DB:  And Bowman’s from Detroit.  We were recording in the same studio.  Tim Bowman said he wanted to record a Smooth Jazz gospel project. And as he told me that, it hit me like “Dee, that’ll be your next step.” So it stayed on my mind, and I then went and I heard Norman Brown playing. From that point on, I started the group Shelby Brown.  Now, Shelby Brown was really supposed to be me as a solo act, but when I heard Shelby playing and how much he really wanted to do and learn about the music business and be a musician, be out there performing, I figured, well, why don’t I do it with him?  We did a few songs and it came out pretty good. And after that we decided that there were some other things that we need to do and other musical interests, so we decided to go our separate ways.

Smitty: Now you arrived at “No Time to Waste.” What an evolution, man.  I mean, this is 14 great songs. It’s that simple.

DB:  Yeah.

Smitty:  And I cannot say enough about the arrangements and the groove from start to finish on this record.  People have got to hear this.  I mean sometimes people take the attitude sometimes that “Well, I’ve never heard of this guy.”

DB:  Yeah.

Smitty:  Well, you need to hear this guy is what I’m saying because, Dee, this is great music.

DB:  Oh man.

Smitty:  It’s that simple.  I mean, it’s fantastic and the players you’ve got on here are some talented musicians.  You know how to pick ‘em.

DB:  I like to hope that I do.  It all started out with a friend of mine, a good friend of mine, Gerald Mitchell. Gerald Mitchell is with the group called Los Hermanos.  Los Hermanos is a group from Detroit and a company that does house techno kind of music. Gerald does that kind of music and he’s been playing piano all his life. He’s a son of a preacher, so he plays in church all the time. Now, he’s branched off into doing techno music, where now I’m doing the Smooth Jazz kind of music, and his music is more or less computerized. But what he brought, if you listen to the song real closely, you will hear elements of techno in the song. They’re sounds that are not normally used in the kind of music that we’re listening to, which is Smooth Jazz, and he brought that element, but he also is a very good player and he’s a very good arranger and he’s also a fantastic producer with fantastic ideas.  Gerald is basically the producer of the project. I also produce. So Gerald and I created all the music.  Now, the other players involved were my good friend Mr. Desi McCuller, Jr.

Smitty:  You could stop right there.

DB:  (Laughs.)

Smitty:  Now, this cat is some kind of bad.

DB:  Whoo!

Smitty:  You know, when I heard him—of course his sister is a very good friend of mine, Althea Rene.

DB:  Yes, I know.

Smitty:  And I must say, that is one talented family, because you know what Althea can do with a flute.

DB:  Oh yeah.

Smitty:  And, I mean, she can bring it, and when I heard Desi, I was like “Whoo!”  Talk to me about how you met Desi and how you two hooked up to do this project because what a great mix to work with this cat.

DB:  Desi was introduced to me by one of the singers from the One Wish group that I stay close to.  His name is Venturi Gaddis.  I talked to Venturi and I told him that I was trying to do a solo project and I needed a horn player….give the people a little bit something more to listen to.”  I said “I don’t need him to be a great player, just somebody that can play a little bit.”  And he says “Well, Dee, man, I got just the person, man.  I know exactly who you need, man.  You’re gonna like this guy.”

Smitty:  (Laughs.)

DB:  He brought this guy over, his name was Desi McCuller, Jr.  He came in and the very first song that we played was a song on the CD called “Before I Began” and I heard him play those melodies and those lines in there and I said “Desi, you got the job!”

Smitty:  (Laughs.)

DB:  And he was very thankful, he was very humble, and he has no ego or anything like that.  I mean, the guy is just a charm to work with. He is just the epitome of professional.  He really loved the songs, he loved what we were doing, he loved the experience, and he loved the idea of forming a group around the soloist, which would be Dee Brown. But Desi McCuller, he is a person who needs his own CD, he needs his own project.

Smitty:  Well, let me tell you, man.  I think if this cat does his own project, it’s on!  (Both laugh.)  You told me a story about the first track, “Blue Street.”

DB:  Yeah, what really happened with “Blue Street” was—we had a nice groove, Gerald had laid down the keyboards, and I was coming up with the melody, trying to hum around, you know, trying to come up with something, and I had a part of the melody, and I was talking to Desi.  I’m saying “Man, here, check this out, man.  See what you think.”  And Desi was listening to it and he was playing, so he said “Man, let’s just take a break.”  We went outside, chilled out for a second and we were talking.  Next thing I know, he said “Man, I got it!”  He goes in, he plays the line “Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.”  I’m like “Oh, that’s it, Desi!  That’s the song!”

Smitty:  (Laughs.)

DB:  From that point on, that was “Blue Street.”

Smitty:  Wow, what a tune.  I mean, it just starts the party off right with this record.

DB:  (Laughs.)

Smitty:  Oh man, yeah, ‘cause this record, it really is a party.  This record is a party.  And speaking of that, when you get down to Track 6?  “Dee Brown’s Place”?

DB:  “Dee Brown’s Place.”

Smitty:  Man, when I heard that track, I said “You know, I’m ready to go party at Dee Brown’s place.  I wanna go over to Dee Brown’s place and party.”  Man, that is one thumpin’ track.

DB:  Yeah, we wanted to create an atmosphere on that song where the people who were listening would feel like they’re right in that room with us, so we got the sound of the clapping and the people in a room and you hear all the noise like you’re walking into a big party, and what it’s all about is this guy wants to get into the party for free because he knows Dee Brown, but of course there’s a big bouncer there.  He said “You know Dee Brown?  Then you get in line, get your ticket, then come on in.”  (Both laugh.)  “Support the guy. You know, you can’t ask him for staying free all the time.”

Smitty:  Yeah, man, and that happens sometimes.

DB:  Yeah.

Smitty:  It’s always the name dropping and, yeah, “Let me in.  I know him.  Uh, yeah, we went to school together.”  Yeah, you know.  But that’s a great track, and I tell ya, going back to Desi.

DB:  Mm-hmm.

Smitty:  Desi just knows how to pick up a note and run.

DB:  Yeah. You gotta watch out for Desi, you know?  I’m being honest with you. Desi is such a good player that you gotta watch out ‘cause he will just take over and blow away what you just played.

Smitty:  (Laughs.)

DB:  He can make it look like “Well, why did you even play that?  Now Desi’s here, see?” And that is just the kind of musician he is.  He is that quality of a musician.  He can listen to what you did and he can make it better. The guy is a fantastic creative player who deserves his own. I mean, he is my man.

Smitty:  Yeah.

DB:  And he definitely deserves his own.

Smitty:  I totally agree. You’ve got some other great cats on here, like Dave Henderson.

DB:  Yeah, Dave Henderson, he’s the bass player, as a matter of fact, Dave, Gerald, and I grew up playing together.

Smitty:  Yeah.

DB:  Dave went off and he was playing really deep in the gospel circuit here in a couple of the biggest churches around in Detroit, and I asked Gerald about getting somebody to do some funk stuff on here. He said “Man, Dave can do it.”  I said “Yeah, Dave can do it.”  So he called Dave and I heard Dave play.  He did the solo on “Blue Street.”