“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Shilts

Smitty: Well, if you like head boppin’ groovin’ melodies and a seriously funky vibe, then you will love my next guest.  He’s about to release a great new CD.  It’s called HeadBoppin.  He’s just signed a new record deal and he’s half man, half funky grooves.  Please welcome ARTizen recording artist Mr. Shilts.  How ya doin’?

Shilts (S):  Hey, Smitty.  Good, thank you.

Smitty:  Very cool. You’ve got a lot of great things happening now. You’ve signed a new record deal, you’ve got this great new record, and it’s just a great funky vibe.

S:  Oh, thanks. Yeah, I’m experiencing very exciting times. I mean, I’m looking forward to this year, I must say.

Smitty:  Yeah. You’re doing double duty: you’re with Down To The Bone and now you’re doing this solo project. You’re going to be a busy man in 2006.

S:  Well, I’m hoping to be, and I’m also going to be joining Rick Braun in his band as well, so I shall be doing hopefully, triple exposure. I’m happy to do anything I can lay my hands on.  (Both laughing.)

Smitty:  I think you will have a lot to lay your hands on, that’s for sure.

S:  Well, hopefully.

Smitty:  You’ve been involved with music for most of your life, really, when you think about it.

S:  Yes, I started playing the saxophone when I was 10, so I’ve been playing it for quite a long time now, and I went professional on the day I left high school, which was when I was 16.

Smitty:  Wow.

S:  So I think I should sort of know what I’m doing by now, but you still keep learning every day.

Smitty:  That’s a cool thing because we can never stop learning musically.

S:  Absolutely, nope, there’s new places and new places to visit musically.  All the time I’m discovering new sounds and new stuff that inspires me.

Smitty:  Yeah. Speaking of discovering new sounds, the saxophone was not your first instrument, was it?

S:  No. I started to indulge in the drums when I was a little bit younger than I was on the saxophone, but it just obviously wasn’t a natural instrument for me to play.  I can sit down now and program drum patterns and that sort of thing and I have a good sense of rhythm which is probably a good basis for that, but the saxophone was really my first love. I just took to it straight away and enjoy every time I play.

Smitty:  How were you introduced to the saxophone?

S:  My parents were huge jazz fans. They lived, breathed jazz music all the time.  There was always music playing, they were always going to concerts and clubs where there was jazz played in the local pubs and things like that. I’d sit behind the curtain sometimes and just listen to the musician. It was amazing training and just to be involved in the live side of it at an early age was just fantastic.

Smitty: When you first got the saxophone…. Did you always play with such high energy as you do now?

S:  Jazz has always been my first love and I think growing up with that sort of background. I did a lot of big band work when I was a teen. I was fortunate enough to play for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain, which was probably the best musical training I could have gotten as being self-taught, but that’s where I also really picked up my reading and we were backing people like Rosemary Clooney, Buddy Greco, Mel Torme, and people like that. So the experience was invaluable at such an early age, and we made lots of recordings. But then when I got into small band stuff, someone introduced me to David Sanborn, the Brecker Brothers, Grover Washington, more of the solo artist stuff and the more funky side of things. That’s when I really sort of took off in the direction I decided I wanted to go.

Smitty: That’s a lot of great musicians that you just mentioned, and there’s a lot of diversity there. How were you able to really hone your craft to the point of being able to dance with these great musicians with your instrument?

S:  I just think I was fortunate that I got started at an early age. As I said, the day I left school is when I turned professional as a musician and I started that evening playing in a local night club. I was in the house band and we would back artists that would be touring from all over the world. The first job I had was two weeks with the Temptations. I was always involved in the live side and I was fortunate I was out earning a living.  I never got the opportunity to go to music school or music college, but I did my training and learned my craft by being just thrown into the deep end and just going out and doing it.

Smitty:  And sometimes that’s a very cool way to do it.

S:  Well, it is.  Plus you’re getting a few quid put in your pocket, you travel the world and you get paid to do this wonderful job. You couldn’t ask for better, really.

Smitty: Yes exactly. You live in the U.S. now right?

S:  I do, with my wife and my two children. We’ve been living here for two years the end of this summer.

Smitty:  Nice. What was the transition like coming from England to here?

S:  I made a huge gamble. It was a life changing move. We’re both from England. I visited here a lot as a child because of having family in New York. Also professionally as a touring musician I’d spent a lot of time in the United States. So I had a little idea of what to expect. My wife probably had been here maybe once or twice on vacation many years ago, but the kids obviously being so young, they have no experience with it at all. So we really just took a huge gamble, we sold our house, we sold everything we owned, and that was it. We just got on a plane and we came out here. We didn’t know what to expect or whether it would work out, but we gave ourselves a year to see if things would be okay and we’ve done it. Within a year I’ve managed to get myself a record deal and get my own product out and start bringing the name Shilts to the foreground.

Smitty:  Cool. Please allow me to extend a belated, but welcome to the U.S. Let’s talk about your new record deal. Wow, you’ve signed a record deal ARTizen Music. How’s that going?

