaker 6: I started on clarinet. You know, back in the days

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Speaker 6: when I was a kid in New Rochelle, everybody basically

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Speaker 6: in third grade would sign up to play an instrument.

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Speaker 6: There was a band class and I wanted to get

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Speaker 6: a trumpet. We went to the music store. All they

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Speaker 6: had were clarinet, so I took a clarinet home. We

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Speaker 6: rented one, and then two years later there were so

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Speaker 6: many clarinets in this band. The teacher had gotten a

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Speaker 6: saxophone and he leaned on me to switch to the saxophone.

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Speaker 6: And I really resisted it because it was so much

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Speaker 6: heavier case I was going to have to carry too

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Speaker 6: and from the school. But he said, if you play

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Speaker 6: the saxophone, you can be in the stage band when

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Speaker 6: you get to junior high and the stage band had

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Speaker 6: just come to visit and they had very snazzy satin

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Speaker 6: jackets and ascot ties and a drummer and a bass player.

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Speaker 6: And so that was really what convinced me was the

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Speaker 6: chance to get stage when I got to junior high

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Speaker 6: school and that's when I picked up the saxophone at ten.

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Speaker 1: I fig you're the perfect age for me to ask

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Speaker 1: this question because you can answer it sort of in

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Speaker 1: retrospect because oftentimes, especially with a lot of my hip

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Speaker 1: hop constituents and my first generation hip hop constituents, you know,

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Speaker 1: like grand Master Flash or Graham Wizard Theatore. Now, those

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Speaker 1: particular guys would tell me that, you know, there was

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Speaker 1: a period when they were in elementary school or middle

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Speaker 1: school in which some sort of art class was required

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Speaker 1: and sometimes you had to do multiple things. You had

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Speaker 1: to take arts and crafts, but you also had to

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Speaker 1: take music. You had to like the word had is

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Speaker 1: key here. It wasn't like an elective or an option.

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Speaker 1: And then they said that there was a shift or

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Speaker 1: a tied kind of at the end of the pre

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Speaker 1: Watergate Nixon administration in which a lot of these programs

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Speaker 1: got cut. They were all telling me, like, you know,

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Speaker 1: I really wanted to play bass, but we didn't have

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Speaker 1: any bass classes. So I became a DJ. And that's

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Speaker 1: kind of how a lot of the first generation hip

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Speaker 1: hop class was. But a lot of the generation of

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Speaker 1: musicians now, is that how they came to music?

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Speaker 6: Well, by now, I mean from Michael Hort, I think

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Speaker 6: a lot of them did.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean specifically, you're like, you know, the sixties

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Speaker 1: seventies generation.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, it was a trip. And it seems like such

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Speaker 6: an ancient history, doesn't it, that that was the deal,

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Speaker 6: you know, And this was a public school, middle class,

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Speaker 6: lower middle class, mixed.

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Speaker 1: I'm only asking simply because I think kind of in

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Speaker 1: my rose colored bubble view of it, I thought like,

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Speaker 1: if you come out the womb with some sort of

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Speaker 1: musical talent and your parents are like, oh, this is

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Speaker 1: what you want to do, and then you pursue it.

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Speaker 1: But a lot of my idols of the kind of

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Speaker 1: Midwest migration, you know, families who moved from down south

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Speaker 1: to Detroit or Ohio, Indiana, whatever, you know, they were like, no,

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Speaker 1: like I did have natural talent. I just saw bass

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Speaker 1: one day. I mean, even Christian McBride told me like,

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Speaker 1: even though his dad was a bass player like he

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Speaker 1: came to risk, came to base late, like when he

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Speaker 1: was twelve or thirteen. I thought he came out the

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Speaker 1: womb like with a bass in hand. So not knowing

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Speaker 1: how to play a clarinet, How did it take you

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Speaker 1: to literally figure out the fingering and all those things?

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Speaker 6: Boy, that's you know. I don't remember exactly, but my

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Speaker 6: recollection is says that I was pretty good at it

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Speaker 6: compared to the other kids in the class, pretty quick,

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Speaker 6: and that was one of the reasons that he thought

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Speaker 6: it would be easier for me to switch to the

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Speaker 6: saxophone two years later. I mean, clarinet never really warmed

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Speaker 6: up too, but as soon as I picked up the saxophone,

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Speaker 6: it really did become my favorite thing to do, and

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Speaker 6: all my hobbies fell away. But prior to that, I

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Speaker 6: did not come up. I mean, my my family has

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Speaker 6: no musical talent whatsoever other than me. My parents can't

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Speaker 6: even carry a tune. You know, if they sing Happy Birthday,

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Speaker 6: you can't even tell what song it is.

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Speaker 2: James and I are very similar. I just want to say,

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Speaker 2: the clarinet to the saxophone. The parents, my parents are doctors.

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Speaker 2: I'm loving all this. I feel like I'm watching a show.

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Speaker 1: Yes, no, no, you're not the same. Because Bonie James

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Speaker 1: let me know that he played the saxophone on Paatee Bill.

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Speaker 2: Oh, here you go, here you go. Here's that moment.

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Speaker 2: It's happening. It just happened.

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Speaker 6: When So last time you picked up the saxophone, do

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Speaker 6: you do you still play it?

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Speaker 2: It's right over there the case. No, I don't, as

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Speaker 2: much as I like to.

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Speaker 1: Walk over there, let me challenge.

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Speaker 2: Challenge, no way, but I appreciate it. But no, not

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Speaker 2: in front of body James. That feels like sacrilegious and weird.

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Speaker 2: Let's move on.

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Speaker 1: You co created Hamilton. You can do anything.

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Speaker 2: I did not. We produced the album together. I did

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Speaker 2: not make Hamilton. We made an album together a long

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Speaker 2: time ago.

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Speaker 1: So was switching to saxophone? Is that transferable? In other words, like,

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Speaker 1: if given a clarinet or saxophone, is it the same fingering?

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Speaker 1: Is it the same? Similar?

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Speaker 2: Similar point?

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Speaker 6: Yeah, it's similar to a point. Part of the clarinet

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Speaker 6: is the same. And then when you switch to you

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Speaker 6: go over the octave and it changes. It's a little

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Speaker 6: bit more confusing. The clarinet. Plus the clarinet is an

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Speaker 6: open holding strut in the saxophone is a close holding

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Speaker 6: string with keys. The ambisher completely different. To get a

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Speaker 6: good sound out of the saxophone, you have to hold

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Speaker 6: your your interior mouth and you know, teeth and lips

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Speaker 6: and everything is different. But many sax players also play

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Speaker 6: the clarinet and flute because they're all similar fingerings.

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Speaker 1: Have you ever challenged yourself for other brass instruments like trumpet, trombone. No.

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Speaker 6: And I a clarinet for many, many years, and I

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Speaker 6: have a flute in the closet that every now and

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Speaker 6: then if I need a flute on one of my records,

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Speaker 6: I will shed for a day or two enough to

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Speaker 6: get a wispy sound. But yeah, I mainly have been

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Speaker 6: concentrating on the saxophone. And I did play keyboards for

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Speaker 6: a long time too. That was, you know, my entree

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Speaker 6: into professional show business was playing keyboards.

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Speaker 3: But just to be clear, you never played the recorder.

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Speaker 6: I did play the recorder as well. Really, quarter is

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Speaker 6: a very challenging, It's true, really hard is.

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Speaker 3: When they give all the kids first.

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Speaker 6: So yeah, but if you've ever heard someone really play

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Speaker 6: the recorder, it's quite impressive because it's who.

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Speaker 2: Are your early influences in the early days, like clarinet

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Speaker 2: transitioning to saxophone, like clearly you picked it up, and

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Speaker 2: then with somebody like you should listen to this was

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Speaker 2: there like a touchstone artist.

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Speaker 6: I left on when you're a kid and you're picking

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Speaker 6: up the saxophone. And I took, you know, private lessons

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Speaker 6: in addition to the school into Rochelle. The private teacher

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Speaker 6: that taught me, he was a guy named Stanley Hammer,

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Speaker 6: and I came to find out that Bob Mintzer, famous

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Speaker 6: sax player from the Yellow Jackets, also studied with him,

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Speaker 6: although he was a few years older. And what I

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Speaker 6: remember about him was he had a couple of dogs

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Speaker 6: that were yapping incessantly during the lessons. You know, when

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Speaker 6: you first start on the saxophone, people will push you.

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Speaker 6: I started on alto, and people will push you to

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Speaker 6: listen to Charlie Parker and you know that kind of

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Speaker 6: beatbop music. He was not really didn't warm me up

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Speaker 6: because I was, like I said, I loved radio. I

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Speaker 6: loved the R and B. The fusion thing came a

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Speaker 6: little later, but when I heard Grover Washington Junior in

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Speaker 6: seventy five, you know, it's the first cat I heard

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Speaker 6: that was mixing up sort of a go go beat

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Speaker 6: with a lovely saxophone tone and improvisational spirit, but with

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Speaker 6: a song that you could hear. And that was what really,

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Speaker 6: you know, was like wow, man, this is dope. And

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Speaker 6: that was kind of the path that it started. That's

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Speaker 6: what started me down this path. And that's a tradition

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Speaker 6: I think I'm sort of carrying on today.

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Speaker 1: So with the saxophone, how hard is it to find

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Speaker 1: your Like? I know Coltrane when I first hear it.

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Speaker 1: I know Herb Albert when I first hear him. I

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Speaker 1: always wondered how a brass player finds a tone Like.

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Speaker 6: I think that's kind of harder for me to be

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Speaker 6: objective about, but I mean I when I think about

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Speaker 6: it on my own term. So I think it was

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Speaker 6: when I really started to write songs for me as

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Speaker 6: an artist, you know, when I really started to think when,

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Speaker 6: you know, because so much of my life prior to

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Speaker 6: when I started making records was working as a sideman,

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Speaker 6: and you have to be a chameleon, and and you

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Speaker 6: would often you know, I played keyboards a lot, but

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Speaker 6: when I got to play the saxophone, I have to

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Speaker 6: learn someone else's solo. So I would, you know, pretend

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Speaker 6: to be Ernie Watts, or pretend to be David Sandborn

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Speaker 6: or you know, an imitative kind.

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Speaker 1: Of thing Ernie what Wow. Okay, But when I.

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Speaker 6: Really got frustrated with that lifestyle and I thought, man,

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Speaker 6: I really should just try and do my own thing.

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Speaker 6: I wasn't liking any of the songs I was writing

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Speaker 6: for other people. I was trying to, you know, get

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Speaker 6: a publishing deal, all the things young musicians do, and

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Speaker 6: I thought, let me just try and make records, make

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Speaker 6: music for me. That was when I think I started

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Speaker 6: to feel what I was playing more and to really

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Speaker 6: just become more immeshed in the music. And that was

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Speaker 6: when the horn became more my voice and distinguishable. And

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Speaker 6: people tell me now that they can always tell it's

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Speaker 6: me and I'm.

