Jazz Monthly: Yeah, and I must say this new record is definitely all of that—it’s got all of the principles of the groove that really put you on another level musically because it is just totally phat. It really is.
AR: Thank you, thank you. I’m really hopeful. That’s what I wanted to say with this CD. I wanted to just show where I am in my life right now and I’m very happy and very positive and I think that’s the kind of thing, just groovability, just keep it grooving.
Jazz Monthly: Yes. I love what you did with Michael Broening, the great producer, what you guys did with the title track, “No Restrictions.” That is just a knockout kind of vibe, with the great Freddie Fox on guitar, and what can you say about Mel Brown on bass? Does he have a phat groove or what?
AR: Oh yeah, when Michael first let me hear the title track, I just fell out. It wasn’t even like he let me hear it as the title track. He just let me hear some tracks that he had and when I heard that song, I said “That’s my title track.” I knew right away and it was after that that I really kinda did some research on Michael and saw that he had worked with just phenomenal people: Paul McCartney and Marion Meadows and George Benson, Al Jarreau. I was just—I don’t know—I was just blown away. It was just—I feel like I’m in just such great company. And actually, I was so excited and so thrilled with that track that when I laid the track in the studio, that was my first take.
Jazz Monthly: Wow, wow!
AR: I said, you know, “That was my first take,” and even though I did some other takes, that first take was the take that said all of the way I felt in there.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, and I’ve said this before, that the first take is a lot of times the strong, true feelings of a musician and you wanna capture that. If you’re not really in a position to capture that first take, you’re doing yourself a lot of injustice, so I totally feel ya there, yeah.
AR: Yeah, yeah, so I smile every time I hear that because, yeah, and it still makes me feel the same way it did when I first heard it. I just love it. And it was the same working with Rex Rideout. I mean, I was just, wow, just going out to L.A. and spending time with him in his day and just going through what he does in a day and all the different artists that he works with, and it was just incredible and it was very humbling for me. It was an honor to have been produced by Rex.
Jazz Monthly: Well, I can feel that in Track No. 2, “I Love Your Smile,” because what you guys did with that track is just amazing. I mean, these are some strong tracks and I gotta give my boy Darrell Crooks some props on guitar because that’s my boy. (Laughs.)
AR: Oh yeah, oh, he put it down, he really put it down, and when I was recording “I Love Your Smile,” my inspiration for how I played on that song was his little girl, Rex’s little girl was standing outside of the studio, outside of my door when I was laying the track, and she inspired my approach for that song.
Jazz Monthly: Oh, how ‘bout that? Yeah, she’s a little cutie.
AR: Yes, she is.
Jazz Monthly: And a smart one too. She’s very smart.
AR: Oh yeah, yes, yes.
Jazz Monthly: She’s a little lady. Well, and then I move on to Track 3, “Ladies’ Night Out,” and this has been one of my favorite tracks because it’s just got this—it’s signature Althea Rene and, man, did you put some monster players on this track with you. And I can’t say enough about my girl Candy Dulfer.
AR: Oh yeah.
Jazz Monthly: Can she blow a sax or what?
AR: Oh my goodness! I’m just, you know, it’s word. I was so thrilled with Candy on this track and Rhonda Smith on bass, it was truly ladies’ night out. (Both laugh.) That’s all I can say. I loved the groove, I had the pleasure of co-writing that along with Kendall Duffie, and when I found out that Candy was going to put her sax on it, that was it. I knew it was gonna be a hit. (Both laugh.) Can’t go wrong.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, and Rhonda, oh my goodness. Does she have a groove on bass? That girl, I tell her, I said “Girl, you’re too strong.”
AR: Oh, and they’re beautiful inside and out too. A lotta people get the feeling that women don’t get along or that we’re very competitive and that kind of thing, and I guess that probably is true, but I have not found that with Candy. She is just genuine. She is so down to earth.
Jazz Monthly: Yes indeed, and she’s just one of those great giving kind of artists, you know? And she gives it her all, and when you put her and Rhonda Smith together, they are just two of the most giving and gifted women on earth. So when I heard all three of you on the same track, I was like “Whoo!” Like you said, the title of this track is so right. With three ladies like you three out on the town, it’s insane.
AR: Oh yeah, that’s the trouble, but the good kind of trouble.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, the good trouble because I tell ya, this track is just ridiculously good. It really is. And you reach back for something, an oldie that I love, a great cover, and, I mean, how can you just go wrong with “Wishing on a Star”? And what you do with that song is just so inspiring and it’s just got so much heat attached to it. It’s hot.
AR: Oh, thank you, thank you. I had a lotta fun recording that one because the arrangement was so different from any arrangement I had ever heard with it and it just kinda took me back to sorta like reminiscent of like Isaac Hayes and “Hot Buttered Soul.”
Jazz Monthly: Yeah!
AR: And I love it, I love it. I really do. That’s one of my favorites on the CD.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, it’s got sorta that Stax kind of sound to it, you know?
AR: Yes, it does.
Jazz Monthly: That is so sweet and Rex really mixed that so well. It’s just a great track, yeah.
AR: Oh, yeah, yeah. He is just wonderful, wonderful.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, and someone that I don’t think you’ve ever worked with before, but it seemed like when I listened to the track, it sounded like you two have been working together for years, and that’s Chance Howard on “Do Ya Like Dat?” Man, that is just pure, pure smoke on the water.
AR: Whoo! I think I have more people under 30 that tell me “Wow, that’s your track, that’s the track,” that’s their favorite track, but for many people that hear my CD, that is definitely one of the top two tracks that they love.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah. Hey, talk to me about Darrell Laveigne. You did a couple of tracks with him on this project and he does some fantastic work. Man, what a great producer.
AR: Oh yeah, he’s been doing a lot of work quietly sort of in the background, but he’s been doing a lot of producing and writing some beautiful music for a lot of artists, and I really enjoyed working with him from New Orleans and just writing and producing some beautiful music, and it was so much fun. As a matter of fact, “Summertime” is one of my favorites on this CD that I had the pleasure of playing the alto flute, which is not heard a lot in music. The flute is not heard a lot in music, but alto flute is really not heard a lot. It just felt so beautiful, so I love the arrangement that Darrell Laveigne put on it.
Jazz Monthly: Yeah, once again, going back to the thought of no restrictions, bringing out all the instruments and really doing it and mixing it up differently and doing some things that are not heard and that kind of thing, which is a very cool approach, yeah.
AR: Yeah, yeah.
