Jazz Monthly.com Interview with Chris Standring

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Chris Standring

Smitty: Well, it’s always a pleasure to talk with a great guitarist and we’ve got a magnificent one visiting JazzMonthly.com today. He’s got a great new record set for release. It’s called Soul Express and it is a magnificent project. Please welcome Trippin’ n Rhythm recording artist Mr. Chris Standring. Hey, Chris!

Chris Standring (CS): Hey, Smitty. How are you? It’s good to be here.

Smitty: Yeah, man, its wonderful, and you’ve got a great project that you’ve gotta be proud of, with some great grooves and great melodies, and some magnificent artists supporting you on this great project. Wow.

CS: I’m very happy with it. It’s three years since my last record and creatively we went sort of a few different places on this record to get to where we eventually did, and I’m glad it’s done. (Both laughing.)

Smitty: That’s always a relief when you’ve finished it, huh?

CS: Well, it can be a bit torturous because when you’ve made a few records, it’s really important not to repeat yourself and to try and say something new, and the easiest thing to do is to make the same record over and over and over. And I just flatly refuse to do that.

Smitty: Yeah.

CS: And I didn’t want to do that on this one, and it just getting harder with every record you make, basically.

Smitty: Yeah. Well, I tell you, man, it doesn’t seem like it. You make it look easy and you make it sound easy because, man. There’s some great grooves here. Wow.

CS: Well, thank you very much. Well, that’s the magic, isn’t it, when you can make it seem a little bit easy, but sometimes that has nothing to do with me.

Smitty: So, how did you wind up with a guitar, man?

CS: Well, it’s funny you should ask that because I was two years old when I asked my parents for a guitar, and who knows where I got the idea or the word, even, and I think for every birthday from then on I had a toy guitar. I even remember them to this day.

Smitty: Wow.

CS: And then when I was, I think on my sixth birthday, I was allowed a proper half size guitar and then I went to take lessons. So I’ve just….it’s all I’ve ever really known.

Smitty: Wow. When you got the regular size guitar, how did you feel? I mean, was that something that inspired you to really look at this more seriously?

CS: I couldn’t stop smelling it. (Both laughing.) I promise you this. There’s something….and I still do it today. Maybe it’s that obsessive compulsive disorder. There’s something about the wood, when you smell inside the sound hole, there’s something real about it.

Smitty: (Laughing) Really?

CS: Oh, it’s just weird, but, yeah, it’s brought back some memories of my childhood. But, yeah, it’s something, you know, toy guitars don’t smell the same.

Smitty: How about that? So on your next project, can we possibly expect a song entitled “The Sound Hole” or The Smell Of The Hole? (Both laughing.)

CS: Yeah, or something like that, yeah.

Smitty: Yeah. Ahh, something about the wood, huh?

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: That’s pretty good.

CS: Sure smells good (Laughing.)

Smitty: Yeah, man. So is that an inspiration of your musicianship, your playing?

CS: Subconsciously probably, yeah.

Smitty: Well if it has anything to do with this record, I can understand why now. Man…

CS: Oh, thank you. Glad you like it.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Let’s talk a little bit about your selection of songs….

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: ….because you wrote or co-wrote most of these, right?

CS: That’s right, I did, yeah.

Smitty: And you started this project with “Catwalk,” which I think is beautiful. I mean, it’s a….

CS: Thank you.

Smitty: ….great tune and it features Rodney Lee a little bit and some of the things he does with keyboards.

CS: Right.

Smitty: And that was beautiful. That seems to be a nice combination with you and Rodney on keyboards.

CS: Well, we’ve worked together for years now. We actually worked on our first record together in ’96 called Solar System, which was supposed to be my first solo album, but we got so experimental and we brought in, you know, a horn section and singers and a rapper, and it just went to a whole different place, and that was the beginning of our sort of our writing and producing together, and we just hit it off so well that we just kept growing and writing and producing together and, you know, it’s very different now than it was. It was much more raw back then. But we just sort of matured together and it’s still a really, really good symbiotic relationship, you know?

Smitty: Yes, I think that really sums it up because you can hear the growth of you two working together on this project. And I must say that my favorite track is the title track. Man, it’s great.

CS: Oh, thank you very much. Well, you’re one of about three or four people to hear this record so far.

