As an artist I catch a lot of the limelight, but I can’t create my albums just by myself. I could not do it with a team of supporting cast members, and I have one of the best. It takes many steps to take some songs from an idea I have to the finished CD the listener can enjoy.

Wolfgang Amadeus

It starts with the recording process, where I relied on my friends Greg Watmore who helped me with getting guitar sounds, Wolfgang Amadeus who recorded my acoustic guitar and lend me additional mics and gear I needed, and Eddie Brown to help me with arrangement ideas.
Then there are the players: Ricky Lawson, may he rest in peace (I miss you my brother), laid down some incredible grooves. He was always a step ahead at the sessions and new exactly what I wanted or needed on a track.

Ricky Lawson

Clydene Jackson and Oliver Brown have been my core band members since I produced their Gravity 180 CD. Cly’s tasteful keyboard parts and Oliver’s exciting percussion grooves are just a phone call away.

Johnny Britt happens to live just around the corner and was always ready to laydown a horn section, vocal or keyboard part if needed. Nate Harasim lives all the way in the Detroit area, but that did not prevent him from laying down some killer keyboard parts. Furthermore he took time out of his busy schedule to mix a track for me when I was under a crunch. Dov came by and did overdubs on violins and violas to create a live string section.

Nils, Clydene Jackson and Oliver C. Brown

Yes, I suppose anyone could have hired musicians and studio engineers to record and play the parts. But my friends came for the love of the music, and it’s hard to put your finger on it exactly, but I believe one can hear it on the recordings. Bassist Darryl Williams said: “I really love these tunes you have me play on” , “ and you made them sound so much better”, I replied. It’s the mutual appreciation of each other’s talents that strengthens our friendship.

Nils – Styling by Dion Julian

When it came to the album cover, my friend and stylist Dion Julian made me two custom suits for my photo shoot in less than 2 days. He would have just let me use the outfits for the shoot, but I ended up buying the suits from him anyways.

My friends at Pax Stereo TV: Meko Williams, Victor Allen and Mario Hemsley helped me with getting the word out about the new CD by putting us on their program.
Then there are my live band musicians like Tony Moore, Donnell Spencer Jr, Reggie McBride and Roberto Vally always go the extra mile and make sure the shows are rockin’. They brought their A-game when we performed our first two CD release concerts, and the raving reviews are the proof.
We also just shot video for Gravity180 and myself with film director Len Rosen, a incredible talented film maker and friend who just donated his time.
Life is great. It seems I have amazing talent available on tap. And for an artist, composer and producer there is nothing more valuable than that. These are relationships I nurtured over years, it takes work , dedication and mutual support. Now I am harvesting the benefits. So I am incredible thankful to all who helped me on my current project Alley Cat. This also includes Kathryn Bostic, Malcom McPearson, Reggie Codrington, Carsten Schmelzer, Eric Marienthal, Dave Rideau and I ask for forgiveness for anyone I might have forgotten to mention.
I might be the one on the front cover, but it takes a whole tribe. I could not have done it without a little help of my friends.
Thank You

About 3 years ago I started noticing that my Soundexchange checks are surpassing my ASCAP checks. Soundexchange collects money from Digital streams, digital radio etc and pays the performer, ASCAP also collects money from radio and internet performances and pays the writer. So I can make more money playing anybody else’s music than writing new songs for somebody else.

But herein lies the problem. If we reward the live performance, but not the creation of new material, who is going to write the melodies we love for the next generation of fans. Do we really want to regurgitate old classics over and over? Nothing against a good cover tune, but if that’s all we do, I believe the art form will die.
I am a producer, a writer and a performer and I think the writing of songs is the most important part of the industry we call music. Without a good song a brilliant production is pointless. And even the best executed performance will never stick in your head like a good melody can.
I take a great song whistled onto an old tape recorder any day over the the greatest production and performance of some horrible composition. It always starts and ends with the song. The production can make it shine. The performance can make it a classic, but only when the song is truly great. So shouldn’t we make sure, that the writers are compensated and incentivised?

I recently started producing and writing for a number of contemporary jazz artists. I have a song coming out with Nate Harasim on Woodward records, featuring myself and Dave Koz. I have the first track “One of a Kind” on Brian Simpson’s new CD “Out of a Dream”. I produced the new album “Always in Motion” for Reggie Codrington (a fantastic project if I may say so myself. You can check it out here) I wrote some of the songs for it, and co-wrote with Reggie on the material . And I wrote/ co-wrote half of the tracks for Keith Andrews CD “Adventurous Soul”. his first single just cracked the Billboard Smooth Jazz Top 20 . Al DeGregoris latest release “All in good time” was produced by myself and Jeff Lorber.

All in Good TIme CD cover

I co-wrote the first single and wrote the second one as well. Granted the new artists are just happy to get some chart action for the first time. But even with Brian and Nate’s projects, I can’t expect a big publishing check anymore.

So why do I do it? I did hear the little voice in my head saying, “keep the songs for yourself !”

Two reasons:

First of all I want to keep writing. Writing songs is like working a muscle, you get stronger when you keep doing it. I never think a song is the last or best I’ll ever write. There are songs , I know that have hit potential and others are more eclectic. I try not to judge while I’m writing, I just do it out of habit.

Secondly, when I write songs for artists that I work with, it’s because I want any project that has my name attached to it to succeed. Not all artists are great writers, so if a song is needed I will provide. It’s not ego, it’s just good business.

From an economical point of view I could just pick a cover and re-record it. But as an artist I am not interested in re-chewing old tracks. I want to define my identity with the material I write as much as with the way I play it. Maybe I’m an idealist, but I’ll keep on writing….