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Norman Brown In-Depth Interview

By: Cheryl Boone

July 2010

Lee Ritenour Reveals 6 String Theory......

By: Andrew Reeves

July 2010

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Photos By: Mann  Jan. 26, 2010

GRAMMY Salute to Jazz: Honoree Kenny Burrell            

By: Art Jackson

Honoree: Kenny Burrell

 Anthony Wilson

Hubert Laws

To kick-off the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards week, jazz guitarist virtuoso Kenny Burrell was honored at the beautiful GRAMY Museum in downtown Los Angeles by the academy as the first of a week long celebration before the live broadcast from STAPLES Center.  

The evening was dedicated as a tribute to jazz, one of the great American musical forms. The President's Merit Award was presented to prominent jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell for his outstanding achievement and contributions to the jazz genre and the music community.

Being a bit under the weather, Kenny provided some levity as he sat down to do a candid interview in his dressing room before his performance where he promised to try and not get his handkerchief in the picture.  Also in the dressing room were GRAMMY nominated jazz artists guitarist Anthony Wilson and flautist Hubert Laws, who provided background music as he warmed up on his flute, giving the room a very mellow ambience.

Having been in the industry for over six decades, the guitar was not Kenny’s first instrument of choice.  Both his older brother and his mother played the piano and he gravitated toward it also, and with sheet music available to him, his emphasis was not on jazz but more on learning how to improvise and just play music.  He learned by doing     a lot of ear training, a lot of rule of thumb and watching others play.

I always felt that there was no such thing as making it as a jazz performer.  A jazz musician has to work hard and practice in order to maintain skills and master an instrument.  Jazz mastery comes from being technically good as well as being able to articulate what you hear and feel. You have to be able to express your ideas, with emphasis on them being YOUR ideas. As musicians, we play a lot of different things and songs.  You tend to play like this or that person or maybe even your influences.  For me, it was Charlie Parker, which I’m sure you can hear in my music.  But in the 1950’s when I was in my early 20’s, I began to play the music that I was feeling inside and it became my voice, my sound.  I was able to express who I was and it was the beginning of me finally feeling like I could make it as a jazz musician.

Now a professor at California State University – Los Angeles, Kenny teaches jazz improvisation of Duke Ellington.  He sees there has been one constant throughout the years for jazz musicians.  The big problem for jazz musicians has always been to make a great living and that hasn’t changed.  “It wasn’t great then and it’s not great now.  The nature of the business has not evolved to keep pace with the great strides that has happen in the music industry.”
  
On being asked what this GRAMMY honor means to him, Kenny was reminded of what his mother once said to him.  “Do good work and the rewards will come; the rewards may not come when you think they will come, but they will come.”  Considering this award as a high honor, he is really grateful since this award was one that he didn’t think would happen.  He feels thankful, blessed and honored.  It greatly inspires me and gives me the confidence to continue doing what I’ve always done musically, which ultimately lead to this award in the first place.  I believe that music comes from a deep place inside you, which is the spirit and  when play from there you will touch the spirit of other people, so it encourages me and as Ellington use to say, to just be yourself.

The tribute was hosted by KJAZZ radio personalities and close friends of Kenny, Tommy Hawkins and Bubba Jackson and they were joined by the GRAMMY Jazz Ensembles — a group of 28 talented high school musicians selected from across the country

The GRAMMY Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow, gave the honoree a warm introduction as he relived fond memories of his youth, reflecting upon his own budding attempts to be a guitar player trying to emulate Kenny’s music. 
  
www.grammy.com.

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Photos By: Mann

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See Video clips of Brian from Bass LIVE and KSBR Birthday Bash.

Brian Bromberg                                                             It Is What It Is

What happens when you get over 20 artists together to make a CD? You get a jam session and that’s what Brian Bromberg’s new CD, “It Is What It Is”, turned out to be.  Brian’s CD is comprised of an a list of musical all-stars from George Duke, Dan Siegel, Patrice Rushen, Gerald Albright, Rick Braun, Paul Jackson Jr., Eric Marienthal and Jeff Lorber to just name a few, of which you are sure to have some of their music already in your collection.

