Smitty: I guess I can call you a jazz educator because I know you have done several clinics and you’ve done some mentoring. Talk a little bit about that experience and what that’s like and what that has done for your musicianship as well.
CB: I think you learn a lot through teaching just as much as you do from being taught and I teach all the time. I have lots of students here in New York from all ages. I’ve done college clinics, which I really enjoy because of the level that those students are at, their musicianship. But I really love teaching young kids too and giving them a good foundation and being a good role model and that’s really rewarding too. Also, to see the process and see the way students think and the way they come up and learning how to play music and deal with an instrument and become technically proficient is just something that makes me a stronger musician myself, and it’s a way to give back because I’m really appreciative of the teachers I’ve had in my life, so I enjoy giving back to kids and people coming up themselves.
Smitty: Absolutely. Do you ever play the piano now?
CB: I play when I teach and I play when I write, so when I’m writing, I’m primarily playing the piano, but as far as playing professionally, I just never focused on it that much. I took lessons for years, but I always played a lot more trumpet and fell in love with that. I used to play the bass and used to play the drums and was like a jack of all trades, but at a certain point I decided to just focus on the horn, so just when I write I use it as a tool, but I don’t play piano professionally by any means.
Smitty: Talk about some of the usual or unusual responses to the workshops when you’re teaching., some of the things that you’ve experienced. You mentioned that it’s kind of fun to see how different students respond to the music and how they come up with different music. Talk about some of those experiences.
CB: Oh, some of the really interesting experiences is usually involving how creative students can be. Even really, really young students come up with some of the most creative things, so if I have a clinic and it’s a collaborative type of thing, I’m always impressed with what kids will come up with and sometimes because they don’t know as much theory and things like that, they’re just really loose and the things that come out are really creative. I love being around that type of environment.
Smitty: So it’s sort of a candid environment, huh?
CB: Oh, absolutely. It’s great.
Smitty: (Laughs.) Well, I gotta ask you about some of these fantastic tracks on your album because I love your writing, I love your style, and I tell ya, there’s dance songs on here, there are some songs that just kick back and just kick it and chill, and there is just some fabulous showcasing of great musicians on here as well. And I just have to tell you, man, my favorite is “Pay Day.”
CB: Oh, very cool. I think that might be my favorite too.
Smitty: Yeah, I just love that guitar at the beginning. It just sets the tone. And then when you explode with the trumpet, it’s just like oh, man, yeah, this is it, this is it, you know?
CB: (Laughs.) Thank you so much. Yeah, the guitarist on that track, his name is David Lawrence, and he’s just a killin’ guitar player and we arranged the song together and it really just grew into this really neat arrangement with guitar and trumpet lines, and we’re playing off of each other, and it just ended up being this upbeat, grooving, happy type of song, so that’s where the title comes from too because pay day is one of the happiest days, so that’s what it reminded me of.
Smitty: (Laughs.) I think there’s millions that would second that.
CB: Absolutely. (Laughs.)
Smitty: Oh, wow. And I love “Afternoon Awakening.” When you wrote that song, were you thinking about anything in particular because when I think of afternoon awakening, it’s like I’ve got work to do when I have afternoon awakening. (Both laugh.)
CB: Depends on the afternoon. I guess it was definitely a song inspired by a certain type of mood.
Smitty: Yeah.
CB: But the type of afternoon I was thinking of was more of like a foggy one where you sleep too late and you wake up real slow, and it was definitely more of a mellow type of chill groove, so that was my type of afternoon awakening on that particular day. (Laughs.)
Smitty: I get it, yeah, because I had a totally different thought and it didn’t match, but I said I have to ask because my idea of afternoon awakening is I’ve got plenty to do for the night, you know? (Both laugh.)
CB: Yeah, unfortunately, I don’t get to sleep until that late in the afternoon that much.
Smitty: Yeah, I totally understand that musician life, you know? (Both laugh.)
CB: Absolutely.
Smitty: And I love what you did with “Mr. Magic,” man. Another “Mr. Magic”! (Both laugh.)
CB: Yeah, you have to love “Mr. Magic.” I put that on there because that was one of the tunes I played on with Pieces all the time.
