Smitty: Yes, man, and what a fitting picture of Grover because he did those kinds of things when he was here, you know?
GA: Absolutely. He was a guy that everybody knows as the musician, but over and above that, he was a great family man, very, very helpful, if somebody stopped him on the street and wanted to ask him anything, he would take the time and do it, you know, if, you know, if they asked him to sit in with a band or something, he’d take his horn out and he’d play all night if he had to. I mean, he was just….he was one of those guys that just opened his whole self and being up to somebody in an effort to help them.
Smitty: Yeah was very rare and loved.
GA: It was a great friendship for me. I totally miss him, man. I mean, I think about him all the time, but the time that I did get a chance to spend with him has enlightened me in so many different ways.
Smitty: Yes, very cool. Well, you’re just a blessed dude, man, you know that? [Laughs.]
GA: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Smitty: Just going back a little to your tour with Phil Collins, you described for me a while back a concert in Brussels.
GA: Okay.
Smitty: And I’ve never forgotten that. In fact, I’ve related it a few times to friends in small circles. But I remember you saying something about playing before 70,000 people or a large number of people and they all had their lighters swaying to one of the Phil Collins ballads [“Take Me Home”] and that must have been quite an experience, you know, because in some circles you’re playing to maybe three, four thousand people, maybe a little more, but then to go to that scene, that must have been something.
GA: It was something in a lot of senses. I mean, basically, Phil Collins obviously headlined the gig and Alicia Keys was on it and a few other groups, but to walk out on stage and to see 70,000 people in one accord and the crowd is so huge you can’t see the end of the crowd, it’s just a sea of people standing together waiting to hear all of these Phil Collins hits, and you stand there on stage with Phil and you go “Wow, there’s 70,000 people out here that come to see this one guy.”
Smitty: [Laughing.]
GA: You know, and it’s just amazing how music can touch people to that magnitude, ….where they will congregate in those kinds of numbers to hear such a historical icon jump on the microphone and just roll off all of these hits and to be associated with that entourage was just the greatest compliment for me because, you know, you think about the magnitude of what you’ve done and then you sit down at the dinner table and just have dinner with him and talk to him, and he’s just a regular guy, man. He’s just a guy that made it big, is very humble about what he does, he’s a family man, and it’s just great to see that after all the years of, you know, being in the music industry and, you know, obviously everyone knows the music industry is a volatile industry anyway….to come out to be so content and so humble, it’s just great to see that, it’s very encouraging.
Smitty: Yeah, exactly, and he features you quite well in that tour. I remember attending one of the shows in Houston and, man, I’ll tell you he’s amazing….it’s such a great production. I mean, it’s just unbelievable. I was a Phil Collins fan when I left. [Both laughing.]
GA: Yeah, he spares no expense, man. I mean, he has a million dollar stage out there that literally takes a whole day to construct and from that to all the technology that helps to drive the whole tour, the production, and then, he has maybe 70 or 80 people out there working on his behalf doing various functions. It’s a big organization, but it’s a fine-tuned organization.
Smitty: Indeed it is.
GA: He’s done it for so many years, so it’s like clockwork for Phil.
Smitty: [Laughing.] Yeah, it’s a great show, man. Well, let’s get into this new record, man. Wow! New Beginnings. I could tell you now, I love the title track and the first track, “We Got the Groove.” Man, what a track. Now, this is your regular band, right?
GA: On “New Beginnings,” yes. “New Beginnings” and then “Georgia On My Mind,” those are the two songs that I brought my touring band in the studio on.
Smitty: Wow. So talk about the synergy of working with these cats, opposed to hiring different cats to play on your project.
GA: Well, in most cases, I mean, with my discography I’ve normally hired studio musicians, but in this case, especially in talking about “Georgia On My Mind,” my touring band played this tune all the time. I mean, this has kind of been an anthem for me for several years. “Georgia” was also recorded on my 1991 live traditional jazz CD. And per the request of Mark Wexler at Peak Records, he said, “Man, you gotta do a studio version of it for me.” And I said “You got it.” And so in doing that, I said who better to do “Georgia On My Mind” than the musicians who have been playing it for years?
Smitty: Absolutely!
GA: And so we actually went in the studio and I was able to get the spontaneity that we normally get on stage and we recorded that in the studio, man, and it just made for a wonderful arrangement of “Georgia.” In fact, we couldn’t just do the actual tune at the end of the CD, as the last tune on the CD is a “Georgia” reprise where we go from the actual body of the tune and then we segue into this funk medley….