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Speaker 3: Very slow Burn.

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Speaker 5: You can tell from some of the other records, like

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Speaker 5: the actual slow Burn record Thank You.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 6: And I think hopefully my sound has continued to evolve.

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Speaker 6: I mean, I'm always working on trying to become more

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Speaker 6: and more the essence of whatever it is that I'm doing,

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Speaker 6: and so much of that is the more adept you

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Speaker 6: get at the horn, the fewer barriers that are for

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Speaker 6: expressing yourself. And if you're really playing from the heart,

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Speaker 6: I think you're going to have an identific thought and

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Speaker 6: identifiable voice, whether you're singing were playing an instrument. So

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Speaker 6: that's my theory.

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Speaker 1: Wow, okay, So what was your first creative project before

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Speaker 1: you're taking this seriously or like once once you get

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Speaker 1: your chops in order as a kid into your teens

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Speaker 1: was what was the first creative project that you put together?

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Speaker 6: I was in a band called Line One. This was

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Speaker 6: probably late high school through most of college. Another member

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Speaker 6: that band is a guitar player producer named John Shanks

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Speaker 6: you might be familiar with.

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Speaker 1: I heard the name.

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Speaker 6: Yes, he does a lot of rock and roll records.

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Speaker 6: He won Producer of the Year a few years back.

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Speaker 6: He was the guitar player in that band. We're not

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Speaker 6: really in touch now, but you know. And that was

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Speaker 6: like it was started out as a sort of a

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Speaker 6: fusion R and B instrumental band, and then we tried

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Speaker 6: to sort of turn into Level forty two or something

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Speaker 6: like that, and we werehearseding Kenny Gradney's garage. Kenny Gradney,

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Speaker 6: the bass player from Little Feet, was like our mentor

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Speaker 6: and that was like my life for the whole main

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Speaker 6: part of my late teens, early twenties, and until I

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Speaker 6: actually got my gig with Morris Day, and that was

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Speaker 6: you know, we were going to try and be stars,

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Speaker 6: but it never happened for us.

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Speaker 1: What was your first professional gig?

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Speaker 6: Well, you know, I had decided when I graduated from

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Speaker 6: high school that I was not going to pursue a

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Speaker 6: career music. I thought it was not possible.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, here's another job. Okay, another job.

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Speaker 1: Okay, watch it ass. What did you want to be

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Speaker 1: when you were a kid.

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Speaker 6: I was not sure, but I mean, my father was

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Speaker 6: an attorney, so I thought, well, maybe I'll eventually go

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Speaker 6: to law school. I studied history in college. I went

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Speaker 6: away to UC Berkeley. I didn't practice my horn at

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Speaker 6: all for almost an entire year, and I was miserable

402
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Speaker 6: and came back to LA for summer vacation and hooked

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Speaker 6: back up with this band. And they were playing some

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Speaker 6: real gigs as opposed to dances or parties and things

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Speaker 6: that we had done before. And they had a gig

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Speaker 6: at the Improv which used to have music on Melrose

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Speaker 6: used to have muscasionally, and I got up on stage

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Speaker 6: with them and I had this epiphan This was like

409
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Speaker 6: the summer between my freshman and sophomore year at college

410
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Speaker 6: where I thought, you know what, this is what I

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Speaker 6: really love to do, and I'm going to move back

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Speaker 6: to LA and stick with this band. And I mean

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Speaker 6: I transferred to UCLA and I did graduate from college

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Speaker 6: with a degree in history, but from on I was

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Speaker 6: very much a half assed student and dedicated to music.

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Speaker 6: So it was about nineteen that I kind of made

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Speaker 6: that decision. You know. Also my wife, who I'm still

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Speaker 6: married to now, you know, when we she was very

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Speaker 6: helpful in helping me decide, you know, I should I

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Speaker 6: try and do this, Should I go to college? Should

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Speaker 6: I be a lawyer? And she's like, you should really

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Speaker 6: try and do this.

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Speaker 5: So while y'all met that that far back when she

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Speaker 5: was just a struggling actress in your.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, forty four years now married for thirty nine.

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Speaker 2: Wow, it might be your greatest success. Sever that's amazing.

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Speaker 6: It's one of the great blessings of my life.

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Speaker 5: Got to ask a question, what were the other job?

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Speaker 5: Did you ever work any other jobs besides music?

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Speaker 6: I was a a you know, culinary transportation engineer for.

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Speaker 3: Me way way Way, Wait, a culinary transportation.

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Speaker 6: Pizza delivered.

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Speaker 1: I was like wait in my head, I was like, okay,

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Speaker 1: I know it.

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Speaker 3: Was something closed Bill.

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Speaker 6: I worked probably for four or five years delivering pizzas

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Speaker 6: to pay the bills while I was playing in these

438
00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:21,760
Speaker 6: various bands and trying to figure out how you make

439
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:23,760
Speaker 6: a living as a musician. And it was right from

440
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 6: that pizza gig that I got into Morris's band in

441
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:27,639
Speaker 6: nineteen eighty five, and.

442
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 3: The pizza gig.

443
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,320
Speaker 6: I had to postpone my wedding because I got the

444
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 6: gig with Morris and the schedule for that first tour

445
00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:37,600
Speaker 6: interrupted our wedding plan.

446
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,240
Speaker 1: So she's a patient woman. I take it.

447
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:42,440
Speaker 6: She's a lovely woman.

448
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:49,480
Speaker 1: Was your family encouraging of this decision? And this is

449
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,679
Speaker 1: coming from a person who, at least my dad was

450
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,080
Speaker 1: not too thrilled at once. He eventually found out about

451
00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,720
Speaker 1: the roots. But for you, was your family encouraging of

452
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:05,320
Speaker 1: you pursuing this passion or was it like safety first

453
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,919
Speaker 1: and get the money become a lawyer?

454
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,240
Speaker 6: They were from that, You know, we want you to

455
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 6: be happy school of parenting, which I'm very great.

456
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 7: That's rare, very so I don't even get casual about

457
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,159
Speaker 7: that hippie. I'm sure that they were worried. But you know,

458
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,920
Speaker 7: after I'm Lily and I moved in together soon after,

459
00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,959
Speaker 7: and I was living independently and was not you know,

460
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,520
Speaker 7: on their dole, and and I think that they were supportive,

461
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:31,639
Speaker 7: is my recollection.

462
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:34,840
Speaker 6: And of course once I started making a living as

463
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:36,960
Speaker 6: a sidemen and you know, some of those early gigs

464
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,800
Speaker 6: they paid pretty well for back in the day, and

465
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,200
Speaker 6: and I think that they were relieved. But you know, now,

466
00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,640
Speaker 6: my father passed away a few years ago, but my mom,

467
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 6: you know, is still very proud of everything, you know,

468
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,560
Speaker 6: and it's kind of kind of weird for them that

469
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:52,960
Speaker 6: this has turned out for me, because, as I said,

470
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,160
Speaker 6: there's no music in our family at all, and yet

471
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 6: here I'm still doing this all these years later.

472
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 3: One of the rare people. You actually buy a CD

473
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,199
Speaker 3: in Starbucks.

474
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:03,840
Speaker 2: CDs?

475
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:04,680
Speaker 1: What are those?

476
00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:06,680
Speaker 6: Right?

477
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,440
Speaker 1: So did you play Keyboards and Saxon Morris's band?

478
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,200
Speaker 6: Yeah, well I got the gig on Keyboards.

479
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,200
Speaker 1: Knows you with the okay? Because I was watching the

480
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 1: Soul Train episode of the character in Oak Tree, and

481
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 1: I was.

482
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:26,679
Speaker 6: Keyboards is me.

483
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:28,920
Speaker 1: No?

484
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,880
Speaker 6: No? No, I have a trench coat on. Yes, I know, well,

485
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:33,840
Speaker 6: like I had a key I think I was just

486
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,399
Speaker 6: playing on a stand. But yeah, no, I've done. I

487
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,680
Speaker 6: did a lot of those TV shows with Morris back

488
00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,000
Speaker 6: from that that era.

489
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:41,760
Speaker 1: That's your first gig.

490
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,200
Speaker 6: That was my first real professional touring gig.

491
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,359
Speaker 1: Lead up to the story of how you got that gig?

492
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:49,960
Speaker 6: Okay, So I was as I was playing in that

493
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,440
Speaker 6: band line one and we weren't really getting anywhere, and

494
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,040
Speaker 6: I was the litting pizzas and I was like, man,

495
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:55,679
Speaker 6: this is getting kind of old, you know. And then

496
00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:01,000
Speaker 6: right around that same time, Morris was post Purple Rain.

497
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,639
Speaker 6: Morris was on the cover of Newsweek magazine. You know,

498
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,920
Speaker 6: he's a star. He broke up with Prince and moved

499
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,840
Speaker 6: to La to put a solo band together, and they

500
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 6: had a cattle Call audition, and somehow I caught wind

501
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,320
Speaker 6: of it that they were looking for a keyboard player.

502
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 6: And I had a little Juno sixty keyboard that I

503
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,440
Speaker 6: was trying to write songs on, and I taught myself

504
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:24,439
Speaker 6: how to play Jungle Love and the Bird to the

505
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:26,159
Speaker 6: best of my ability, because I'm not a great keyboard

506
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:27,840
Speaker 6: player even to this day. I mean, I can, you know,

507
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:29,480
Speaker 6: make things happen.

508
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 1: The song you know what to do.

509
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:32,879
Speaker 6: I learned the song I can do it, you know,

510
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 6: and I had a groove, you know, I had I

511
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:37,920
Speaker 6: think I had the groove, and I had a look

512
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,320
Speaker 6: and I was happy when I was playing music. I

513
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:42,600
Speaker 6: was bopping around. They hired me that same day.

514
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,639
Speaker 1: Really okay, so that started that starting.

515
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:52,400
Speaker 6: Kurt Biscarra was the drummer Kirkie Bee and Roman Johnson

516
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,160
Speaker 6: was keyboard player. Gail Johnson was keyboard player. Ricky free

517
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,159
Speaker 6: Smith who's still doing it now, is still in the

518
00:24:58,200 --> 00:24:59,280
Speaker 6: time now was there?

519
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 1: Then he's the Asian guy playing drums.

520
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 6: Filipino guy, Yeah, Filipino.

521
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:08,280
Speaker 1: Who is he? Because next to Zorro I would always

522
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 1: see yeah, you know you.

523
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,920
Speaker 6: Were all those butt fests with zoro a right right right?

524
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 6: That was who he was playing with.

525
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, New Dish Bobby Brown. So next to Zorrow, I

526
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,680
Speaker 1: would see Kirkby everywhere.

527
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 6: Kirky be his first gig too. We met that day

528
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:29,280
Speaker 6: and and our lives were transformed, honestly, you know, because wow,

529
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:31,400
Speaker 6: we're like, anyway.

