Jazz Monthly.com Interview with brian hughes

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Brian Hughes

Smitty: Well, if you love fantastic guitar riffs and unique melodies and harmonies, you will fall in love my next guest. He is one of the most prolific guitarists and he is one that you cannot put in any box. His great “guitarship” is the hallmark of his one-of-a-kind career. He has garnered multiple awards around the world and recognized as one of the premier guitarists around the world. He has a great new record out. It is a live recording and I must say it is one of the most fantastic live recordings I have heard ever. Please welcome the passionate and incredible Mr. Brian Hughes. Brian, how are you, my friend?

Brian Hughes (BH): I’m great, thank you. Glad to be with you.

Smitty: Yes, it’s great to sit down and talk with you as well, my friend and I am totally loving this new record. What a live recording! So talk to me about the live recording. You’ve produced so much great music and you’re a fantastic live performer, and I know everyone that has seen your live performances will concur, but talk to me about how this whole idea of doing a live record finally came up.

BH: Well, it kinda started with a concert that we did in Montreal at the La Maison de la culture Frontenac, which is about a 500-seat theater, and FRC, the French Radio Canada, was on hand to tape it, and it’s just one of those things that when I got the tapes I kinda thought, oh, wow, this sounds pretty good. (Both laugh.) And I kinda went hot and cold on it for a while and then at a point I decided, you know, I’m gonna put this out, so I talked to them and licensed it from them and we just put it out so, I mean, it’s just kinda one of those things that it kind of filtered around for a while in my mind and then I finally said “Yeah, this is a very cool record so let’s get it out there and see what happens with it.”

Smitty: Yeah, and when I heard about the live record, I said to myself, “Yes!” because anyone that has seen you live will want this record because your live performances are so memorable that automatically, no matter where I was, if I was anywhere in the world, any corner of the world, and I’ve heard you live, I would say “Yes, I want that record.”

BH: Right.

Smitty: Because it’s like getting memorable keepsake concert, you know? It’s fantastic.

BH: Yeah, I think it came up too because a lot of the music is really quite different from the studio versions when we play it live because the band really stretches out, so it’s kind of a different experience than the studio recordings, so I was really happy with the way it turned out and the energy that was there so, yeah, that’s why we put it out.

Smitty: Yeah, that’s a great segue too because, Brian, this band is totally hot. Wow, these are some great players, man. Do me a favor. Introduce this band and talk about these great players for me, would ya?

BH: Yeah, well, it is. It’s just a fantastic band. I’m just thrilled to be able to have them work with me. For sure, we’ve got on the bass Tim Landers, who’s, I mean, just a fairly legendary bass player. He’s played with Al DiMeola, he was on Al’s first two or three records, and Billy Cobham, he’s on several of Billy’s albums, and Vital Information he played with and he’s played with Gil Evans, people like that, so quite a history there. And then on percussion, Ron Powell, who currently plays with Kenny G. He’s Kenny G’s percussionist and he’s also played with Sergio Mendes for years and Madonna as well, so he’s a great percussionist and a great showman as well.

Smitty: Yes he is.

BH: And then on drums we have Tal Bergman and Tal’s just a real great, fiery player and he’s played with Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea, and then on the other spectrum of things, he’s played with Billy Idol (both laugh) as well, so he’s a real fiery drummer. And then on the piano and keyboards we have Les Portelli. Les has worked with me for years, since my Under One Sky album in like 1992, so we just have a real strong chemistry there, Les and I, and Les is a fantastic piano player.

Smitty: Yes, these are bad boys, man, I tell ya, and you created such, like you mentioned, great chemistry with this live recording and it’s like you cats have been together for 30 years. I mean, the chemistry and the synergy is just amazing with this live recording.

BH: Yeah, it really turned out great and, yeah, it was just a great vibe and a great lock on it.

Smitty: Yeah, absolutely, and when I think about your career, you’ve done it all and in my opinion, you’ve done it your way, and I think that’s a beautiful thing when you can do it your way and when your heart comes out of this and this live recording is just such a huge stamp on the fantastic guitarist that you really are.

BH: Oh, well, thank you. I appreciate that.

Smitty: Yeah, and you’ve toured with Loreena McKennitt.

BH: Yeah, yeah, I do a lotta work with Loreena, especially the last two or three years we’ve been very busy. 2007 was largely taken up by a world tour and then the kinda year and a half before that I was in the studio for most of that time working on her album, An Ancient Muse, so we released that album and then we also shot a DVD in Alhambra and Granada, Spain, at the Alhambra.

Smitty: Yeah.

BH: And then went on tour for most of 2007, so I’m just kinda catching my breath a bit now. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Yeah, that’s an understatement. Wow. And the records that you’ve worked on with her, these are not throwdown records. I mean, these are platinum recordings.

BH: Yeah, yeah.

Smitty: This is fantastic stuff, so you’ve just done so many great things and you have not just burst on the scene. When we go back to Straight to You and One 2 One and Shakin’ Not Stirred, I mean, these are legendary recordings, unique music that everyone loves and, man, I can’t say enough about the fantastic career that you’ve had. It’s just amazing.

BH: Well, that’s great. Yeah, I mean, I’ve been very fortunate, very blessed to just kinda do what I love to do and have it achieve some success.