Smitty: Oh my ears, cool.

CS: And I think two out of those three people have said the same thing. (Both laughing.) Yeah. Well, when it comes out….when the record comes out May the 9th, we’ll see what people say, but, yeah, a couple of people have said that they really like that.

Smitty: How about that? The great minds are speaking, Chris.

CS: Yeah, yeah. And what’s very odd is that I actually did that track myself at my home studio, so….and I’m not used to working on my own at all So it was kind of a first for me.

Smitty: Well, there’s something there that you’ve discovered, so that’s a nice discovery.

CS: I suppose I should fire everybody else now. (Both laughing.)

Smitty: Oh no, keep those guys with you, man. Don’t fire them because they’re great. And speaking of that, I can’t say enough about Dino Soldo.

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: You know, I’ve listen him for many years and you can pick him out in any project.

CS: Yeah, he’s got a personality, doesn’t he?

Smitty: Yes he does. Well, that’s great. So let’s talk a little about this first single, “I Can’t Help Myself.” Why that selection? Was that something that was special and dear to your heart?

CS: Well, it’s never my choice with any single, but I understand why….I understand more and more why singles are picked. But no, I’ll be honest with you. When I first started recording this album, I started recording some of the more “out,” sort of “arty” experimental stuff, which did end up on the record, the latter part of it, you know?

Smitty: Yeah.

CS: And I sent it over to Trippin’ n Rhythm and said “Chris, this is all very well, but give us something we can market.” You know, record companies are very sort of beholden to radio airplay and things like that. And I….one has to understand the game if you’re gonna be in it. And I then decided to go to Paul Brown, who of course you know, who’s a great producer. And I said to him “Paul, I need a hit single.” (Both laughing.) I won’t leave this room until we get one. And so he dug deep into his treasure chest and we came up with something and I wrote the melody and I sent that one track back to Trippin’ n Rhythm and they loved it, and they said “This is fantastic,” so from an absolute resounding “No” to a resounding “Yes” to it. But that’s what it takes sometimes, you know, you have to align yourself with people who understand marketing and that stuff. And it’s a game that we have to play if we wanna be in it, so I ended up loving the song too. It’s not like it’s not me. It’s very much me.

Smitty: Yeah, it’s a great track.

CS: But it’s also probably the most commercial track on the album, so that ended up being the single, you know?

Smitty: Yeah, well, that’s what diversity’s all about. You get some commercial tracks, you do some things that you feel very close and dear to that you’ve always wanted to do or there’s just a song in your head that you really wanted to put to music, and so you do all those things, and that’s what a great project is all about. It’s not about, you know, like you just mentioned earlier, sounding like the last record.

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: But it’s all about what you’re feeling in the moment and what you’re, you know, how you want to express yourself through your music, so….

CS: Yeah, and it’s also….it’s taking care of everybody on board, you know, and radio’s a different animal, the public are a different animal, the artists themselves are a different animal, and it’s about everybody being happy. I mean, at the end of the day I’m not making records for me; I’m making records for everybody else.

Smitty: Yeah.

CS: You know, I have to be happy because I’m the one who’s gotta go out and play the darn thing. (Both laughing.) But it’s not for me. I can play all day for me, you know?

Smitty: Yeah, and that’s a beautiful thing, so everybody’s happy, it’s a great record, it’s coming out and you can look back even years later and say “Hey, we really kicked it with that one.”

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: Absolutely.

CS: Well, we’ll see.

Smitty: Yeah, and “Mumbo Jumbo,” man. What a great track. Wow.

CS: Oh, you like that too?

Smitty: Yeah. And Jeff Robinson, man, he’s quite a vocal. Wow.

CS: Oh yeah, he is. He’s actually got a couple of albums of his own out. I don’t know whether you’ve heard them, but he’s quite an unsung hero, and he’s quite a talent.

Smitty: Yeah. And then your one-word song, “As.”

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: Come on, tell me about that one.

CS: Well, that’s, you know, that’s a Stevie Wonder track.

Smitty: Yeah. How did you mix Dino in there with it?

CS: Well, I’ll tell you that Dino wasn’t supposed to be on the album. I mean, just because we, you know, he’s been on every single on of my albums, and I didn’t want to make an album with any saxophone on it. I just didn’t wanna go there for this record. But Rodney and I had a definite vision of it being much more of a rhythm section record.

