 Episode of the Hawaii smooth jazz connection. I am your host, Wendell and Harris. My guest today started playing music at the age of eight in Decatur, Illinois. Today, he is an internationally acclaimed smooth jazz R&B funk musician, writer and producer. He has many awards and accolades to his name, including the most recent honor of being named the 2020 Artist of the Year by the Smooth Jazz Network. This artist has played with just about every amazing musician in the music industry. The list is just too too big to name. I am so happy to have him here today. Let's welcome Mr. Brian Coverson to the show. Welcome Brian. Hey Gwen, what's going on? Aloha, we're hanging with you today. We're hanging. I love it. I know you come from a musical family. Your dad was a music teacher, right? So what was it like growing up in that house on full of music? Well, I mean, here's the deal. A lot of times when I was real young, there was music, you know, jamming off the turntable so loud all night long, I'd have to actually go downstairs and be like, I'm trying to sleep. Can you turn it down? It was just constant music was going on just like blasting and he didn't care. He's like, ah. So what was he playing? What type of music did you listen to? I mean, it was mostly jazz, you know, contemporary jazz of that time. So the stuff in the 70s, it was really popular. So, you know, David Sanborn and Marcus Miller and Bob James and the Yellow Jackets and the Brecker Brothers, Chick Korea and so many others and then and some big band stuff too. So that was amazing. Oh and of course, Earth, the Wind and Fire and so the bands that were crossing over between R&B and jazz. So, you know, Chicago, Earth, Wind and Fire, Blood, Sweat and Tears, that kind of stuff too. Nice. Now you're a multi instrumentalist. How many instruments do you play? Now I know you play two. I know you play the keyboards and when you bring out your trombone, you just go crazy on that. How many other instruments do you play? I mean, you know, I can play, I don't know, a bunch of others. When I was a kid, I just kind of started picking up different instruments because I was excited about playing other things. So the first thing I started on was piano, traditional piano lessons. Then I wanted to start playing drums. So I got a drum set. I took drum lessons when I was nine. Then I wanted to join the fifth grade band. And so they're like, you know how in school band, they kind of lay out all the instruments. Try them all. So I tried them all and for some reason I could just sort of play trombone naturally. I had these big lips and I just fit in the trombone mouthpiece. So I started playing that. And then I just picked up random other things when basically somebody was needed. So junior high then needed a bass player to play this one part. I was like, I'll try it. You know, when you're a kid, you'll try anything. So that's kind of was how I got into all these different instruments. You know, my main two really are piano and trombone. But I can get around on some others now and then if I need to. Yeah, I've seen you at one of those concerts I attended when you were here in Hawaii. And you were jumping around, you were on keyboards and you put out the trombone. Then you drop, you jump back there on the, on the drums. You were just all over the stage that night. Why not? Having fun, having fun, having fun. Now what's your, what is your favorite genre music to play? Because you play it all. Like I said, in the intro, you play, you play smooth jazz, you play contemporary jazz, you play funk, you know. So what's your, what's your favorite? Honestly, when I'm sitting down at just a grand piano, playing a beautiful kind of ballad song, just me and the piano, there's something so pure and amazing about that. That's kind of my favorite thing. I don't do that very often, but when I do, I just get lost in the sound of the piano. It just blows my mind every time I play it. It just blows your way, right? Yeah, yeah. So now let's talk about your albums. Your first album was in 1994. And you know, I've talked with you before about this, but I love the story because just to, just to do an album out of your apartment, right? And you went to DePaul University in Illinois. So just to do an album out of your apartment, tell us about that. How was that? Because you got signed also at an early age too. Yeah, I was 20. I was, you know, I had two years in college at, I was in Chicago then at DePaul. And I basically was just kind of listening to the quote unquote smoo jazz radio station in Chicago, which was very popular at that time and thinking to myself, wow, why don't I just try to do some songs like that? So I seriously put three songs together on a demo tape and sent it to one person that I knew that worked at a small little label in LA and lo and behold, they loved it. And we're like, hey, when can you finish a whole album? And I'm like, what freaking out? You know, I'm 20 years old. I don't know anything about the music business. So they're like, yeah, can you finish it by Thanksgiving? I'm like, sure. So hence the following three months were just insane. I didn't sleep for like three months. And that's where the title of the first album came from, actually, Long Night Out. Because you were up long nights working on that album. I almost gave up one night. Thankfully, my roommate kind of held me together. He was shaking me. He's like, you can do this. He was my engineer too. You know, he was, he was a recording tech major at