S: I couldn’t be happier. With ARTizen, it came exactly the right time and I think with the best record label for me out there. I wasn’t really shopping for a deal inasmuch as I wasn’t sending out tapes and CD’s to people, that kind of thing.  I’ve been writing material for years and just putting a catalog together and just waiting for the right time, but I was very fortunate in that ARTizen approached me and just said “We’ve had a meeting and we’re ready to sign our first artist to the label and your name’s at the top of the list,” so I was very surprised but I was very grateful and I think it’s worked out great. Rick (Braun) has been fantastic to work with. Rick produced the album and we’ve worked together so well. I’ve known Rick for eight years professionally, but we’ve never really worked together and we’ve hit it off and he really knows his stuff. He’s got great ears, great ideas, and he’s really brought life into my music, my demos. He’s really took them to a place where possibly on my own I wouldn’t have done, but with his experience he’s just done a fantastic job, and Richard’s [Elliot] in there, and Richard’s a saxophone player, so to have Richard’s endorsement to want to sign me, that’s a great honor.  And Steve (Chapman), I really, really admire Steve, really, I trust him and he’s a good friend and I’ve been working with him through the Down To The Bone connection for four or five years now and just found him to be a great guy.  And then Al (Evers), he’s a veteran of the industry, so I just think it’s a nice package and they haven’t tried to change my sound or my style. They’ve just gone with it and they’re just trying to nurture it and just give it more exposure.

Smitty:  Absolutely, man, and that’s a great thing. You’re with some great guys, so it sounds like a great marriage, great mix to be hooked up with ARTizen and those great musicians over there as well.

S: I’m really looking forward to a working relationship with them.

Smitty: Yes indeed. So the gamble has really paid off.

S:  So far, but nothing’s set in stone but I’m here, I’m ready to work hard and do whatever it takes to make it.

Smitty: Yes. Talk about how different it is as a solo artist opposed to doing your thing with Down To The Bone because you cats are just incredible together with the music that you’ve produced over the years, and then when you jump out on your own….it’s sort of like leaving the pack.

S: Yes, the thing about the Down To The Bone thing is it is a production package whereas you’ve got Stuart Wade, who’s back in England, who does the recording and the production side, and then you’ve got me here and I basically look after the live side of it. I’ve gained a lot of experience from fronting the band.  I’ve never done anything like that before, and I enjoy it.  I enjoy talking to the audience on the microphone and being more involved in fronting it. But I think from Down To The Bone’s point of view, the energy is why I still enjoyed that as much as just playing the music. I just enjoy the party atmosphere and the energy that that sort of music creates, and that’s the sort of stuff I want to do myself as well, but I want to take it a little bit away from Down To The Bone. I really want to establish my own identity away from Down To The Bone.

Smitty:  Yeah, and that’s important, I think when you’re creating music as a solo artist that will certainly do just that.

S:  I don’t want to produce stuff and have people say “Well, it’s exactly the same as Down To The Bone.” I want them to go “Wow, this is great. It stands out on its own. The Down To The Bone stuff’s really cool, but this is really cool too, and the two work together although they’re still quite different.”

Smitty:  Absolutely. You mentioned once that you like the energy of the band’s really getting into the music, you like to see the heads boppin’, thus the title.

S:  Oh, absolutely. From a performance point of view, when you’re looking out in the audience and everyone’s standing up and dancing and they’re just letting themselves go, for me that’s what it’s all about.  It’s just, I’ve gone to concerts myself and I’m sure you have, and if you go to concerts and the music really moves you, to sit there like you’ve been strapped to the chair is very difficult, (both laughing) and I’ve been to see some of some of my heroes, Stevie Wonder and all these people, and I’m up. I’m the first up. I want to make the most of it. Let’s get our money’s worth.

Smitty:  (Both laughing.)  Exactly, absolutely, man.  You’re there for that reason, to have a great time.

S:  Exactly, if you like the music, express it, let yourself go.

Smitty:  Yes, because, really, when you think about it, it’s a communication of the artist with the fans.

S:  Absolutely.

Smitty:  Because you’re expressing on stage and you want the feedback.

S: Yes!

Smitty:  And the feedback is when you’re up, your head boppin’, your hips are moving, and everybody’s having a great time.

S:  There you go. The more feedback you get, the more energy, it just inspires you to give even more and before you know it you’re flying at like rocket speed.  Sometimes we don’t get to play as long as I would like. You get an hour at one of the festivals and sometimes I could play for two or three hours just on the strength of the feedback from the audience. It’s amazing.

Smitty:  Yeah, that’s cool, very cool.  The new record, it’s called HeadBoppin.

S: Yes.

Smitty: Speaking of communication with the fans, what’s the overall vibe on the record? What’s the expression that you’re trying to deliver with this record overall?

