Smitty: Yeah, exactly. And it doesn’t stop there because you have done film scores and songs for World News Now, Entertainment Tonight, ESPN, Oprah, Animal Planet, you have a monster of a resume.
AH: Well, thanks. It just adds up. Over the years I’ve just kept writing music and writing more music, and what happens is somebody will call, “Hey, we need an upbeat inspirational tune.” “Well, I just happen to have five or six. Do you wanna take a listen to them?” And they’ll listen to them and they go “Oh, can you write a bunch more like that for us?”
Smitty: (Laughs.)
AH: And that’s how it really starts because a lot of shows are edited so fast, they just don’t have time to get a composer to create two or three weeks from that show. They want it now. Everything’s instant, as well as everything in the world, but it’s really getting that way more and more. On movies it’s a little different, where you’re able to take the time and do each cue as they give it to you, but on a TV thing that doesn’t happen too much anymore.
Smitty: But it does help you to hone your craft and take you to another level when you’re working in all those different arenas.
AH: And, really, writing, unless you just keep it up every day, it goes away, so it’s almost like exercising any muscle. You gotta keep doing it or it goes away.
Smitty: Absolutely. You were on the All Star Smooth Jazz Cruise, the Rick Braun Cruise; did we have a kicking good time, are what?
AH: We sure did. That was great. I really had a ball.
Smitty: Talk about that experience for you. What are some of the most memorable things that you remember about the cruise?
AH: I just thought there was a great camaraderie with everybody. We all got together, we ate dinner together, we hung out and we would go on shore together….you’d hang with different guys like Nick (Colionne), he’s a close friend. I’d hang out with some of the other guys, Euge (Groove), Mindi (Abair) and Marion (Meadows), and so it’s just really nice to get to know some of these great musicians that I didn’t know before the cruise.
The cruise was a real family atmosphere of musicians and all the people that work with the musicians, such as yourself and all of the other industry people; getting to know everyone from the radio stations and the record company people. It was fun!
Smitty: Yeah, it was really cool. What about from a fan’s perspective, what was that like being able to hang with the fans?
AH: That was amazing in itself because I’m actually kinda new to the Smooth Jazz scene. To meet all the fans and to see and feel their passion for the music was unbelievable. They are some of the best fans I’ve ever seen and that makes you want to play for them even more. Everybody was there for one thing and one thing only: they were there for the music. There were so many great performances and to cap off each night with the incredible jam sessions was just amazing. Nick Colionne was a great host! The fans and the musicians got to hang and jam until three o’clock in the morning! It’s was just music, music, music!
Smitty: It was just a party, wasn’t it?
AH: Yes.
Smitty: You must have made quite an impression, so much that you’ve got invited to come back again for the Brian Culbertson All Star Smooth Jazz Cruise.
AH: I’m real excited about it as well as all the other artists because I talk to them often, and we’re thinking this is going to be even bigger and better. There’s some different musicians added to this next cruise, so we think this is going to be really stupendous. Tony and Mark threw a great party last year and it looks like this one will be even better.
Smitty: Absolutely my friend! You’re on a really nice label, 215 Music. David Chackler and his team, he’s a cool cat.
AH: Well, Chack, I’ve been working with for probably eight, and not just jazzing but world music stuff, some classical things, and he has been behind me all the way pretty much offering different opportunities and I’m loyal that way. When somebody does that, I like to return the favor, and he’s a wonderful guy and has some great stories. I just like talking to him because he’s been around. Fleetwood Mac was one of his bands, Queen was one of his bands, the lead singer for Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks lived in his guest house. Those are just some to name a few, and it’s wild because without even knowing, back when I was a drummer I played with this band, Kid Brother, that was on one of his labels, MCA, and later on I looked at it and I saw his name on it.
Smitty: (Laughs.)
AH: And I go “You know that I was the drummer in that band?” He goes “Wow, small world.” That was just totally bizarre, it was a good band out of Reseda (California).
Smitty: Chack is a very knowledgeable guy, he knows the business, and he knows how to handle his business.
AH: Yes.
Smitty: I admire that about him and this is a great label. I really like what he’s doing over there with 215.
AH: I do too and I think it’s gonna get better and better.
Smitty: Let’s talk about this great record, speaking of 215. It’s called Metropolis. First of all, man, I love this artwork, from the actual disc itself with the nice engravings, to the color schemes and everything. It’s a beautiful record.
AH: Well, thank you. I’ll have to give kudos to Matt (McGlynn) for that design….he did the designing on it, and the photographer (Rob Shanahan) I had was fairly cool. We were standing out in the middle of Sunset Boulevard near the Key Club, and people are yelling at us and he’s just like “We’re doing a “Rebel shooting.” He just did it on the fly without setting up any lights or anything because I told him that I had an idea of what I wanted. I wanted the lights to be kind of surreal looking where I’m in the middle of the street with the traffic going by and you can see the signs in back of us. So he did it and I was really happy it. Usually I don’t use photos, in case you didn’t notice. (Laughs.)
Smitty: I noticed that. It’s a cool concept. Very creative.
AH: Everything kinda all came together in this one, which is cool. It doesn’t always happen that way. (Laughs.)
