"When given a
choice between soul
and precision," Jeff Golub declares, "I'll take soul every
time." And that philosophy is very much at work on
Soul Sessions, the guitarist's third album since signing
with GRP Records. Golub's blend of jazz, R&B and pop
has epitomized the tougher, grittier, more earthy side of
smooth jazz-in fact, his albums have as much to do
with soul-jazz as they do with smooth jazz-and on Soul
Sessions, he cherishes all things funky.
"The concept of Soul Sessions is making records the
way they used to make jazz, blues and R&B records in
the 1960s and 1970s," asserts Golub. "And that means
having as many musicians as possible playing live at
the same time. When I recorded this album, I was
thinking about the old Blue Note sessions as well as
the old Stax sessions-where there was a real band
giving a live performance, as opposed to the modern
way of recording each musician separately. I wanted
that live vibe for this record."
The New York-based Golub co-produced Soul
Sessions with Bud Harner (VP of A&R for the Verve
Music Group) and he couldn't have asked for a more
appropriate co-producer. Harner is someone Golub has
known since the late 1980s, when they were on tour
with pop-rock superstar Rod Stewart. Harner and Golub
worked together frequently in the 1990s when Harner
was an A&R heavyweight at Mesa/Bluemoon
Recordings and Golub was signed to that label, and
their professional relationship has continued since
Golub's arrival at GRP. Creatively, Harner knows
exactly what makes Golub tick, and Soul Sessions is
the most recent example of the strong rapport they
enjoy.
"When Bud and I work together," Golub stresses, "it
doesn't become a fight; it becomes a collaboration.
Because Bud was a drummer originally, he
understands the concept of Soul Sessions; he
understands my desire to capture a more organic
approach. Bud understands that I want as much live
playing as possible on my records; when there is
overdubbing, I try to keep it to a minimum."
Golub's sense of spontaneity prevails throughout Soul
Sessions, whether he is embracing his own melodies
or putting his spin on famous hits that range from the
Ohio Players' "Skin Tight" to No Doubt's "Underneath It
All" (which employs GRP's new star Mindi Abair on
background vocals). In contrast to the guitarist's last
GRP album Do It Again, which was devoted to
interpretations of 1960s and 1970s classics, Soul
Sessions is dominated by original material. Golub
wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's 11 selections,
often teaming up with skillful composers like
keyboardist Chris Palmaro, Tim Gant and keyboardist
Jeff Lorber (who co-wrote the tracks "Playin' It Cool"
and "Vibrolux" and plays both rhythm guitar and
keyboards on the latter). Golub, in fact, leads an
all-star cast on Soul Sessions: the album's long list of
well-known guests includes, among others, trumpeter
Rick Braun, tenor saxman Richard Elliot (a GRP
labelmate), acoustic guitarist Peter White, keyboardist
Mitch Forman, bassist Nathan East (of Fourplay fame),
organist Ricky Peterson, tenor saxophonist Steve Cole,
drummer Steve Ferrone (best known for his years with
the Average White Band) and percussionist Luis
Conte. Although mostly instrumental, Soul Sessions
boasts some distinguished guest vocalists, including
Journey icon Steve Perry (who is featured on Golub's
bluesy "Can't Let You Go") and singer/songwriter Marc
Cohn (who appears on a gutsy remake of folk-rocker
Jesse Winchester's 1970s favorite "Isn't That So").
Soul Sessions gets off to an exuberant start with the
funky, Latin-flavored "Boom Boom," which Golub
co-wrote with Palmaro. Golub explains: "Bud and I
wanted that track to open the record because it has
such a party atmosphere. On 'Boom Boom,' we wanted
to capture some of that Latin '60s party vibe of Cal
Tjader, Mongo Santamaria or Pucho & His Latin Soul
Brothers."
"Boom Boom" is one of two selections that was
recorded in New York; the other is "Isn't That So,"
which was inspired by some jam sessions at a
Manhattan club called the Dark Star Lounge. Golub
notes: "I used to play there quite a bit, and I would jam
in a band that did unannounced impromptu gigs. Marc
Cohn would stop in and sing a set with us. One time,
we did Jesse Winchester's song 'Isn't That So' and it
worked so well live that we decided to record it in the
studio. What you hear on 'Isn't That So' is the sort of
small-club vibe that we had at the Dark Star. I've known
Marc for a long time, and I know what a really great
singer he is."
