JG: All right. Well, no kidding. So you’re a Four Tops fan.
Smitty: Yeah, man. And didn’t Richard (Elliot) sound good?
JG: Yeah, Richard’s so great, you know, and as soon as he agreed to play that as a duet with me, I said “Yeah, we’re on.” (Both laugh.) Yeah, he’s got a sound I totally recognize.…
Smitty: Anywhere.
JG: Anywhere.
Smitty: Yeah, he’s really cool. And “Shockwave,” man, track six.
JG: Okay!
Smitty: Wow!
JG: That’s a different sound, I think, for me. That’s one of the few cases where I’ve played harmony with myself. I overdubbed another guitar playing the melody in harmony and that’s just something I don’t do typically. I don’t overdub typically. I just play what happens on the take with the guys and then leave it at that. I don’t like to put layered parts on there. But that melody, I thought, really sounded good as a two-guitar line and, see, that’s definitely some wild Latin funk craziness on that.
Smitty: Yeah, I was able to bust a move on that one.
JG: All right, good.
Smitty: Talk about the title of the project, and I know you’re a New Yorker and I know there’s a vibe there, but just talk about what moved you to use that title.
JG: Well, I mean, the song “Grand Central” was already titled before the album, and that song I called that ‘cause it’s exciting, it’s bustling, it’s like Grand Central Station. It’s like New York itself. New York’s an exciting place and always on the move. And when it came time to name the record, that just seemed like a logical choice because it was cut mostly in New York and it’s mostly this vibe of the guys that play here….the guys I know here that I play with and that are on this record are guys that are all about the music….in fact, everybody on this record, no matter where they live, they’re guys who are all about the music and nobody asked about the money before we started the project, nobody asked how long we’d be working on it, nobody asked anything. We just kind of, in order to keep this loose feel, everybody was just kind of, “Yeah, let’s make some music and we’ll see where that goes.” And that’s why that ends up happening in New York, that’s why I stay in New York, because there is a scene that happens here with musicians going out at night and sitting in at clubs ‘cause there’s so many clubs with music and everybody’s so close together here. There’s a lotta busman holiday things going on where people just go out and jam at night, and every musician I know in New York has that head. They’re not about asking for money. I walked into a club a couple weeks ago on the Lower East Side and Norah Jones was playing. She was setting up her own keyboard and doing an unannounced gig.
Smitty: Wow!
JG: Yeah, you know, eight million records later, she still does that. That’s just part of what New York is about, is that it’s not about the celebrity or the size of the venue or whatever it is. It’s about just getting out with your friends and making some music in an environment that’s fun, and I wanted to capture that spirit on this record, which I think I did, so I just thought Grand Central was a way of saying that without taking up two paragraphs that I just took up now.
Smitty: (Laughs.) No, I think you said it well and I think you captured it well on the record as well, man, ‘cause it’s a really kickin’ record. And there are bonus tracks on here?
JG: Well, the bonus tracks are somehow going to be available over the Internet.
Smitty: Cool.
JG: Something new. I mean, I don’t know what the marketing plan is with this, but I cut more material than I needed for this record and I really like all of it. I mean, it was tough to decide what would just be the Internet tracks. The ones that are on the Internet are very different for me. I encourage anyone to check that out ‘cause these were on the acoustic guitar, which I did a couple of tracks on the CD where I play acoustic guitar, but the ones on the Internet are probably even more so. In fact, the cover of “Let’s Stay Together,” the Al Green tune, is just I’m playing acoustic guitar, Lincoln Goines playing upright bass, Steve Ferrone on drums, and Roger Squitero on percussion. There’s no keyboards, there’s no overdubs, it’s really an intimate sounding thing, and that’s on purpose. I wanted it to be as small and intimate as possible and so I do encourage anyone who has the access to these tracks to check ‘em out.
Smitty: Very cool. You’ve got some other great players on here, Mr. Kirk Whalum and Mitch Foreman.
JG: Yes, I’m gonna be touring with Kirk this year.
Smitty: That’s right.
JG: ‘Cause the Guitars & Saxes tour is going to be Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright, and Tim Bowman, and myself.
Smitty: Wow. That sounds like a great show.
