Jazz Monthly.com Interview with Dwayne smitty smith

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview”

Dwayne “Smitty” Smith

Smitty: When you talk about bass players, you must include my next guest. He is a sure superstar in this format and if you don’t believe me, just ask Will Downing, Gerald Albright, Natalie Cole, Norman Brown, Bobby Lyle, Michael Paulo, Doc Powell, Michael White, James Ingram. This cat is the real deal, he’s enjoying his debut release appropriately called This Is Me. Please welcome the phenomenal Mr. Dwayne “Smitty” Smith. Smitty, how ya doing, baby?

Dwayne “Smitty” Smith (DSS): I’m doing wonderful, brother.

Smitty: Yeah, and I know you’re having fun with this new record. Now, sometimes people think that if you don’t have ten records out there that you haven’t arrived, you’re not a great star, but that’s not the case here, man, because you have raised level and made a significant difference on a lot of recordings just by the fact that you were sitting in on the bass.

DSS: Yeah, bass is a great instrument for lead and typically you think of bass as the groove instrument and a lotta great guys like Wayman Tisdale have done bass records using the piccolo bass.

Smitty: Yes.

DSS: I brought it back more like a Marcus Miller thing using the traditional four-string bass which has its own voice and, yeah, it’s doing well. People are receiving it well.

Smitty: Yes. And I feel like you are making a huge statement with this solo record… “Here I am, here’s the record, I’m putting it out there, this is what I can do, this is what it’s all about with Dwayne ‘Smitty’ Smith.”

DSS: “This is me.”

Smitty: Yeah, man. And you’ve got some great tracks on here and I gotta tell ya that “Funky G” is my boy.

DSS: That’s your boy?

Smitty: That’s my track, man.

DSS: Yeah, thanks to my buddy Gerald Albright, we wrote that together. I just said to him….I said, “Gerald, I got a tune for you, man, some tracks. Listen to it. Write me a melody or something,” and I sent him the track and a couple of weeks later he sent me all the sax stuff, we mixed it down, it was done.

Smitty: (Laughs)

DSS: Gotta love that.

Smitty: Yes indeed and you couldn’t have picked a better cat. I mean, Gerald Albright, he is the boy, you know?

DSS: Great guy.

Smitty: What a talent and you’ve got some great musicians on this CD. My goodness, man, just looking at this lineup, it’s full all stars: Jeff Lorber. How can you go wrong with him?

DSS: Right.

Smitty: And my girl, Gail Jhonson on “Amazing Grace.”

DSS: Yes.

Smitty: What a track and what an arrangement.

DSS: Love her, love her.

Smitty: Oh Yeah. You slipped Brian Simpson in there.

DSS: Brian Simpson.

Smitty: Will Downing.

DSS: (Laughs)

Smitty: And, you know, someone I wanted to mention here that perhaps not everyone in the format is familiar with, but this cat is totally bad and that’s guitarist Darryl Crooks.

DSS: Oh yeah.

Smitty: He has got some heat, great chops.

DSS: Yes, you’re right. He’s been around a long time, he’s played with a lotta people.…been on a lotta records, but like you said, not a very familiar person, but he is awesome, sweet guy.

Smitty: I have seen him set in on some great sessions and I’ve had the opportunity to just watch him do his thing. He’s got some juice.

DSS: Yes, he’s very talented.

Smitty: When I first heard that you were coming out with a record, I said “Oh, man, it’s about time! He’s been holding everybody else up and doing their thing and supporting everyone else. It’s time for him to bust out.”

DSS: Well, the time was right. I did a long run with the Isley Brothers….maybe from ’96 to about 2002, and I was just getting this feeling, Smitty and I said that it was time for me to do my thing.

Smitty: I know that’s a true story.

DSS: I pulled away from those guys and I just started writing some tunes and about a year later I had some stuff.

Smitty: Yeah, isn’t it cool that over the years you’ve supported all these cats. And they didn’t forget you….They all came out to support you on this project. Even Donnell Spencer’s there. I can’t leave him out.

DSS: You know Donnell?

Smitty: Yeah, I know Donnell. Donnell’s a great cat, yeah.

DSS: Yes, beautiful talented brother. You are right, it was beautiful to have all of them involved with this record.

Smitty: This is high quality stuff, and you got Dwight Sills in there too. Talk about when you started to put this record together, what was the whole concept? I know the title is This Is Me, but talk about some of the inner workings of putting this together and your thought process when you arranged this record.

