“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Greg Adams
Smitty: Joining me at Jazz Monthly.com is one of the most dynamic trumpeters in the business. I just love his horn playing. You no doubt remember him from his days with Tower of Power, those fantastic records during that time. No doubt you remember the beginning of his solo career with great records such as Firefly and Hidden Agenda and now he working on a fantastic tour and a new project in connection with it. Please give a great welcome for one of the most incredible trumpeters of our time, Mr. Greg Adams. Greg, how are you, my friend?
Greg Adams (GA): I doing good, Smitty. Great to be with you on the show.
Smitty: Thank you. The pleasures mine as well. Well, talk to me about this great project because I think it’s very cool.
(GA): Okay, well, the name of the band is East Bay Soul and you can find a lot more about it at www.eastbaysoul.com. Basically, it’s a concept of a bundling but not really bundling in the sense of that term. I was doing that with Tower of Power in 1995 and ever since I left, people always would want me to play some kind of Tower of Power songs in my set and I resisted it for many years and I finally caved in and included a little snippet instrumentally of “What Is Hip?” and then we kind of added a little bit of a breakdown of—a baritone sax breakdown in Soul Vaccination and it’s gone over real big and then so I was thinking, you know?
What if we do something that’s a little bit like bundling but not and come up with a new concept altogether? And you’d have a record and it’s a live performance piece, and who knows? Maybe a record will come out of it. Trying to look at it that way. And the personnel of the band is—my band has been with me for seven or eight years, and that’s a seven-piece band, and I’ve added to it Tom Scott or Eric Marienthal, or whoever has the scheduling, you know, opening, but Tom Scott worked for a few gigs on saxophones, and then Lee Thornburg, my former band mate from Tower of Power on lead trumpet, and on the vocals is Lenny Williams, the former singer from Tower of Power who really was the guy who sang the hits.
Smitty: How well I remember.
GA: “So Very Hard To Go,” “What Is Hip?” you know, all those great tunes. And so I called Lenny. I said “What do you think?” He said “I’m lovin’ it.” So we’re getting out all of the old audio Tower of Power scores and dusting them off and re-writing the whole show. We’re gonna do like one-third my solo material, my repertoire, and one-third of Lenny’s recent repertoire, which he’s been very successful the last few years with radio and urban, and of course the last third will be Tower of Power songs. So, yeah, we’re gonna do “What Is Hip?” and “So Very Hard To Go” and perhaps some others. We’re still in the formative stages of putting this whole thing together, but we’re getting such positive feedback from some artists around the country that we’re gonna go into rehearsal really working at having a great show, so we have some dates coming up in the future. We’re part of the City of Lights Jazz Festival.
Smitty: Oh, in Vegas.
GA: Las Vegas, and we’re doing four nights at Jazz Alley in Seattle, Washington, and Yoshi’s in San Francisco, and way in the future in September we’re doing the Ziegler Kettle Moraine, they’re just outside of Milwaukee.
Smitty: Yeah, that’s a great gig.
GA: Well, yeah, I did that a few years back and so this one, like we say, we’re running it up the flag pole and everybody’s saluting it, so…
Smitty: Oh man, I can see why everybody’s saluting it because just think about that. Man, you know, putting this kind of music together. I love the concept because normally the record comes first and then the tour, but you guys are doing something really cool in that you’re getting the live setting first and then who knows? The record comes afterwards. Man, what a beautiful memory of the great performances. I think this is beautiful.
GA: Well, you know, in some aspects, you know how the current state of the recording industry is in flux right now that it’s almost just so risky to go out there and do a record and it just is so hard to market it so….I mean, everything is in this transition with record stores and the lack of record stores and everything’s online, and we’re just gonna do a live thing and we’ll see what happens and we’ll see if a recording is gonna come from it, and this reverse strategy is almost a really cool concept because I think if you really fine tune the whole concept and then when you do go into the studio, you really know what’s happening.
Smitty: Right.
GA: And you’re just like a well oiled machine and perhaps we might even do a live record, you know, so who knows?
Smitty: Nice!
GA: We just know that everybody who’s involved in this project is really, really diggin’ it and so we’re just looking forward to the future. I think the smooth jazz format and genre is kinda starting to skew a little bit more toward R&B and, you know, I get mentioned so many times in people’s bios about Tower of Power and influence on their playing and we’ve had so many great players come through Tower of Power that are big stars in the smooth jazz format these days that and I started out playing with it, I arranged it, it’s a no brainer, let’s do it. So we’re going.
Smitty: And I must say, we miss those days, man, and coming with this new concept and new arrangement is gonna be killer.