DePaul at the same time. So we were roommates. So he helped me out greatly. Scott, thanks, Scott. But it was, it was crazy making a record in your apartment. You know, it wasn't a recording studio. So I had to contend with the noisy street out there. We had to stop and wait a minute. There's an ambulance going by and all kinds of just mess, you know, you got it done. So you, you, you have so many albums. You went from 1994. That was your first one out, your first album, Long Night Out. And then you proceeded to make two funk albums, right? Well, years later. Years later. I mean, just immediately jumped into that. You didn't jump into it. I mean, I have all your albums here. 1994, Long Night Out, 95, Modern Life, 96 After Hours, 97 Secrets, which is one of my favorites. Yeah, let's, let's go through them. You know, 1999, about love. Then you got, what, 2001, nice and slow, you know, and then we're going to jump down. You know, we just finished with, well, 2005, it's on tonight. I love that album as well. Then we just finished with Christmas, a soulful Christmas. That was the jam right there, right there. And then in 2008 is when you did Bring Him Back to Funk, right? That was your first funk album, right? Correct. That was your first funk album. And I've told this, the label did not want me to do it. They were like, what? When I came up with the idea, they were like, no, no, no, no, no, you're a smooth jazz artist. You need to stay in your lane. And I'm like, excuse me. I want to play music, you know, and I don't want to just be in that box. So, you know, I was pushing, pushing really hard to make this record. And, you know, of course, after it was finished and it came out, they were like, hey, great idea, Brian. I'm like, so frustrating. But, you know, working with Maurice White and Bootsy Collins and all these Larry Graham and so many others on that record was just mind blowing, you know? Yes, that was a hot album. And then, and then you jumped down. I'm going to jump down to 2016 when you did your second funk album. Yeah. Right. Now, from what I read, that was sort of like inspired with because you have worked with Prince, right? Prince as well. Yeah. And then you had also worked with Maurice White. Yeah. Right. Well, really, those two guys were the inspiration behind the first bringing back the funk album. Okay. And so when I was, when I started making the second funk album, simply titled Funk, that year, both of them passed away. And so I was really reminiscing about, you know, my time working with them and how influential they both were. So that second funk album was dedicated to both of them just, you know, for, I mean, because I would not have made that first record if it hadn't been for those two cats, you know? All of your music. Now we're going to jump down to 2020, which is not your latest one, because we talked about this earlier. Your latest album is your music from the hang, which are going to go back and talk about that. But 2020 is your album entitled 20. Correct. Double X, Roman Humeral 20. That's right. Oh, there it is. That's a hot album. Well, I mean, to me, it was like, when I first started, I was like, wait a minute, this is my 20th. I need to kind of throw in the kitchen sink on this one. So I decided to just really go for it and go because I hadn't done a huge kind of produced or huge production for a few years prior to that. So to me, it was time to kind of really throw it in all there. I believe we had a gospel choir, we had a horn section on everything, live musicians all over every track, tons of special guests. So like I said, I threw it all in. And it just felt appropriate for that time. And I was so discouraged when the tour got canceled. We had 70 shows lined up on the books last March, right when the release happened, just to be obliterated. But you know, hey, thankfully, the music's still out there. Everybody can listen to it and jam out and we'll get back on tour at some point. So with that being said, like you said, the album came out right at when this pandemic first hit. And of course, this pandemic has just put, you know, put everything to an end for all the entertainment industry for the whole world. Now, I know what you've done. You have, you know, you created this awesome show that you have humongous followers, including me, that hang. Tell us about this. Tell us about the hang. Yeah. So if you haven't seen it, I would say that, well, first of all, I kind of started going on Facebook Live randomly over the past four or five years, as soon as they kind of launched it. Anytime I would be home and in the studio on a Friday night, I would just, hey, I'm live. And I called it my Friday night studio hang. It was super chill. I'm just on my phone talking to people. Hey, here's what I got going on today. Here's what I was working on. Yada, yada, yada. So fast forward to, you know, March of 2020. All tours canceled. I'm like, wait a minute. Okay, what am I going to do now? So I decided, hey, let me just stream every Friday night now, every week. And I have actually been live every Friday since March 20th of last year. So I shortened the name to The Hang. My wife was like, yeah, it's Friday night studio hang. That doesn't roll off the tongue. I was like, true story. So we shortened it to The Hang. I wrote a theme song and slowly upgraded all the tech that I was using because, you know, when you're just on your phone, the audio is in mono. It doesn't sound very good. The lighting's no good. So I slowly kind of