Jazz Monthly.com Interview with Gerald Veasley

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Gerald Veasley

Smitty: Well, once again, I am always delighted to invite my next guest to JazzMonthly.com. He is in my Top Five bass players in the world. He’s about to release his latest record. It is called Your Move and, trust me, you must hear this record. It has some fantastic tunes and you know him from Love Letters, Velvet and At The Jazz Base, but now he has created a great new record and it is fantastic! Please welcome the incredible and amazing Mr. Gerald Veasley. Gerald, how ya doing, my friend?

Gerald Veasley (GV): I’m doing great, man. Man, after that great intro, I was expecting to hear applause. I thought I was at a concert. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Hey, man.

GV: Thank you, Smitty. How you doing?

Smitty: Man, I tell ya, I feel like a mosquito in a nudist camp on a warm summer night. (Both laugh.)

GV: That’s great. Well, that’s pretty happy.

Smitty: Yes indeed. You know, it’s always great to talk with you, man. I was telling someone recently, I said “You know, I always enjoy talking with Gerald because he’s just got that whole intellect, not just about music but everything, and it always carries over to the music, you know, the sounds and the arrangements, everything.” And this new record is nothing less, man. This is just some fantastic music, you’ve got some great players on here with you, and you just know how to pick ‘em, man. I love this record.

GV: Well, I thank you a lot. I mean, the last recording that I did was a live record, which really showcased my band.

Smitty: Yeah, great record.

GV: For the first time at the club, The Jazz Base. But the last studio record that I recorded, man, was back in 2003. Can you believe that? Velvet.

Smitty: Wow, Velvet, I remember that.

GV: Yeah, so this record was kinda the best of both worlds in that I was able to showcase my great band again--

Smitty: Yes.

GV: --but doing a studio setting and bringing in the fantastic Chuck Loeb on the guitar--

Smitty: Yes.

GV: --as producer and guitarist, so it was just awesome. The spirit of collaboration is really what this record is about, you know, collaborating with great musicians and great producers.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Well, you know, I was very intrigued by the title of the record and seeing you looking so studious in front of that chessboard. I gotta ask you, do you like to play chess?

GV: You know (laughs), I do like to play. I don’t play as much as I like, but I do like games in general. I mean, I just like the challenge of putting your mind to the test, the challenge of the fact that there are so many different decisions you could make, and especially in chess there’s a whole array of choices you can make, and I think that’s part of it, that no two games are ever alike, and jazz is exactly the same way. Because, you’re presented with many, many choices every night. You get through the same song, but what’s special about jazz is that you always have the ability to make the song different.

Smitty: That’s so true.

GV: The great philosophers who once talked about how life is like a river in that you never step in the same river twice because it’s always flowing and it’s always changing, and that’s jazz too.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: It’s like that river that is always changing, and so that’s why the image of Your Move and the symbol of playing a chess game is such a powerful one to me, not so much in an intellectual way but more of just the excitement about the various choices you have in music and in life.

Smitty: Mm, yeah. I like that. So is this a chill time kind of thing for you, playing chess?

GV: Yeah, it is. It’s also something that I enjoy playing with my daughter and so it’s like one of our bonding activities. I have an 11-year-old daughter who’s just the sweetest girl and I have a couple of older kids too.

Smitty: Yeah, I met them.

GV: But the 11-year-old is the one that lives with me, Taylor, and we do that and we both love to play Sudoku, which is also an interesting game. And, you know, the other thing about these kinds of games is that not only are they great metaphors for other things that I do like music, but they also enable me to use another part of my brain.

Smitty: Yeah, I like that.

GV: You know, because the music, a lot of it is—the music making, rather, is in some ways very intuitive, it’s about emotion, and then doing some of the other things that I’m involved in like some chess or Sudoku….That involves more linear kind of thinking where you are just using logic, so I don’t know, it’s fascinating to me. I’m kinda restless, I’m always trying to learn something new, always trying to just better myself and do more and know more and enjoy life, and sometimes it doesn’t always have to be the biggest and greatest things.

For example, I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon. That’s on my list. I know we just talked before this interview about a nice trip that you just had, and there’s always these things where you get to see the world and I’ve been blessed to see a lot of that, but sometimes you can also enjoy life in the small moments when you really can enjoy it in front of a chess board, or last week we had the lunar eclipse. I don’t know if you saw it where you are, but we saw it here on the East Coast. And just standing on my back porch with my daughter looking at this rare celestial event with my little girl. That was a special moment.

