JazzHQ: Chris Standring | "Love and Paragraphs

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Chris Standring | "Love and Paragraphs

One of contemporary jazz’s most dynamic and in-demand guitarists, Chris Standring has always done his best to keep up with his fans and friends across The Pond via email. One of his good pals in London seemed a bit miffed, however, when he replied to her lengthy email with just a short sentence or two. Last year, when the British born musician was there doing his annual slate of gigs, she said, “You owe me more paragraphs.” His response? Signing her CD, “With Love & Paragraphs, Chris”—a phrase that inspired Love & Paragraphs, Standring’s latest sensual chill, ambient soul and retro-groove driven set of infectious pop jazz fashioned around his trademark hip-swaying guitar.

Produced by Standring and mixed and mastered by his longtime musical partner, keyboardist Rodney Lee, Love & Paragraphs was 70% recorded at the guitarist’s newly completed home studio in Southern California. With Lee creating the old school harmonies and ambiences and featured performances by keyboard master Jeff Lorber and sax great Everette Harp, the collection keeps the seductive vibe of Standring’s Soul Express concept flowing. Standring’s 2006 album of that name featured the hit radio single “I Can’t Help Myself” helmed by Grammy winning guitarist/producer Paul Brown and led to two successful summer tours in 2006/2007. Both featured Standring and famed R&B singer Jody Watley; Lorber joined them in 2006 and Harp hit the road the following year. Standring’s other recent all-star tour association during this time was performing with “The Jazzmasters” alongside Gregg Karukas and Shilts.

Love & Paragraphs also marks an important milestone in the entrepreneurial-minded Standring’s career—it’s the debut release on his newly formed indie label Ultimate Vibe, which he is hoping to develop into a label for niche compilations in the chill lounge arena and beyond. He is releasing it via a pass through deal with ARTizen Music Group and their distribution company Ryko. Standring is currently enjoying huge success with “RnR,” a track he co-wrote with two of ARTizen’s owners, smooth jazz superstars Rick Braun and Richard Elliot. The genre’s biggest radio hit of Fall 2007, the song was #1 on Radio & Records’ smooth jazz airplay chart for over two months.

While many artists in his genre are content to find a certain formula and stick with it, Standring likes to start from scratch each time out and let the vibe of the project emerge spontaneously from the writing process. Since the release of Velvet, his 1998 debut as a solo artist, the British born guitarist has titled his discs as a way of defining the places his creative muse has taken him. Velvet, whose single “Cool Shades” went Top 10 for over three months on Gavin/Radio & Records’ airplay charts, came at a time when Standring was into the ambient European phenomenon known as the “chill out movement.” The seductive moniker of Hip Sway, whose title track with Richard Elliot peaked at #2 and was one of 2000’s most played songs, captured the retro-flavored, dance floor ready, funk-soul-jazz 60’s.

“Generally, once I start writing, something will manifest itself to a certain point and take on a life of its own,” he says. “Then everything that doesn’t fit gets cast aside as the album takes shape. On Love & Paragraphs, I ventured more towards high-spirited pop songs rather than heavy jazz blowing as I did in spots on Soul Express. When you’ve been playing a long time as I have, you learn it’s more important to have a great song, a great piece of music that’s cohesive and accessible, than simply be indulgent. I like to write pieces of music that are simple yet take the listener on a journey. The vibe on both records definitely leans towards organic retro-soul, which is one of the sounds I really enjoy from when I was growing up listening to Jeff Beck, Earth, Wind & Fire and other 70’s soul groups. One of my favorite songs on L&P is the title track, a complete pop song with wordless vocals by Mary Cassidy that just nails it.”

Always in search of unique new sonic approaches, Standring puts aside his trusty longtime jazz axe, the archtop Benedetto, and digs into more earthy blues-rock territory on five tracks with two Fender Strats; he played the Strat back in the 80s until switching to the other guitar to better tackle the acid jazz grooves which caught his ear in the early 90s. “Playing a jazz guitar and then switching to a Strat is a little like playing a violin and then picking up a cello,” he says, “so I had to figure out a new approach so there wouldn’t be quite so much of a head trip.”

Standring brings his Strat fire first to the classic, horn-spiced funk soul-jazz flavored opening track “Qwertyuiop” (a sly reference to the keyboard where he writes his email), which features an easy thumping cool groove and Harp’s funky tenor solo. The other Strat-propelled tracks are “As Luck Would Have It,” whose moody chill ambience in the intro gives way to high intensity blues rock energy; the easily percussive, hypnotic “Have Your Cake And Eat It,” which features Standring on a fascinating chatty talk-box solo; and “Qu’est-ce Que Tu Fais,” which starts in a laid back reflective mode and builds to a colorful vocal chorus part led by singer Jeff Robinson. Jeff Lorber dazzles on a Fender Rhodes solo in his own inimitable way. Standring gets back to the archtop on the pure pop pleasure “CS In The Sunshine,” whose swaying, joyful uptempo vibe is balanced by some darker bottom edges.

Standring plays the Benedetto on the balance of the tracks on Love & Paragraphs, which includes the vocal and horn-enhanced, mid-tempo retro funk title track, the dreamy, ambient chill meditation “Liquid Soul”; the hypnotic and jazzy, trip-chill blues jazz pop jam “Ooh Bop” (highlighted by Standring’s own irresistible poppy vocals); the bright, rolling jazzy samba “That’s What I Thought You Said” and the lush and romantic, synth orchestra-enhanced “Reflection,” which closes the set in a cool and dramatic film score-like way.

Standring, who studied classical guitar while growing up on a farm in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, moved to Los Angeles permanently in the early 90s and soon hooked up with Rodney Lee when the two played with singer Lauren Christy (now of the production team The Matrix). The two clicked immediately, releasing the well-received acid jazz project SolarSystem on Sonic Images in 1996. Standring also plugged heavily into the smooth jazz scene and started gigging with genre stars Rick Braun and Marc Antoine before launching his own career with Velvet in 1998.

When he’s not touring or recording new music, Standring is finding exciting ways to give back to young musicians who can benefit from his guitar and industry expertise. In the early 2000s, he founded A&R Online (aandronline.com), a place for aspiring musicians to get their music heard and to learn about the industry. He also has two websites, playjazzguitar.com and guitarmadesimple.com that sell his popular interactive CD-ROM educational guitar courses. Guitar Made Simple is designed for beginning and intermediate guitar players, with 12 chapters covering everything from how to hold the guitar and learning chords to more complex procedures; Play Jazz Guitar is geared for musicians at a more advanced level. Both are more comprehensive and interactive than most educational DVDs, including such things as music notation, tablature, audio, video and the ability to print out the entire course. Through his thriving CD-ROM business, Standring has also made many fans throughout the world that have purchased his recordings.

Standring isn’t guaranteeing that everyone who picks up a copy of Love & Paragraphs will get a lengthy email from him, but he’s definitely committed to their musical enjoyment of his latest journey aboard the Soul Express. “In England, everything is about being the best player you can be, but the most important thing I’ve learned playing for audiences in the U.S. is that it’s all about how you communicate. Working so much in my home studio this time gave me the luxury of taking my time to create what I believe is my best, most mature work to date. And I promised my friend to write longer emails in the future. We’ll see…”