But for the most part, Soul Sessions was recorded in
Los Angeles where Golub maintained an "open-door
policy" in the studio. In other words, he encouraged a
variety of musicians to hang out during the recording
process-and some of the people who were simply
hanging out ended up making unplanned guest
appearances. Golub recalls: "It was a real party
atmosphere in the studio, which is what I love. I don't
do closed sessions. It was a constant exchange, which
is how Mindi Abair ended up singing background vocals
on 'Underneath It All' and how Steve Perry ended up
appearing on 'Can't Let You Go.' Steve Perry is friends
with Steve Ferrone-that's one of the perks of having a
"drummer to the stars" in your band-and he dropped by
the studio one day. When Steve Perry heard the track
for 'Can't Let You Go,' he said, 'I can easily picture a
vocal on that song.' So we immediately set up a mic
and said 'Let's do it.'"
While "Can't Let You Go" favors the type of dusky
blues-soul ambiance that one might expect from Bobby
"Blue" Bland or Benny Latimore, the instrumental
"Nubian Blue" recalls the African funk sound of the
1970s and is reminiscent of artists like Fela Kuti, Manu
Dibango and Osibisa.
No Doubt's "Underneath It All," meanwhile, gives Golub
a chance to embrace the Jamaican reggae beat. While
No Doubt's vocal-oriented version favored a mixture of
alternative pop-rock and reggae, Golub envisioned the
song as an instrumental soul-jazz/reggae blend.
Golub also envisioned an instrumental version of the
Ohio Players' 1974 funk classic "Skin Tight"-that is,
until he decided that he liked hearing vocalist Sue Ann
Carwell singing some of the lyrics. Golub recalls:
"Originally, Sue Ann Carwell was only going to sing the
words 'skin tight' as a background vocal. But she
started singing the lyrics sort of off the cuff, and I loved
what she was doing, so she ended up singing an entire
verse."
It is quite appropriate that Golub recorded a song by
the Ohio Players-Ohio, after all, is where he grew up.
Born in Akron, Ohio, Golub was only a pre-teen when
he began playing the guitar. Golub was raised on a
healthy diet of blues, R&B, jazz, pop and rock, and
even though jazz guitarists like Wes Montgomery and
George Benson have had a major impact on his
playing, Golub doesn't consider himself a jazz purist.
In the 1970s, Golub left Akron and moved to Boston to
attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music. But
Golub's stay in Boston was only temporary; by 1980,
he was living in New York. Shortly after his arrival in the
Big Apple, Golub joined the band of arena rocker Billy
Squier and that association helped the guitarist
become a very in-demand session player. The long list
of artists Golub backed in the 1980s ranges from Peter
Wolf (of J. Geils Band fame), Tina Turner and John
Waite to Vanessa Williams and Ashford & Simpson. It
was in 1988 that Golub recorded his first album as a
leader, Unspoken Words, for the Gaia label and joined
the Rod Stewart band-an association that lasted until
1995. That year, he left Stewart's employ to
concentrate on his own band Avenue Blue (which had
signed with Mesa/Bluemoon). The self-titled Avenue
Blue, released in 1994, made a Golub a major star in
the smooth jazz market-which was also quite receptive
to subsequent Avenue Blue releases like 1996's Naked
City and 1997's Nightlife. The latter turned out to be his
final Avenue Blue project; 1999's Out of the Blue (an
Atlantic release) found Golub recording under his own
name.
Golub's creative and commercial winning streak
continued in 2000, when he joined the GRP roster with
Dangerous Curves. In addition to spending 12 weeks in
the top 20 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart,
Dangerous Curves contained a #1 and a #2 NAC (new
adult contemporary) single. And in 2002, Golub kept
the momentum going with his next album, Do It Again,
which peaked at #8 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz
Chart and boasted his hit remake of the Average White
Band's "Cut the Cake" (which spent an impressive six
weeks at #1on NAC radio).
In 2003, Golub will once again participate in the Guitars
& Saxes tour, a popular smooth jazz revue; this year's
other participants include saxmen Richard Elliot and
Steve Cole and acoustic guitarist Peter White (all of
whom are featured on the Soul Sessions track "Pass It
On"). But as popular as Golub has been among
smooth jazz/NAC audiences, he is quick to stress that
his albums have always had a strong soul-jazz
component. Golub's albums have reflected an
improviser's mentality, and he loves being compared to
artists like David Sanborn, the Crusaders, Joe Sample,
Ronnie Laws and the late Grover Washington, Jr.-that
is, musicians who have had a funkier, gutsier, more
improvisatory vision of what we now call smooth jazz.
"The kind of smooth jazz I like is palatable and
accessible but still soulful and bluesy," Golub
emphasizes. "When I listen to smooth jazz-if you want
to call it that-I listen to people like David Sanborn, the
Crusaders and Pat Metheny. They're doing music that
works in a contemporary jazz format but is still creative
music and has the spirit of jazz. And that's the type of
thing I'm going for on Soul Sessions."