Smitty: Yes.

GV: It’s what it’s all about, man. Moments.

Smitty: Well, you know, I think you’re right and you talked about wanting to do more and learning more. You’ve done a lot of things. I mean, I’ve always admired your trips to South Africa and wanted to go! (Both laugh.)

GV: You gotta get there, man.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: It’s a wonderful place.

Smitty: Yeah, and you know those experiences you told me about, because I remember we’ve talked a couple of times about your trips there and meeting Nelson Mandela and going to the prison where he was and talking to people and reading books about it. I think that’s just a beautiful experience. But the other thing that I really wanna ask about too, and I think is just super, is the radio show.

GV: Ahh.

Smitty: Yeah. Talk about that because now, as a musician, you’re trying to get to radio and then now you’re on radio and you’re talking about not just Gerald Veasley’s music but all kinds of great music, and what an experience that opens up for you, you know? Talk about that a little bit.

GV: Well, yeah, I think you’ve really hit it. It opens up some other opportunities to experience the music in a different way. When I’m presenting music as an on-air personality, it’s very different than when I’m sitting in my car or sitting in my home listening to music because I get the chance to be sort of a conduit between the music and the audience. I can talk about some of these music makers that I may play on the radio who happen to be friends of mine like the Chuck Loebs and the Najees and Pieces of a Dream.

Smitty: Right.

GV: Now I can share stories and insight about their personalities and about the creative process and sometimes it’s just little tidbits or maybe a tidbit about Grover [Washington Jr.] since I spent so much of my professional life in his band, so I think it’s an important work because, especially with instrumental music, sometimes people are not able to get a hold of who is this person behind the sound?

Smitty: Great perspectives.

GV: So we need ways to make people closer to the person behind the sound and that’s one of the things that I try to do in presenting music.

Smitty: Great approach and I know your listeners really appreciate that. You not only have your own radio show, I think it’s a beautiful thing when an artist like yourself has a club, has his own club!

GV: Jazz Base.

Smitty: Yeah, man, you got a radio show, you got your own club, what more can you ask for? (Both laugh.)

GV: Well…

Smitty: Wow!

GV: I just enjoy life and I enjoy new challenges and I’ve been blessed to have excellent opportunities and great personal and business relationships, so the club is a combination of all those things, a combination of all those blessings, because it certainly is a great opportunity and it’s the result of great relationships.

Smitty: Yes it is.

GV: And it’s also a way to kind of give back.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: Because having the club allows me and the whole production team the ability to showcase talent who may not get the chance to be heard. The club is in Reading, PA, which during the Berks Jazz Fest for 10 days out of the year, I mean, it’s like it’s the Mecca for jazz.

Smitty: Yes, it is.

GV: Because you have 130 shows during the Berks Jazz Fest over 10 days and some of the leading artists in contemporary and traditional jazz. But then when everybody goes home, for so many years there was very little jazz. So the Sheraton Hotel said “Wait a minute. There’s gotta be a better way to do this. Let’s create a club and, Gerald, would you like to host it? Would you like to be the kind of force behind the scenes with the club?”

Smitty: The marquee, yeah.

GV: And I loved the idea because now there’s jazz year-round in Reading, which has a great local fan base. And all of these amazing regional artists are getting exposure to do what they do and on top of that, now it’s a great venue for national artists who are on tour. We’ve had Acoustic Alchemy, we’ve had the Rippingtons and Gregg Karukas, Joyce Cooling. So many artists come to the Jazz Base on the East Coast tours and it’s a little club, seats 150.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: But all the musicians love the vibe, they love the proximity to the audience, you know, they can just about reach out and touch the audience.

Smitty: I know. (Both laugh.)

GV: And the audience loves it too because they get to hear these great artists up close and personal.

Smitty: Yeah, it’s in a great location and that city, like you said, has a great fan base in that area, but I love the spirit of Reading, how they turn out for Berks Jazz, and I mean they’re totally supportive, hundreds of volunteers, and everyone’s working so hard and smiling and having a great time. I love that week up there.