DSS: When I first started writing, I wanted to fit in with the Smooth Jazz genre because I wanted to get radio and be very popular but, Smitty, I just couldn’t write it. Whenever I would sit down to write, this funky groove smooth musical bass thing would always come out, so I just went with it, man, I just kept going with it. And I looked up, I had eight, nine tunes and they all sounded like the same person wrote them.

Smitty: Yeah.

DSS: This is my record, this is it. So I put the Smooth Jazz thing down and said “This is my record, this is it, and this is me.”

Smitty: Yeah, and it’s definitely you.

DSS: That’s how that came about.

Smitty: But this is a great record, man. But your career didn’t begin here with this record, obviously. You started playing the bass, what, 10, 12 years old?

DSS: Yeah, about 12 years old.

Smitty: Why of all instruments, why the bass?

DSS: Well, I’ll tell you, I didn’t realize I had a love for bass. My first love was drums. I played drums in elementary and junior high school bands. One day I just went to the bass player, I think I was maybe in the seventh grade, and I said, “Man, can you just show me how to play that song?” He was playing Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish.”

Smitty: Whoo!

DSS: Bass line. I said “Man, show me how to do that.” He showed me the song. Smitty, I played it better than he did and I had never touched the bass, and it was over.

Smitty: Wow. Now, who was this?

DSS: It was a guy by the name of Ronald Bolden. He was the bass player in the junior high school band here in D.C., Maryland, and ironically, he married my cousin. Isn’t that interesting?

Smitty: (Laughs)

DSS: He’s family now. This brother, he showed me one song and that was it.

Smitty: Wow.

DSS: Isn’t that something?

Smitty: That’s incredible. So you just drop-kicked the drums?

DSS: Drop-kicked the drums, drop-kicked sports, I wanted to be a pro ball player, you know, and that was while I was in high school I just walked off the field.

Smitty: (Laughs)

DSS: All I had on my mind was bass.

Smitty: How ‘bout that?

DSS: Isn’t that something? Never turned back. It’s been a blessing.

Smitty: That’s totally cool, man. So as you were developing your skills in high school and beyond, at what point did you say to yourself “I wanna do this full-time. I wanna get in there with the right cats and make some music”?

DSS: Well, I think the dream was there very soon after I picked up the bass. Maybe a couple of years later I started thinking “This is what I wanna do.” And like I said, by late high school I was sure, and so I joined the high school jazz band and started playing jazz and learning how to read, learning music, and I went up to Howard University, I wanted to go there and study jazz. I didn’t quite know enough music at that time and so I auditioned and they said “Nah, you don’t know quite enough to make it here,” so a buddy of mine said “Man, I’m going in the Air Force, man,” and I checked into the Air Force, they had a program, they paid for your school. I said “I’m going into the Air Force. Let them pay for my school to study music.” So I went that route, I did four years there, I came out, I was ready. I went back to D.C. for a year and then I hit L.A.

Smitty: Man. Do you remember your first club date?

DSS: First club date was Larry Seals Quartet, Georgetown, D.C., The Saloon.

Smitty: (Laughs)

DSS: LSQ, Larry Seals Quartet, a great band. Guys like Marshall Keys were around at that time.

Smitty: Wow.

DSS: Kevin Toney, you know.

Smitty: Yeah.

DSS: So I did that for about a year and then I went off to L.A., man.

Smitty: Now, let me ask you something because I’m always curious about musicians and picking their instrument. At what point did you become very selective about which bass you wanted to play. You know what I mean? What brand? What style? At what point did you get to where you said “Now I wanna kick it up a notch. I want this kind of a bass.”

DSS: That’s an interesting question. That’s a good question. Most people wouldn’t ask that question (both laughing), but it’s a very significant question. I was playing the Stanley Clarke bass, the Olympic, and I was trying to be Stanley Clarke, you know, 18 years old, but when I got in the Air Force I heard about Marcus Miller.

Smitty: I can just imagine listening to Marcus at that age.

DSS: And, man, I said, now listening to that sound was so incredible. I went down to the music store in Austin, Texas, to find that sound, and they said you need to play this bass, Fender Jazz Bass, and then I found out that’s the bass Larry Graham played, Marcus Miller, all the groove players of the 70’s, you know?

Smitty: Yeah, man.

DSS: So I traded in my $1,200 Olympic for a $400 Fender Jazz.