Smitty: Yeah.

CS: And then Dino called me up one time. Just before I was about to hand in the record, he said “Chris, I really want to be on this record.” He said “Just come and let me play something. Let me play a shake or something just so I can be on the record.” I said “Fine, absolutely. Bring your harmonica, bring your toys, let’s see what we can do.” And the first thing that I thought of was “Well, we’ve got this Stevie Wonder track and there’s a gap in the middle where there’s like eight bars of nothing going on. Maybe this would be something Dino could play his harmonica on.” So we just put the track up and I said “Play.” And he played all the way through it, and what you hear is the first thing that he played all the way down.

Smitty: The first take?

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: Man, he is an incredible musician.

CS: Yeah, yeah. And it was just what the track needed, you know?

Smitty: Yeah. Man oh man. When I listened to it, I said “Now, I know this song.” I said “How did Dino get in there?” I said “Man, this guy is something else,” and I said “I’ve gotta ask Chris how Dino found his way into this song,” because it blends well, but I would not have expected to see him there.

CS: Well, he asked to play. I mean….(laughs)

Smitty: And, you know, that’s the mark of a great musician, a true musician….

CS: Right.

Smitty: ….because he always wants to play.

CS: Yeah, yeah.

Smitty: Let’s talk about some of these other cats on the record, man. Andre Berry…what a bass player!

CS: Yeah, he’s pretty much the funkiest boy out there.

Smitty: Yeah, man. He’s got the funk. He’s got it workin’.

CS: He sure does, yeah.

Smitty: Yeah, and I was happy to see Larry Steen, man.

CS: Oh, you know Larry?

Smitty: Yeah, man. What a great player.

CS: Yeah, we had him play upright bass on this album. I’ve always been a huge fan of his upright playing. I think he’s just absolutely world class.

Smitty: Yeah. And Stan Sargent is one of my favorites.

CS: Yeah, another great player.

Smitty: You just really stacked the lineup here with these great bass players and, you know, you got Rodney there, of course, and it just really rounds out the project, a lot of maturity and just some great grooves.

CS: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

Smitty: Yeah. How many guitars did you use on this project?

CS: Boy, that’s a good point. Let me think. I probably used one….my main guitar was the Benedetto jazz guitar, and maybe some acoustic guitar on that….I can’t remember, I think there’s some, yeah.

Smitty: Yeah.

CS: Yeah, yeah, there is. There’s still some acoustic stuff. That might be it for this record. I don’t even know whether there’s anything else on it.

Smitty: You’ve got a nice tour coming up too, man. You’ve got some dates out there and you’re gonna really promote this record.

CS: Yeah, well, the nice thing is the record….the song’s going up the chart nicely.

Smitty: Yes, it is.

CS: And I’ve put this tour together with Jeff Lorber and Jody Watley.

Smitty: Yes.

CS: And we’re starting to get out there and do some dates and it’s still early days, you know?

Smitty: Yeah.

CS: It’s finding its feet, and I think before you know it, it’ll be a hot thing across the country.

Smitty: What was your reaction when you first noticed the record on the charts?

CS: Well, very happy. (Both laughing.) I mean, it’s just, the whole radio game is touch-and-go, and if you don’t play your cards right, you can really die there or you can zoom to the top of the charts.

Smitty: Sometimes people sort of frown on artists making radio friendly music. I think, like we were talking about before, I think diversity in music includes that as well, and quite frankly, radio is an avenue to get your music out….

CS: Right.

Smitty: ….to the listener and some people like those tunes, so you want them to hear your music….

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: ….and that’s what it’s all about. That’s a part of this whole world of making music. I think it definitely can improve, no doubt. Because we want it to reach as many people as possible, you’re expressing yourself….

CS: Right.

Smitty: ….and you want people to know what you’re feeling, and hopefully they will feel what you’re feeling, so it’s all a part of that, so I think it’s just, you know, it’s a beautiful thing to have a diverse CD that people can enjoy from the radio and from their own car or from their home.

