Jazz Monthly: “Throwin’ Down” in the Top 10, the single.
MB: Yes.
Jazz Monthly: And this is Mel Brown doing his thing on Dave Koz, “Life in the Fast Lane,” one of the most added singles in the past few weeks.
MB: Uh-huh.
Jazz Monthly: Eric Darius’ new record “Goin’ All Out.”
MB: Looks like his single’s gonna crack the Top 10.
Jazz Monthly: Exactly.
MB: Yeah. I’m happy for Eric. He really deserves it. He’s another cat that just gives it all he’s got every time.
Jazz Monthly: And I just did an interview with Bob Baldwin a few weeks ago and that great single from New Urban Jazz, “Third Wind.”
MB: Oh yeah. Bob is a mainstay in the genre. A real journeyman.
Jazz Monthly: And here it is blowing up the charts, Michael Manson's Up Front CD. Steve Oliver, you know about the great project that he just released here this summer (One Night Live).
MB: Uh-huh. Michael’s a great bassist, and also an outstanding sideman. Respect to him. I think Steve is the most positive cat I know – and a one man show if he needs to be!
Jazz Monthly: And that great song “On the Upside.”
MB: Oh yeah.
Jazz Monthly: And this great new sensation, Jay Soto, Stay Awhile.
MB: An Arizona native, Jay Soto. Really solid player. Very ambitious.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, you know? And a great guy too.
MB: Oh yeah.
Jazz Monthly: And then the work you’ve done with Darren Rahn. I could go on here, but you mentioned the word “fluke.” I don’t think so, Mel. (Both laugh.)
MB: Well, I appreciate that. I gotta give credit where credit is due. First and foremost, a lot of those projects—Wayman, Dave Koz, Tim Bowman, Eric Darius, Bob Baldwin, Jay Soto, and Darren—those are all related. Darren Rahn is a very, very hot producer right now and it just happens that he’s been one of my closest friends for close to 15 years now. Way back when, Darren and I agreed to stick together in this business to really see what we could accomplish together - so I’ve been there for him, he’s been there for me. Together we’ve worked on all of these projects.
That’s Darren’s production and I definitely have to give credit where credit is due. He lets me play the way I wanna play, he doesn’t stop me from doing my thing. You should see some of the e-mails that he sends me. “Just do your thing,” are his instructions! He’ll leave me a message about cutting something and say that he needs to rap about it. I’ll be thinking that it’s gonna be some heavy conversation because he’s like “Yeah, I need to talk to you about this tune” and then when I get on the phone with him, he’s like “Yeah, so –uh- just do your thing.” And it really has worked. It’s worked for me and I’m very fortunate that it’s worked for him.
I’ve also gotta give some more credit where credit is due. There is another producer that is enormously talented. In fact, Darren and this guy are the two producers that I work with the most. There are several others, obviously, but the other guy is Michael Broening, who is here in Arizona. I met Michael when I moved to town from LA. The first record that we worked on was a Marion Meadows record called Players Club. A couple of tunes did really well on that record, one called “Sweet Grapes” and another one called “Suede”. Later we did Marion’s “Dressed To Chill” project. We also did Steve Oliver’s “Radiant” record together, and then we did two tracks on George Benson and Al Jarreau’s project.
Jazz Monthly: Yes, Givin’ It Up.
MB: And they’re actually starting a new Marion Meadows record right now. We just did Althea Rene's record “No Restrictions”, a great new kid called Dominic Amato and the new Tim Bowman project. There are plenty of projects that Mikey B. and I have done and I just gotta give credit where credit is due. Michael lets me play and gets me up in the mix where I can be heard – so does Darren. Fortunately for all of us, they both do it in a way that serves the music. I’m glad that it’s worked for them and for me. I gotta give a shout out and tip my hat to Mikey B. and to D -Rahn for letting me play because they both had a big hand in helping me get heard on some recordings.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, well, I think that’s very cool to recognize them and you didn’t sugarcoat anything. These cats, like you said, they are at the top of what they do. I have always been impressed with Michael Broening. In fact, he came highly recommended for Althea Rene’s record.
MB: Oh yeah.
Jazz Monthly: And I’ve listened to his work for a number of years and have always just admired his talent.
MB: Uh-huh.
Jazz Monthly: And Darren, I just really started to really pay attention the past four or five years and, man, he’s a fantastic producer.
