Gordon James Interview Page 4

Jazz Monthly: That was your previous CD?

GJ: Yes, that was my last CD. When I did “Back Together Again” originally we used a virtual keyboard generated guitar on it. And when I listened to the final mix I said this is not going to cut it. (Laughing) You know, they do a pretty good job with some of the sounds being true to life, but the guitar, I don’t think is one of them. So I said this has got to have a real guitar on it. And I thought what a great idea to have kind of an action between me and Chuck Loeb, so I sent him the track and he loved it and he ended up doing guitar work on that. So it was very fortunate to have him.

Jazz Monthly: And great work on it to! Just a beautiful feel all the way through.

GJ: Yeah and we actually did that… we didn’t do it at the same time, we did it separately and it actually sounds like we are playing together… like we recorded it at the same time.

Jazz Monthly: Welcome to technology, right?

GJ: Yeah right. (Both Laughing)

Jazz Monthly: But it worked. Sometimes technology is used in a negative sense, but that’s not the case here… almost for convenience sake right?

GJ: Yes, because he lives down in North Carolina and so you save a little money. You don’t have to fly anybody. You can actually e-mail them the track and they can e-mail it back to you. It’s pretty amazing.

Jazz Monthly: Tell us about the title cut “In Joy.”

GJ: “In Joy” is a song that I wrote. I wrote it a while back…

Jazz Monthly: To me that was just a happy tune… right out of the gate.

GJ: Exactly. It just has a nice pleasant feel to it and a real nice hook and I thought this would be a good song for the title cut. The other song I wrote “Straight From the Heart,” also has a happy feel to it.

Jazz Monthly: By the way one of the tunes “Drivin”…

GJ: Yeah that I wrote with James Lloyd. We wrote several tunes together.

Jazz Monthly: When I listened to “Drivin’ you can take that two ways: Drivin’ meaning pulsing or taking a drive.

GJ: Yeah that’s why I thought of the title because it is kind of a double thing. In one sense you’ve got the pulsating beat and the other one is you can see yourself driving along the highway on a beautiful day just listening to that song.

Jazz Monthly: Yeah it just puts a smile on you face. What about “Another Love Song?”

GJ: That I wrote with James Lloyd. I love that song! It’s got a beautiful melody to it. It’s actually one of the best in terms of audience response when I do that song live. Just love that song!

Jazz Monthly: On this latest CD I noticed you’re thanking a lot of people. And it IS all about support isn’t it because you’re a working musician and a fine artist and in my introduction I wasn’t just pat when I said with this CD you have truly arrived! You’re getting national exposure and they are using the word “long overdue.” You have paid your dues and then some, right Gordon?

GJ: Yeah, I think so. (laughter) It’s kind of funny now because you mentioned that I am getting a little more exposure than I ever have. I kind of reached that point in my life where I’m OK with where I am. If I never tour the world and gain that kind of exposure, I’m fine with that. When I was younger, I was almost obsessed with that. It was like “ I gotta make it, I gotta make it!.” Well, you know, I have made it. I’m a good player and people appreciate it and that’s the bottom line. Whether it’s on a local level or on an international level.

Jazz Monthly: Well you’re a fine player and a very talented man.
What’s on the horizon for Gordon James?

GJ: Well what’s on tap immediately for me is in New Brunswick New Jersey. It’s going to be a Sunday evening April 26^th. It’s going to be “Smooth Sensuous Sunday” with Gordon James. What’s going to be unique about it is that I’m teaming up with a friend of mine. We’ve been talking about doing this for years. He calls himself the Funkologist and what he does is… he does sounds and in addition to that he does lights and motion video graphics photography. We are going to combine my show with the video screen, up behind the band and we’re gonna do all kinds of motion graphics. We’re also gonna take pictures of people in the audience and during the show we will be flashing pictures of people that are actually at the show and flash it up on the screen. It’s really exciting. It’s something we always wanted to do. We’ve been talking about it for two to three years. We finally have a place where we can try it out. Hopefully it will be an ongoing thing every Sunday evening. All the information will be on my web site.

Jazz Monthly: Great. Why don’t you give your web site so people who want to find out more about you can just visit.

GJ: The web site is www.gjames.com. Also the links to my other web sites are there. You can get to my myspace page from there, or CDbaby.com where you can purchase my CD.

Jazz Monthly: In closing, “In Joy” is the perfect description for this CD because that’s exactly what it gave me. It put a smile on my face and really that’s what music is all about isn’t it.

GJ: Absolutely. Yes sir.

Jazz Monthly: Thanks again Gordon. Thanks for being here at JazzMonthly.com.