“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview”

Gordon James

Jazz Monthly: In what way do you think “A New Kind Of Love” will contribute in the Jazz scene today?

Gordon James (GJ): I think A New Kind of Love offers more variety to the smooth jazz scene. In my opinion much of smooth jazz today sounds the same. The established artists all sound great and have their own styles but much of the new music tries to fit into that same mould. When I was creating the CD I found myself trying to write for that formula and found that it just didn't feel right to me. So a lot of the instrumental music on the CD stretches that mould a little while still trying to keep it very commercial.

As far as the vocal songs I have been involved in personal growth and trying to contribute in my own way to helping make a better, kinder more peaceful and caring world. So on many of the songs the lyrics just popped out and I went with it. Also I had just started singing prior to starting the project so I thought why not find a few songs that I could sing as well. So I think I ended up created a nice mix of songs that have a great message and a real feel good vibe. If anyone wants to read more about my process for creating many of the songs on the project check out my blog on my website www.gordonjamesmusic.com

Jazz Monthly: You have said that this CD in many ways is like a debut album as it is the first CD that you have produced, arranged and written… how were you able to maintain the creative ability while trying to keep the management of everything under control?

GJ: I think the best answer to that question is that the management of everything was really a part of the whole creative process. It was all kind of wrapped up together like a neat little present. The musicians and singers on it were either musicians I had already worked with or in some cases were recommended by the guys I used. To give you a couple of interesting examples on the title track I originally thought I would have Jose Loo come in and sing it. I just thought his high sweet voice would have the right vibe for the song. Then when we were doing the session it hit me that this song should be a duo. He totally agreed and recommended Lajuan Carter a female vocalist he worked with in his club date band. The rest is history, how great do they sound together? And on the song Got Blues when Matt King came in to do the keyboard track I was telling him that I thought a more blues approach on guitar was what the track needed and he recommended Mike Neer who could do the slide and pedal steel guitars and guess what; he ended up living about two blocks from me right here in Middlesex. The whole project went kind of like that. There were lots of synchronicities and everything really flowed easily. I took my time, worked around everyone's schedules and I had to be very patient and just take it one step at a time. The whole project took almost two years from start to finish.

Jazz Monthly: Artists approach song writing in many different ways. Describe your song writing process?

GJ: Once again I go into this on my blog The Making of A New Kind of Love parts one and two but really the whole process was truly magical.
The original songs both lyrics and melodies came very easily. Then I would flush out the arrangements, loops, drum programming, string and synth parts and I would add a keyboard and bass part myself. Then it was just a matter of thinking about which keyboard player and bass player I wanted to come in and re-do my piano and bass parts. On a few I even kept my original bass part. Then I would bring in a guitar player if I thought the song needed it and of course the vocalists. I'd usually have the vocalist come in first before the other players but not always. The covers were done pretty much the same way. Got the idea to do a particular song, listened to the original and then sat down and flushed out my own arrangement and brought in the other players. And usually the players and vocalists would give me a lot of takes and I would go back and edit it and chose the best stuff. I also allowed the players a lot of freedom to contribute their own ideas and would suggest different approaches to them as well. I may have two or three different approaches to a keyboard track for example.

The vocalists were great to work with. In many cases they would come up with their own ideas for background vocals and harmonies as well as incorporating some of mine. I learned a lot from this which ended up being real handy when I was doing backgrounds and harmonies for my own vocal tracks. I also did a lot of harmonies on my trumpet tracks and some songs had trumpet, muted trumpet and flugelhorn tracks. It was an amazing amount of work and I still can't believe I did it. Some of the songs had up to fifty and sixty tracks. But overall it was a great experience and so much fun watching the songs take shape and keep getting better as each musician came in on and played on them.

Jazz Monthly:“A New Kind Of Love” offers such an assorted collection (16 tracks) of songs both vocal and instrumental I’m sure there already are some crowd favorites… tell us about them?

GJ: I haven't really performed a lot of them yet live. Although I recently did The New Brunswick Jazz Festival and did a few. They loved Kool and the Gang's Funky Stuff. And after one time through instrumentally I sang it as well. Really had them going. "Can't get enough of that funky stuff". Same with No Diggity. I had them all singing with me. Also Smile went over really well. I think everyone loves that song and can relate to it. And the way I do it as an upbeat samba really gives it a feel good vibe. As far as radio and the internet people have really been picking up on A New Kind of Love and Straight from the Heart because of their feel good nature and great message. Dark Chocolate has been getting some play and also With Our Love has a great hook with Ty Stephens singing backgrounds. Somebody must like that one cause they put it up on you tube and it's gotten a lot of views. Speaking of which I created three video slide shows of A New Kind of Love, Straight from the Heart and Smile that are up on youtube as well as my website. The pictures add so much to the power of the message. What do they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words.

Jazz Monthly: When you perform, do you absorb a lot of energy from the fans reaction to your live performances? Tell us about your interactive experience with your fans.

Well I think I just touched on that a little in the last question but yea I love to interact with the audience. I really encourage them to participate. I still do the song Grazing in the Grass from one of my earlier CDs in my performances and people love to sing along with that one. Everyone seems to know that song. But really there is such a give and take of energy and love exchanged in a performance. I used to joke that sometimes performances felt like being in church. I'm sure most performers experience this; it's a real high. I also love to go out in the audience. I did a show down in Fayetteville NC called Jazz on River in an amphitheater for about a thousand people and went out into the audience and they all went crazy motioning for me to come over to them. And of course they’re all are recording it on the their cell phones. Fun stuff…

Jazz Monthly: You have a wide array of artists that you’ve worked with. Let’s talk about some of these players on your CD “A New Kind Of Love,” and some of those that made special contributions to this record.