GA: Yeah, it’s gonna be a great show so we’re looking forward to it.
Smitty: So tell me, when you approached Tom Scott, what was his reaction?
GA: I really like his attitude. He said “Hell, Greg, I’m on board.”
Smitty: (Laughs)
GA: “Greg let’s do this.” The only time—Tom and I work together all the time here in L.A. in the studios and Eric too and Lee Thornburg, who was with the original Tower of Power for about ten years in the 80s to the 90s, and so we’ve played together like, you know, together all the time, we’re in the studio. So Lenny’s an old friend. We always got together, got along well together when he was in Tower and then we’re both Aquarians, and Lenny’s been very successful in the last few years in his songwriting, he’s gotten a BMI writer’s award and Kanye West jammed to one of his songs on his hit singles, and he’s got some great songs. I mean, it’s just gonna be a great, great hot show. I’m really looking forward to getting together and really working on the show.
Smitty: Yeah, so talk to me a little bit more about East Bay Soul, man. I mean, what’s the vibe like?
GA: Well, by no means at all is this a jab or a dig on Tower of Power. It’s not about Tower of Power. I mean, it happens to be that Lenny and I were in the band at the same time and there’s a rich history there, and because it gets requested so much from me and Lenny at his live shows, it makes sense. It would be kind of stupid not to do the hits and so it’s kinda—it’s just out of an age with my style of writing that I did in the 70s and Lenny sang in the 70s but now it’s moved into 2008. It’s gonna be a much more modern sound and it’s not gonna be retro, it’s not gonna be in the day. You know, we’re gonna hip it up, we’re gonna make it a little more current, but it will have the elements that people will recognize and, of course, we do my sort of smooth jazz stuff, which is thought oriented, and Lenny’s riding on being urban. It’s gonna appeal, I think, to a big spectrum of listeners.
Smitty: Yeah.
GA: I think it’s gonna fly.
Smitty: Yeah, I totally think so too. When you think about those great years with Tower of Power and what you cats accomplished and what you’re getting as far as responses to those songs now, I applaud you for doing this because it’s a rarity these days to listen to what the fans are asking for and giving them what they want, and I think that is just incredible, it’s beautiful, and that’s why I think it’s gonna be sucucessful because you’re giving them what they want and I wish more people would embrace that.
GA: Well, let’s hope they do. (Laughs)
Smitty: Yes indeed.
GA: And hopefully we can lead the charge.
Smitty: Yes, absolutely. So talk to me. What is Metro, Metro Jazz, my friend? Give me a little snippet of Metro Jazz.
GA: Well, you know, Metro Jazz is a thing that I kind of incorporate at all times in all my records and I think that I kind of brought that to the table since my first record. It’s very urban, it’s not so sugary and sweet and la-dee-da like a lot of the stuff is. It’s more edgy and it has a thing that’s—you know, Tower of Power has always been a very urban group and the ethnic sounds are of the trials and tribulations of our thoughts and histories, the sweetness and the sadness that comes with that inner city experience.
Smitty: I can dig it.
GA: It’s got a lotta grease to it, you know, and a lotta jazz, and so it’s like I think I’ve always had that, it’s always been in my writing, and so we’re bringing more of the same, with my sound and Lenny’s writing is very urban, and so it’s a natural, I think it’s a natural joining of musical forces and I think it’s gonna go good. It’s so funny the way radio is. Radio plays one thing and then the artist goes out and plays something else when they do it live.
Smitty: (Laughs)
GA: And that’s kinda the thing too where it kinda got us into full circle by honing a live performance without a record to support it.
Smitty: Yeah, absolutely.
GA: We’ll go from there when we’re ready. There’s no hurry. None of us are putting any of our careers on hold. I mean, I still have gigs both with my seven-piece and, of course, this new East Bay Soul is gonna be a ten-piece band, and I’m head for Jakarta, Indonesia for the Java Jazz Festival next month and I’m gonna be doing Berks Jazz Festival in March. So we’re all over the place, and Lenny, he’s in a stage play with Billy Dee Williams. It’s a road show and they’re out on the road all of February and the early part of March, and he covers the song “Because I Love You,” which was a big hit for him. And we’re gonna do that, absolutely, and that’ll be killer. I’m arranging all the material so we’ll use the full band and it’ll be killer.
Smitty: Yeah.
GA: So everybody has something going. We’ve got 12 dates for the year and that’ll be kinda cool because that would give us enough time to pursue everything else we have to do, but we’ve got 12 dates in the first week.
Smitty: (Laughs)
GA: So we’ve put out a press release, so working like this is gonna be a pretty big part of our year.
