Jazz Monthly.com Interview with althea rene

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Althea Rene

Smitty: Well, I am just totally ecstatic to welcome back to JazzMonthly.com one of my favorite artists in the world. An amazing jazz flautist. She’s about to release her incredible new CD. You know her from Flute Talk, Chocolate Rush, In the Moment, and this great new CD is called No Restrictions, and let me tell you, it is appropriately titled. It is full of some fantastic tracks, great grooves, some vein poppin’ solos. I mean, it is the CD that I am seriously diggin’ right now. And let me tell you about this artist. She has a rarified air that you can wear and it is very fashionable and she can pump your world! With an unmatched distinctive groove, her live shows are truly something special. When she takes the stage her vibe quickly becomes airborne and voluminously fills the room. Please welcome the magnificent Red Cat Music Group recording artist Althea Rene. Hey, Althea, how ya doin’?

Althea Rene (AR): I am on fire and fantastic right now. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: I love that. Wow! And rightly so when I listened to this new record. Man, it is unbelievable!

AR: Thank you.

Smitty: Yes, it is a fantastic project and you’ve got some—just the top people in the business on this great CD. Wow, I mean, the producers. How can you go wrong with Rex Rideout, Michael Broening, Chance Howard…and the musicians…Mel Brown, Candy Dulfer, and the great Rhonda Smith?

AR: Oh yeah.

Smitty: Yes, this is just a great project and then there’s the great Kendall Duffie. I mean, you’ve got some fantastic people and everyone really brought their A- game to this project.

AR: Yeah, I think working with a lot of the producers, they were excited about working with a new instrument, the flute, because a lot of the material today is sax driven, guitar driven, and so a lot of the producers I worked with were very pleased and I was very excited to work with them as well on something that was just new and fresh.

Smitty: Yes, and speaking of that, your presence on stage at live performances is just incredible too. I don’t want to miss that because I get so much feedback about your incredible stage presence. Someone used the phrase “she has an intense allure” and that made me sit back and really think about what you’ve done in the past couple of years and in particular, this past year you’ve done some fantastic things. You’ve played at some really nice large festivals, you were invited to the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, just some wonderful things that have just come out of this last year for you.

AR: Yes, it was just an amazing experience to perform there with the great Candy Dulfer, just unforgettable. Yeah, yeah, it’s been really, really exciting and I think it was very inspiring for me in recording this CD because it took me to different—with each producer, it took me to a different part of the states and I’ve had a chance to really experience so many different things and it’s just been great. It’s just been a growing—I’ve been growing as an artist, I’ve been growing spiritually, and it’s just been fantastic, so I’m really fired up and have so many people thank.

Smitty: Yeah, well, I’ve detected something in listening to your projects over the years and then listening to this one, it’s just got that high definition vibe. It has such a confidence, just this wonderful vibrato and bravura that says “Hey, I am here, I have no restrictions, I’m feeling it and ready to do it,” you know? It’s just a great project.

AR: Thank you, thank you so much. I think in today’s music it’s just gotten to a point where you try to please everybody and a lot of times that ends up getting in the way of you really, really being able to be you. And so part of No Restrictions is not just the title; it’s a way of life, it’s a new way of looking at life, and to not be restricted means to just do what makes you happy musically and don’t worry about whether it’s good for radio or good for this or good for that or whether this person likes it or not. Do it for you, and when you do that, then if you’re pleased, you definitely are gonna be able to please other people.

Smitty: Yeah, and I think that you really nailed it there because when you really speak from your heart, there’s just this connection with a great audience of people, and I think it’s a common ground that we have to get into to really appreciate and I think you’ve done that because the feedback that I hear all the time….I know when you’ve been somewhere to do a show because I get e-mail like you wouldn’t believe saying “Oh, I just really love her.” I’ve gotten e-mail from diehard rock fans that say “Now I’m her greatest new fan,” you know? So it’s unbelievable, that’s a really strong thing when you really reach down and say “Here’s who I am and here’s what I’m about” and people automatically just connect with that.