GJ: Yea my last CD I worked with Bob Baldwin, James Lloyd and Chuck Loeb and it was a great experience. I learned so much from those guys by watching them work especially about writing and arranging. I think that's why I felt the confidence to go ahead and do this one myself. I also knew I had an abundance of talent to draw from here in the NJ, NY area. Matt King is an amazing freelance keyboard player here in NJ that works with me a lot both with my band and as a duo. He has played with Chuck Loeb, Blood Sweat and Tears and many other big names. Joe Scott the other keyboardist on the CD I met quite a few years back and we just clicked right from the start. We have very similar melodic styles and have great chemistry together. Joe has worked with so many names and recently when we did a gig and went to play No Diggity he said, "you know I did the tour with those guy's" meaning BlackStreet. He is awesome and brought just the right feel to all the songs he played on especially This Guy's in Love with You and Smile. He nailed them.

Guitarist Mike Hogan and I go back to the 80's when we had a band called Inside Out and played clubs throughout north Jersey. He has been on every one of my CD's except for In Joy. He also has a great style and is very easy to work with. Bassist's Mark Peterson and Chris Plunkett are both guy's that play with me live a lot and both seemed to add just the right touch to the songs they played on. Jose Loo and Lajuan Carter I already mentioned. Jose performs with me a lot especially if I'm doing a gig where they want a mix of jazz and R&B songs. He knows so many R&B and Motown songs and really get's the audience going. Vocalists Ty Stephens and Chanda Rule I met at a church in north jersey where I sometimes play for the service. Ty is the choir director and when I first heard him back in 2008 I knew he was going to be on my next CD. He is an amazing vocalist and has such a great sense of what the song needs. He is a master at creating background vocals and like I said before I learned so much from him from watching him work. Ty has performed all over the world. He has a steady summer gig in Monaco and right now he is touring Japan with a Japanese R&B star. Chanda is so amazing and my only regret is that I didn't have a song for her to sing lead on. Although she is featured on Give Peace a Chance and did such a great job on that. I feel vey fortunate to have had so many great players on the CD and I hope I make a lot of money on the CD so I can give them all bonuses. They deserve it.

Jazz Monthly: How did the Trumpet and Flugelhorn end up being your instruments of choice? Which do you prefer?

I really don't know why I chose the trumpet in school but for some reason I was drawn to it. Maybe I played it in a past life or as I sometimes joke "it was the loudest instrument that could drown out my mother and sister who were always arguing." Anyway I started in the fourth grade and took to it very easily. By the time I was in the fifth grade I was first chair in All City Band and playing a solo accompanied by the whole band. Then every summer for the next five years I won a scholarship to the Union County Band and Orchestra summer school where in the sixth grade I was first chair in the advanced band comprised of mostly high school students. And I was just a little squirt. By the time I reached the 10th grade I was a little bored with music program in my hometown of Plainfield, NJ and starting looking for alternatives. I ended up going to the world-renowned Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan for my last two years of high school. That was kind of a rude awakening for me since they drew the best players from all over the world. I went from being the #1 guy in Plainfield high to #7 out of 10 trumpet players at Interlochen. What a great experience though to be able to major in music while still being in high school. I loved my time there. I started playing flugelhorn much later in my 30's after I started playing Jazz. I have to say I fell in love with that sound. It's so warm and fat I would say it's my instrument of choice. Then muted trumpet (I love that sound that Miles made so popular) and then lastly the open trumpet.

Jazz Monthly:You now have been recording music for some time now. At what point in your life did you make the choice to become a professional musician and actually record your own albums?

When I got out of college I traveled to Houston Texas to play in a gospel-oriented group called Blue Aquarius. We did one record that was on the Stax record label. We did some touring in Texas including a lengthy prison tour which was very interesting and then we made our way to California.
The band ended up breaking up there and I started playing in Latin bands in huge Latin clubs all over LA. Then I met a sax player that was playing with Johnny Guitar Watson and ended up touring with his band for a couple of years. It was there I got the bug to start playing jazz and became determined to learn how to really improvise. I left California and came back to NJ and started going to NY a lot and hanging out in jazz clubs. It was there I met Ted Curson and started studying trumpet and jazz improvisation with him. He really got me going on the right track. Year's later when I sent Ted a copy of my second CD he invited me to one of his performances at the Blue Note in NY. During the intermission I went up to his dressing room to hang out and one of his fans asked me how long I had studied with Ted. He replied, "Just long enough to get good."
I then went on to start my own band Inside Out and we did one record for Panoramic Records, Ray Goodman and Brown's label at the time. It went nowhere and so we starting making demos and sending them out to labels only to get one rejection letter after another saying "you are really good but were really not looking for any new jazz groups at this time". So by the time the early 90's rolled around I decided I was going to start making my own records. I released my first CD Candlelight Love in 1995 and have made four more since then. They are all independently released with the exception of In Joy, which was on NuGroove records. I hope your readers will check out all my CDs on my website including my latest A New Kind of Love which should not only appeal to the jazz fans but all fans of music. It truly is a feel good record.

Jazz Monthly