530
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:32,359
Speaker 1: Who is crazy?

531
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,120
Speaker 6: Kurt Scare is his name. He's still a very popular

532
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,800
Speaker 6: successful session drummer. You know, he's played with I see it.

533
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 1: I still see him working.

534
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,320
Speaker 6: Pip Jagger and but he did Tom Petty for a while.

535
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 6: You know a lot of big gigs, great rum, this

536
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:46,199
Speaker 6: is you.

537
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,920
Speaker 3: With the mustache. I'm looking at the video Resultia.

538
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:51,639
Speaker 6: That wasn't me with a key tart. I think there's

539
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,639
Speaker 6: there's there's like an American bandstand you can see me

540
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,919
Speaker 6: on with Morris. But uh, I don't think that's me

541
00:25:59,119 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 6: that you're seeing it.

542
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,639
Speaker 3: Stash required right, Bonie, Oh no.

543
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 6: I no, hat it was just a younger version of me.

544
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:13,080
Speaker 1: So okay, explain to me during that period, how do

545
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:19,399
Speaker 1: you even get in the loop now? It's hella different,

546
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:20,440
Speaker 1: Like it.

547
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 6: Was a constant struggle, you know. I mean it was

548
00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:24,919
Speaker 6: how you know, tried to figure it out, you know

549
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,840
Speaker 6: networking man, I mean, yeah, it was different.

550
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 1: I remember like when I was a teenager. It's like

551
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,320
Speaker 1: the end. So I came up right when the Internet

552
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:39,040
Speaker 1: was was getting established. But you know, oftentimes people will

553
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 1: read like backstage like or or one of those trade

554
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 1: local papers that would have listings of like audition for

555
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,600
Speaker 1: da da DA, audition for data DA, I'll say today,

556
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,760
Speaker 1: And musicians come to me all the time, like yo,

557
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:56,679
Speaker 1: I played Dada da da da da da da da.

558
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:01,879
Speaker 1: And if they're serious about it, I will tell them

559
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,359
Speaker 1: that you probably want to figure out a way to

560
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:11,639
Speaker 1: get within at least three degrees of Adam Blackstone. Yes,

561
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:16,879
Speaker 1: Adam Blackstone basically he runs the mafia like he's the mafia.

562
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 3: Like he's him and his wife.

563
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, if you can figure out And sometimes, and

564
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,879
Speaker 1: I tell them all the time, like you might not

565
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 1: have access to Adam, but you might have access to

566
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,639
Speaker 1: a cat that plays with a cat that knows Adams.

567
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 1: So it's almost like you almost got an audition for

568
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 1: like three cats before you even get to kiss the ring.

569
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 1: What was the system in eighty five in terms of

570
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:46,480
Speaker 1: like I hear a gig coming up, and who did

571
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,560
Speaker 1: you have to know that's the ring the kiss to

572
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,040
Speaker 1: get inside the game?

573
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:51,639
Speaker 5: You know.

574
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,920
Speaker 6: Look, I don't really remember too specifically how I heard

575
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,440
Speaker 6: about the Morris thing, but I do remember that after

576
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 6: I was doing Morris for a few years, and that

577
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,760
Speaker 6: was like my gig, you know, he was busy and

578
00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 6: and I convinced them I could play saxophone too, so

579
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 6: he gave me a spot in the show. He would

580
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,120
Speaker 6: run off and do a costume change during Jiggilow's Get

581
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:15,439
Speaker 6: Lonely two, and I would lead the band for a

582
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:20,399
Speaker 6: good five sometimes ten minutes in arenas okay, with saxophone solo.

583
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,840
Speaker 6: So I got sort of somehow known as a cat

584
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 6: that could play keyboards and saxophone, and that was a

585
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,240
Speaker 6: valuable thing in the eighties, you know. So yeah, yeah,

586
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,359
Speaker 6: word of mouth. And then I think I caught the

587
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,439
Speaker 6: attention of Tony Maiden from Rufus. From Rufus, I was

588
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 6: not an Adam Blackstone, but putting some bands together for people.

589
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,600
Speaker 6: So I went and did Randy Crawford with him, and

590
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,080
Speaker 6: then he got me the Isisley Brothers. A couple of

591
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 6: years after that, I got in with a guy named

592
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 6: Cornelius Mims, who's a bass player. He put me in

593
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:55,520
Speaker 6: with Ray Parker Junior and Cherrelle and you know, and

594
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,640
Speaker 6: I just was doing enough gigs that somehow people knew

595
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 6: who I was and my phone would ring.

596
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 3: Randy Crawford is not a name that said a lot.

597
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 5: Can you just tell us something, a story or what

598
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,080
Speaker 5: was it like to work with her in that way?

599
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:13,760
Speaker 6: Well, I mean she has some wonderful music, you know. Yeah, yeah,

600
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,200
Speaker 6: everytime she opened her mouth, she sounds just like she

601
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,480
Speaker 6: sounds on the record, and it's a very unique voice.

602
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,360
Speaker 6: It was an interesting gig, you know. She would sing

603
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,360
Speaker 6: very very softly, and we all had to play very

604
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 6: very softly. And it was an incredible band. The bass

605
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 6: player named Sake Coup Bunch. It was Oh my gosh,

606
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 6: Thundercat's father, Ron Brunner's senior, his father Prubber, Randy Crawford's band,

607
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 6: Tony Maiden playing guitar, Wayne Ziggy Lindsay playing keyboards, who

608
00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 6: is now actually quite in there with another one of

609
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,360
Speaker 6: those Adam Black Stunt type guys, Ricky Minor, but he's

610
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,560
Speaker 6: all in all of his bands. He's actually gave me

611
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,120
Speaker 6: the Buddy James name in Randy Crawford's band. That's I

612
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 6: guess to say.

613
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:57,800
Speaker 1: How did you get that name?

614
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:02,600
Speaker 6: It was Wayne Lindsay Randy Crawford's band. She was very

615
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 6: popular in Scandinavia at the time, not a big name

616
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,880
Speaker 6: in the States, but a star in like Norway and

617
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,520
Speaker 6: Denmark and Sweden. So we go over there for months

618
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,280
Speaker 6: at a time. It's like eighty six, I'm gonna say,

619
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 6: and everything costs a fortune. And I said to Wayne

620
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 6: Lindsay Mann, I just won't eat for the next couple

621
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,120
Speaker 6: of days. Walking down the street one day, he said, shit,

622
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:23,280
Speaker 6: you'll get all skinny. I probably weighed fifty pounds less

623
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,360
Speaker 6: than I do now anyway, and he said, you'll get

624
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,440
Speaker 6: all skinny. Off to start calling you Bony James or something,

625
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,720
Speaker 6: and I said, please don't call me Boni James.

626
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:33,920
Speaker 1: Mess with me.

627
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,160
Speaker 6: He kept calling me that and introducing me to people

628
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:39,480
Speaker 6: that way, and you know, this network of people all

629
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 6: started to think that this guy was Bonie James, and

630
00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:43,560
Speaker 6: it just caught on.

631
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 1: That is great.

632
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 5: Before that, you were just going by your government Jim Oppenheim.

633
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,000
Speaker 1: Well, Bonie James got a better ring to it.

634
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:53,720
Speaker 2: Yeah.

635
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,440
Speaker 6: Well he after making records, he did, in fact call

636
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,120
Speaker 6: me and say you owe me because I do.

637
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe now is the time to go on record

638
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,920
Speaker 1: to how we first connected. Did I tell you the story?

639
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,120
Speaker 4: I knew this story was coming. I've been waiting all

640
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 4: all day forward.

641
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:17,080
Speaker 2: Shut up, let's let's go.

642
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,120
Speaker 1: Let's go. Do you know the story, Bony, of how

643
00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:21,280
Speaker 1: we truly hooked up?

644
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 6: I thought we called you to come and play on

645
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 6: the ride CD.

646
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:30,640
Speaker 1: Yeah you did. So. If there's one thing you know

647
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:36,960
Speaker 1: about me is the who's doing first bit is kind

648
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 1: of the ever repetitive cycled bit that happens in my life.

649
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:50,920
Speaker 1: I'll say a good once a month, right, so check it.

650
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,800
Speaker 1: We're at the tail end of Voodoo, right, d'angelo's voodoo

651
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 1: four year process start it. Yeah, well there's a god

652
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:08,280
Speaker 1: empty Angelo right right right, And so you know, we're

653
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:12,400
Speaker 1: the tail end of the record. And now we're rehearsing

654
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:14,600
Speaker 1: the band that's going to tour this album for an

655
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:19,240
Speaker 1: entire year, and we're also kind of messing around at

656
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,640
Speaker 1: Electric Lady Studios, you know, because I'll say that the

657
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,800
Speaker 1: album came out January two thousand. We went close to

658
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,680
Speaker 1: the edge. I'll say, like it got mastered in sequenced

659
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,240
Speaker 1: maybe the first week of December. So Russ is like,

660
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:37,400
Speaker 1: still around and whatnot, and we're getting ready for these

661
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,800
Speaker 1: first hits small clubs to test out the show and whatnot.

662
00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 1: And it just so happens that we're going to do

663
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:48,680
Speaker 1: a good week in Los Angeles and Russ says, oh dog,

664
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:50,840
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be out there with Bonie. He said, by

665
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,479
Speaker 1: the way, they want to get you on the album. Now.

666
00:32:55,320 --> 00:33:00,600
Speaker 1: Instantly I was like, yo, dog, you serious? Such a man,

667
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:06,080
Speaker 1: been a fan of theirs for exactly exactly. So I

668
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 1: was like, man, been been a fan of theirs forever,

669
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:15,080
Speaker 1: d D. So I put my assistant with him. They

670
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:16,560
Speaker 1: you know, work it out. Okay, we'll see you in

671
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 1: La Da Da Da da da. So I believe the

672
00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:25,960
Speaker 1: studio that we recorded it was Westlake Audio, was it not?

673
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,720
Speaker 6: I can't remember it was it was Westlake.

674
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,080
Speaker 1: Audio only because I know that this was the spot

675
00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 1: that Michael Jackson's Off the Wall the rhythm tracks were recorded.

676
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 6: I did work a lot at Westlake back in those days.

677
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:46,920
Speaker 1: Right, And so I'm instantly like mind blown, like, yo,

678
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,280
Speaker 1: I cannot believe I'm here at the same spot that

679
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,920
Speaker 1: Off the Wall was created. Now. The thing is because

680
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,880
Speaker 1: it's so far up in the mountains cell phones back then,

681
00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,479
Speaker 1: pre pre pre iPhone folks like, it's hard to get

682
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:05,720
Speaker 1: a signal. And I drove there and didn't know where

683
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,960
Speaker 1: to go. Like so I was like, well, I'll just

684
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:14,360
Speaker 1: sit in the lounge and maybe someone will come out

685
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:16,800
Speaker 1: and get me, because I didn't want to just cold walk.