AR: Oh yeah, yeah, and a lot of the people that I worked with on this project also I believe that they share that same philosophy and I believe that that’s why it really came off so special.

Smitty: Yes indeed. And I know you love performing live. Talk to me about what that does for your musicianship, for you personally. Talk about what that means for you to get out there and play live in front of audiences.

AR: Well, I just love the feeling. It makes me feel free. When I’m on that stage and it’s not about trying to be perfect, it’s about being free and expressing yourself, and it is hard to explain sometimes when you just sit and think about really what it means because generally it takes so much to get to the show and there’s a lotta things that are involved in putting a show together that outside of the creativity of what you actually do for those few minutes, 45 minutes, an hour, that you’re on stage that a lotta times you forget. You’ve gotta fly there and maybe drive somewhere else and you’ve got a lotta people around you, but when you hit that stage and I get that feeling when the music hits, it’s just something that goes through me that says nothing matters but the music and there’s just no feeling better than that, and I guess that’s my addiction. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Well, it’s a great addiction, and I think the fans really share that as well because they have to drive or fly and get to the show, and I really think that they feel the same way you do. When the music starts, that now they’re there for what they’ve come for, to hear you, to hear the band, and to really get into the music and have a great time, so it’s a really win-win thing for everybody when you think about it.

AR: Oh yeah, it’s about that audience, it’s about tapping in, and usually after going through all of that they just wanna have fun, they wanna be entertained, so it’s kind of a marriage of sorts, you hope, between you and your audience that when you go out there that they connect with what you have to say in your music and it’s just been a positive thing for me every time. Every time I enjoy it, I never get tired of it, and I just hope to be able to continue and have larger audiences.

Smitty: Yes, and I think it’s interesting that you said that because when I listen to people talk after a show or during a show, I get these comments like “Wow, I’ve never heard her play before” and “She’s great” or “She’s awesome,” and “I didn’t know that anyone could do that with a flute.” (Both laugh.) That one I hear a lot.

AR: Okay.

Smitty: And it’s always “We wanna follow her, we wanna hear what else she’s doing and what’s up,” and I know you have a fan club site now that people can go to on My Space and see what you’re doing and all of those great things, which is very cool.

AR: Oh yeah, and we really are planning to up the ante on that so that we can include having more live performances and live tracks as well as having the samples from my music. I think it’s important for people to be able to share what you do live and any giveaways and things like that I just really wanna be able to engage people and, yeah, just expand.

Smitty: Yeah, absolutely. Well, it’s interesting that someone said to me just recently that your music doesn’t knock you off your feet. It actually knocks them on their feet. It makes them wanna dance and groove. (Both laugh.) So I thought that was a cool thing when you’ve got music that makes people wanna move and dance, then they’re really feeling it and they’re in it, you know?

AR: Mm-hmm, yeah.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: Oh, how ‘bout that? Yeah, she’s a little cutie.

AR: Yes, she is.

Smitty: And a smart one too. She’s very smart.

AR: Oh yeah, yes, yes.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.”

Smitty: Yeah!

AR: And I love it, I love it. I really do. That’s one of my favorites on the CD.

Smitty: Yeah, it’s got sorta that Stax kind of sound to it, you know?

AR: Yes, it does.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: 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.

Smitty: I must tell ya, I’m digging the artwork. You just really did some fantastic artwork with this project. It really sets it off. It’s sort of like you can judge this book by its cover because what you see on the outside, you’re gonna get more on the inside.

AR: Well, I had a great team of a photographer and a stylist, and made just a great team, a makeup artist, that just did a wonderful job of creating different looks for me, so that’s the whole project.

Smitty: Yes, yes indeed, and now you’re with a new label, the Red Cat Music Group. Talk to me about working with Sam Pink.

