Jazz Monthly.com Interview with cindy bradley

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Cindy Bradley

Smitty: My next guest here at JazzMonthly.com is an incredible musician, a trumpeter who has some explosive grooves, an amazing vibe, and I must tell you, her latest CD is one that you must get for yourself. She has a great history of jazz music, with an intense allure, and she’s some kind of wonderful. Please welcome the incredible Ms. Cindy Bradley. Cindy, how are ya, my friend?

Cindy Bradley (CB): Wow, thanks so much, Smitty. I’m doing great, especially after that. How are you?

Smitty: (Laughs.) Oh, I’m wonderful, thanks. Hey, it’s great to talk to you. Man oh man, we’ve been trying to do this for a little while, so it’s just so great to have you at JazzMonthly.com.

CB: Thanks so much. Likewise.

Smitty: Yeah, and I’m loving the record. Wow!

CB: Excellent.

Smitty: “Just A Little Bit.” And when I first listened to the record, I said “This is not just a little bit.” (Laughs.)

CB: Well, I actually chose the title because it’s trying to say that things are just getting started, so there’s a lot more where this came from, but I’m really proud of this CD because it’s not only my first solo album, but it was done over a period of time when I was moving around a lot, going to school, touring, and gigging all over, so it involved a lot of my closest friends and just a lot of talented people worked with me on it, so I’m really grateful to them. We had a lot of fun.

Smitty: Yeah, I can tell because the vibe is kickin’ and the entire record is just a party, but I could also just detect some great sensibilities of your musicianship. Now, you started playing at a young age, is that right? The trumpet?

CB: Well, yeah, I started playing the trumpet in fourth grade in an elementary school program.

Smitty: Wow. So why the trumpet? I mean, you know, girls pick up a clarinet or the piano.

CB: (Laughs.) Right. I get asked that question a lot and the answer’s probably not what people expect to hear, but before I played the trumpet, I started playing the piano when I was around five years old, and when I did come into the music program in fourth grade and we could choose an instrument, I remember the teacher gave us all permission slips where we had to write which instrument we wanted to play and have our parents sign it, and I actually forgot to bring mine home, so when the day came that the slips were due, I didn’t think I was gonna get to play anything, but this particular teacher knew that I played the piano, so she sought me out to ask why I didn’t want to play something else, and she let me sign up but I had to pick my instrument right there on the spot, so I had to think really quickly and I knew my brother’s friends all played the trumpet, so I just kinda picked it, you know? (Both laugh.) I used to think that I ended up with the trumpet by accident, but the older I’ve gotten and the more I’ve fallen in love with the instrument, I like to think of it more like it was just meant to be.

Smitty: Wow. So after you selected this instrument, were there some regrets or did you just say “I’m gonna do this”?

CB: No, there were never any regrets and actually when I was around twelve, my father took me to see a big band that was made up of all kids and he took me to talk to the director of the group and helped me get involved with it, and I started doing little short tours and playing jazz music with them every weekend, so even when I was in sixth, seventh grade, I mean, there were many Monday mornings when I was barely making it into school the next day.

Smitty: Yeah, I can imagine.

CB: So yeah, it gave me an experience of being on stage very young and with such a frequency that I think it shaped my development as a young musician and a performer really early on, so I was on stage right away, and I loved it right from the start. There were never any regrets on the choice.

Smitty: Was there a shock factor when you performed live in front of people, you know, that they were surprised or shocked that you had the trumpet?

CB: There’s definitely a shock factor. There always has been a shock factor and that’s one of the things I really like doing…. is breaking stereotypes and showing people that a woman can do this and play this instrument in a pretty fierce way, so it’s very motivating to get that type of response from people and I wish there were a lot more women out there doing it. There seems to be more and more, and the more the better, in my opinion.

Smitty: Yeah, and you’ve studied quite a bit as well, haven’t you? Because I know you have a degree in trumpet performance at the New England Conservatory?

CB: Yes. I went to Ithaca College first in Central New York and I got a Bachelors degree in jazz studies, and then I went on to graduate school at the New England Conservatory and that was an amazing experience. I studied with some incredible teachers from Jerry Bergonzi and Bob Brookmeyer to Steve Lacy and one of my most influential mentors was trumpet player John McNeil.

Smitty: Oh yeah, wow.

CB: He actually wrote two of the tracks on my CD too.

Smitty: Well, we must give him some props, huh? (Both laugh.)

CB: There you go.

Smitty: As your career progressed, man, I mean, it’s been another step up the ladder with every corner you’ve turned, and you gotta tell me about Pieces of a Dream because when I heard you toured with Pieces, it was like wow, I gotta hear this, you know? How did you get started with Pieces of a Dream? How did that happen?

CB: Well, as you can imagine, my experiences with Pieces of a Dream are really special to me and you probably already know this, but Pieces of a Dream were discovered by Grover Washington, Jr. when they were just teenagers.

Smitty: Absolutely.

CB: And Grover wanted to help the next generation of young musicians, which I think is so cool.

Smitty: Mm-hmm.

CB: Well, as far as Pieces and myself, one of my three managers at the time by the name of Lloyd Remick, who was Grover’s manager and who I met through my current manager Rob Russen, had worked really closely with Pieces and decided to introduce me to them, so after I played for them, James Lloyd really took an interest in helping me as Grover had helped them, so they added me as a feature to their band and I started collaborating a lot with James and playing festivals with them, and it was just a wonderful experience and I will always look at those guys like family to me. They used to call me the newest member of the Grover Washington family, so it was really quite an honor.