GV: People, the volunteers that you mentioned, they plan their vacations around Jazz Fest to make sure they’re available to help out during Jazz Fest, and it’s expanded over the last 18 years from being this one-day event with a couple concerts to being this 10-day event that really draws people now from around the world, so it’s expanded beyond this regional phenomenon to really a worldwide phenomenon, and certainly it is a destination on the East Coast. When you talk about jazz, you gotta mention the Berks Jazz Fest.

Smitty: Oh yes, oh yes, and I tell ya, it’s one of the premiere jazz festivals and it’s a great time of year to kick it off, you know? It’s one of those, you know, the gates are open when Berks starts. The official year is here now.

GV: That’s right, that’s right. It’s sort of the kickoff to the whole summer touring season. It gives people a sneak preview on the great music to come.

Smitty: Yeah, absolutely. It’s a great gig. You have been blessed, my friend.

GV: I don’t take it for granted. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Yeah, I know what you mean and that’s a cool thing too. Let’s talk about your great new record, it’s called Your Move. The first track, “Hear Now!” Now, you really cut loose on this song and I heard some things from Gerald Veasley that I hadn’t heard before. That must have been an exciting time for you because that was my thought. I said “You know, he must’ve been really excited about this track. If he wasn’t excited about any other track on this project, that one you had to be excited about” because, I mean, you really just showcased a whole different side that says “Hey, man, I got some chops that you haven’t heard. Check this out,” you know? (Both laugh.)

GV: That’s funny. I just had another kind of image of an athlete that you’re used to seeing him do one thing but he has another skill in his back pocket, and I think of how Donovan McNabb, the great quarterback here in Philadelphia with the Eagles, he’s really tried to, over the years, become a better passer in the pocket, just standing there reading the defense and throwing the accurate pass, but people recognized early on his ability to run, but he’s always kind of—or through the years he’s used that very sparingly, that natural ability to just, when he gets in trouble, just take off with the ball and just run it, and will play and play, whereas a quarterback with such speed and agility where he would just run. So I’m using that as an example because I, as a recording artist, really made a conscious decision to not do as a bass player what everyone else was doing.

Smitty: Nice.

GV: In other words, I wanted to bring a melodicism to the bass world in terms of playing contemporary jazz, not that I will be the first, but that certainly, that was something that I really wanted to bring, really—a soulful quality to playing the bass as a melody in the way that a saxophone player played. But at a certain point, in the back of my mind I always knew that I would have to address, you know, running the ball, which to me is, “Just do what you do, just be funky as all get out.”

So when Chuck played this tune for me—“Hear Now!”—when I first heard it I was thinking, okay, first of all, it’s Chuck Loeb who’s presenting songs to me, a guitar player playing the role of a bass player, and a pretty good bass player too, but I’m thinking, okay, so this is his concept of what he thinks the bass should sound like, and I’m saying “Well, no, I’m not really that but I’m this melodic bass player. I play sweet melodies, man. I’m this jazz improviser.” Then I got real. I said “Wait a minute. I can also play funky. Let me just do one of these tracks and see how it comes out.” And you are exactly right. I had a ball doing it. It was almost like a release. An ability to show another side, so yeah.

Smitty: And you know what? When you know you hit it and other people identify with it, you know you’ve really nailed it because I felt the excitement of you instantly because I said “You know, I hear every string and every inch of the strings,” you know? (Both laugh.)

GV: Man, that song, it’s so funky and there’s another minute and a half where I’m playing that we just couldn’t fit on it, we couldn’t include. Maybe I should make a bonus track of that because, I mean, it was one of those grooves that Chuck Loeb created that, man, I could’ve just played on that forever, man, and just kept coming up with new funky little riffs.

Smitty: Yeah, I can feel a bonus track.

GV: Yeah, but you caught it. It was fun to do that. And you know the cool thing is that for me too, being on the other side of like making the music, yeah, I can feel it too when I’m in the zone.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: You know, and the only trick at that point is to not block it, you know?

Smitty: Right.

GV: Don’t get in my own way.

Smitty: Yeah, exactly, because there’s a tendency to do that, humanly speaking.

GV: Mm-hmm.

Smitty: But the conscious effort to just let it flow and do it.

GV: Exactly.

Smitty: And you got into that sweet groove with “Slip ‘n’ Slide,” man, you know? That sweet groove you’re talking about and sweet melodies, you know?