S:  It’s a party record. It’s just a feel good happy album. There’s no real down elements on the record. There’s possibly one tempo which is a little bit slower than the others, but apart from that it’s a high energy, fun record.  When you put this CD in your CD player, I want it to get your head boppin’ and you’ve just got this huge smile on your face for 45 minutes, that’s it.

Smitty:  Yes, and what’s the first single?

S:  The first single is called “Look What’s Happened” and it’s a little bit of a spin from my first album that I had out, it was called See What Happens. So this is just a little bit of a spin from that, really, so “Look What’s Happened” is the new single and I think it’s gone to radio this week and I think it’s doing quite well.

Smitty:  Yeah, man, absolutely. With this record, you’ve got some great musicians on here. Talk about the experience of having them make such a nice contribution to this CD.

S:  Well, in a big way Rick was a huge contributor. He played on the album and actually produced the sound for me, and I had Jeff Lorber, who was a huge influence for me growing up listening to his stuff. And to have him playing on the record is just unbelievable. Jeff ‘s featured on a track called “Good Heavens.” He does a most incredible piano intro.  It just takes your breath away. Ricky Lawson does the whole album on drums and he’s amazing. He was so professional. You just realize why these guys are at the top of the ladder, they’re just so good. Freddie Washington just had the most amazing groove. And then there’s a few guys that are friends of mine from London that originally played on the tracks and had no idea that one day they would be on the album, but we’ve kept their parts because they were good. We had Russ Bolton, who plays for Al Jarreau. He did the guitar work.  He did a fantastic job. Chris Standring is guesting on one track, on Stevie Wonder’s “Tuesday Heartbreak.” And  Lenny Castro!

Smitty:  Ho-ho-ho, yeah! I’m a fan!

S:  Exactly.  I mean, what an amazing musician. He came in and just nailed it. Also, Ricky Peterson, who I’m a huge fan of.  I’ve got all of Ricky’s solo albums. Ricky played the Hammond B3 on there and just did a terrific job. The whole experience for me was just a huge smile on my face from beginning to end.

Smitty:  I can just imagine. You know what I love about this record, and I know you wanted to keep that high energy and the great grooves and the great melodies, and you selected the right cats for this project to accomplish that because all of these guys represent that.

S:  That’s the thing that Rick brought to the album and these people are heroes of mine.  They’re people that are around fifty to a hundred percent of my record collection, and they’re friends of his (both laughing). I’ve got to credit Rick for that, really. He said to me; “Now, have you got any ideas of who you want to use?” I just didn’t know how far we could take this, and when he started mentioning people like Ricky Lawson and Freddie Washington, I was like “Oh my goodness,” I was gobsmacked. So I just thought, well, I’m not going to interrupt him.  I’m just going to let him keep talking. (Both laughing.)  He was saying all the right things as far as I was concerned, and it really is a credit to Rick for pulling those guys in.

Smitty:  Yeah, Rick, he’s a great horn player himself.

S:  Absolutely. We had a great afternoon where we had a little bit of a lull in the recording so we got out some of the old bebop books and playing our records and we did some trading, some old school jazz and it was great fun and, man, he really can play.

Smitty:  Oh yeah.

S:  He really has got some serious chops.

Smitty:  Yeah. And he could do some great straight ahead tunes.

S: Yeah, that’s what we were doing.  We were just doing some old standards, straight ahead bebop stuff. And he really is an amazing guy.

Smitty: Yes indeed. So, now, the record drops when?

S: June 6th.

Smitty:  June 6th, wow. Well, this is a great and highly anticipated record because we know your signature for great grooves and high energy and we know you like to blow that horn, so we’re certainly looking forward to this great new record and everything it represents and just looking at the caliber of artists that you have along with your great horn playing and Rick’s horn playing. This is sure to be a hit.

S:  Well, there are no guarantees, but I think that we really have put together an album that’s going to stand out. I think it’s got everything on there that I wanted to achieve and I’m very, very proud of it, and hopefully people are going to listen to it and appreciate the amount of hard work that’s gone into this. It isn’t easy, there’s a lot of work and a lot of time that’s gone into doing these things and we’ve got the right combination and I think it’s going to do well.

Smitty:  Yes indeed. We’re certainly looking forward to it, my friend, and you are to be congratulated for a great new project, and congratulations on your new record deal and having a great time with the music.

S:  Well, I’ll drink to that.

Smitty:  (Laughs.) That’s what I’m talkin about!

S: Ok, I’ll put the kettle on and make a nice cup of tea, I think.

Smitty:  Yes indeed.  I may join you.  All right, we’ve been talking with the great horn player Shilts.  He’s just signed a new record deal with ARTizen Music Group, he’s produced a great new CD, it’s called HeadBoppin and the name speaks for itself.  You will certainly enjoy the grooves and melodies and the serious energy from this great music. I highly recommend this record. Shilts, my friend, thanks again and best of everything with all that you’re doing in 2006.

S:  It was my pleasure.  Thank you very much indeed.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.shiltsmusic.com or www.ARTizenmusic.com.

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