686
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 1: I mean, now I have the confidence of like, not,

687
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:21,560
Speaker 1: oh hey, course, love, how you doing. No, no, no,

688
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,799
Speaker 1: they're in studio a like back then, I just you know,

689
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:27,840
Speaker 1: I didn't want to just step into anyone's room. And

690
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:33,440
Speaker 1: so about fifteen minutes, twenty minutes goes by, and I

691
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,800
Speaker 1: don't want you guys to think I'm late, but I

692
00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:40,680
Speaker 1: don't know what to do. And so suddenly I look

693
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:42,919
Speaker 1: over across and I was like, wow, that guy looks

694
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: like Marcus Miller. Now you know, this is two thousand.

695
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,799
Speaker 1: I haven't fully immersed myself into the music community, so

696
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,720
Speaker 1: I'm still like playing in the back and not say anything.

697
00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:55,040
Speaker 1: But I was like, oh my god, I think that's

698
00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:58,000
Speaker 1: Marcus Miller. Should I go and talk to him? And

699
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,160
Speaker 1: then the next thing I know, three other guys walk

700
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:05,160
Speaker 1: in and he's saying their names, and I instantly know

701
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 1: the names of the guys from Sea Wind, and I

702
00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,040
Speaker 1: don't know it's Jerry hay Or or whatever. So I

703
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,600
Speaker 1: was like, yo, it's like the off the Walk cats

704
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,319
Speaker 1: are here in the flesh. So I'm like, it's just

705
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:21,239
Speaker 1: sitting there like mind blowing that these session musicians are here.

706
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,560
Speaker 1: And then Marcus comes up to me, like what's up, Cat,

707
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,600
Speaker 1: And this is the first time I meet Marcus, and

708
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:28,840
Speaker 1: we're hey, man, how you doing Big Fanny work? And

709
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:30,400
Speaker 1: da Da Da Da, and we're talking about Luther for

710
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:33,240
Speaker 1: like ten minutes whatever, and so he's like, you ready

711
00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:36,799
Speaker 1: to come along? And I was like, oh, you're on

712
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:42,200
Speaker 1: the session too, session dude. Wait. So I walk in,

713
00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:49,960
Speaker 1: so literally, I walk in the session and I'm still like, okay,

714
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:55,720
Speaker 1: it's not disco music. And I pulled Russ to the side.

715
00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,440
Speaker 1: I was like, wait, this is the bony m session,

716
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 1: right ah, And Russ is like, who I said? And

717
00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:09,520
Speaker 1: here's here comes the whole who's on first thing?

718
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 6: Oh my gosh.

719
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:13,839
Speaker 1: He's like, who I said? You said Boney Boney am

720
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,520
Speaker 1: right the rasputin and you know he said boot no,

721
00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:27,560
Speaker 1: Boney James. And then but again my entire life. Wow.

722
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:30,879
Speaker 1: Even how I got on Hamilton is almost the same

723
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:35,480
Speaker 1: way I accidentally got on Hamilton and only found out

724
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,840
Speaker 1: later how me being late to a meeting, me not

725
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,200
Speaker 1: knowing the context of when Lynn Manwell was asking me,

726
00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:45,360
Speaker 1: so you'll do it with us? I thought I was

727
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,000
Speaker 1: agreeing to a whole nother project. And then my manager's like, yo,

728
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,279
Speaker 1: did you just tell Lin Manuel Miranda you work on

729
00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:53,480
Speaker 1: a project called Hamilton. I'm like, yeah, the me and

730
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,040
Speaker 1: yesterday for Da Da Da Da They're like, no, you idiot,

731
00:36:56,080 --> 00:37:00,400
Speaker 1: that was for it. I'm the mister magoo looking up

732
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,320
Speaker 1: kids of accidental projects.

733
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:04,880
Speaker 6: But you had no idea who I was.

734
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:10,760
Speaker 1: No, I knew who you were. But when he said Boneye,

735
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,319
Speaker 1: I just instantly thought, Bonie m.

736
00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:15,319
Speaker 6: You didn't necessarily you walked into the session, that it

737
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:16,920
Speaker 6: was me and not I.

738
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:19,560
Speaker 1: Walked in the session and I pulled Rust to the side.

739
00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:22,640
Speaker 1: It was like they're taking a jazz route, like what

740
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:24,640
Speaker 1: happened at the disco.

741
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:28,000
Speaker 6: Because I recall you seemed really quiet that day.

742
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:32,160
Speaker 1: Well, I'm I'm you know, I'm You're can't ask them,

743
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,880
Speaker 1: I'm aloof Some people say I'm stand office or loof whatever.

744
00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:39,640
Speaker 1: But it took me ten minutes. Nevertheless, I was excited

745
00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:42,960
Speaker 1: because dude, you bringing in Marcus Miller and see when

746
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:47,200
Speaker 1: and all these cats. But yeah, there's about nine stories

747
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:49,640
Speaker 1: like that. But yeah, Hamiltown.

748
00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:51,680
Speaker 6: Absolutely fabus on that track that we cut that day.

749
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:54,160
Speaker 6: That was a song called Brandon Central, which actually is

750
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:56,520
Speaker 6: a dope. You should go back and listen to it

751
00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:58,239
Speaker 6: and you will feel good about what you did.

752
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:01,960
Speaker 1: I'm very much familiar with my like I mean, I

753
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:04,760
Speaker 1: committed to it. I committed to it. But at the time,

754
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,960
Speaker 1: I was excited about the fact that doing Bonie m

755
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,759
Speaker 1: simply because I've been playing for four years straight with

756
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:19,919
Speaker 1: di'angelo rim Shot Funk, and I thought, oh, man doing

757
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,360
Speaker 1: like a German disco thing, like, I'll do the opposite

758
00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:27,640
Speaker 1: of me. I'll play with a low snare. Yeah. I

759
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:31,799
Speaker 1: was like, oh, I'm gonna undo me. And then I

760
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 1: was like, oh, okay, Well, I guess he wants me

761
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,800
Speaker 1: because he heard some of the voodoo stuff or whatever,

762
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,360
Speaker 1: and I'll play like questlove. But I thought I was

763
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:44,799
Speaker 1: going there to try my dip my toe in like

764
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:46,680
Speaker 1: proto German disco.

765
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:49,560
Speaker 5: So but you mentioned something a mirror that I want

766
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:51,200
Speaker 5: to I want to ask Bonnie about. But to the

767
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:52,840
Speaker 5: both of you guys, the person you both have in

768
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,759
Speaker 5: common in that way is Mark macus Miller, And I'm

769
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:59,760
Speaker 5: curious how this relationship started and how you guys continue

770
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,880
Speaker 5: to know to it, because y'all have been together ever since.

771
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,920
Speaker 6: Marcus had played on another song on a previous album

772
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,400
Speaker 6: that was through Paul Brown, who was my co producer

773
00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:11,040
Speaker 6: at the time, and Paul had a connection to Luther

774
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:13,760
Speaker 6: because he had been the engineer that recorded Luther's vocals

775
00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,920
Speaker 6: for many many years, and that was how he hooked

776
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:19,520
Speaker 6: up with Marcus, and I kept what record of it

777
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:23,960
Speaker 6: he played on. It might have been my second record, Backbone,

778
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:26,960
Speaker 6: or maybe it was the same record, but we got

779
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:29,320
Speaker 6: Marcus to play on a track and that was how

780
00:39:29,560 --> 00:39:31,759
Speaker 6: we met, and then we called him again to do

781
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 6: the thing with You, which we didn't actually end up

782
00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:35,560
Speaker 6: using the bass on the track that he played on

783
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,319
Speaker 6: with You. I ended up replacing it. Oh, it was

784
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:43,319
Speaker 6: something else. But then Marcus and I fell out of

785
00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:47,400
Speaker 6: touch for many many years, but we'd see each other

786
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,520
Speaker 6: maybe at festivals. And then we started co hosting these cruises,

787
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:57,200
Speaker 6: these these jazz cruises about fifteen twenty years ago, and

788
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,880
Speaker 6: so now we take these music themes Crusis twice a

789
00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:03,120
Speaker 6: year where we're the host and there's twenty artists and

790
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,520
Speaker 6: like twenty five hundred fans, and so we've been doing

791
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,080
Speaker 6: that and that's why, you know, I was really excited

792
00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:09,720
Speaker 6: to get Marcus on the new record. And he's playing

793
00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:13,080
Speaker 6: on two tracks, acoustic based solo on one track on

794
00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:14,879
Speaker 6: the new album because we were in the dress room

795
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,560
Speaker 6: on the ship he was messing around with acoustic bassa

796
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:19,920
Speaker 6: I didn't even know you played acoustic bass. He said, Man,

797
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,359
Speaker 6: that's all I play at home. And I'm like, huh,

798
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:26,000
Speaker 6: So he's playing acoustic bass solo on my new record,

799
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:27,520
Speaker 6: which I don't think a lot of people have heard

800
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:28,239
Speaker 6: him do, but.

801
00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,120
Speaker 1: That I've never heard him do that.

802
00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:32,799
Speaker 6: That the market thing. First song on the new record,

803
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:34,839
Speaker 6: there's a Marcus Miller acoustic bass solo.

804
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,080
Speaker 5: Is that you said you talked about the cruises. I

805
00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:41,880
Speaker 5: recently went to the Monterey Jazz Festival, and I'm curious,

806
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,839
Speaker 5: you know, I didn't realize how much of a nice

807
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:47,520
Speaker 5: mix it is of legendary musicians a lot of times

808
00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:50,200
Speaker 5: with these jazz festivals, and also the newer ones that

809
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:53,719
Speaker 5: are popping. Is that sometimes for you how you find

810
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:55,319
Speaker 5: some of these folks that you want to put on

811
00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:55,960
Speaker 5: your projects.

812
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,320
Speaker 6: In a way, not so much. You know, most of

813
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:02,080
Speaker 6: the people that are on these cruises are people I know.

814
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:05,719
Speaker 6: You know, it's more established artists that they book on

815
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 6: the cruise. But I just try and keep my ear

816
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:10,120
Speaker 6: out for collaborations quite often, you know.

817
00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:11,759
Speaker 5: You have a good ear for new talent, and I

818
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:14,279
Speaker 5: always wonder, like even with October London, I was like,

819
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,640
Speaker 5: why am out of even though he's perfect for that record.