GV: Oh yeah.

Smitty: And I had not heard this before, but I really love the interplay of you and Chuck. Man, speaking of sweet melodies, that was really sweet.

GV: Well, you’ve really hit on the whole magic of that tune, that it is more like a duet--

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: --which I don’t think I’ve heard before with a bassist and a guitarist like that--

Smitty: Same here, I’ve not heard that before.

GV: --where it’s a genuine conversation.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: A lotta give and take.

Smitty: A lotta great communication going on with that whole track that I really love, man, and you gotta talk to me about the track “Three Tears” because it’s a different song but it fits the record perfectly, man, I tell ya. I really got into it. In fact, that was one of the songs that I had to play more than once to just really say “Hey, that was no fluke. I really love this song.”

GV: Well, last year in October, actually, year before last October 2006, my best friend, a guy who just had a heart as big as you’d ever want to know, he passed away.

Smitty: Oh, so sorry to hear that.

GV: And, you know, I knew that I would write a song dedicated to him because he was such a supporter of my work and supporter of me as a man, and that is why I had to honor his memory with something, so I started writing this piece that I knew would have a very soulful and respectful feel to it, almost had a little gospel flavor to it. And I thought that it would be a piece that would end up kind of having a solemn feel to it and it did, but at some point working on this song it ended up having this beautiful end to it of almost like when the clouds break and the sun comes through and then all of a sudden the song sounds more, yeah, sunny, and I kinda just went with that, so the song, it ends up being very earthy and very soulful and serious and a little sad, and then at a certain point it kinda just takes off, and there again, my idea was—or my feeling was I can’t block this.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: Even though I wanted it to go someplace else, I can’t block this. And it ended up being perfect because my friend, who passed, Kip [Boyer], was this kind of a man. He was the kind of man that would walk into a room and just light it up no matter what kind of bad day he was having. You know, so a lotta people wouldn’t even know it if he was having a bad day because his whole spirit and his whole motivation in life was to make other people feel good. It was so good just being around him. So it was almost like his personality, like the sun through the clouds was just peeking out, you know, showing itself.

Smitty: Yeah, well, it’s great that you have that unique ability to allow a song to flow when you’re writing and when you’re playing because if you had forced it another direction, then you wouldn’t have captured the real Kip, you know?

GV: Hmm.

Smitty: And you captured the real Kip because you allowed the song to flow and let the song take you to where he is and who he was, which I think is a great ability because we sometimes don’t trust our true feelings sometimes unknowingly, but when we have that—

GV: You’re preaching now (both laugh) because that applies to not just music or creative endeavors, but life in general. We don’t trust our instincts.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: And we block—

Smitty: Some wonderful things, yeah.

GV: We block our intuition based on what we think should happen or what others think should happen or think we should do or because of what our rational mind says to do.

Smitty: You’re so right.

GV: Really, a lotta times we know in our hearts what’s the right direction to take, whether it’s music or whether it’s relationships or—

Smitty: Yeah, absolutely.

GV: And just about anything.

Smitty: You’re so right. Well, I must say, man, this record is so true and it has so much heart that I think music lovers period, your fans, your new fans to be, are gonna embrace this record because it has such a great human spirit about it and it’s true music from the core, yeah.

GV: Well, I thank you for that. You know, you keep getting right to the point and right to the source because I at one point considered calling this record True.

Smitty: (Laughs.)

GV: I kid you not. At one time I considered calling it True because it’s the kind of record, when I was working on it, that’s kind of one of the—

Smitty: One of the attributes that comes out, yeah.

GV: Yeah, one of the attributes that comes out, but also my guided direction was to keep everything true. And as I would analyze the music or go back and listen to it, I would evaluate it from that standpoint, not how commercial it is or not how hip it is or how flashy it is, but is it true? True to who I am, is it true to what I feel, is it true to what I want to communicate?

Smitty: Well, I think you captured all that, man, and I tell ya, it’s appropriate that it is entitled Your Move in the sense that you’ve made your move in putting out this great record and now it’s our move to pick it up and embrace it and enjoy it, you know?

GV: Wow, you couldn’t say it any better.

Smitty: (Laughs.)

GV: Really couldn’t.