CS: Yeah. Well, I mean, it’s the way to get to the masses. And a lot of people, especially straight ahead jazz artists, they either frown upon it or don’t take it seriously. I mean, at the end of the day, I understand it, but if you’re gonna do something for radio, it has to be honest. You can’t pander to it, you know what I mean? And there’s a lot of artists that are a little bit jaded and bitter because they can’t get on radio when they’ve tried, but it’s not them, you know what I mean? They’re not being honest about who they are, and I think that’s the ticket, you know. The people aren’t stupid. And, it’s gotta be you at the end of the day. And if it’s not, it’s not gonna work.

Smitty: Yeah. And I think honesty in music is the key ingredient.

CS: Yeah, it is.

Smitty: So what else is happening with Chris Standring? What’s going on?

CS: Well, boy, what else is going on? I mean, going out for this tour, having meetings with managers and, you know, trying to move things along but a little bit quicker, and practicing. I’m playing like an idiot, so I’ve gotta (Both laughing) I’ve gotta get back to it and get my chops back up.

Smitty: Yeah, man. It’s gonna be good to see you out there. I know some of the dates that we’re looking forward to is with BB Jazz out there at Wilson Creek (Winery).

CS: Yes, yes, are you coming out to anything?

Smitty: I’m gonna try to get out to that one, man.

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: That’s always a fun gig out there.

CS: You know, we’re also doing the Pasadena Jazz Festival.

Smitty: Oh, now, you know that’s a party.

CS: That’s right. July 22nd.

Smitty: Yeah.

CS: That’s gonna be a big gig for us.

Smitty: Yes indeed. And, you know, you mentioned Jody Watley and Jeff Lorber.

CS: Yeah.

Smitty: That’s a powerful combination to have you three together doing some shows.

CS: Well, yes, I think it is. I mean, you know, Jody has not really been exposed to this demographic, the Smooth Jazz audience, but of course, a lot of the people that grew up with her are now part of this format, so I think she’s going to be pleasantly surprised to see so many people that have followed her career over the years.

Smitty: Oh yes.

CS: And, of course, you know, she’s sold 20 million records in her time, so I have to say that had I known that before I’d asked her to be a part of this tour, I might have been a bit embarrassed to do so. (Both laughing.) But I didn’t know that at the time (laughs). So she said “Yes, I’d love to do it.” (Both laughing.)

Smitty: Please pass along my congratulations to her and she’s quite warmly welcomed to the format.

CS: Yeah, I will.

Smitty: It’s gonna be great to see her.

CS: I think she is, I know.

Smitty: Yeah. And Jeff Lorber….he has the one distinction that I have landed on him that I don’t land on anyone else. I call him the “Schiznick” of the format.

CS: Really?

Smitty: Yeah, he’s the “Schiznick”. He is just a funky keyboard player.

CS: Yes, he is, yeah. And, I mean, that’s really why I wanted Jeff to be part of this thing because this whole tour that I’m putting together is a little bit more than your regular Smooth Jazz thing. We’re trying to make this a soul/funk explosion.

Smitty: Yeah, man. Can’t wait to see and hear it!

CS: Yeah, so Jody and Jeff are perfect for that.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Jeff, that’s my Philly boy.

CS: Yes.

Smitty: Chris, I’ve really enjoyed this record so far and I’m glad I’m one of the few that have listened to it so far.

CS: Yeah. I hope you’re gonna be one of many.

Smitty: Oh, I think so. And keep your hand out for a Grammy, would ya?

CS: Yeah, I sure will. (Both laughing.)

Smitty: They may put one in your hand.

CS: Yeah, well, we’ll see.

Smitty: Yes indeed, my friend.

CS: I won’t be holding my breath. (Both laughing.)

Smitty: Well, it’ll be a nice pleasant surprise if nothing else, huh?

CS: That’s it, that’s it.

Smitty: Yeah. Chris, best of everything on this great record for this year and the tour.

CS: Great.

Smitty: And you’re to be congratulated and I’m honored to have it in my possession, and let’s get together later and hopefully I’ll see you out on the road, my friend.

CS: That sounds wonderful. Thanks very much.

Smitty: All right, we’ve been talking with Trippin’ n Rhythm recording artist Chris Standring. He has a magnificent great new project, it’s called Soul Express, look fot it to hit the street May 9th, and I highly recommend this great project. And the live express we’ll be out on the road this summer. Please catch the live show. Chris, thanks again, and big ups my friend.

CS: Thank you very much.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.chrisstandring.com or www.trippinrecords.com.