 Aloha and welcome to the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection. I am your host, Gwendolyn Harris. My guest today is an accomplished recording artist, producer and live performer who is also known as the Soul Trumpeter with six solo projects, 12 chart-topping Billboard singles including his Billboard number one hit, Past the Groove, and numerous collaborations with some of the industry's top R&B contemporary jazz artists to his credit. He is poised to be one of the most renowned artists of his generation. I am excited to be interviewing him today. Let's welcome Mr. Lynn Rountree to the show. Aloha, how are you? Aloha, thank you guys for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you. Now the first time that I heard about you, that I heard you was at the Cancun Jazz Festival. I was supposed to be there with my friend. I got sick, couldn't make it, and she's blasting all this live footage and you playing in the four year by the pool and all, I'm like, oh my gosh. I just was like, ah, she was just making me mad. But chatting with you, and I follow you, I have your last CD, love it, amazing, amazing. Now, who or what inspired you to play music? Well, I was inspired by my parents. They had, there was always music going in the house, a lot of old soul R&B and gospel. But in terms of playing, my father played the cornet in high school and he did the Jedi mind trick on me with the cornet. He put the cornet that he played in high school. He had since stopped playing and switched to the guitar only for fun. And I used to wake up in the morning with him playing his guitar, but I was never really interested in that guitar. I was interested in watching him play, but I was just in that cornet. The cornet sat on our mantelpiece in the family room. My dad said, look, you can touch anything in this family room. This is your house. Our house. The only thing you can't touch is that trumpet on the mantelpiece. And of course, that's the one thing that I always wanted to touch. He set it up to set a trap for me to see if I'd actually moved it, but when you put a pin on it and one day I just got so intrigued with it, I said, he won't mind if I just touch it. I had to look at it. So I grabbed it off the mantelpiece. That even my dad said, you touched the trumpet, huh? I said, I'm sorry, dad. He said, well, now you got to play it. So then I had to go to school. I had to rent a horn and I had to start taking music classes, but I loved it. I loved it when I started playing it. Really? Do you play any other instruments besides the trumpet? Not live, but I am a producer, so I've learned how to play chords on a keyboard. Obviously, I can play a lot of brass instruments, the three valve brass instruments are the same pretty much fingerings. So any tuba or a telephone or anything like that. But I primarily play live the trumpet and the flugelhorn. Okay. Now, you attended and graduated from Duke Ellington School for Performing Arts. And then from there, you went to an HBCU, Historical Black College. One of the best, and I won't say I say one of the best because the one that I went to is the best, but you went to one of the best Florida A&M, FAMU, where you were a part of the Marching 100, which is one of the best marching bands out there. Out there. I will give you that. I will give you that because I was in the marching band at Hampton University. What was your experience like at Florida A&M and in the marching band? Well, in the best marching band in the land at Florida University, one of the best colleges in the land. But the best marching band in the country, I had so many great experiences. I met so many great people. It was a challenge to come in and be able to continue to play at a high level as well as perform in all that heat down there in Florida and do the routines that we had to do. But it wasn't just showmanship, it wasn't just high stepping and you imagine you get down there in August to camp and it's 800 degrees. And you're having to learn how to march on an old, wet patch, we call it the patch. But also you had to play. We were sticklers for being able to perform and play and play musically. So as much as we performed, as much as we practiced our formations and our technique is as much as we had to know the music and we had to know how to play the music and how to combine the two. So it was just, I learned a lot there. I learned how to, and I always say I learned how to prepare, practice and perform. Emphasis on preparing and practicing because that's the only way you'll be able to perform. And I take a lot of that with me today. As you see me on the bandstand, a lot of trumpet players don't move as much as I do. I end up moving a lot. And it's because of the training and the performance that I learned at Florida A&M. I know what you're saying about that marching because I had to learn. I had to learn going from regular band and then going there and then it's a lot of discipline involved. A lot. It's almost like taking another college course actually, but it's a lot of discipline. Absolutely. It's double college courses because I mean you are learning the music and you're expected, before each performance, you were expected to play the book and know the music and know your part, second trumpet or whatever part you had. You were expected to know the music, not just be out there blowing. And then we used to do the thing called shake the tree. I don't know if you guys did it, but this is what the best bands did when we were performing. But before the day before our performance, the determined whether or not you got to put on that uniform because not everybody made it that Saturday to put on the uniform. We needed a lot of people to bring up our doc ladder and a lot of people to set up the things on the field. So a lot of those people were people that didn't necessarily live up to the task that week. And what we had to do is we used to call shake the tree where you would perform. So there would be one or two trumpet players and one flute player, one saxophone player, one trombone, trombone, and we'd all have to