820
00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,640
Speaker 6: But you know, I just try and keep a list going,

821
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,360
Speaker 6: honestly for collaborations. This is a whole other topic, but

822
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,040
Speaker 6: I kind of have a list in my phone ideas,

823
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:29,759
Speaker 6: you know, of various kinds of things, and if I

824
00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:33,000
Speaker 6: hear somebody, I'll think maybe someday, you know. And then

825
00:41:33,239 --> 00:41:35,479
Speaker 6: if I'm working on a track, and whenever I start

826
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:37,120
Speaker 6: writing a track, I'm always trying to write it for

827
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,000
Speaker 6: me as the artist. But every now and then I'll

828
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:40,799
Speaker 6: come up with something I think, you know that that's

829
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,560
Speaker 6: got a vibe. It could be a vocal, you know,

830
00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:46,720
Speaker 6: maybe this could be a collab with someone who who

831
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 6: who should be the person that I reach out to to,

832
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:53,839
Speaker 6: you know, co write or sing or whatever. And then

833
00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:57,600
Speaker 6: you just kind of use your intuition. And I've had some.

834
00:41:57,600 --> 00:41:59,680
Speaker 2: Luck doing Who's at the top of the list now.

835
00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:02,800
Speaker 6: Oh my gosh, you know, I don't know, you know,

836
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,920
Speaker 6: it's all songs specific in your thone Bony Bony.

837
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:15,799
Speaker 1: Wait wait, we kind of skipped though, because I do

838
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:20,080
Speaker 1: want to know what is the journey that led to

839
00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:24,080
Speaker 1: the Trust album? Like, what was the journey of you

840
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:27,719
Speaker 1: not being a sideman anymore and you being your own

841
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:32,000
Speaker 1: man and starting this project because you also have like

842
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:37,040
Speaker 1: your knack for playing with like air quote the Cats.

843
00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 1: You know, you have Freddie Washington on this record in

844
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:43,160
Speaker 1: Paul Jackson Jr. So the first question is tell me

845
00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:46,720
Speaker 1: about the steps that led to the Trust album.

846
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:50,160
Speaker 6: All right, Well, so, you know, I was frustrated in

847
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:52,680
Speaker 6: my I've been doing the sideman thing for like seven years,

848
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:55,640
Speaker 6: and I was really frustrated with it. It's just not

849
00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:59,480
Speaker 6: artistically satisfying it anyway, I felt like I might as

850
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:02,759
Speaker 6: well be better delivering pizzas you know quite often. I mean,

851
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:06,000
Speaker 6: my one of my very last gigs that was really

852
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,759
Speaker 6: a catalyst for me to work harder at trying to

853
00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:10,279
Speaker 6: become a solo artist was.

854
00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:12,840
Speaker 1: Martika Toy Soldiers Martica what.

855
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:14,319
Speaker 6: Is Solter's Martika?

856
00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:15,360
Speaker 1: Ah Nice.

857
00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:18,600
Speaker 6: So I was playing second keyboards and had one sax

858
00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:24,960
Speaker 6: solo and I was triggering vocals on an EMU, I think,

859
00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 6: and it was just so boring, and I thought, you know,

860
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:34,040
Speaker 6: I just was not happy, and I thought I should.

861
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:36,160
Speaker 6: I should. And right around the same time, you know,

862
00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:38,960
Speaker 6: because this contemporary jazz had had a foulo period for

863
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,800
Speaker 6: a while and it was starting to research and nobody

864
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:44,360
Speaker 6: was really doing and then all of a sudden I

865
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:46,279
Speaker 6: heard people doing it. I was in a record store.

866
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:50,200
Speaker 6: I heard a Kirk Whalem record called The Part and

867
00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:52,400
Speaker 6: I thought, oh, but people are doing this again, you know.

868
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,920
Speaker 6: And it was a pretty dope record, and I thought, well,

869
00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:56,839
Speaker 6: maybe I should really try and start to write songs

870
00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:58,880
Speaker 6: for me again. And that's when I did that. And

871
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:02,279
Speaker 6: then I got into Bobby Caldwell's band soon after, and

872
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,800
Speaker 6: that was a great gig, a lot of saxophone, great songs.

873
00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:09,200
Speaker 6: The mixer front of house mixer for this Japan tour

874
00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:13,600
Speaker 6: we did was this cat Paul Brown Okay, a small

875
00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 6: production deal with a label called Spindletop Records. They were

876
00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:20,279
Speaker 6: making a Sam Ryini record. He was about to make

877
00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:22,920
Speaker 6: his third sam Ryinniy record. That's another sax player from

878
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:27,040
Speaker 6: that early nineties. And Sam said, I can't can't deal

879
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:29,840
Speaker 6: with working with these cats at Spindletop anymore. It's a

880
00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:33,839
Speaker 6: little bit of jivy, so he backed out. Paul had

881
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:36,120
Speaker 6: the budget. So we had been on the road and

882
00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:38,120
Speaker 6: he said, hey, out of the blue one day he

883
00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:39,560
Speaker 6: called me up and said, have you ever wanted to

884
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 6: make a record? And I'm like, man, I've been trying

885
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 6: to make my record for years. So we got together.

886
00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:46,960
Speaker 6: I played in my songs, and like two weeks later

887
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:50,640
Speaker 6: we were in the studio making trust. That's how that happened.

888
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:55,400
Speaker 6: And he had from working Spindletop and Sam Ryiney was

889
00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:57,279
Speaker 6: in with Freddie Jet.

890
00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:01,120
Speaker 1: All the contexts okay, Paul Japson Junior, and uh.

891
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,160
Speaker 6: You know who was playing drums on that record. Carlos

892
00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:06,040
Speaker 6: Vega played drums on that first record.

893
00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:09,480
Speaker 1: Carlos Vegas, Yeah, and Lenny Castro did percussion any pastro.

894
00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:12,360
Speaker 6: And that was my first record, and then you know,

895
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:14,280
Speaker 6: like a few months later I was on the radio.

896
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:17,320
Speaker 6: It was a trip, okay.

897
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:20,000
Speaker 1: So I always wanted to ask this your second album

898
00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:24,600
Speaker 1: once you get established, and I think the first time

899
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,320
Speaker 1: I've heard your name, you were nominated for I believe,

900
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:30,480
Speaker 1: like a Soul Train Award.

901
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:33,160
Speaker 6: Probably Sweet Thing. That was like my fourth record. I

902
00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:34,880
Speaker 6: think that I got the Soul Trainward.

903
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:35,680
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Sweet Thing.

904
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:38,239
Speaker 1: It wasn't Backbone nominated, or.

905
00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:40,560
Speaker 6: Maybe I don't remember. It could be. That's a long

906
00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:41,040
Speaker 6: time ago.

907
00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:50,040
Speaker 1: So in that environment, especially when you're in the heavy

908
00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:51,640
Speaker 1: traffic of smooth jazz.

909
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:54,719
Speaker 3: Is that okay to say I wait.

910
00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:55,360
Speaker 6: To call it that.

911
00:45:55,480 --> 00:45:56,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then I thought, oh, well, sook, that was

912
00:45:56,920 --> 00:45:57,720
Speaker 3: one of my questions.

913
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:00,160
Speaker 6: So we weren't calling it that back then either. That

914
00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:03,080
Speaker 6: was all pre smooth jazz radio.

915
00:46:03,400 --> 00:46:07,040
Speaker 1: Kind of kind of that was having my question. Have

916
00:46:07,239 --> 00:46:09,800
Speaker 1: My question is those that are involved in a genre

917
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:14,520
Speaker 1: never own that, like I've never owned soul doctor Dres,

918
00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:18,400
Speaker 1: never own like gangster rap. And I'm certain you don't

919
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:24,600
Speaker 1: own smooth jazz. But once you once you start to stick,

920
00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:26,960
Speaker 1: once you're just not the guy that's like, hey I

921
00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:28,839
Speaker 1: got my CD, Oh yeah, I'll take it. I'll listen

922
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:32,600
Speaker 1: to your little CD like you're you're actually putting numbers

923
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:36,680
Speaker 1: on the board first of all? Are you? Because I

924
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:43,680
Speaker 1: know that there's no type of snobbery like jazz music snobbery.

925
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:49,120
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many New York musicians looking down

926
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,600
Speaker 1: on you know these Joe Sample told me a gazillion

927
00:46:52,719 --> 00:46:55,680
Speaker 1: stories of how like New York cats used to look

928
00:46:55,719 --> 00:46:59,439
Speaker 1: down on them and whatever. Marcus had stories. M two

929
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:03,719
Speaker 1: made stories about leaving Miles and hey, we're gonna write

930
00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:07,400
Speaker 1: some poppets and them catching fleck and all those things.

931
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:11,080
Speaker 1: But you know, is the jazz world like high school

932
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:14,400
Speaker 1: or is different clicks and whatnot. Like when you first

933
00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:17,800
Speaker 1: entered the game, how did you find your click?

934
00:47:18,360 --> 00:47:20,840
Speaker 2: Like the warriors, who are the bullies?

935
00:47:20,840 --> 00:47:22,840
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I don't want to you give me names,

936
00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:26,040
Speaker 1: but like there has to be bullies, there has to

937
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:29,040
Speaker 1: be the cool kids. There have to be the hey,

938
00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:30,719
Speaker 1: let me, let me lead. You know, the person that

939
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:33,640
Speaker 1: you meet on your first day kindergarten shows you I

940
00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:34,440
Speaker 1: might be.

941
00:47:34,600 --> 00:47:37,359
Speaker 6: Unique in this respect a little bit because I'm kind

942
00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:41,440
Speaker 6: of a loner. And I tried very hard not to

943
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:43,319
Speaker 6: get caught up in that. I mean, definitely there were

944
00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:45,439
Speaker 6: frustrations at times when I was making what I thought

945
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:49,080
Speaker 6: were really great records, right and I'm getting, you know,

946
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:52,880
Speaker 6: the attention or or you know, the kind of attention

947
00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:55,480
Speaker 6: I thought I deserved, and and you know, honestly, that

948
00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:58,600
Speaker 6: always just made me try harder. And I'm still just honestly,

949
00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:01,359
Speaker 6: my main focus is to try make better records and

950
00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:04,600
Speaker 6: be a better sax player. I'm still a student. I

951
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:07,880
Speaker 6: don't think I'm one hundred percent formed, and you know,

952
00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:11,080
Speaker 6: I'm just going to keep doing this till I croak

953
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:14,799
Speaker 6: and just try and get better and ignore people that

954
00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:16,759
Speaker 6: don't love it, and know that there's some people that

955
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:18,920
Speaker 6: love it. I mean, I truly feel that music is

956
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:23,080
Speaker 6: so subjective, and I try not to be judgmental about

957
00:48:23,080 --> 00:48:25,280
Speaker 6: people that are judging other musicians.

958
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:28,480
Speaker 5: To Mears point, has there been someone who said to

959
00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:30,279
Speaker 5: you that you were unexpected, that walked up to you

960
00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:33,040
Speaker 5: and really was like, yo, do I respect what you're doing?

961
00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:33,960
Speaker 3: I love your work?

962
00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:37,040
Speaker 5: And it was somebody who we would be surprised because

963
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:38,880
Speaker 5: they might have been considered one of those kind of

964
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:39,720
Speaker 5: SnO people.