The now GRAMMY nominated artist has released this follow up to “Downright Upright” with 13 tracks of slammin, head swaying, grooving gems that are sure to get heavy rotation in a jazz lover’s I-pod. 

“It Is What It Is” contains two cover songs that are sure to bring back some youthful memories.  First there’s Quincy Jones’ theme to Sanford & Son which has been all jazzed-up and The B-52’s “Love Shack” which will have you dancing in the aisles during the festival season.

While at the Bass Player LIVE 2009 in Los Angeles, Brian gave pointers and showed techniques on the instrument he has been playing on for over 30 years now.  There was also testing of the various manufactures’ new designs from Germany to China.  Later we found a somewhat quiet room filled with equipment and we sat down on crates to discuss “It Is What It Is”.

SJM:  How does it feel to be introduced now as GRAMMY nominated Brian Bromberg?

Brian: Wow, it is awesome.  To know that all the years of hard work is finally being recognized means so much.

SJM: As producer of each one of your CD’s over the years, how have you grown?

Brian: Gosh! By leaps and bounds; as I listen to some of my first CD’s I hear so many mistakes but since I was alone, there was no one looking over my shoulder to say this is how it should be done.  I have grown a lot and am still growing.  I hope to continue to grow with each new CD.

SJM: What is it like to have so many talented artists playing your music?

Brian: “It's a joy. I am a very simple writer and I don’t do theory. I’m not trained classically or anything like that. It all just comes from within.  So basically I give them the melody but also give them the latitude to create and put their spin and we just go for it”. Brian’s eyes light up as he talks about the horn section.  “I don’t stand in their way and the result is the funky horn arrangements.”

SJM: Speaking of funky, there are two songs that were collaborations that are off the charts. Tell me about them.

Brian: “Yes Dave Kochanski, provided me with demos for “Excuse Me” and “Saul Goode”.  I provided the rhythm and groove parts and it came out with high funky R&B energy that went to another level.”

When asked about track 6 “The Mirror," Brian was candid about his state of being when he sat down to play this solo piece.  Due to a heartfelt break up of a recent love, he had to look in the mirror and the emotion from within is what came out.  Even though Brian admits there are a few things that could have been done differently in the 2-minute song, it was done in one take and he decided not touch it as it is how he felt at the time and he walked away from it.

As we dissected several of the songs and placed them in categories ranging from Dance, Funk, Romance to Smooth Jazz, it was evident that the passion for each song was still over-whelming for Brian.  He said they all tell a story from within. He critiqued the melodic songs like “Life” and “Heaven”, the funkier songs of “Mr. Miller” and “Slap Happy” and one that Smooth Jazz lovers will definitely enjoy is the melody of, “Anticipation”.  And what category would Brian put the title track in, “It Is What It Is!"

Long Beach, CA    Touted as 'The Ultimate Summer Groove'.  The Long Beach Jazz Festival now in its 22nd year covers three-days with some of the best smooth jazz and smooth vocal talents which entertained about 30,000 party goers over the weekend.  Nestled in the beautiful Rainbow Lagoon Park this location is a perfect outdoor venue.

The festival founder and musician Al Williams dedicated this festival to Bassist Wayman Tisdale, the former Olympian, and NBA All Star who succumb to cancer earlier this year as he was schedule to perform at this weekend.

Some of Sunday's performers included Al Williams Jazz Society, Paul Brown, Marc Antoine, John Klemmer, Leela James and Steve Cole as a good time was had by one and all.

See VIP Photos

Los Angeles, CA Feburary 03, 2009    

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards

The Grammys Salue to Jazz hosted by Natalie Cole, honored Blue Note Records label with The Recording Academy’s President’s Merit Awar. Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, Terrance Blanchard, Joe Lavano  MORE...