Smitty: (Laughs.) Wow, that’s too cool. So now after touring with Pieces, is that when you did the new record?

CB: Yes, after touring with them, I started working on my own record and some of the tracks I worked on even before and while I worked with Pieces, so it was kind of a gradual process of writing and putting it together, but it became completed after I finished working with Pieces.

Smitty: It’s an incredible record and I must say that this record should be in the hands of everyone because it’s got some seriously cool grooves. It’s so alive and I love that horn, man, I love that horn sound.

CB: Thank you so much. Yeah, the grooves are the most important thing to me when I’m writing and especially performing live. I love seeing that type of music come alive on stage too.

Smitty: Do you like to write? Do you write often?

CB: I like to write. I write all the time but this CD was the first time I got to put a lot of my writing into the studio and get to hear it come out on an album, so I’m getting started on my second one as we speak.

Smitty: Yeah! So talk to me about when this record came to completion. What was that like? You know, you’ve got the record finished after all of that hard work, and you’re getting some air play. Talk about what that was like.

CB: Oh, it’s just absolutely exciting and it was gratifying and it was just a relief to get it done because it’s an awful lot of work. As fun as it is and as much as I learned from it, it was a lot of work, so I was happy to have it finished and just to be able to hear what the world thinks of it was really interesting to me, so it’s really been a great experience.

Smitty: Very cool. Now, you play in and around New York.

CB: Yes.

Smitty: Talk about what that’s like, the New York scene, for all the fans out there. What’s it like to perform on the New York scene?

CB: I love the New York scene. The players in New York are second to none. I play with some of the funkiest musicians I’ve ever met in New York City and there are so many of them, you are constantly meeting new people and playing with new people, and I can’t get enough of it. I love living here and working in the New York scene.

Smitty: Absolutely. I love New York too. It’s a wonderful place. So now are we gonna see more of Cindy out on tour in the future?

CB: Absolutely. In 2008 I already have some things going on, so hopefully it’s gonna be a busy year for me.

Smitty: Very cool. Do you still get to play with Pieces every now and then?

CB: I haven’t played with them in several months. I kinda went off and started doing my solo thing and they’re doing their own thing, but I still speak to them and we recently talked about a festival I might be playing in a couple of months and we might actually work something into it together, so I hope in the future that it happens again because that would be just great. I think you’ll be seeing it again, but nothing currently is going on with us as far as touring together.

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.

Smitty: Yeah.

CB: That’s my Grover connection right there. I like that tune. I tend to do it a little bit different. We tried to arrange it to make it a little more unique than some of the ways that it’s been done before.

Smitty: Nice!

CB: So I kinda like the way it turned out.

Smitty: Oh yeah, man, I love that song. And “Manhattan Rain.” “Manhattan Rain” reminds me of Manhattan, you know? I mean, for some reason I always think of the Upper West End where it’s groovin’, you know? (Laughs.)

CB: Sure. Yeah, “Manhattan Rain” was written by John McNeil. He wrote the tune for me and I was playing it on a bunch of gigs but we didn’t have a title for it, and we actually said on stage that we were gonna have a little contest to the audience, kinda like a Name That Tune contest, and people would put what name they wanted to name the tune and there was some sort of prize, so someone in the audience actually named that tune “Manhattan Rain.”

Smitty: Oh, wow. How ‘bout that?

CB: Yes. Yup, so that must’ve been what they saw too when they heard the music, so it was actually a really cool way to name it.

Smitty: Yeah, I like that. Cindy, this is a fantastic record and I just think that, like a lot of musicians, there’s some great music out there that people don’t get to hear and this is just at the top of that list because I think that when people hear this, they just instantly fall in love, you know? It’s that good.

CB: Oh, thanks, Smitty. I appreciate that.

Smitty: Yeah, so how can people get the record?

CB: Well, they can go on my Web site, which is www.cindybradley.com and it’s also available on iTunes and various download sites, but you can get the CD on my Web site or you can download it there as well.

Smitty: And you’ve got a My Space page too. Man, I love your My Space page.

CB: (Laughs.) Yeah, my My Space is www.myspace.com/cindybradley.

Smitty: Yeah and you’ve got some tracks running on there.

CB: Yeah. Silly comments from my friends, things like that. (Laughs.)

Smitty: Yeah, man, I really like it. So I can’t wait to get out and see you do a live gig. I may just pop up at a gig around New York somewhere and you’ll be surprised that I’m in the audience or something, you know? (Laughs.)

CB: Man, that would be great. You gotta do it.

Smitty: Well congratulations on this great record, I know you worked hard on it and it shows, the hard work will pay off because people have just got to hear this record because it is so good, and I wish you all the best with it and I really appreciate you sitting down and talking to Smitty about this great record and your career and all the beautiful things you’ve done and what you’re doing in the future.

CB: Thanks for having me, Smitty. It was my pleasure.

Smitty: Yeah, can you tell me anything about the next record?

CB: Well, I’m just getting started on it now.

Smitty: All right.

CB: It’s gonna be a lot more tunes with great grooves, but I’m also trying to do some stuff with a little more Latin flavor in it, so it’s gonna go in a couple different directions, I think, when it’s finished.

Smitty: Hey, very cool. I like the concept already. (Both laugh.)

CB: All right.

Smitty: All right, you’re gonna come back and talk to us about it, right?

CB: Absolutely. You bet.

Smitty: All right. Cindy, thanks so much and all the best in 2008 and just have a party with whatever you’re doing.

CB: Thanks, Smitty, you too.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.cindybradley.com and www.myspace.com/cindybradley