AR: Oh, he’s kind of the guy with the vision and I’ve really, really enjoyed, of course, he has one of the top jazz clubs, or probably the top jazz club in the Houston area, and he’s moving in different directions all over the United States with franchising of the Red Cat Jazz Club, so look to see more of them and then adding the label, that’s just another extension of his vision, so I’m just very happy to be a part of it and we’re fortunate to have Bungalow Records and Universal Records as our distributor.

Smitty: Yes, wow, you have got quite a team. Sam really puts on some really great shows at the Red Cat Jazz Cafe and I know whenever you’re in there the house is packed, and it’s really a great show there, just a great venue with a lot of cool people, some fantastic food, and it’s just a great scene for the Houston area and beyond, really, when you think about it. What I noticed is that it’s becoming this international club because there are always people from all over the world. I was in there, what was it, about a week or two ago there was a guy from Honolulu who just dropped by to kick it and play and left and jumped on a plane back to Hawaii, you know?

AR: Oh yeah, and then we hosted a party for Microsoft Spain about a month ago and they had booked the entire club for a private party so, yeah, we’re doing a lot of different things. I consider The Red Cat my home and also I want to mention that I had the pleasure of working with Kyle Turner and he is just a great, great saxophonist from Houston, and if you’ve ever been to a Luther Vandross show, he’s performed with Luther Vandross and Regina Bell, and he performed on “Island Breeze,” which is one of the songs on the CD, and it’s kind of one of the songs that we actually kind of stretch out on, so it was wonderful to be able to have included him on this project. We’ll be doing a lot of things together in the future.

Smitty: Yes indeed. I’ve known Kyle for a number of years and he brings it every night and just does a fantastic performance, his projects in the past have been just fantastic, and I look forward to his new one coming out too because he is just a powerful sax player, yeah.

AR: Oh yeah, he had a great part in introducing me to Houston.

Smitty: Yes. Althea, this record is just fabulous and all the people that are associated with this should be congratulated because it is just one of the top projects of the year, I think, because it has so many elements and is so unscripted and unrestricted, and it just punches the core of creativity, innovation and improvisation on every level.

AR: Thank you, thank you.

Smitty: Now when does the record drop?

AR: The record drops September 9th

Smitty: Very cool. You’ve got some other big things happening. You’ve been on the Smooth Music Cruise the Norman Brown cruise, and I know you’ve got that coming up again in January, and you’ve enjoyed this experience on the cruise the past couple of years. Talk to me about this upcoming cruise that is January 31st through February 5th.

2009. Talk to me about what that means for you and how you feel about going back on that cruise.

AR: Well, every year since the very first year that I performed on it has just grown and with each year I look forward to the next and I hate that it ends because at the time I’m having so much fun. I mean, I love all of the artists, we’ve become sort of like a family, and I think we probably all look forward to seeing each other, and with our schedules and everything, we don’t always have a chance to check out each other’s show throughout the year and that kind of thing, but the cruise has just kind of become not only for the artists but for the people that come on the cruise, they kind of become part of our family too. It’s just an incredible following and there’s an incredible energy that we have on stage and with the audience as a result of the cruise it being such a positive experience, and I’m really looking forward to it in 2009.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Well, it’s always cool when you’re going on the cruise. You’ve got a new record coming out, you’re gonna be doing a tour in support of the new record and that kind of thing. That’s always an exciting time, isn’t it?

AR: Oh yeah, oh yeah, I’m gearing up. The whole year you’re gearing up for the cruise. (Both laugh.) So it’s fantastic.

Smitty: Absolutely. So now what would you say to fans that were just kind of thinking about going on the cruise and just saying “I’d like to go but I’m not sure” or “Is it really worth it?” What would you say to fans that may be just kind of contemplating things, counting their dollars?

AR: Well, first, you’ve got Norman Brown as the host. I think that if you love music and for the money that you spend and all of the artists that you see and also that all of the artists are accessible, I mean, we’re all on the ship, so you can actually meet—how often do you get to just walk up and just have a conversation with the artists that you’re seeing performing? That almost never happens, but on the cruise, I mean, we’re right there with you. There’s autograph sessions and photo opportunities, there’s the artists panels where you the audience get to ask the artists questions about there music in a very relaxed, intimate setting. There’s so much more, like the ports, Miami, The Bahamas, Coco Cay, and Key West. Oh and the SHIP! I hear it’s gorgeous! So it will be so much fun!