Smitty: Yeah.
GA: And we’re happy about it. I think we could start a new trend. I was saying before about bundling. Some of the time these bundles, they may be good for a promoter because you get a lot of names in there, but a lotta times I think, well, I’ve heard from fans that it leaves the listener disappointed because there’s just a tease of maybe their favorite artists they’ve come to see and they only hear three songs because they have so many personalities on the stage and then it’s kind of a big jam here and then. There’s three things that we’re out to get done and it’s like it’s a combination of the instrumental/soul/funk and Rhythm & Blues vocals and we’re gonna try to discover new achievements rather than extend the past.
Smitty: I like that. Very cool.
GA: So we’re looking to the future, not dwelling on the past, but we’re gonna borrow because music is cyclical, and what goes around comes around, you know what I mean? That’s why I was saying earlier before that the instrumental jazz, contemporary jazz, it always will have its roots in R&B.
Smitty: True.
GA: It just has. That’s where it came from like with Quiet Storm before Smooth Jazz came along. And so you kinda have to reinvent your wheel, so come to see our live shows as opposed to hearing a record and crossing our fingers and trying to get play.
Smitty: Well, I think that’s a great approach and the other part of that is you’re reaching out to those that matter so much to the musicians and that’s the fans, and I know you talk about the spirit and commitment of East Bay Soul in relation to your fans in that you recognize that they pay hard earned money to come see your show and that they deserve the very best that you can offer, and I think that’s a beautiful approach and attitude toward what you’re doing as far as your career.
GA: Well, you know, one thing that I’ve learned in the last few years, and I know that this term has been around forever, but if you start with an original statement, then you gotta have a tenet of where you wanna take it. It can open the door and show you where you wanna take something and it grounds you to where you kinda keep your nose to the grindstone and you don’t err too much and, of course, erring, you wanna have the freedom to go where you wanna go during the live performance and that’s the beauty of the live performance because it’s jazz and it’s R&B and you can do a million things. But that original statement sets them up and lets people know where you’re gonna come from.
Smitty: Yeah, and people appreciate that because when we come out to see a live show, we want to be moved, we want to feel that emotional connection, we want to feel the music, not just listen to it.
GA: Exactly, and that’s what, you know, it comes from the heart.
Smitty: Absolutely, and I think what you’re doing with your live show and the great musicians that you will have accompanying you with this great live project, I think is just unbelievable, man, and I can’t wait to check it out myself. I will catch you in Las Vegas for sure.
GA: Well, great, great. Well, it’s a big undertaking, a big job, and my management has just put down a great job…Andrea and Richard and they have just moved mountains just to see this happen and get the calls out and the press release out and really chase it. So we’re filling a void of something that’s really missing out there on the concert stage.
Smitty: Yeah, well, I will say one thing, my friend. I am just excited about this whole approach.
GA: Thank you.
Smitty: And the other thing I will tell you is get ready to go in the studio sometime toward the end of the year or beginning of next year because that will be the ultimate response, I think, from the live performances throughout 2008.
GA: Yeah, well, and that’s the thing. Lenny and I have gone through—we’re writing some songs together and, of course, I’ve never had a lack of ideas for writing my own material with the writers that I’ve worked with, and we’re definitely gonna do a record, but we wanna see where it goes with this first, you know? The chemistry is really excellent within the band and we just wanna work that chemistry and see how things develop. It’s gotta grow, you know? And we’re gonna cultivate it and see how it’s accepted and where we can take this. I think we can take it to Europe, I think we can take it to Japan. I work with this big horn section, really, full-time and for me I’ve always had a band with a horn section, and in the last few years we have taken down this rendition to just me on trumpet and Johnny Bamont, my dear old friend on saxophone, so it’s just two horns. We can do a lot.
Smitty: True that. And that great for the band.
GA: It lets the band have somewhat of a free-for-all thing because we’ve got less guys. There’s fewer guys working with me in this band and that has been a lot of fun. We turn it up live. But with a big horn section, it enables you to make so many more different colors and textures in the live performances. We’ve got a great Latin percussionist, Johnny Sandoval, and he can play the salsa charts that I wrote years ago and we used to play live. You can’t play ‘em without a big horn section. You need that. We’re gonna be covering the whole gamut. It’s gonna be nice to get back to some of that stuff and play some new stuff and old stuff and just have a ball.
Smitty: Oh, very cool. Well, talk to me and just on a side note, talk to me about your experience on the Dave Koz Cruise. I understand you had a great time out there.
