Over
the past two decades, the millions around the globe who have experienced
the Kenny G phenomenon live in concert have learned the funky secret
behind
his melodic soprano sax success—one of the most incredibly rocking
ensembles in
the business.
From 1982 through 1987 (during which time the saxman’s fourth
album Duotones
launched a superstar), Kenny and Roger Sause, the saxman’s keyboardist
and
musical director, gathered a handful of the Pacific Northwest’s
best musicians
to create one of contemporary jazz’s most exhilarating shows.
Sixteen years
after leaving the fold, Sause reunites with five of his former bandmates—along
with special guest sax stars Gerald Albright and Eric Marienthal--to
create
Freestyle Funk, easily the freshest and edgiest smooth jazz recording
of 2003 and
his debut on the Portland, Oregon based indie label Lucky Records.
The
perfectly titled, ultra-melodic and heavy grooving disc features eight
new soulful Sause originals, along with exciting reworkings of two
instrumental
hits synonymous with the pre-superstardom Kenny Gorelick: "G-Force"
featuring
Marienthal’s punchy alto, and Freestyle Funk’s first radio
single, "Tierra
Verde," a Gorelick-Jeff Lorber composition whose original version
appears on
Lorber’s 1981 album It’s A Fact. Sause chose Albright
to play the tune’s cool,
swaying soprano melody due to the saxman’s familiarity with
the song; long
before he was a smooth jazz star in his own right, Albright also held
the sax
chair in Lorber’s band.
Keeping
the Freestyle Funk moving throughout are bassists Vail Johnson (who
has played with Kenny G from 1985 to the present) and Joe Plass (1983-84),
guitarists John Raymond (1985-present) and Marlon Mclain (1983-84),
drummer Bruce
Carter (1988-present) and percussionist Ron Powell (1988-present).
Each of
Sause’s cohorts has an extensive musical resume apart from the
Kenny G experience
as well; Vail has played with Herbie Hancock, Mclain with the Dazz
Band and
Funk All-Stars, Carter with Cameo and Powell with Madonna and Diana
Ross.
"I’ve
been successful in my other musical endeavors since the Kenny G days,
but the idea of doing a smooth jazz recording was always something
I had in
mind," says Sause. "Because Kenny’s best known for
his mid-tempo soprano ballads,
it surprises a lot of people just how intense his band has always
been, and
my idea was to capture a lot of that live energy on disc. I haven’t
heard this
kind of edge in smooth jazz in a long time, and I liked the challenge
of
introducing something a little beyond the usual parameters.
I
love writing and playing keyboards, and I do a lot of aggressive soloing,
but the most fun part by far was jamming with the guys again,"
he adds. "I had
worked with some of the guys on other projects over the years, including
Vail’s two solo projects in the mid-90s, but this was all about
finding that same
chemistry again. It was like a family reunion where you pick up the
conversation just where you left off. All these guys are upbeat, and
there’s lots of love
and crazy humor for everyone. We’re not afraid to be ourselves
and make the
kind of music that comes naturally to us."
The
Sause originals include the heavy throbbing, symphonic flavored jazz-funk
opener "Magic Motion," the brassy blues explosions "Hot
Sause" and "Back
Stroke" (featuring Sause jamming on the organ), the lush ballad
"Beata," and the
crazy cool thump of "Side Effects" and "The Great Wall."
Vocalist Jeff Scott
Soto performs some colorful "vocalese" on the swinging,
lite samba "Speak Easy"
and the moodswinging (from ambient to wild and jazzy) "Oni Spirits."
Roger
Sause has the perfect return question for those fans who ask what
he’s
been up to since the Kenny G days: "What have you been doing
with your Boogie
Nights?" Sause’s involvement in the early 90s with the
campy L.A. R&B/disco
band Roxxanne led to the creation (with longtime friend Jamie Brown)
of a trash
disco tribute called "Boogie Knights," which rapidly exploded
into the most
successful cover revue in history, currently featuring 120 cast members
performing 300 shows per month nationwide. "The show has become
an incredible, ever
expanding phenomenon, featuring great choreography and clever dialogue
a la
Spinal Tap," says Sause, co-owner of the popular franchise who
also serves as
producer and musical director. "Over the past few years, we added
two new shows to
the mix, Metal Shop and the 80s new wave satire Spazmatics."
The
Portland native began playing the piano and organ professionally at
age
eight, performing in a teenybopper R&B cover group that took second
place in a
nationally televised battle of the bands. Coupling his vast influences
in R&B
(Sly and the Family Stone, P-Funk, Santana, Tower of Power) and jazz
(Chick
Corea, George Duke, Herbie Hancock), he signed with Fantasy Records
in 1981 as a
member of Shock, whose funk classic "Let’s Get Crakin’"
was later sampled by
a variety of hip-hop artists. After leaving Kenny G’s band in
the late 80s,
Sause secured Shock a new deal on Atlantic Records and scored a worldwide
hit
with "Talk About Love." After a few years of doing sessions
and showcases, in
1992 he was hired by Christian crossover icon Michael W. Smith as
keyboardist
on the record shattering Change Your World tour. He toured with "Smitty"
through 1994, culminating in what would become the largest indoor
musical event in
history at the Toronto Skydome in June of that year.
"While
in the studio recording Freestyle Funk, I realized that all my
experiences since my original time with the Kenny G guys have made
me a smarter, more
focused musician," says Sause. "I’m still hyper and
wild, but I’m a better
player and more directed in my writing and what I want to accomplish
musically.
It was exciting after so long to finally take our gloves off again
and play
some funky music."
