Chuck Loeb
Presence
Artist Interview by: Norm Breest
January 2007 - Guitarist Chuck Loeb has been influenced by many things in his career. One thing that influenced him last year was a moment that he never felt before. He says, "I went through an experience last summer where my father in law, who I was very close to, passed away. It was the first time I was with someone when they left this earth and it struck me that when we saw his body after he was gone, that was what was missing, his presence."
As Loeb was recording his latest release, he saw another form of presence in the way others performed his music. He says, "I wanted to convey the importance and the impact that each individual person adds their musical performance to a song. The presence of a human being in their performance and their DNA. When each person has their own musical DNA, it brings the music to life the presence of each person."
Chuck Loeb says a musician's musical DNA helps distinguish how the song comes out in the end. He says, "Especially as a composer, sometimes I am quite surprised by what a particular saxophone player or bass player or drummer brings to a composition of mine, and how it changes the character of the composition for the better. It's just such a powerful thing, the human element."
Because of the combination of what happened in his personal life and how the tracks on the new release came out, Loeb decided to call his Heads Up debut CD Presence. He says, "I was previously with Shanachie Entertainment for ten solid years and it was a good relationship for a long time, but I think change evoke something in the process. It's hard to explain, but somehow you know that there's a different set of ears and a different body of people at the receiving end of the product and they're excited about it and it's a new thing. It's a renewal in a way and it was time for a change for Shanachie also. The result has been quite good and my relationship with Dave Love, who is the president of Heads Up, and all the other people that work there is fresh and exciting. I think that brings something both to the music and the process of bringing the music to the audience."
One of the differences that Chuck Loeb noticed with Heads Up is they way they promoted their artists. He says, "The first track they released as a single was 'Good to Go' and that came out in October. The CD is not coming out until late January, but the track is already number 21 and getting into the top 20 next week. That was one of the things that I was very happy about is strategy that Heads Up used, which was try to get the music out early so people were aware that there was a new product of mine out and it would be a little bit more familiar with it because they hear it on the radio. That would make it a little more of an anticipation for them to go out and look for it or buy it in the music store or online. When it comes out, it will bring a little momentum."
In recording Presence, Loeb decided to use people that he has known for awhile. He says, "It's almost like a family the people that are on there because they are a lot of the people that collaborate or have collaborated with throughout my career. For example, there are several songs on this release that include the members of my touring band for about eight years, keyboardist Mike Ricchiuti, bassist Ron Jenkins and drummer Brian Dunne, and then there's the new band that's been with me the last two or three years, drummer Josh Dion, bassist Brian Killeen and keyboardist Matt King. So just those two groups of people, the people that regularly travel with me as a band, and have at different times. You can imagine when you're on the road, you're out touring, you're in a hotel, you're in the airport, it's like a family. You really get to know each other."
Not only does Chuck Loeb have former band mates with him on the new CD, he has people who helped him gain their presence to his music. He says, "I have some great friends that have contributed to the CD. I was glad to have Tom Schumann from Spyro Gyra play piano on a track. I have Andy Snitzer from the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon, he's with me on a track and my good old friend bassist Will Lee from the David Letterman show. Those people come in and they make their contribution and going back to the title, the presence of these people on the CD just makes it a complete picture for myself and makes the entire process just so worthwhile and enlightening."
On Presence, Loeb saluted a person whose presence made a difference in his career. He says, "One of my favorite songs of all time is 'Shed a Little Light' by James Taylor. James Taylor for me is a consummate artist. He's a great singer, he's a great songwriter, he's a great performer and very few people really are aware of what a great guitarist he is. He sort of invented his own method of playing guitar and sort of changed the whole guitar concept when he started to play the certain way that he fingerpicks. This is the second song of his I have put on one of my CDs, the first one was 'Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight.' The lyrics to this song, although it's an instrumental on my CD, really touched my heart because of the melody and the way he performed it."
Loeb also showed the presence of another group that he enjoyed listening to, Steely Dan. He says, "These guys are really the perfectionists of the music business when they go in and make a CD. You know every note has been thought over and worked on and tweaked so it's just exactly perfect. I did one of their first songs that I heard and I'm going back to the 70s. It's 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number' and we did a twist on it. What we did was we took that song and combined it with a groove that I love of one of their other songs called 'Babylon Sisters.' We turned it into a shuffle and made it sort of a medley, but almost."
Chuck Loeb's music has been a presence on smooth jazz radio for many years and people are still liking what he previously recorded. He says, "In this format, people do tend to keep playing the older material. I think it was just last year a song from my 2000 release 'In a Heartbeat' was on the top 100 airplay songs of the year six years after it came out. People do continue to listen to the music, but you do also hope that when people listen to a new project, they take note of where you're headed, what thing have changed in your style and what you're adding to your palette. It's a fun thing. I know as a fan when I listen to let's say a new CD by one of my favorite artists, like Sting or James Taylor or Wes Montgomery, when I hear the progression of their music over the years, it's an interesting process to watch."
In smooth jazz, there are two main styles reflecting the influence of the East Coast and the West Coast. Loeb shows the East Coast style and he says, "There is a little more of a harder edge to it and maybe a little more individuality. The West Coast sound seems to be a little more homogenous, a little more known when people hear it. The East Coast stuff tended to vary from artist to artist a little more. I think maybe some people appreciate that, but in the radio format, I think they like things to be somewhat smooth. They like it to be fairly easy to go from one track to the other on the radio so people don't get jarred by it. Maybe there was a little more of a sharper edge coming from the East Coast. Must be the cold weather."
One of the tracks on Chuck Loeb's Presence is called "The Music Outside," which is a reverse take on one of Loeb's signature songs "The Music Inside." Both songs show how Loeb's presence will continue to make a mark on smooth jazz for years to come.
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