Smitty: That’s sweet dude.

DSS: And I still have that bass. It’s on a hundred records.

Smitty: Wow.

DSS: Isn’t that something?

Smitty: (Laughs)

DSS: And that’s it, man, that’s my sound, Fender Jazz.

Smitty: But don’t you think that that’s a turning point not only your career, but in the whole process of thinking about making music, when you find that instrument, it’s like a carpenter finding the right hammer that fits his hand and he can sling it with that hammer, you know?

DSS: Oh yes, very much so, very much so. I can play, for instance, a Stanley Clarke type bass or a Kent Smith bass or something, which are great basses, but the feel, the sound, the tone of it would not bring across “Smitty” Smith’s expressions like a Fender Jazz. It’s just built for my style and my sound and the way I express.

Smitty: I totally feel ya, man.

DSS: That style of bass you play is very important. It’s everything, yeah.

Smitty: And you could feel that because when you’re listening to any musician, really. And they have come into their own with that instrument and this is their instrument of choice you know it.

DSS: Right, right, right.

Smitty: Yeah. Oh, that’s very cool. Well, I must say, man, that one of the reasons why I’m so glad that we finally get to have this conversation, it’s so that you and I can both tell people who we are.

DSS: Who is “Smitty” Smith?

Smitty: Yeah.

DSS: Who’s the real “Smitty” Smith?

Smitty: Yeah, will the real “Smitty” Smith please stand up, so that they’ll know that there are at least two and one is a monster bass player and the other one is just a small potato with no gravy. (Laughs)

DSS: You do your thing well too, brother.

Smitty: Oh, I appreciate that, man.

DSS: See, we need you guys.

Smitty: (Laughs)

DSS: We need you guys.

Smitty: Well, you know, it’s a pleasure and we certainly need you cats making this great music and it’s always an exciting time when there’s new music coming out from cats like yourself and to see you on other projects as well, because that’s a signature that you know it’s gonna be a kickin’ record.

DSS: Right, right.

Smitty: You know, back in the day, when I first was introduced to Contemporary Jazz….or back then they called it Light Jazz and Pop Jazz, it’s been developing so many different names…

DSS: Right.

Smitty: But back then we did listen to radio, but when we went to the record store, one of the things that we did to determine whether a record was good or not….because you couldn’t open the LP and play it….we would just flip it over to see who the cats were on the record.

DSS: Right.

Smitty: And if you saw certain names, if you saw Eric Gale….

DSS: Mmm.

Smitty: ….if you saw Marcus Miller, Grover or Sanborn, then there was no question. You were on your way to the checkout.

DSS: That’s right, baby.

Smitty: You know? And I still have maintained that. When I see certain cats advertised on the record, it’s like, oh yeah, it’s gotta be good.

DSS: Totally good.

Smitty: Yeah, and you wanna see what they’re doing and how they’re mixing it up.

DSS: Right, that’s right.

Smitty: Yeah, man and that’s what I did with your CD.

DSS: Yeah, cool.

Smitty: So, now, you’re in D.C. right now?

DSS: In D.C., right, my hometown.

Smitty: Yeah, some home cooking.

DSS: Right, baby.

Smitty: So what’s happening in D.C.? You’re doing a gig there?

DSS: Yes, I’m doing the famous Blues Alley’s Club Tuesday night, on July 18th.

Smitty: Cool.

DSS: And then I’m doing a night, a couple of sets there, hometown things.

Smitty: Yeah. All the family coming out and friends.

DSS: All the family coming out, lotta friends, musicians.

Smitty: That’s a sweet night.

DSS: I’m really looking forward to that. Maybe Will (Downing) may show up.

Smitty: (Laughs)

DSS: May show up. I don’t know for sure.

Smitty: That will put some icing on the cake, won’t it?

DSS: Nice, that would be nice.

Smitty: Yeah, man. Yeah, he’s got such a vibe, man, that’s my boy, and I have to mention that photography book that he’s done.

DSS: Isn’t that something, man?

Smitty: That is incredible.

DSS: Incredible, incredible work.

Smitty: Yeah, so he’s just one of those multi-talented, gifted cats that you just gotta love.

DSS: Yes.

Smitty: So you’re touring with the record?

DSS: Yes, it’s just doing some spot things, a date here and there.

Smitty: Yeah, and the record is out.