researched, how do you stream a show that looks really good? You know, I wanted it to look like a TV show in essence and live. And I have to control everything myself because it's just me in the studio. So there was a huge learning curve there. But eventually you got, you know, computers and cameras and all kinds of stuff going. And so I just play music, have interviews, different guests, lots of different segments throughout the hour long show. And it's just a lot of fun. Oh, wine tasting and other things. So. Yes. Now speaking of wine, because you know, we talked about this when I first, when we first came on here. Yeah. Usually you're sipping on something. Oh, yeah. Usually you're sipping on something during The Hang. Right now I got some water. I'm hydrating. You're hydrating. So, you know, we're going to talk about what you usually sip on. And it's usually a glass of wine. What's your favorite, what's your favorite wine? I mean, I'm going to generalize, but to me, when I opened an amazing bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and that, that first sip is just like, oh, you know, life is good at that point. So I'm never mad. Now speaking of your Napa Valley. Yeah. Tell us about your, your jazz festival, which you are the sponsor and big weight of your Napa, Napa Valley Jazz. So back in 2012, I had this idea to start a wine and jazz festival. And I've been holding it in Napa Valley every year. And, you know, this year would have been our ninth annual. So hopefully we'll be able to get back there this summer. Fingers crossed. I mean, we've had, I mean, everybody has played at this festival over the years and amazing winery partners. So if you, you come to the festival, it's four or five days of, of wine tasting, hanging out with the artists, shows in the courtyards outside, theater shows, all kinds of stuff going on over the place. After parties with DJs, it's, it's bananas. So it's just a lot of fun. I can attest to that because I have been, I went to the one in 2007. And if you have not, I feel like people, 2017, I'm sorry, if you have not been to one of Brian's festivals, you need to go. Just what he says. And the thing is, you know, the artists are all out, you're doing wine tastings. And even at the after parties, which are late at night, Brian will pop up. Oh yeah, I'm hanging. Brian, Brian is hanging. I'm on the dance floor. Yes, he is. Getting it in. Getting it in. Yes, he is. So I strongly advise anybody, you know, please go to one of his jazz, or all of them, because, you know, I'm trying to make it to the next one. But then you also have one in Chicago as well. Yeah, that was one, because I moved back here about five years ago. And so, you know, I was in LA for many, many years for the industry. And then at certain, certain point we're like, you know, kind of missed the city vibe. So, which is what your background is. Just missed the city vibe. So we moved back. And so, since I was here, I was like, well, I might as well add a second event. So Napa is typically in June and the Chicago Jazz getaways in September every year. Nice. I'm going to try to make that one. I'm going to try to make that one. You know, it's kind of kind of chilly. You know, I'm kind of spoiled being here in September. It's hot. It's hot. Okay. We'll see. I'm going to try to make it 80 in humid last time. Oh, really? Okay. People don't know about Chicago. You think it's all cold here. The summer is hot and humid. Okay. So we get all the seasons. We get it all. We got hot. We get polar vortexes and everything in between. Well, I'm going to, I'm going to try. I'm going to definitely try and make it to the Chicago Festival. But one thing that I want to ask you is you have, you have played with so many people. I can't even ask this question because it's hard. Who would you like to collaborate? Who would be your dream collaboration? Oh boy. I mean, there's so many people out there that would be amazing to do something with in the studio. You know, one of them was I actually got to work with recently was Kema. I got to play on his latest album, actually, and be a featured piano solo on track two on his latest song called Lonely. Beautiful song by him. So that that was really cool. I mean, it'd be amazing to sit out in the studio with you know, so many legends out there, Sting or Stevie or you know, all the people with just one name. Didn't Stevie pop up at one of your concerts one time? Yeah, I've actually done stuff with Stevie, but we've never recorded together in the studio. Yeah, it was one night I was doing a show in Long Beach, California. And his radio station, KJLH was actually sponsoring the show that night. And so I'm playing my song. And I'm doing this slow jam. And all of a sudden, the audience stands up and starts going berserker. And I'm like, wow, I guess I'm playing it really well tonight, you know, because I didn't know what was going on. And then out the corner of my eye, I'm like freaking out as Stevie walking on stage, then he grabs a microphone and starts playing harmonica. And so we we play, you know, kind of go back and forth for five, eight minutes or whatever. It's all on YouTube, by the way, you can see it unfold. It was crazy. And then he starts talking to me on stage in front of the audience, we're having a conversation. And I'm like, this is really weird, and so bizarre right now. But wow, how unbelievably cool. Yeah. Well, speaking of existence, maybe you'll be in the studio with it. Okay. You never know. That's true. What projects