play our parts and do the entire lap time routine in front of the entire band while the band sat on the bleacher. You had to do that. And in front of your peers, it was even more difficult than in front of the band directors. You just put your head, no one had to tell you, look, you didn't make it. You don't measure up because you knew if you measured up or not, you just stuck your head between your legs and walked off. But yeah, it was a very, very intimidating process. And again, this isn't prepared me to do what I do now when I'm playing for thousands of people and they're all looking at me and expecting me to be Lynn Roundtree. I always reflect back to those days because if I could do that, then playing in front of all of these people who actually love me isn't a problem at all. Now once you graduated from FAMU, how did you get into the music industry? What was your start? Well, it was interesting because Florida Indian University, as you know, has a great business program. And so I went down there and graduated from the School of Business and Industry with Bachelor of Science. And I went to pursue that when I graduated. I put the trumpet down about six months and started a career in pharmaceutical sales, legal pharmaceutical sales. Yeah, but a friend of mine was getting married and he knew that I had played the trumpet. And so he said, hey, man, you know, I need some music in my wedding and, you know, I know you play the trumpet and, you know, can you do some music for me? And you know how people sometimes who aren't as musical and don't really know, they just know, hey, you play the trumpet and you play something in my wedding. I was like, OK, you know, I got three months to get my chops together and find a keyboard player and, you know, we can go in there and play some real book songs for them. And that's exactly what we did. We practiced a couple of times a week, got our songs together and played for the wedding. We made $50 a piece. And I said, wow, you know, if I can make, you know, 50 bucks, you know, playing this horn, then maybe it's something I should pick back up and pursue seriously. And so that's what I did. I picked it up and I started getting a lot of jam sessions and just learning from a lot of the cats. I was in Milwaukee at the time and then I ended up moving over to Detroit. And fortunately, I was at the tail end of a lot of our legends were still around who are since gone now. But it was a tail end of their their the twilight of their careers. And I was able to go in and sit in jam sessions and learn from a lot of legendary Motown artists or Motown back backup musicians who actually played on Motown. So very rich in and tutelage opportunities for me when I first got got here to Detroit. And, you know, I then ventured out to try and start a band. And people weren't hiring trumpet players aside. Men, you know, you usually look towards saxophone players or guitar players aside, men. People think more trumpet players, more, you know, horn section work. Hey, can you come play Earth, Wind and Fire, a couple, get a horn couple, horn players together and get some of these parts on Earth, Wind and Fire songs. So no, I wanted to be a soloist. So in order to be a soloist, I realized I had to start my own band. And so that's what I did. And that's where that Florida and them business degree came in handy. Being able to set up my band, set up my operations, set up a budget for the band and, you know, secure rental space and start to secure some gigs around town is what I did. And that's that's what started me, particularly in the music business. And, you know, I formed a group called Up Close. I got a person who could sing a lot better than I could play. And we started covering Jill Scott and covering some of the popular music of today. I started to listen to what was popular and and play what was popular. And I started to make a mark in Detroit with Up Close. My band. Nice. Nice. Now you have six solo CDs. Two thousand five, you came out with Groove Tree. Two thousand and eight, Something Good. Two thousand and ten, Soul Tree, The Soul Jazz Experience. Two thousand thirteen, Serendipitous. Two thousand fifteen, Soul Funky and your most recent, your most recent album, which I absolutely love, Stronger Still with that number one on the billboards past past the groove. What in the title of your title? How did you come up with that title, Stronger Still? Well, well, I didn't even when you said I got to the music business, I left out the part where I started recording CDs. And so and this will tie right into the name Stronger Still. So in the clubs, after we finished playing our set, people will come up and ask, you know, hey, do you have a CD? Are we like the way you guys sound? We'd like to, you know, take your home, take take your music home with us. But do you have a CD? So I said, well, well, no. But with the business mind that I had, I said, maybe I should make a CD. That's a couple extra dollars after the gig, you know? So I have to go on a quick break, Lin, and we're going to come right back. OK, we'll finish that conversation. We'll be right back. We'll be right back with the soul trumpeter, Lin Rountry. Hi, I'm Rusty Kamori, host of Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. My show is based on my book, also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about creating a superior culture of excellence, leadership and finding greatness. I interview guests who are successful in business, sports and life, which is sure to inspire you in finding your greatness. Join me every Monday as we go Beyond the Lines at 11 a.m. Aloha. Aloha, I'm Cynthia Sinclair and I'm Tim Apachella. We are hosts here at Think Tech, Hawaii, a digital media company serving the people of Hawaii. We provide a video platform for citizen journalists to raise public awareness in Hawaii. We are a Hawaii nonprofit that depends on the generosity of its supporters to keep on going. We'd be grateful if you go to thinktechhawaii.com and make a donation to support us now. Thanks so much. Aloha and welcome back to