Smitty: Yes.

AR: So when we’re not performing, we’re just cruisers. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Oh, that’s too cool. And how ‘bout those jam sessions with the great Nick Colionne?

AR: Oh man, that’s just my favorite. The jam sessions are so hot and also if you’re a musician that is where you wanna be. You wanna bring your instrument because they have a space where they allow people to come up. You can come up from the audience if you play and you can sit in with us, so how often does that happen? And you never know who will hear you and what happens. Remember the guy last year, he worked on the ship and played, what was it, trombone?

Smitty: It was trombone, yeah.

AR: Yeah, and he really played. He sounded great.

Smitty: Yeah, he came up and rocked the house and went back to work. (Both laugh.)

AR: Yeah.

Smitty: Which was really cool, yeah, so there are just so many elements about the cruise that I just totally love and it’s always just a fun time to really kick it and hang. I still say it’s that time of year when you’ve toured all year and when you make that stop for the Smooth Music Cruise, it’s just time to just really enjoy everything you’ve accomplished during the year and really get to meet the fans and really get to know them and get to know some of your peers and just have a cool time cruising, yeah.

AR: Oh yeah, they already have the schedules up too of the artists performing and the times. Everybody go to the website and check it out.

Smitty: Yeah, which is so cool.

AR: Mm-hmm.

Smitty: So it’s just a wonderful time and it’s just one of those things that I highly recommend, and you will not know how cool it is until you actually experience it, and what most people do walking away from the Smooth Music Cruise is say “I can’t wait til next year.” (Both laugh.)

AR: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Smitty: So don’t get left out because it is just a super fun time. It is the event of the year, it really is. The ultimate music vacation.

AR: It really is.

Smitty: You were also featured on Tom Emmi’s Studio Jams. That had to be cool.

AR: Yes. It was a wonderful experience. It has just begun airing on BETJ and that was really a great experience. It was recorded a while ago, but it’s just begun airing on BETJ.

Smitty: Nice. You were there along with Demetrious Pappas, Smokey Robinson’s music director, I believe, Marcus Baylor, outstanding drummer from the Yellowjackets, fantastic bassist Michael Manson, and Hector Rosado. I remember that. That was a rare moment of music at that event, which was really cool, and Tom Emmi’s a great guy, isn’t he?

AR: Oh yeah, he’s just so laid back and makes you feel so comfortable, and what you’re doing is not easy. I mean, to go into a studio and to not know what you’re going to play and to write songs on the spot, it doesn’t get harder than that, but what should be hard, it just turns out so nice just because of everyone’s personality and how Tom makes everyone feel at ease.

Smitty: Yes indeed. That’s a beautiful thing. Yeah, that’s being seen across the country on BETJ, which is a great thing.

AR: Yeah.

Smitty: A nice avenue of getting live music out there to the audience, you know?

AR: Yeah.

Smitty: Althea, I just wanna go back to this record and tell you once again that it’s just a fantastic project. I look forward to seeing some of this music live and I know your fans will look forward to seeing you live, too because when you hear this CD, it’s almost like hearing it live but, boy, there’s nothing like the live groove that comes with doing it from the stage, you know?

AR: Yeah, yeah, oh yeah. I’m anxious to do it and we’re setting up a tour as we speak.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Congratulations on this kickin’ record and I know radio’s going to totally embrace it, and I really think that the live shows are gonna be just electrifying and something that fans have not seen yet because this here is the unrestricted Althea Rene and it is something to behold, so I certainly look forward to seeing you out there on the road doing your thing and congratulations again with this great new record and all the best in 2008 and beyond.

AR: Thank you.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.althearene.com and www.myspace.com/althearene and www.myspace.com/althearenefanclub and www.smoothmusiccruise.com