Smitty: For fans that have not had the opportunity to see you in a live performance, I will say right now, you have totally missed something, and if you get the opportunity, don’t pass it up because, Brian, your live performances are more than just a guitarist kickin’ some strings. It is really something to behold and something to remember as just a wonder of a concert. It really is.

BH: Oh, well, that’s great. Yeah, well, certainly I hope that the folks out there can see me perform live sometime and, of course, if you can’t, I mean, the live album is the next best thing. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Absolutely. What a way to capture that, you know?

BH: Yeah.

Smitty: Yeah, and accommodate the fans.

BH: Yeah.

Smitty: I love the experience of when you won the competition for Jazziz Magazine’s Guitars on Fire. Going into that, what did you think about that whole competition that says “Hey, you know, I wanna do that”?

BH: It was just one of those of those funny things where I think I was just flipping through a copy of Jazziz in the studio while we were just mixing Straight to You and noticed like the deadline was like that day or something.

Smitty: (Laughs.)

BH: And I thought, oh well, let’s just take this tune and send it to them and see what happens. It was kinda more of a—sort of almost a lark in a way, but there wasn’t a lot of chance for premeditation because I just found out about it and it was like the deadline was that day, so I just popped the track in the mail and there you go. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: See? You know, you’re recognized on a whim.

BH: Yeah.

Smitty: Wow, that’s incredible, man. Well, going back to the live recording, I gotta tell ya, “Thinkin of You” is just an amazing track, and that’s one of my favorites and, of course, everyone’s gonna love “While the World Slowly Turns.” That’s a great track. But I just latched onto “Thinkin’ of You” and that little thing Brazilian thing in there. (Both laugh.)

BH: Oh, that’s Ron Powell, the percussionist, doing his thing on the cuica, a Brazilian instrument.

Smitty: That was just amazing. Beautiful friction!

BH: Yeah.

Smitty: That was some sweet talk, you know?

BH: Yeah, yeah.

Smitty: Man, what a nice piece of music.

BH: Oh, thank you.

Smitty: It’s just amazing, and I really like “For You.” That’s a great track as well.

BH: Yeah, that one turned out very good. Funny, near the end of that one I broke a string (both laugh) on the guitar and then we went to end it, but the drummer kept going, so it has a very interesting kind of end to it, you know? I thought about trying to edit it out, but I couldn’t really, so I just left it in.

Smitty: Yeah, it was really cool. Those kinds of things really create just a great uniqueness of a track, you know?

BH: Yeah.

Smitty: And I love the artwork of this live album. It’s just really cool.

BH: Yeah, it turned out great. That’s actually my wife Pamela who did that and she just ran with a small photo idea and went from there and it turned out really fantastic. I love it.

Smitty: Yeah, and we all love Pamela.

BH: Yeah, she’s great.

Smitty: The record is out…

BH: It’s out now and it’s going to radio. We’re just in the first week of radio. We’re sending that out with the single version of “While the World Slowly Turns.”

Smitty: Yeah, another terrific track.

BH: And, yeah, the album’s out, it’s available at my Web site, www.brianhughes.com, and also at www.amazon.com and on iTunes, of course.

Smitty: Yes indeed, man. And you have a My Space too, right?

BH: Yeah, yeah.

Smitty: Yeah, so people can definitely log on and find out where you are performing and what you’re doing and pick up the record.

BH: Yeah, absolutely, and on my Web site, which is www.brianhughes.com, there’s a page for this album and all my other albums, and there’s little mp3 audio files so you can hear a minute or so of each song and that kind of thing, and we offer downloads as well as the physical CD’s.

Smitty: Absolutely, my friend. And they can hear some of those little mp3 audio here on my site as well in the little listening station to the right. Brian, I tell you what, this is just fantastic and it just reminds me of all those memories of seeing you live and some of the fantastic things you’ve done. I think I’ve been to your concerts in just about every state, it seems, but one of the performances that I will never forget is a jam session you did on Maui.

BH: Oh yeah, right.

Smitty: Remember that?

BH: Yeah, I remember that.

Smitty: Wow, and that started out as a jam session with several musicians and somehow everyone left the stage and there you were for hours.

BH: (Laughs.)

Smitty: And I said “Man, this cat is just totally into this great vibe” and we were just loving it and it was like you just were there to play, man.

BH: Yeah.

Smitty: And that was just a fantastic thing. Wow. That was a great display of musicianship on your part.

BH: Oh, well, thank you.

Smitty: So what’s happening? I guess the next thing is, what, the DVD, right?

BH: Yeah, we’ve got a DVD that we’ve shot just last, oh, I guess it was late August, so I’m just sort of sifting through that. I gotta mix that and we’ll put that out. And then I’m gonna start writing the next studio album. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: That’s the Brian Hughes I know.

BH: Yeah, so I’ve got a little work ahead of me. (Laughs.)

Smitty: Yeah, man. Well, I can’t wait for the DVD because that will be seriously cool.

BH: Yeah, that’s gonna be cool as well.

Smitty: Well, Brian, I can say congratulations a thousand times and wouldn’t be enough because you have just created a great live performance here for fans around the world and I’m certainly looking forward to that DVD as well, my friend.

BH: All right.

Smitty: All right, we are talking with the incredible and amazing Mr. Brian Hughes. His great new record is a live recording. This is one that I highly recommend and, Brian, thanks again for everything you do and for all the wonderful memories of your great music and this wonderful new record.

BH: My pleasure, Smitty.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.brianhughes.com and www.myspace.com/brianhughesguitar