the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection. We are interviewing today Mr. Lin Rountry, Lin, now let's get back to what we were talking about. We were talking about your last CD, Stronger Still, and you were telling us how you came about with that title. So after my gigs, people will come up and ask if I had a CD and I thought, well, if I make a CD, then that's a little extra money for me at the end of the gigs. And so I set forth to make a CD and I had some songs in mind. I had written some songs down and tried to bang some things out. And I had a little QI 100 recorder that I could put some ideas, a sequencer that I could put some ideas down. And I put some songs together, took them to some producers, Billy Meadows and Dana Davis, who were some very, very well respected producers in the area who listen to some of my stuff and they heard where I was going with it, certainly didn't sound high quality, but they heard the vibe and the groove and they said, well, let's work with you. Can we rework some of these songs and produce some of these songs for us? I said, well, absolutely, because I don't know anything about it. And they did and out came Groove Tree. The first single was a song recorded that featured Mr. Tim Bowman, who at the time was one of the hottest smooth jazz artists in the country. And he lived here and was just gracious enough to lend his expertise on that song. And because he was hot, other programmers started to open up that single that we pushed to radio. And they said, what's this other song by Tim Bowman? But he's a trumpet player. Who's his trumpet player? Is it Rick Braun? Is it is it Boaty? It's, you know, we like this stuff. And and that gave me the credibility. Tim gave me the credibility to have them open the CD. But when they listened to it, what we had done was actually actually magical. And we hadn't even known what we had done with that first CD. Everybody loved it. And that really launched me into the national school jazz scene that I knew nothing about. And so, you know, because I wasn't a smooth jazz artist, a quintessential smooth jazz artist, I'd have the path of the smooth. I was an R&B guy. Well, I'm still an R&B guy. I'm always an R&B guy. But, you know, it jettisoned me into the smooth jazz environment. And so afterwards, I started to make CDs and say, OK, what is smooth jazz? How does it sound? Let's make some smooth jazz records. And we made some things here and there. A second album was was was good. It's got some great songs on it. Didn't catch the magic of the first album. Third album when the economy went bad and the record label that we had started kind of kind of dismantled it in, you know, financial issues going on. I put out an independent record called Soul Tree, the Soul Jazz Experience. And it was an R&B album. And it's an album that features about six vocal songs. It was a soul album was really, you know, was in my heart. It was very, very well received. So much so that I was picked up by Tripp and the Rhythm Records, who Petra said, hey, here's a guy out here doing his own thing and making a mark and, you know, had that cover of You Rock My World on the CD. And it was playing on on the charts at that time. And they signed me to a deal and, you know, we put out some songs. That's some great producers and all the while never really, you know, we had some good stuff, but never a number one. Obviously, you want to see your stuff do well. And everything's not always about getting the number one hit on the radio. It's nice to have, but I think I wanted it too much on some of the albums. And at the point where I said, you know what, you know, all the ups and downs in this industry, a lot of people just give up in this industry to have now six albums and be working on the sixth album and still going through all. I mean, you know, we go through a lot personally as musicians and sacrifice a lot with our families and have to sacrifice a lot with our our jobs, our careers. You know, do you want this promotion? And you can we will know because if I get this promotion, then I'm not going to do my music. And, you know, you then you go through the self doubt. And there's a lot that ups and downs in this business that can cause you to stop. But all in all, I just said, you know what? If I keep putting one foot in front of the other, making good songs, let me stop worrying about everything and just make what feels good to me. And what I would like to hear, what I'd like to pop in the in the in the deck and hear, I'm not going to worry about any more what anybody says or trying to get me some jazz hits. And I've made it through a lot of the storms. That's a lot of stuff. I know that I have the strength to keep pushing forward and dang it, I'm stronger still for. And that's where the name of the CD came up. And when I put that name on that and the song past the groove came about by a great producer, Michael Browning, who wrote and produced that song and passed that groove over to me because he started to hear my vibe. We started working together on the songs. He passed that groove over to me, said, hey, man, if you can get this, it's yours. I laid some track on it, laid my horn on it. He said, that's it. That's exactly what I hear on that track. He was like, I said, well, yeah, pass that groove on to me. Let's put it on now. Man, stronger still. Nice. That became a one hit. Nice. That's the story of stronger still. Well, that's a good story. You hear, wow, why I named this CD stronger still. Well, I like that back story and thank you. Can we get a little sample for some of our viewers from you? Yeah, well, you know, since we're talking about past the groove. Exactly. Yeah. Nice. Nice. Now, for all of my viewers and listeners, if you do not have Lynn Roundtree's latest album, Stronger Still, go out and get it. You will love it. I guarantee you will love it. Now, I want to talk about because our time is running short, but I want you to talk about your nonprofit that you and your wife have going on. Yeah, my wife and I have a nonprofit or five one C three called LLAM Cares and it was born