GA: Oh yeah, we had a great time. It was the first time for me and I’d never been on a cruise ship and I’d never been to the Caribbean and so it was a lotta fun, a lotta fun. I played some shows with Keiko Matsui, which I thoroughly enjoyed. She’s just the best, a real special musician and a wonderful person, and we had a lotta fun. I had one night on stage with Jeff Lorber that was real special. We played some jazz, not Smooth Jazz, Straight Ahead Jazz, and that’s something I really love to do, and we took it out and I don’t think any of us knew what was gonna happen and we had a couple of magic moments that the crowd was on their feet. I had two shows scheduled for the whole week and they encouraged you to sit in with people or invited people to sit in with you.
Smitty: Oh yeah, that’s when it gets hot.
GA: I mean, I ended up playing every night, sometimes twice a night.
Smitty: (Laughs)
GA: Only once with Lorber and Spyro Gyra was a special guest. They played in San Juan while we were in port. And I did several records with Jay [Beckenstein] and Spyro Gyra over the years, but I hadn’t seen them in years, and I popped my head in the dressing room and said hi and they go “Whoa! They let you on?”
Smitty: (Laughs)
GA: And so I sat in with Spyro Gyra, I sat in with Richard Elliot and Richard was so kind, he gave me a wonderful introduction, and I had just a wonderful time and just to see the love, and it was a truly wonderful experience. I hope to do it again.
Smitty: Yeah, Dave and those guys do a first rate job over there with that cruise and some great musicians on board, and isn’t it just a beautiful atmosphere on these cruise ships?
GA: Oh yeah, it was wonderful. We had a great time. And Michael Lazaroff, the man who runs the cruise, he runs a tight ship and it really shows. I mean, it comes off so well balanced and without a hitch. If there were any hitches, they got by me because people would just have a ball all week.
Smitty: Oh, very cool.
GA: I know that you’re doing the All Star Music Cruise sailing down to Cabo San Lucas.
Smitty: Yeah, leaving out tomorrow afternoon and we’re gonna go out and float on the water and take this whole jazz experience out there and have some serious fun on this beautiful floating venue out there with great scenery and great people, and every year I look forward to the great experiences of music and people and people coming together and they’re there for one purpose, to enjoy some great music and people, and I think it’s just a great arrangement.
GA: Yeah, it’s a lotta fun. I’d never been asked.
Smitty: Well, I think that’s gonna change.
GA: I couldn’t believe it, you know, it’s like they asked me about I guess almost a year, nine months before the date and [Judy] was, you know, anticipation for the entire time and when it finally arrived, so when we got on the ship, of course, I got seasick the first night and I almost had to cancel my first show because I played the first night when we sailed, but Marc Antoine came to my rescue with these pills that they give you that I didn’t know about and I was okay about 40 minutes from the time I took the pills but, man, I was green, you know?
Smitty: Well, you know what, Greg? You had some seasoned veterans on there. They know what to do when you get seasick.
GA: Exactly, exactly, so I was fine the rest of the week and you go through it, it’s like, man, I really worked hard. And so I got back and it’s like I needed a vacation from the cruise because it was really a lotta work.
Smitty: Yeah.
GA: But as time goes by, about a week later, you’re going, man, that was an experience that was so much fun that I missed it. I really miss it. That’s why I’m so anxious to do it again. I mean, I really enjoyed it to the fullest. And the camaraderie, you didn’t know what was gonna happen until it’s over.
Smitty: Yeah.
GA: You just say “Ah, it’s a gig, you’re on a ship for a week, you do the shows, you do this, you get outta there.” We met some wonderful people who were cruise passengers and, of course, it’s always great to have with your jazz and people that you know from the music industry, and so there were a lotta memories so it was a lotta fun.
Smitty: Well, something tells me that you will be invited back again, my friend.
GA: Now I must go.
Smitty: (Laughs) Oh, that’s great. Well, Greg, hey, thanks so much for spending some time with me and talking about this great new project, this approach to the live performance, and I will say to all the fans out there, go to Greg’s site, check out everything at www.eastbaysoul.com and catch this live performance because if you are familiar with Tower of Power, you’re in for a great experience, and if not, then, oh, are you really gonna be blown away by this great performance. So Greg, hey, best of everything with it.
GA: Thanks, Smitty.
Smitty: Yes, and I look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas very soon, my friend.
GA: Well, thanks for all your interest and promoting this. I really appreciate it and you have a great cruise!
Smitty: All right, my friend, and all the very best and it’s my pleasure.
Baldwin “Smitty” Smith
For More Information Visit www.gregadamsmusic.com and www.eastbaysoul.com.