Well, Gerald, going back to the record, man, I have to say that this is one of the best records I’ve heard in some time because it has, like we talked about, so much truth, so much heart, so much soul, and it really showcases a greater level of your musicianship, I think, and I think every artist wants to show a different side or another measure, and I think you have captured that to the finite degree. I mean, it’s a wonderful project and I love what you said about, you know, any good game involves more than one player, and with the supporting cast that you have with this record, how true that is.

GV: Well, thank you. That is one of the things that is truly a joy for me. I mean, the technology that we’ve embraced on the music making side of things has enabled so many of us to work cloistered almost in a little cubicle with our project studios, our home studios, and computers and fancy software. But it’s great when you look up from beyond the keyboard (laughs) and make music with another human being that laughs and loves and cries and has a story of their own, and then your stories feed off each other and complement each other.

Smitty: Yes.

GV: And that’s where the magic is. That’s truly where the magic is. So the spirit of collaboration is in the title Your Move but it’s also in the process and it’s who I am. I’ve always been a band person. One thing, if you come and see my band, you can just about rest assured you’re gonna see my band. You’re gonna see people that have been with me for years and we enjoy each other, we know each other’s moods and we challenge each other, and that’s just how, you know, old school like that—

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: I don’t believe in band du jour. And sometimes that is a fact of life. It’s an economic necessity that people are changing here and there, but I’m very old school in that way in that I love to have my band that knows where I’m going musically and then we can react on a dime to what we hear in each other’s playing. That’s what keeps the music fresh and hopefully makes it excellent.

Smitty: Yes it does.

GV: You’re constantly building instead of continually starting from square one.

Smitty: Yes.

GV: Though the music may change and some of the musical concepts may change from record to record, but that is constantly growing with a continual cast of people who really are like minded and are there, you know, first and foremost for the music.

Smitty: Absolutely, and then that’s what makes it so true, man, you know? Yes.

GV: Thank you.

Smitty: Well, Gerald, once again, man, congratulations on this great record. Let’s see, the drop date is what?

GV: March 11th.

Smitty: March 11th.

GV: Yep.

Smitty: Get out to the store and pick up this great record. It is Your Move in more ways than one, and I wanna say also congratulations to Ibanez for building such a great bass for ya.

GV: (Laughs.)

Smitty: I love that six-string, you know?

GV: Oh, that’s my baby.

Smitty: Yeah.

GV: That bass has a name.

Smitty: Uh-oh. (Laughs.)

GV: Yeah, I’m like BB King. I name my instruments. That one is called Honey.

Smitty: That’s an appropriate name.

GV: Yeah, ‘cause she’s so sweet, you know, as honey.

Smitty: Yeah, and it’s got that honey shade of color. Yeah, and that glistening look, you know? (Both laugh.) Hey, how sweet is that? Well, we gotta remember that, you know? So you may get a few comments about that on the road.

GV: Yeah, yeah.

Smitty: Well, let me tell you, my friend, Honey is still sweet. (Both laugh.)

GV: Thank you.

Smitty: Hey, Gerald, once again, congratulations, my friend, and I certainly look forward to some great things happening with this record and congratulations to everyone involved with this fantastic project and best of everything on the road this year and hope to see you soon, my friend.

GV: I’m hoping we see each other very soon and thank you for your support and, above all, for getting it, for really supporting so many of us artists who dedicate our lives to making music, and taking the time to really listen and understand what it is that we are trying to present with our music, and then using your vehicle as a way to connect us with your audience and our audience, so it’s just truly something, so important work you’re doing, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. Thank you.

Smitty: Oh, man, thank you so much. You don’t know how much that means. I will remember those words, Gerald, and it is greatly appreciated and it’s words like that that’s fuel for my fire. Yeah, thank you so much, it means a lot coming from you. I really appreciate that.

GV: Oh, you’re welcome. Certainly.

Smitty: All right, we have been talking with the incredible and amazing Heads Up recording artist Gerald Veasley. He has a great new record, it does have a Velvet touch, and he’s going to be playing some of that at Jazz Base and around the country. The record is entitled Your Move and, trust me, you will embrace this instantly when you hear it, so please pick up this one. I highly recommend it. Gerald, thanks again, my friend, and let’s do it again soon.

GV: You got it. Take care, Smitty.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.geraldveasley.com and www.myspace.com/geraldveasley and www.geraldveasleysjazzbass.com and www.headsup.com