DSS: It’s out. You can get it anywhere on the Internet. Anywhere. CD Baby, Amazon, Borders, Tower, Tower Records stores, and D.C., Maryland, couple of record stores, Baltimore and Los Angeles.

Smitty: Very cool.

DSS: You can find it anywhere.

Smitty: And if the fans recognize your face, there will be no doubt when they pick up the record. They’ll say “Yes, this is Smitty.” (Laughs)

DSS: Smitty, it’s a beautiful CD cover.

Smitty: Oh yeah, man.

DSS: We worked on it.

Smitty: Who did the photography work?

DSS: A wonderful photographer. A lady by the name of Lena Ringstad. She’s a Swedish girl.

Smitty: Yeah, she’s good, great work.

DSS: Great work, great work.

Smitty: And you took the time to thank a lot of great people in your life and to really bring this record to life with the liner notes as well as the music.

DSS: Oh yes.

Smitty: So what’s coming up for Smitty? You’ve got this record out, you’re kickin’ it in D.C., and you’re doing your thing across the country…what’s coming up? Any projects in the works with other artists or what’s happening?

DSS: Well, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff with different guys. I’m getting ready to do some stuff with Peter White and Jeff Lorber and Everette Harp, as a matter of fact, when I get back next week, so the guys are keeping me busy.

Smitty: Rightly so.

DSS: We’re still supporting those guys.

Smitty: Yup, absolutely. Can I mention a friend that you have listed in your liner notes?

DSS: Who is that?

Smitty: Jabari Warfield.

DSS: Oh, you know Jabari?

Smitty: I know Jabari.

DSS: Oh, man.

Smitty: He’s so cool and, you know, I owe him a phone call, and when I saw his name in the liner notes, I said “Oh no, Jabari.” (Both laughing) That is one of my coolest friends, man, I tell ya, and I tell ya, it’s a blessing that you know him because he’s true blue.

DSS: True blue, wonderful brother.

Smitty: I know that I mentioned her before but talk to me about this wonderful young lady that you and I both know very well, and whatever she does, no matter what she touches it just turns to gold and platinum. She’s just a wonderful person and that’s the lovely Ms. Gail Jhonson.

DSS: Gail Jhonson. Philadelphia girl. Sweetheart, sweetheart girl. All musicians love her because she’s just such a cool person. Gail and I go to church together. We go to the same church in L.A., North Hollywood, California. She’s the musical director for the kids’ choir and I have two girls who she directs and she teaches them piano, and so I had this idea to do “Amazing Grace” and I was running out of time on getting the record done, so I called Gail up the night before I was going to master and I said “Gail, I need to do something with ‘Amazing Grace.’ Do something for me.” And so the next morning she sent me a CD with this beautiful piano and strings and Rhodes, and I went in the studio, played my bass for about an hour, had the track, and I went to master it.

Smitty: That’s incredible.

DSS: And we never got together, never talked about a direction or anything.

Smitty: Wow.

DSS: Gail is a truly blessed musician.

Smitty: Yes she is.

DSS: I love her, I love her.

Smitty: Yeah, and you gotta have faith in someone to do something like that and you couldn’t have picked a better person than Gail because she’s just got such a vibe.

DSS: Yes she does, a very musical person, great writer, and very good with orchestrating.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Just ask Norman Brown.

DSS: Right, right. We toured all last year together with Norman. Norman and Peabo (Bryson) and Brenda Russell and Everette Harp, we did that tour (Summer Storm) last year. So that was nice to work with them.

Smitty: Absolutely, man. Well, continued blessings for you, my friend….

DSS: Oh, you know, all praise to the Lord, man.

Smitty: ….and congratulations on this wonderful new record, and I know….I don’t have to hope….I know this is just the beginning of more to come.

DSS: That’s right.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Well, Smitty, it’s a pleasure always, my friend, and it’s great to see you out there doing your own thing now, stepping up in front of the mike and kickin’ with the bass and giving us what we want.

DSS: Well, thank you so much, Smitty. I appreciate your time and your interest in my music, and you keep doing what you do.

Smitty: Thank you, my friend. I certainly will. We’ve been talking with the incredible Mr. Dwayne “Smitty” Smith. He has a wonderful solo project out. It’s called This Is Me. It is a plethora of funky grooves. Please pick up this record. I highly recommend it. Once again, Smitty, best of everything in 2006 and I hope to see you soon on the road, my friend.

DSS: Thank you, my brother.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit: www.smittysmithbass.com