965
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:41,839
Speaker 6: Yes, I don't have too much contact with a lot

966
00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:43,840
Speaker 6: of jests, so I mean, many people have told me

967
00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:45,920
Speaker 6: they love my music, and I'm always really grateful, you know.

968
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:48,520
Speaker 6: I mean, I remember Nate China wrote an article in

969
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:51,000
Speaker 6: the New York Times had come to see us play

970
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:53,640
Speaker 6: and said, you know, it's not my cup of tea,

971
00:48:53,719 --> 00:48:55,879
Speaker 6: but they're doing it really well. And I thought, oh,

972
00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:59,440
Speaker 6: that's a nice thing. Who said Nate Chinnin Yeah, So

973
00:48:59,560 --> 00:49:03,279
Speaker 6: I thought that was nice. But generally, I try as

974
00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:06,280
Speaker 6: hard as I can to ignore it for all of boys,

975
00:49:06,480 --> 00:49:10,600
Speaker 6: because I'm just trying to make music. And I don't

976
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:14,120
Speaker 6: know that jazz argument thing. I mean, I know it's

977
00:49:14,120 --> 00:49:14,680
Speaker 6: out there, but.

978
00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:20,640
Speaker 1: Is it hard for jazz radio, Like, as a guy

979
00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:24,520
Speaker 1: that's constantly traveling city to city, I'm pretty much familiar

980
00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:28,759
Speaker 1: with like every I don't like, I'm not a you know,

981
00:49:28,920 --> 00:49:31,280
Speaker 1: I'm kind of out of my zone when it comes

982
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 1: to contemporary radio, like what I would listen to when

983
00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:38,279
Speaker 1: I was twenty, you know, the hot ninety sevens of

984
00:49:38,320 --> 00:49:40,719
Speaker 1: the world and whatnot. Like I'm kind of out of

985
00:49:40,719 --> 00:49:42,960
Speaker 1: that range. So nine times out of ten, I meani

986
00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:46,080
Speaker 1: to listen to like NPR or the local jazz station,

987
00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:55,120
Speaker 1: and oftentimes I wonder, Okay, For instance, I live in

988
00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:57,040
Speaker 1: the New York area right now, so I think, like

989
00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:01,080
Speaker 1: our main station here is a WBGO in New York.

990
00:50:02,840 --> 00:50:11,560
Speaker 1: They were kind of locked into an extremely traditional, you know,

991
00:50:12,239 --> 00:50:17,000
Speaker 1: one era only borderline almost like went and approved left

992
00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:22,040
Speaker 1: level and I say that with air quotes and sarcasm

993
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:29,239
Speaker 1: kind of both format. And then I think around they

994
00:50:29,280 --> 00:50:35,440
Speaker 1: got new management in twenty eighteen, and not only did

995
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:41,960
Speaker 1: they let the air quote sj end quote format on,

996
00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:44,600
Speaker 1: but then also like I'm starting to hear my music,

997
00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:47,520
Speaker 1: like they're playing neo soul and they're playing breakbeats, and

998
00:50:47,520 --> 00:50:49,080
Speaker 1: they're they're like really opening up.

999
00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:51,760
Speaker 3: More urban ac kind of stuff. Huh.

1000
00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:54,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it didn't feel like it was a curse

1001
00:50:54,239 --> 00:50:56,480
Speaker 1: word or like, all right, let's let our step cousins in.

1002
00:50:56,960 --> 00:51:00,120
Speaker 1: It felt like a really all inclusive, almost close to

1003
00:51:00,239 --> 00:51:02,200
Speaker 1: what radio was like when I was a kid, where

1004
00:51:02,239 --> 00:51:05,799
Speaker 1: you're hearing a bunch of stuff too, but you know,

1005
00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:11,040
Speaker 1: because you started professionally in ninety one, Like, I know,

1006
00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:14,120
Speaker 1: it's one thing to just make a mark in the

1007
00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:17,840
Speaker 1: world in general, but it's like you kind of also

1008
00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:21,879
Speaker 1: have to make a mark withinside the bubble of your

1009
00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:25,880
Speaker 1: world of jazz. Also, like, how hard was it, at

1010
00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:30,120
Speaker 1: least with radio to embrace you in the first part

1011
00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:31,000
Speaker 1: of your career.

1012
00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:34,480
Speaker 6: Back in the day. Well, I recall that I made

1013
00:51:34,560 --> 00:51:36,360
Speaker 6: kind of a splash when I got on the ship.

1014
00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:40,879
Speaker 6: That's my recollection. I think that what I was doing

1015
00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:43,600
Speaker 6: and hopefully what I'm still doing has a distinct sound

1016
00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:46,680
Speaker 6: I'm as compared to say, like the Ripping Tins or

1017
00:51:46,719 --> 00:51:48,479
Speaker 6: some of the other guys that were really big back

1018
00:51:48,520 --> 00:51:51,640
Speaker 6: then and had a little bit more of a you know,

1019
00:51:51,760 --> 00:51:53,680
Speaker 6: an umph behind it, a much more of an R

1020
00:51:53,719 --> 00:51:56,439
Speaker 6: and B influence than some of the cats that were

1021
00:51:56,560 --> 00:52:01,120
Speaker 6: big at that time, and they dug it at and

1022
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:03,879
Speaker 6: I remember that first record there was no distribution at all.

1023
00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:06,000
Speaker 6: I mean, you know, but I was like, I played

1024
00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:08,080
Speaker 6: you and people come up to me with like an

1025
00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:11,000
Speaker 6: angry attitude, like, man, I can't find your record. And

1026
00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:14,680
Speaker 6: I was then very fortunate to as that company was

1027
00:52:14,719 --> 00:52:17,840
Speaker 6: going under and trying to sell their catalog to another

1028
00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:23,279
Speaker 6: bad label, Warner Brothers was come in and buying just

1029
00:52:23,480 --> 00:52:26,440
Speaker 6: my contract off of the label. And this was a

1030
00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:30,120
Speaker 6: very tense period as Spintletop was going under and I

1031
00:52:30,160 --> 00:52:32,440
Speaker 6: had already made the Backbone CD and had it in

1032
00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:35,680
Speaker 6: the can, and Warner Brothers was able to sort of

1033
00:52:35,719 --> 00:52:39,440
Speaker 6: rescue it from what had been probably obscurity. And then

1034
00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:41,479
Speaker 6: the second record came out on Warner Brothers, and after

1035
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:43,680
Speaker 6: that things kind of really opened up. I was still

1036
00:52:43,680 --> 00:52:46,520
Speaker 6: working as a sideband though until like ninety four to

1037
00:52:46,560 --> 00:52:47,320
Speaker 6: pay my bills.

1038
00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:54,160
Speaker 5: I was going to ask you, it seems like there's

1039
00:52:54,160 --> 00:52:57,239
Speaker 5: always been a relationship with urban ac radio that a

1040
00:52:57,280 --> 00:53:00,960
Speaker 5: lot of jazz musicians don't have the honor of having.

1041
00:53:01,080 --> 00:53:04,320
Speaker 3: Like Bony was never just jazz radio.

1042
00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:07,440
Speaker 5: You have great You have real like urban ac singles

1043
00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:10,239
Speaker 5: that I've always heard on the w h u R S,

1044
00:53:10,520 --> 00:53:12,080
Speaker 5: the Dass.

1045
00:53:11,480 --> 00:53:12,919
Speaker 1: Thels, Urban State.

1046
00:53:13,600 --> 00:53:15,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, you're.

1047
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:18,359
Speaker 6: Very grateful, unfortunate that that those stations play on music.

1048
00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:20,520
Speaker 6: In fact, on the new CD this October London, it's

1049
00:53:20,560 --> 00:53:25,160
Speaker 6: my second highest charting urban AC hit in my career,

1050
00:53:26,120 --> 00:53:28,960
Speaker 6: the biggest. It's like two thousand and one, which is

1051
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:31,160
Speaker 6: a beautiful thing. It's top ten single. So you know

1052
00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:35,760
Speaker 6: for a guy playing saxophone and ah, it's it's an accomplish.

1053
00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:37,560
Speaker 3: It's amusing. I was like, he got it. He's in

1054
00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:39,160
Speaker 3: a music video like, this is.

1055
00:53:40,680 --> 00:53:42,080
Speaker 1: Right my song.

1056
00:53:42,160 --> 00:53:43,960
Speaker 6: I think it's a really good track. So I'm really

1057
00:53:43,960 --> 00:53:46,120
Speaker 6: proud of you m. The fact that people are playing

1058
00:53:46,120 --> 00:53:49,080
Speaker 6: it on the radio and streaming it, it's it's all good.

1059
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:49,360
Speaker 6: You know.

1060
00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:51,120
Speaker 1: Well, I was going to ask what made you want

1061
00:53:51,160 --> 00:53:58,720
Speaker 1: to because for me that was unprecedented, especially my first

1062
00:53:59,040 --> 00:54:02,319
Speaker 1: three four years in the business, where you know, it

1063
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:06,359
Speaker 1: took us like four albums to catch on. So thus

1064
00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:11,879
Speaker 1: the roots would often be on these shows, a lot

1065
00:54:11,920 --> 00:54:16,440
Speaker 1: of jazz related shows and whatnot, and again it was

1066
00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:17,640
Speaker 1: it was kind of the ru were off the red

1067
00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:20,400
Speaker 1: nose reindeer thing, like they're letting rappers in here, and

1068
00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:24,160
Speaker 1: you know, they don't know we're serious musicians. And so

1069
00:54:24,360 --> 00:54:27,520
Speaker 1: even the fact that you know when you started working

1070
00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:32,440
Speaker 1: with like Pino and Blao and myself and like their quote,

1071
00:54:32,480 --> 00:54:33,600
Speaker 1: the cats.

1072
00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:35,360
Speaker 6: Yeah, you were the cats. You're still the cats.

1073
00:54:35,560 --> 00:54:38,960
Speaker 1: You were early off the gate in that kind of

1074
00:54:39,200 --> 00:54:44,800
Speaker 1: co sign that that would take you know, other people

1075
00:54:44,840 --> 00:54:46,799
Speaker 1: around like two thousand and six, two thousand and seven

1076
00:54:46,840 --> 00:54:49,759
Speaker 1: to catch up on. But what is it about you?

1077
00:54:49,800 --> 00:54:52,920
Speaker 1: Are you always looking towards tomorrow? Are you always looking

1078
00:54:52,960 --> 00:54:57,160
Speaker 1: towards like who the new cat is now? Because you

1079
00:54:57,160 --> 00:54:58,759
Speaker 1: you are early in terms of the.

1080
00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:02,200
Speaker 6: Co sign of me hearing what you guys were doing

1081
00:55:02,239 --> 00:55:06,440
Speaker 6: and digging it and wondering, in my love for music

1082
00:55:06,480 --> 00:55:09,719
Speaker 6: and creating things, what would it sound like if I

1083
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:11,520
Speaker 6: hooked up with these cats?

