Our conversation with Lonnie Liston Smith

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We spoke with the great Lonnie Liston Smith, whose music we featured for Album Cut Wednesday a few weeks ago. He was as warm and gracious as his music suggests he would be. Here's what he had to say.

Where does your talent come from?

I came from a musical family; I almost came out of the womb playing music. I became creative by playing with people like Miles Davis, Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Pharoah Sanders. Sam Cooke used to come by the house. All these artists were very creative, and we were brought up that way – I just grew up in a very creative period. I've always believed in the creative aspect of the music, and with improvisation, you're creating in the spur of the moment, right there in front of the audience.

You're sometimes referred to as the godfather of smooth jazz. Do you agree?

When I went to London after Expansions came out, they told me I was the godfather of Jazz Fusion Funk. This was the first time I ever wrote lyrics, and I wanted to have meaningful lyrics while jazz musicians played in the background.

Listen to "Quiet Moments", "Sunset", "Summer Nights" – those are smooth jazz songs, and we were doing that years and years ago. I think some artists now do a lot of copying of old songs that were hits, and that people are familiar with. But we were writing and creating brand new songs, and it takes a lot of talent to do that.

Do you think jazz will continue to survive among the younger generations?

I've been running into a lot of young, creative jazz players lately, and I didn't realize they were out there. That made me feel good, because I know that we passed the torch. But a lot of them are having trouble finding work. 

Right now radio play is hard for the new musicians. A lot of the jazz stations are disappearing, and the radio stations are not as free as they used to be to play different kinds of music.

Even though times are tough as the industry is going through changes, do you see any opportunities for new artists?

The record industry right now, they're going through all kinds of confusion. They don't really know what to do, and a lot of the kids now can do a lot of things musically on their computers. A lot of the guys are really familiar with Pro Tools, and they don't have to go to the studio. You can sell your records now online.

Right now, it is kind of hard for the young musicians to really get established, but it's easier for them to create music. We have to see how it shakes out.

How do you feel about rappers and other contemporary artists sampling your music?

I think it's great.  Mary J. Blige sampled "A Garden of Peace", and she made it into a Grammy-winning song ["Take Me As I Am"].  A lot of kids heard "Dead Presidents" by Jay-Z, and heard "Garden of Peace" in the background, and said, "Wow, I think that's pretty", and they went and sought it out. That's how they discovered my music.

When I worked with Guru on [the] Jazzmatazz [album], MTV got so excited about it. Now MTV isn't interested in jazz at all, but they understood that this "rap meets jazz" story was history.  Guru told me that when he was growing up, his uncles and older siblings would make him sit down and listen to jazz. A lot of the rap artists are sampling music that they grew up with.

How are you received when you play overseas?

When you go to Europe, Asia, and Australia, they treat jazz almost like classical music. In a way, you do get more respect there.

What are you up to now?

I was in New York for 30 years, but moved back to Richmond, Virginia.  I go to the gym to work out, because being on the road is really crazy. I try to eat right and keep my health together.

I have a new, young band and I've been doing a lot of touring. The show is called A Soulful Night of Keys, with three keyboard players: Brian Jackson, Mark Adams, and me. Mark opens the show, Brian plays in the middle, and I go last, before we do the finale together. The show's been selling out.

A few years ago I got a little discouraged because the music business is really crazy; people are always trying to rip you off. But I heard young musicians play, and got rejuvenated. People would come up to me and ask me where I've been. I want to make music that makes people's lives better, that goes inside of them and brings the best out of them. Talking to fans made me say, "Okay, they were listening." Now I'm rejuvenated and starting over again. 

Has your music been influenced by newer music and musicians?

New sounds automatically creep into my music. Because the people in my band are young, they add their perspective to the music. A lot of them have played with rappers, or have been in rappers' bands, so when they play my songs, they add that new-generational concept to it. Miles Davis would always hire young musicians, and it kept his music fresh.

We've always been fascinated with the Renaissance album cover. What's the story behind it?

I wanted my music to have a universal sound, and with Renaissance, I tried to cover all the different religions, symbols, etc. I'm always trying to tell people to give peace a chance, expand your mind, live in peace and harmony together. And as you see today, there's still a lot of chaos and confusion going on.

I did the music and sent it to the artist, who did the painting. His name is David Plourde. The name of the album was "Renaissance", and I think he took his inspiration from the Renaissance period, when a lot of the famous painters would do self-portraits. – ART, December 2011