do you have coming up? Any new anything you're working on? Well, I actually have a couple of things that I'm about to put out. I over the past few months was experimenting. I have an experimental album coming out. And I'm calling it sound escapes. Soundscapes. It's more akin to like a film score, like soundtrack, so to speak. It's it's 25 minutes long. And you put it on and you just get lost in this soundscape, you close your eyes. And you're literally escaping the world. And it started off just like I said, an experiment on my part. And then I quickly realized, I think people might like find this comforting, and in calming, and, and helpful during these times, you know. So I started sounding it on people and say, Hey, what do you think of this? This is not a jazz record, you know, it's not a smooth jazz album. Totally, totally different. But piano is still in there. So my voice on the piano is still part of it. But so I don't know, I just thought about doing something a little bit different. So I'm putting it out March 5. It's officially coming out. Besides that, I'm going to start some regular, you know, jazz music again this year, because I had just released like five records in a row. You know, so I sort of needed a little break from that, especially while producing the hang every Friday night, which became, you know, like I said, a full time job, I just wasn't in the mindset to make new music in that realm at that point. And another thing I started this year, because of the extra time of no travel, I started painting. Yeah, I was just about to ask you what you like to do in your spare time. Well, I mean, I really got into it. Over the past several years, I had been thinking about it. It was percolating. And I got this iPad program, and I would start finger painting on my iPad. And I came up with all these kind of ideas and kind of themes and looks, so to speak. And so finally, you know, I built a new garage this earlier this year. And when it got done, I had a space that I could actually go and paint in, because I didn't want to be all messy in the studio. That wasn't going to happen, you know. So, you know, I just started doing it and launched a website recently, Brian Culverson art.com. And people are really interested. So it's kind of a new thing for me. I'm loving it. You need to go. Because I went on the website, I've gone on the website, and you have some really nice pieces on there. Now you can add Brian Culverson, the artist. Oh, I mean, you know, I wanted to make it musically themed, which it is, however, be more abstract with the musical elements. So to me, there was a lot of kind of music art out there that was so literal. And there was a kind of a cheesiness to it to me as a musician. So I wanted to do some musical art that was, I don't know, a little more raw and funky and graffiti-esque. So that's kind of how I did it. And a lot of my pieces have four slash marks in it. And what that represents is that'll be how I write out a musical chart for, like, say, a rhythm section to play. The four slashes mean four beats, keeping time and moving forward. So one, two, three, four. That's all that means. So I'm using that as a thread throughout a lot of my paintings, four slash marks, meaning moving forward in time, keeping it moving. And then a lot of times I'll write the chord changes above it and dynamics and various other things within the painting as well. And a lot of them are based on particular songs as well. So I'll seriously take rhythms and chords and dynamics from each song and put that on to the canvas. So it's been a new, really fun thing for me. So. Nice. Yeah. Our time is closing, but it is about to close. But I have, one of the questions that I want to ask you is, the new artists that are coming into the music industry right now, it's kind of hard. So what advice would you give to a new artist coming into the industry right now? Well, there's a lot of things. Number one, you have to, I always tell this to young artists, you got to sort of learn beyond music so that you can be self-sufficient in these days, meaning learn how to do your own website, Photoshop, video editing, music transcription. So diversify your own, you know, musical portfolio, so to speak, so that you can market yourself. You know, it's easy to talk about, hey, you know, practice your instrument and learn all the scales. Yeah, that's a given. You got to be a great player first. But then what's going to sustain you is, can you market yourself as an entity that, you know, because the bottom line is why should someone listen to your music over someone else's? So it's creating a story. It's creating your own sound, your own story, your own vision. So you got to think of that whole picture, because there's not the big label scene anymore that creates the artist. It's on you as a young artist to do that yourself. And I know that's a bit heady and really like a crazy thing, but if you start thinking about that early on, you know, I think it'll help. Awesome advice. That's great advice. Thank you so much for being here with us today, Brian, and one other thing that I want to tell you is tomorrow, happy birthday. Today for tomorrow, happy birthday. Thanks. January 12th. Capricorn, what? Everyone, I want to thank everyone for tuning in to this episode of the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection, and a special thank you to my favorite artist. Everybody knows this, is Mr. Brian Culverson. So until next time, aloha, and God bless. Thank you.