1084
00:55:11,960 --> 00:55:12,399
Speaker 1: Got it?

1085
00:55:12,719 --> 00:55:14,880
Speaker 6: That was really what it was. You know, It's like, damn,

1086
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:17,760
Speaker 6: I love what they're doing. And you know my music

1087
00:55:17,760 --> 00:55:20,000
Speaker 6: has an R and B tinge to it, but these

1088
00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:23,840
Speaker 6: guys are playing like cutting edge, I thought at the time.

1089
00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:31,080
Speaker 6: And still you know, it's just really dope, interesting creative

1090
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:34,040
Speaker 6: R and B music with its modern and retro at

1091
00:55:34,040 --> 00:55:37,319
Speaker 6: the same time. And what would it sound like if

1092
00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:41,880
Speaker 6: I put my sound on top of that? And just

1093
00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:44,960
Speaker 6: in the sense of having fun making shit, you know.

1094
00:55:45,239 --> 00:55:53,520
Speaker 1: Of of your many collaborations with singers give me and

1095
00:55:53,600 --> 00:55:56,439
Speaker 1: I know it's like, you know, who's your favorite child

1096
00:55:56,560 --> 00:56:01,000
Speaker 1: or what, what's your favorite breath took? What would you say,

1097
00:56:01,520 --> 00:56:06,959
Speaker 1: is singer wise a moment that pleases you in terms

1098
00:56:06,960 --> 00:56:08,279
Speaker 1: of who you collaborated with?

1099
00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:11,120
Speaker 6: Oh man, I mean that's a you know, like you

1100
00:56:11,160 --> 00:56:13,120
Speaker 6: said that they're all like children. No, I've got like

1101
00:56:13,239 --> 00:56:15,359
Speaker 6: thirty some odd collaborations now that I know.

1102
00:56:16,239 --> 00:56:18,279
Speaker 1: So is it algebraic question?

1103
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:22,040
Speaker 3: Delila? Is it? Trina Broussard? Is it? I don't know,

1104
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:22,600
Speaker 3: it's somewhere.

1105
00:56:23,200 --> 00:56:25,760
Speaker 6: I think every single one of those tracks has something

1106
00:56:26,360 --> 00:56:30,200
Speaker 6: cool about it, and maybe some succeeded more than others.

1107
00:56:31,160 --> 00:56:35,280
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, man, that's totally honest.

1108
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:37,359
Speaker 6: I mean, can you look back at your catalog and say,

1109
00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:38,680
Speaker 6: this is my favorite song or something?

1110
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:39,759
Speaker 3: The question?

1111
00:56:39,920 --> 00:56:44,360
Speaker 1: The question, dude, I will say this to the grave,

1112
00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:48,320
Speaker 1: that ninety six to two thousand period of making Voodoo

1113
00:56:49,160 --> 00:56:51,880
Speaker 1: was such an eye opening moment for me in terms

1114
00:56:51,920 --> 00:56:56,800
Speaker 1: of like realizing my power and you know, all these

1115
00:56:56,960 --> 00:57:00,399
Speaker 1: mistakes I've made are now this is what you want

1116
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:01,880
Speaker 1: me to do? You want me to play fucked up

1117
00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:08,279
Speaker 1: like my fond memories? Is that period? So I would

1118
00:57:08,280 --> 00:57:12,640
Speaker 1: say like collabing outside of my own group, collabing with D'Angelo,

1119
00:57:14,040 --> 00:57:18,200
Speaker 1: there's always a mind blowing two kids in the candy

1120
00:57:18,240 --> 00:57:21,640
Speaker 1: store thing that excites me. So, you know, but you're

1121
00:57:21,680 --> 00:57:25,040
Speaker 1: also allowed to not have favorites, you know what I mean.

1122
00:57:25,240 --> 00:57:28,360
Speaker 6: The experience of recording the Coasting Track with Layla was

1123
00:57:28,400 --> 00:57:30,120
Speaker 6: a great thing, I mean, because I didn't really know

1124
00:57:30,240 --> 00:57:32,160
Speaker 6: her that well prior to that, and then that was

1125
00:57:32,200 --> 00:57:34,439
Speaker 6: one of the very few times in recent history where

1126
00:57:34,480 --> 00:57:38,240
Speaker 6: she's actually came over here and we cut it together,

1127
00:57:38,360 --> 00:57:39,920
Speaker 6: just the two of us in this room over the

1128
00:57:39,920 --> 00:57:42,480
Speaker 6: course of you know, five or six hours of layering

1129
00:57:42,520 --> 00:57:44,440
Speaker 6: all the vocals, and I had never even heard what

1130
00:57:44,560 --> 00:57:46,240
Speaker 6: she had come up with until she came over that

1131
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:49,080
Speaker 6: day and sang along with my demo on her phone,

1132
00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:51,560
Speaker 6: like I'm thinking that something like this, And that was

1133
00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:54,160
Speaker 6: just a really joyous experience getting to know her and

1134
00:57:54,280 --> 00:57:57,920
Speaker 6: collaborate with her, and the song turned out great, and

1135
00:57:57,960 --> 00:58:00,520
Speaker 6: then we did some touring together and so like, you know,

1136
00:58:00,520 --> 00:58:03,800
Speaker 6: we're friends, which is a nice thing. Such respect for her, that's.

1137
00:58:03,640 --> 00:58:07,000
Speaker 3: Why you did good? But said was so hard easy?

1138
00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:08,000
Speaker 3: I mean, it was easy, wasn't her?

1139
00:58:08,880 --> 00:58:11,360
Speaker 6: But this October song Honestly, when I hear it back,

1140
00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:17,000
Speaker 6: I think this might be the most integrated saxophone vocal

1141
00:58:17,240 --> 00:58:20,000
Speaker 6: collaboration in terms of it doesn't sound like it's two

1142
00:58:20,080 --> 00:58:23,560
Speaker 6: separate songs, or maybe you know, it's not easy to

1143
00:58:24,040 --> 00:58:26,560
Speaker 6: work the horn into an R and B contemporary R

1144
00:58:26,560 --> 00:58:29,120
Speaker 6: and B hit and have it sound like it belongs there.

1145
00:58:29,320 --> 00:58:32,480
Speaker 5: And to gain October his second single that doesn't still

1146
00:58:32,720 --> 00:58:35,880
Speaker 5: you hear the Marvin but you not doesn't mean Bilber

1147
00:58:35,880 --> 00:58:37,640
Speaker 5: talking about but it's not the karaoke it's still.

1148
00:58:38,600 --> 00:58:41,800
Speaker 6: I didn't produce his vocal though, you know, I sent

1149
00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:43,919
Speaker 6: him this track and they sent me this thing back,

1150
00:58:44,080 --> 00:58:46,360
Speaker 6: and you know we didn't even meet till well after

1151
00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:47,400
Speaker 6: the record was done.

1152
00:58:47,480 --> 00:58:53,360
Speaker 1: So that's all right. So who is it that like,

1153
00:58:53,640 --> 00:58:56,560
Speaker 1: is there's still anyone on your bucket list or that

1154
00:58:56,600 --> 00:58:58,480
Speaker 1: you who to collaborate with?

1155
00:58:58,720 --> 00:59:03,160
Speaker 6: Or I mean, look, you know, Stevie Wonder is still

1156
00:59:03,160 --> 00:59:05,360
Speaker 6: my favorite artist. I would say I'd love to work

1157
00:59:05,360 --> 00:59:09,080
Speaker 6: with Stevie someday. You know, even just a harmonica would

1158
00:59:09,120 --> 00:59:09,600
Speaker 6: be nice.

1159
00:59:10,600 --> 00:59:15,080
Speaker 1: Okay, Stevie's success, He's accessible. You gotta know the cats

1160
00:59:15,120 --> 00:59:16,439
Speaker 1: that knows the cats that know the cats.

1161
00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:18,919
Speaker 6: You know, I did a bunch of benefits for him

1162
00:59:19,040 --> 00:59:20,880
Speaker 6: with him. You know, he's got this the Toys for

1163
00:59:20,920 --> 00:59:21,840
Speaker 6: Tots things that he.

1164
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:23,160
Speaker 1: Does for Christmas.

1165
00:59:23,280 --> 00:59:26,280
Speaker 6: I done it a few times, and so he gave

1166
00:59:26,320 --> 00:59:28,080
Speaker 6: me his number ones and said, you know, if you

1167
00:59:28,080 --> 00:59:31,360
Speaker 6: have a good luck. I called him and and left

1168
00:59:31,440 --> 00:59:34,400
Speaker 6: messages over the years, but I've I've never been able.

1169
00:59:34,200 --> 00:59:37,840
Speaker 1: To look the He's world famous. Jimmy Jay and Terry

1170
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:40,840
Speaker 1: Lewis have a kind of a hilarious system when they

1171
00:59:41,000 --> 00:59:44,920
Speaker 1: desperately need Stevie Wonder. It's like they tag team, like, Okay,

1172
00:59:44,960 --> 00:59:46,440
Speaker 1: are you going to go straight to his house and

1173
00:59:46,480 --> 00:59:48,360
Speaker 1: just knock on his door or is it us like

1174
00:59:49,160 --> 00:59:52,080
Speaker 1: you might have to literally.

1175
00:59:52,360 --> 00:59:56,320
Speaker 8: He don't even know you called, right, Yeah, nou He's

1176
00:59:56,320 --> 00:59:58,440
Speaker 8: good with his phone, but he also just you know,

1177
00:59:59,480 --> 01:00:04,960
Speaker 8: sometimes doesn't do that jazz being the ever morphing art

1178
01:00:05,040 --> 01:00:05,840
Speaker 8: form that it is.

1179
01:00:07,320 --> 01:00:11,880
Speaker 1: You know, is there things that you have yet to

1180
01:00:11,920 --> 01:00:15,360
Speaker 1: do musically that you would like to try? That's sort

1181
01:00:15,360 --> 01:00:15,840
Speaker 1: of different.

1182
01:00:16,640 --> 01:00:20,160
Speaker 6: I think, you know, what I've been asked that question before,

1183
01:00:20,200 --> 01:00:22,640
Speaker 6: and what I normally say, and I think this is true,

1184
01:00:22,640 --> 01:00:25,600
Speaker 6: is that I'm really just trying to do me and

1185
01:00:26,600 --> 01:00:28,600
Speaker 6: in each moment, I never know ahead of time, what's

1186
01:00:28,600 --> 01:00:31,440
Speaker 6: going to come out? You know, I'm just really trying

1187
01:00:31,480 --> 01:00:33,640
Speaker 6: to connect with whatever music is in me. You know,

1188
01:00:33,680 --> 01:00:36,480
Speaker 6: I get ideas still, luckily, and then it's my job

1189
01:00:36,520 --> 01:00:38,160
Speaker 6: to try and get the ideas that float into my

1190
01:00:38,200 --> 01:00:41,560
Speaker 6: head out so that people can hear them and to

1191
01:00:41,640 --> 01:00:45,000
Speaker 6: realize them so fully that I feel like, Okay, that's done,

1192
01:00:45,360 --> 01:00:48,240
Speaker 6: and that's just an ongoing process. I don't have any

1193
01:00:48,280 --> 01:00:50,880
Speaker 6: sort of extraneous goals of things like I'm going to

1194
01:00:50,960 --> 01:00:52,919
Speaker 6: do this or that or the other thing. I don't

1195
01:00:52,960 --> 01:00:54,600
Speaker 6: think of it that way. I'm just always trying to

1196
01:00:54,640 --> 01:00:58,320
Speaker 6: respond to the music that is in front of me.