MB: Well, you know, it’s funny. That’s really when we started hitting hard. The first project Darren and I did, was Darren’s record called Once in a Lifetime. It’s out now, so check out my boy! Anyway, that record was when I really started saying “You know, Darren, let’s try to get you signed on as an artist to one of these labels. I mean, we have the goods here. Let’s see what we can do.” Darren really wanted to see what he could do as an artist too so we did the record and he started shopping it around. Dave Koz and those guys over at Rendezvous were interested in Darren, but I don’t think that they were quite ready to do any signing at the time. On a visit to L.A., Darren was hanging with Koz, who just sort of mentioned to Darren that he wanted to do a single on Wayman Tisdale’s record. Wayman was just about to go to Rendezvous and he had his record called Hang Time finished already. It was done but they wanted to do another single. I don’t think that Dave Koz knew the tune “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden & Whitehead but he’d been introduced to it and thought it’d be great for Tis.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, man.
MB: You know that’s the song from back in the day, man.
Jazz Monthly: Woo!
MB: You gotta know this!
Jazz Monthly: Oh Yeah.
MB: Well, Darren being the go getter that he is, he’s a real gadgety cat. I mean, he’s real gadgety! He’s worse than me with technology and I’m a full blown nerd! Darren gets his laptop out in the back of the cab, downloads the tune, immediately starts doing a production! He calls me and says “Man, do you know this tune?” And I said “Yeah, I know it.” And he goes “I’m gonna show Dave Koz that I can produce this. Can we make it happen?” And so we made it happen. Anyway he went back the next day because they were gonna just have lunch and he was gonna meet Wayman. Darren knew that Wayman and I were friends, and that Wayman liked my playing so I told him to tell Wayman that anything that he heard of mine that he liked to tell him that he did it. So Darren said “Man, you know, I’ve worked with Mel for a long time” and then he whips out this production. In the end he didn’t really need to drop my name because when they heard Darren’s production on that tune, they were blown away and Darren got the gig producing the tune! I don’t even think they were considering asking him to do it at first. At the time I had been really pushing trying to get my internet recording thing going and Darren and I had been exchanging files over the Internet for some time. So this Wayman single is how the whole internet recording thing happened for both of us.
Jazz Monthly: Wow, and it’s a dynamite tune.
MB: Well, it came out and went straight to No. 1. Darren & Wayman knocked it out of the park the first time, man.
Jazz Monthly: Yes indeed, man. We talked about that, Wayman and I, and once again you’re working with some great cats yourself and when you put that much talent in the pool, you know it’s gonna be some fantastic music.
MB: Yeah, we’ve been very, very fortunate in that way and, you know, what’s funny is that right after we did that, it turned into a flood. Nobody knows what makes a hit, Smitty, so when you get one, you’re glad and you’re grateful that it happened and you just try to keep doing what you’re doing. You ride that train as long as it’ll roll for you and knock on as many doors as you can while it’s hot.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, and just keep putting your heart into it, you know?
MB: For sure.
Jazz Monthly: Tell me about the feeling of winning a Grammy.
MB: (Laughs.)
Jazz Monthly: The reason why I’m asking you this is because before this record—and I’m speaking of George Benson and Al Jarreau doing the duet thing on Givin’ It Up.
MB: Uh-huh.
Jazz Monthly: I talked to both of them it.
MB: Okay.
Jazz Monthly: And they both just showered praises on you. I didn’t have to bring up your name. They did it.
MB: Oh, wow. How cool is that? Please thank them for me.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, and they were just talking about how you threw down on the record and how fortunate they were to have you perform on this record.
MB: Well, that’s an amazing compliment because you know Stanley Clarke and Abraham Laboriel and Marcus Miller are also dropping bass on that record, so like I was just gonna go ahead and take a beating for the team. (Both laugh.)
Jazz Monthly: No, man, you picked up a Grammy with the team.
MB: Yeah man. Well, I was very fortunate and when I was touring, there were a lotta times that I either worked on some music that might be played during a commercial at the Grammys—never anything that won or anything like that, just like bumper music. Or I played on commercials that were played during the Grammys and stuff like that. While I was touring, I was with a Latin singer called Marc Anthony. When Marc got nominated for a Grammy we got to perform on the show. It was the same night of the infamous JLo green dress affair.
So I was there and got to see what it was like. At that time I had never really thought about winning one because all I wanted to do was tour and stuff, but it was then that I made up my mind that, wow, it would be really nice to win one of these, you know? I’m not a lead artist so I knew that that was not a possibility, so I just thought it would be nice to participate in one song that actually won and get the statue and the whole thing. And believe it or not, I get this call from Michael Broening. Well, hold on! You know what? I need to set this up. I’m playing at my gig in town with Khani and the gig is good and in walks George Benson. He’s so cool that it makes you nervous because he’s a superstar and that’s one element about him that’s definitely to be reckoned with, but this guy is a real player too.