out of my wife is a professional dancer. She dances primarily liturgical dance, which is a spiritual type dance. And but it's based and rooted in technique. And she saw a need. A lot of a lot of people are popping up with dance groups and dance centers, but they're they're lacking the technique, but not because they lack the the the the want for wanting to have the technique, but because they don't have the resources and our schools don't don't are not allocating as much towards the arts. And, you know, like, like, like they were when she was growing up. And she always tells a story that she was, you know, had could have gone a lot of different ways growing up in the inner city. But dance was her outlet and access to dance was easier when she was growing up. Then it is now with all the technology and everything that we have now. These programs aren't readily available. You have to go out to the suburbs and get them and you have to they're exorbitant costs. So she saw a need based on on on her reality and wanted to provide that that same opportunity for a lot of young kids that that she saw that that making these critical choices in life at that point, it can go either way. And so we started this group or started the foundation to get resources so we can get a lot of these interests of youth. And in fact, we don't have to be inner city, but anybody who wants to dance on opportunity to dance and the resources necessary to to to be able to make it happen. And we do that through a conference as well, a yearly conference called LLAM, two day dance intensive, where we actually we give out scholarships to some of these some of the youth, 50 to 100 scholarships, and we bring in some of the top dancers and dance leaders, instructors from across the country, Alvin Ailey, New York, from Florida, from Texas, and they all come into Detroit for two days. And anybody that that, you know, for registration for you or if you've got a scholarship can take classes with these these world renowned people and they can put it on their resume, but they can learn some technique in these intensive classes. And it's a it's an experience that stays with them. So it's something that we're really happy about and to see the kids faces and to see the after effects of kids going out and starting their own dance companies after the dance programs that they've attended through LLAM Cares. It's just it's just a blessing in and of itself. And and it's why we're here. And so that's why we're doing what we're doing. And we're growing in our seventh year now. And it's it's again, that's getting stronger still, too. So everybody getting a little stronger still. What is the what's the website for that? When it's a website? Yep, www.LLAMdance.org. Awesome. So I like that. E-E-L-O-A-O. What is it? E-L-O-L-A-M dance.org. I'm sorry, I had a brain freeze there. OK, well, I like that because that's usually one of the questions that I'll ask is, like you said, since the music is music and the arts are being taken out of the schools, what can we do to do that? And of course, you and your wife are doing that, which is just amazing. Just amazing. I like that. What do you have coming up? What what concerts do we have coming up? Well, tomorrow I'm back on a plane. I just finished playing the Dallas. I was down in Dallas with my buddy Kirk Willam and Mason and him and Kayla Waters out there. We did a Mother's Day concert for Martini Blue, which was great. It was a great atmosphere. Blessings to all the beautiful mothers out there this weekend. Tomorrow I'm headed off to Birmingham, Alabama to play. Ironically, for my alumni, National Alumni Convention for the inauguration of our new National Alumni President, Florida and the University of National Alumni President. So it's going to be a concert for myself and Kimberley Holloway. It's a great neo-soul vocalist and also my freshman sister out of the band. She lives in L.A. But the week after I'm in San Diego, doing Jazz at the Creek, and then I'm up at Harvelle's in Long Beach. The week after I'm in D.C. for two two dates with myself, James Lloyd, Drew Davidson and Settimo. We're doing a thing called the Jazzy Marble. We're doing two dates at Blues Alley. And then I'm all over the all over the place this summer. Got a nice packed schedule. I'll be in the Nassau Bahamas with the Nassau Jazz Festival. I'll be in Asheville, North Carolina with with Marcus Anderson for his inaugural Jazz and Coffee Escape, which is going to feature some some hot artists. Derby City Jazz Fest, I'm doing Stockton Jazz Fest in California. But you can go to my website and catch up with me. We're always adding more dates and we add them in real time. So hopefully be able to see see see anybody that's watching your show there as well as hopefully being able to get out to Hawaii. So I we're going to work on that one. But to book some book and some land roundtree out there. But it's great, you know, I I thrive off of my fans. I thrive off of the people who enjoy my music because we never know. We write in this music. We never know, you know, how people are going to take it if people want to appreciate it. And, you know, if my music touches people and they let me know it does, it just gives me fuel and gives me life. So fans of my life and I love to get out and play. Wow. Well, unfortunately, our time has come to an end for all of my viewers and listeners. If you want to learn more about Lynn Roundtree, go to www.lynroundtree music dot com. Everything is on there, his schedule, his bio, anything you want to know about Lynn is on there. Go there and just and, you know, if you're on the mainland and you're watching this, go to his concerts because he's amazing. He's amazing, working on getting you here to Hawaii for sure. But I thank you, Lynn, so I do or or Facebook, either one. OK, yes, you heard that. Facebook, I G connect connect with him. But thank you so much, Lynn, for being here with us. Tune in next. Wonderful program, thank you, thank you. Thank you. Tune in next week, everyone, when my guests will be Mr. Eric Darius until then, aloha and God bless.