1197
01:00:58,840 --> 01:01:02,480
Speaker 6: And where those ideas come from. It's mysterious, but luckily

1198
01:01:02,520 --> 01:01:05,360
Speaker 6: I'm still getting them. So that's the best I can

1199
01:01:05,440 --> 01:01:07,800
Speaker 6: answer that. But I have no plans to do like

1200
01:01:08,120 --> 01:01:11,000
Speaker 6: a straight ahead record or a polka record or something

1201
01:01:11,040 --> 01:01:11,400
Speaker 6: like that.

1202
01:01:13,480 --> 01:01:15,120
Speaker 1: All right, well let's do a poka record again.

1203
01:01:17,040 --> 01:01:18,360
Speaker 2: People pay money for that shit.

1204
01:01:19,040 --> 01:01:21,320
Speaker 6: Protection that we should maybe do something together now, that

1205
01:01:21,360 --> 01:01:22,160
Speaker 6: would be a nice goal.

1206
01:01:22,200 --> 01:01:25,440
Speaker 1: I mean, I've never met a challenge I couldn't handle.

1207
01:01:25,560 --> 01:01:28,080
Speaker 3: So this time you walk in knowing that it's Bony Jay,

1208
01:01:29,240 --> 01:01:29,560
Speaker 3: and this.

1209
01:01:29,560 --> 01:01:33,160
Speaker 1: Time I would know unlike you, babe, Bill not tell

1210
01:01:33,240 --> 01:01:34,840
Speaker 1: me you play saxophone.

1211
01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:37,840
Speaker 2: Well, you only could get back to the clarinet if

1212
01:01:37,840 --> 01:01:39,160
Speaker 2: we're doing polka. I mean that'd be some.

1213
01:01:39,200 --> 01:01:43,600
Speaker 1: Shit our triple and it'll be on Jami record.

1214
01:01:43,920 --> 01:01:48,000
Speaker 6: So I still do go and study things, you know,

1215
01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:50,520
Speaker 6: like if I hear something that I couldn't play when

1216
01:01:50,520 --> 01:01:52,920
Speaker 6: I was younger, now I'll sit down and like learn it.

1217
01:01:53,040 --> 01:01:54,880
Speaker 6: And that's good for me just as a sax player,

1218
01:01:54,880 --> 01:01:57,040
Speaker 6: because I'm always still trying to improve my connection to

1219
01:01:57,120 --> 01:01:59,560
Speaker 6: the instrument. But in terms of making a record, I

1220
01:01:59,560 --> 01:02:02,040
Speaker 6: think that the thing the thing I like about my

1221
01:02:02,120 --> 01:02:05,360
Speaker 6: music is that it's it's honest to to just me.

1222
01:02:06,360 --> 01:02:09,160
Speaker 3: So do you have Do people ever suggest to you

1223
01:02:09,200 --> 01:02:10,080
Speaker 3: folks that they would.

1224
01:02:09,840 --> 01:02:12,560
Speaker 6: Love to hear you with sure? Oh yeah all the time,

1225
01:02:12,760 --> 01:02:16,480
Speaker 6: as I have one Yeah, whut on list?

1226
01:02:16,560 --> 01:02:18,520
Speaker 5: Yes, And I don't know if you've already done it before,

1227
01:02:18,680 --> 01:02:20,640
Speaker 5: So excuse me if you have a bony.

1228
01:02:20,400 --> 01:02:21,800
Speaker 3: Your catalog is you know not?

1229
01:02:21,880 --> 01:02:26,480
Speaker 5: Then Michael Franks, Oh yeah, nobody, like.

1230
01:02:27,960 --> 01:02:31,760
Speaker 6: They're playing shows every now and then. He's got to

1231
01:02:31,800 --> 01:02:34,320
Speaker 6: be in his late seventies, I'm assuming.

1232
01:02:34,040 --> 01:02:36,360
Speaker 5: But he still sounds amazing. I've been hearing about his

1233
01:02:36,400 --> 01:02:37,400
Speaker 5: shows that he still does.

1234
01:02:37,440 --> 01:02:43,800
Speaker 9: I'm just saying, desert players, just asking like, like, because

1235
01:02:43,800 --> 01:02:46,440
Speaker 9: you've run in so many different avenues and things like

1236
01:02:46,440 --> 01:02:49,000
Speaker 9: who are you like top three favorite like guys who

1237
01:02:49,240 --> 01:02:50,000
Speaker 9: I really have the sound.

1238
01:02:50,040 --> 01:02:51,080
Speaker 2: I'm sure you get asked that a lot.

1239
01:02:51,080 --> 01:02:56,680
Speaker 6: But I don't listen to much music anymore except when

1240
01:02:56,680 --> 01:03:02,000
Speaker 6: I'm I'm making my own music. But I still love Grover.

1241
01:03:02,200 --> 01:03:05,240
Speaker 6: You know, Wilton Felder was a big influence on me.

1242
01:03:07,800 --> 01:03:13,840
Speaker 6: Sean Coltrane. You know, he's got a thing. You don't say, yeah,

1243
01:03:13,880 --> 01:03:16,680
Speaker 6: but but more of the lyrical ballad type Coltrane rather

1244
01:03:16,720 --> 01:03:21,240
Speaker 6: than the more experiment uh, screaming kind of stuff. I mean,

1245
01:03:21,280 --> 01:03:24,280
Speaker 6: I I I love stan Getz. I mean I love

1246
01:03:24,280 --> 01:03:28,040
Speaker 6: Paul Desmond. I love guys that were lyrical, and you

1247
01:03:28,080 --> 01:03:29,520
Speaker 6: know that's kind of more my thing.

1248
01:03:29,640 --> 01:03:31,560
Speaker 3: You didn't like to be punched in a face like

1249
01:03:31,720 --> 01:03:32,280
Speaker 3: I like to be.

1250
01:03:34,040 --> 01:03:36,120
Speaker 6: I just like a sound. I like when I listened

1251
01:03:36,120 --> 01:03:38,840
Speaker 6: to the saxophone. I like a saxophone that that envelops you.

1252
01:03:38,880 --> 01:03:40,640
Speaker 6: And that's what I'm sort of trying to do.

1253
01:03:40,680 --> 01:03:40,880
Speaker 1: You know.

1254
01:03:41,200 --> 01:03:43,360
Speaker 6: It's like a warm hug. I mean, it can still

1255
01:03:43,400 --> 01:03:46,520
Speaker 6: dig in and make you feel something, but it's coming

1256
01:03:46,600 --> 01:03:48,520
Speaker 6: from a from a kind place.

1257
01:03:50,880 --> 01:03:54,640
Speaker 1: Well, brother again, I'm so glad we finally got the

1258
01:03:55,600 --> 01:03:58,680
Speaker 1: tell that story, Steve, are you satisfied I finally said

1259
01:03:58,680 --> 01:04:02,000
Speaker 1: it and Bony.

1260
01:04:01,360 --> 01:04:03,120
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was that was cathartic.

1261
01:04:03,200 --> 01:04:03,880
Speaker 1: I think for ever.

1262
01:04:06,760 --> 01:04:08,720
Speaker 2: The record, we wanted g Love and we got Quest Love.

1263
01:04:08,840 --> 01:04:10,760
Speaker 2: So it was a bit of a you know, so

1264
01:04:10,800 --> 01:04:11,400
Speaker 2: there you go.

1265
01:04:11,840 --> 01:04:14,200
Speaker 6: Up getting together and working at Electric Lady on a

1266
01:04:14,320 --> 01:04:16,520
Speaker 6: on a later couple of tracks as well. I don't

1267
01:04:16,520 --> 01:04:17,400
Speaker 6: know if you remember.

1268
01:04:17,120 --> 01:04:21,000
Speaker 1: That, of course I told you I remember my work absolutely.

1269
01:04:21,040 --> 01:04:23,600
Speaker 1: I mean once I did that, of course I remember.

1270
01:04:24,480 --> 01:04:24,520
Speaker 3: No.

1271
01:04:24,720 --> 01:04:27,640
Speaker 1: But thank you man, uh, you know you've been a

1272
01:04:27,640 --> 01:04:31,439
Speaker 1: stand up cat, really good to us over the years,

1273
01:04:31,440 --> 01:04:34,720
Speaker 1: supporting the community and and you know, we thank you

1274
01:04:34,800 --> 01:04:38,560
Speaker 1: for doing the show with us, and you know, much

1275
01:04:38,600 --> 01:04:41,880
Speaker 1: success to you, and thank you. Thank you for for

1276
01:04:42,000 --> 01:04:47,080
Speaker 1: joining us on behalf of Layah and Unpaid Bill and

1277
01:04:47,200 --> 01:04:52,240
Speaker 1: shook A Steve quest Love and our guests today Tony

1278
01:04:52,360 --> 01:04:57,480
Speaker 1: James not Bony In, thank you for doing this with

1279
01:04:57,520 --> 01:04:59,760
Speaker 1: us and we'll see you on the next go around here. Peace,

1280
01:05:02,040 --> 01:05:02,960
Speaker 1: This is Sugar Steve.

1281
01:05:03,120 --> 01:05:06,440
Speaker 4: Thank you for listening to Questlove Supreme. This podcast is

1282
01:05:06,480 --> 01:05:09,520
Speaker 4: hosted by a Mere Quest Love, Thompson, Liah Saint Clair, Sugar,

1283
01:05:09,560 --> 01:05:13,880
Speaker 4: Steve Mandel, and unpaid Bill Sherman. The executive producers are

1284
01:05:13,920 --> 01:05:16,680
Speaker 4: a mere quest of Thompson, Sean g and Brian Calhoun,

1285
01:05:17,720 --> 01:05:21,080
Speaker 4: produced by Britney Benjamin, Jake Payne and Liah Saint Clair

1286
01:05:22,120 --> 01:05:26,320
Speaker 4: edited by Alex Conroy. Produced for iHeart by Noel Brown

1287
01:05:27,240 --> 01:05:28,240
Speaker 4: Westlove Supreme is.

1288
01:05:28,200 --> 01:05:35,760
Speaker 1: A production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit

1289
01:05:35,800 --> 01:05:39,400
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

1290
01:05:39,440 --> 01:05:40,440
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.