Jazz Monthly.com Interview with Russell Malone

Smitty: Yes they did, man. I said “These cats know how to keep up.” It’s incredible stuff. I’m impressed. I only wish I had been there for that show.

RM: It was a lot of fun.

Smitty: Yeah, but I’ve seen your performance live and when I heard you were doing a live record, man, I got totally excited because I knew what was coming.

RM: Thank you.

Smitty: Absolutely great. Talk a little bit about these cats, the band. You mentioned that this is your working band and to do this live recording with them had to be just a treat for you and for them as well.

RM: I think that it’s very important to record with people that you’ve been on the road with, and this is something that I’ve always fought for no matter what label I was on. I always fought for playing with guys that I like to play with. A lot of times the people at record companies, they want to put these all-star configurations together and sometimes it can work but most of the time it doesn’t work because there’s nothing like having chemistry between musicians.

Smitty: Yes.

RM: And these gentlemen, I’ve known them for quite some time and they respect me and I respect them. I respect them because they bring a lot of beautiful things to the table. I don’t have to tell them what to play. I mean, I am the bandleader and there are certain things that I will suggest, but I don’t always have to constantly be on them about what to play and how to play because the level of musicianship is so high, I can just trust them.

Smitty: Yes, and it makes a huge difference.

RM: That’s one of the things that I learned from working with Ron Carter is knowing how to just trust the band. And he told me a very interesting story about that band that he played in with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams. He said that one of the things that made that group of musicians so special was the level of trust. At a high level of musicianship but they trusted each other and you could play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and if it’s done on a high level, it’s fine.

Smitty: (Laughs.) Right.

RM: Because you’ve got these great musicians who can take it anywhere.

Smitty: Right, you can’t put a price on that, man.

RM: Oh yeah, so I’m very happy to be playing with these gentlemen.

Smitty: Yes indeed, man, I really love their musicianship. I mean, you can feel that high level of musicianship throughout this record, no doubt. And “Heartstrings”…man, what a great Milt Jackson tune.

RM: Yeah, well, I recorded that on another recording, Heartstrings, about three or four years ago.

Smitty: Right, right.

RM: But this one…I’m really proud of this one. And I just saw Milt Jackson’s wife. In fact, she was in the audience when we recorded that piece.

Smitty: How sweet was that?

RM: Yeah, and I saw her about two weeks ago and she had a copy of the record and she listened to “Heartstrings” and she gave me the nicest compliment. She said “Hey, you really nailed my husband’s tune.”

Smitty: (Laughs.)

RM: That made me feel so good.

Smitty: Oh, absolutely, man, and she’s right on because you cats really gave that tune a lot of justice.

RM: Oh, thank you, Smitty.

Smitty: Yes indeed. And “Malone Blues”…man, you are one of a few musicians that can just rock from the jazz standards right into the blues.

RM: Well, I love the blues. I mean, coming from Georgia, that part of the country, I heard a lot of that. A lot of blues and I heard a lot of gospel. So I just figured on this record, you know, I wasn’t thinking about any kind of formula. I just decided that I’m just gonna do what I do.

Smitty: And that opens it up to be yourself and to let it all really shine. I like that, man.

RM: Yeah, because a lot of people haven’t heard me really stretch out or play like that on a record. I mean, we do it when we do our concerts, but I think this record needed to be made.

Smitty: Yes indeed. It’s been a long time coming and it was worth the wait and I know that I can speak for thousands of your fans. We’re loving this project, man.

RM: Oh, thank you. I really appreciate that.