Andrew Neu
The New Sound of Philadelphia
Artist Interview by: Joe Montague
Hey everybody, Andrew Neu is throwing a party and it is a big “Celebration.” Neu, a Philadelphia native and master of three saxophone voices (tenor, soprano and alto), has just released his CD In Clear View and it opens with a star-studded cast of musicians and talented vocalists performing Kool and The Gang’s song “Celebration.”
Neu’s initial response after he heard the final mix for “Celebration” was, “We were all sitting in the studio going, 'Wow, I can’t believe that somebody hasn’t done this before!' We were so excited about it. You can’t listen to this track without being pumped up about it because it is so positive. This is such a great tune and it is the time to bring this one back.”
Completing the horn section for “Celebration” are trombonist Nick Lane, trumpet player Bill Armstrong, tenor sax man Mark Hollingsworth, with Neu playing his alto. Jeff Lorber is the keys man (and guitar), drummer is Vinnie Colaiuta, with Brian Bromberg on bass and piccolo bass. The vocalists are Rahsaan Patterson, Octavia Pace and Toni Scruggs.
“It is a song (Celebration) that has such a positive energy that you can’t listen to it without feeling good. I thought that it would be a really great tune to get people feeling upbeat and excited. The overall sound of the song is pretty similar to the sounds of many other tunes that I have on the record. I think once you hear that tune, you get a pretty good idea of what to expect from the rest of the record,” says Neu.
The song “Celebration” is the first single to be released from the CD In Clear View and has been passionately embraced by radio stations across the country. Long before covering the Kool & The Gang tune, Neu had a history with the vibe. “It is a song that I remember hearing as a kid. As an instrumentalist, I never remembered words to songs, but I always remembered all the words to “Celebration.”
The thing about Andrew Neu is ‘he gets it.’ That becomes apparent when he talks about another one of the cover tunes from In Clear View, Lionel Richie’s “You Are.” “I think cover tunes are like sequels to great movies--you know the characters, you know their backgrounds and you are excited about something new and fresh happening with them, as they go in a new direction. I think that is what is cool about doing covers. This is the new American songbook. For years, Charlie Parker and Stan Getz were recording standards and those are the jazz standards that we play now. These (songs like “You Are”) are the new standards and hopefully I am doing justice to them,” he says.
More specifically concerning “You Are” Neu comments, “It is a song to which I have always enjoyed listening. Sometimes when you listen to a vocal tune, it is hard to find a melody that will translate without the lyric. I always thought the melody (for “You Are”) was strong and had the same positive (sound) that we heard in “Celebration.” We decided to do it because I thought we could recreate the vibe of the original and take up the new with it as well. Also, it hadn’t been covered yet.”
As “You Are” unfolds, it gives us our first taste of the luxurious vocals that belong to Mikki Koregay who also appears on the 12th track “Babe.” Kornegay has toured the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean singing backup vocals for artists such as Patti Labelle, Jonathan Butler and Regina Belle. She has appeared onstage and/or on the vocal tracks for Stevie Wonder, Brian McKnight, Grover Washington Jr., Nancy Wilson, Michael Bolton, Teddy Pendergrass and others. Her singing is guaranteed to make you to turn up the volume a notch or two.
“She (Kornegay) is a very sweet lady and I was very fortunate to get her,” says Neu.
Although Neu was not born until 1969, many of his arrangements bear influences of R&B music that eventually came to be known as the sound of Philadelphia. Detroit’s Motown music scene was also a key element in shaping the sound of Andrew Neu. “So many of the musicians that I am now playing with, I idolized growing up,” he says.
“There might even be a stronger connection (for me) to that (the R&B) than some of the jazz music that came out of here in the fifties and sixties. It is really cool having a tradition like the sound of Philadelphia here in your own backyard,” says Neu.
The sounds of Detroit’s Motown also heavily influenced the sax man in his younger days. He enjoyed listening to the grooves of The Stylistics (“Betcha By Golly Wow”), The Delfonics (“La-la (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I (“Blow Your Mind This Time”), Dee Dee Sharp (“Mashed Potato Time”) and Billy Paul (“Me and Mrs. Jones). Interestingly enough, Neu eventually found himself playing with Billy Paul, DD Sharp, The Four Tops and The Temptations. He also has enjoyed opportunities performing with some of the musicians who were part of the original backup bands for many of the great Detroit and Philadelphia singers.
How does a guy who plays three different saxophones fit them all into his repertoire? “In Brian Pastor’s Big Band, I am the tenor player, but on a lot of the tunes on my record, I play a split of alto and soprano with just two tunes on tenor,” he says.
Neu explains, “They all have their own voice and I think I sound like I have a little bit of a different personality on each of them. I will match the song with the horn and my mood. I then will gravitate more to one or the other. For something more intimate, I like the soprano. There is nothing better than sitting down with a piano player and just playing through tunes with a soprano because it is such an intimate instrument and it really works well in that context. Certain types of music are better for alto or tenor and you just try to match the personality with the horn.”
Neu continues, “I suppose any good player should be able to accommodate the need, no matter what. There are times that I will find myself with only one horn in my hand and I need to be able to play any style. Certainly if I have something like I was doing with the Four Tops (“It’s The Same Old Song”) and the Temptations (“Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”), it makes sense to play the tenor sax. That was the sound of Motown.”
“I grew up (listening to) guys like David Sanborn and Michael Brecker. Sometimes I sound a little more like Michael and sometimes I sound a little more like David,” he says.
"There are also technical considerations that come into play," says Neu. "A soprano doesn’t project as well over a loud band. If I want to make sure that I am projecting over the band, I am more comfortable playing with a tenor or alto. The soprano works really nice acoustically.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t always have the luxury of playing with the (other) horns. Most of the time when I am performing as I am tonight at the Zanzibar Blue here in Philadelphia, (I perform) with just a five piece band, which is my core unit. When I do have the horns, I always love having them on there,” he says referring to the aforementioned brass guys, as well as his good friend, trombonist Brian Pastor, his older brother Peter (trumpet, flugelhorn) and trumpeter Tony Bonsera who plays just one tune from In Clear View, that being “Sob City.” Bonsera has since moved from Philadelphia to LA where he is now touring with Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy.
Neu recalls, “I grew up listening to bands like Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago, and of course, Tower of Power and their great horns. I had that sound in my ears.”
Andrew Neu’s influences are many, but he has a signature sound that is sweet. His record In Clear View combines the best elements of west coast and east coast jazz and is spiced with R&B.
Best of all, as I said earlier, Neu is someone who ‘gets it.’ “I am not a smooth jazz musician, I am not a jazz musician and I am not a classical musician. I am just a musician,” he says.
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