Celebrating 37th Anniversary, 20th Album & Thrilling Shanachie Entertainment Debut
Pieces of a Dream got its start in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - a city steeped in history, tradition and rich musical heritage. Artists like
John
Coltrane, Stanley Clarke, Grover Washington, Jr., Gamble and Huff, Stan
Getz, Jeff Lorber, Patti Labelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Jill Scott and The
Roots are just a few of the amazingly talented musicians who
hail from or have been nurtured by the "City of Brotherly Love." This
vibrant city and its melting pot of art, music and history helped shape
the musical style of the young musicians who would become the talented
contemporary jazz band
Pieces of a Dream. Just as the city embraces its past, it continues to evolve, and so has
Pieces of a Dream
as the group makes history of its own by marking two major milestones:
their 37th year together as a group and the release of their 20th album
entitled
In The Moment, due out on August 27, 2013 on Shanachie Entertainment.
Founding members
James Lloyd (keyboards) and
Curtis Harmon
(drums) both use words like "thankful," "blessed" and "grateful" to
describe how they feel about their work and their fans, who have
continued to make it all possible. Curtis says, "I would describe
In The Moment as
a milestone for us. Not many groups get to reach 37 years and 20
albums! I feel very fortunate and blessed to be in the music industry
this long and to have this kind of success." James adds, "That's crazy
isn't it?! Twenty albums and the first one came out in 1981 when I was a
senior in high school, 16 years old. We were out on the road with
Grover Washington, Jr.
the following year and I basically grew up on the road with him. We
would open for him as Pieces and then play as part of his rhythm
section." And
Grover Washington, Jr. was indeed their guiding light, a mentor who took
Pieces of a Dream
under his wing as the first group he signed with his brand new
production company. James and Curtis were the nucleus of the band,
having played together as members of the Ada Lewis Middle School jazz
ensemble along with former member bassist
Cedric Napoleon. Danny Harmon, Curtis' father and a jazz musician himself, became their manager and had the guys listening to the
Modern Jazz Quartet, Ahmad Jamal and
Oscar Peterson
as they developed their unique sound, blending their jazz roots with
R&B, soul and funk. Pieces released three albums in quick
succession, establishing its place in the world of smooth jazz with the
CDs
Pieces of a Dream (1981),
We Are One (1982) and
Imagine This (1983).
Those albums include some of their biggest early hits, including "Warm
Weather," "Mount Airy Groove" and "Fo Fi Fo."
In The Moment is the first new release for Pieces since the 2009 album
Soul Intent and
features eleven tracks, ten originals and a cover of the 1942 Harry
Warren/Mack Gordon jazz standard "There Will Never Be Another You."
While Lloyd and Harmon have been with Pieces from the very start, the
latest members of the band include
Rohn Lawrence on guitar,
Tony Watson, Jr. on saxophone and
David Dyson
on bass. Each of the members contributed songs for the album as David,
Rohn and Tony wrote or co-wrote several of the tunes including "For
Real," "TTYL (I'm Driving)" and "Coming Home" respectively.
Ace producer
Chris "Big Dog" Davis co-wrote
and produced "TTYL (I'm Driving)" along with Rohn. James explains, "I
wanted to make sure on this project that, for lack of a better word, the
side musicians -- they're really not side guys, they're in the band,
they're family, I wanted to be sure they had some writing and publishing
on this project as well, in addition to just playing on it." Curtis,
who wrote three of the tracks adds, "I wanted to try to feature three
different instruments on melodies, piano, sax and guitar, so that they
could be showcased in our performances."
In the Moment opens with the title track, an uplifting groove with an in-the-pocket
Pieces of a Dream sound penned by
Curtis Harmon. As James puts it, "It's a mellow, riding vibe... one of the things that Pieces is known for." Saxophonist
Tony Watson Jr., graces the track with a sublime saxophone melody. Bassist
David Dyson brings
"For Real" to the table, featuring a beautiful lead from James on the
piano and a laid-back sax turn from Tony, while David gets to stretch
out on his grooving bass solo. About the upbeat tune "Steppers "D" Lite"
James says, "My wife and I take Zumba and line dancing classes. And
there's this lady named Diane - Lady D, who put together a line dance to
one of our songs, "Summer." We were in class and she had the class
show us the dance and I was so honored and flattered. I decided to
write "Steppers" as an homage to her. Like 'OK, let me give you
something else to use for class!'"
"Misty Eyed" takes Pieces fans
on another journey altogether with a tune that features James on Motif
keyboard offering a romantic and moody escape. The Metheny-esque
synthesizer melody, strings and guitar pull at the heartstrings. He
shares, "This is a song I had written years ago and I had been saving
it. I didn't have a name for it. My wife and I were talking about it
and trying to come up with a name and I told her that every time I hear
it I get misty eyed and she said, 'there's your name!'" In demand
producer
Chris "Big Dog" Davis teamed with guitarist
Rohn Lawrence to
write and produce the great cruising, upbeat vibe on "TTYL (I'm
Driving)." The funky guitar lead and synth grooves make you want to
roll down the windows and enjoy a sunny, carefree kind of day. Curtis
wrote the next tune on the album for Pieces several years ago and asked
Tony to add his touch by creating the melody on the saxophone. "People
Say" has got that 'easy like Sunday morning' laid back feel to it with
sublime percussion touches from Curtis and perfect keyboard and guitar
flourishes from James and Rohn. Smooth and sophisticated, it'll surely
be a fan favorite from the album. "New Jazz Swing" is a nod to the
highly acclaimed New Jack Swing producer
Teddy Riley as
James admits he has a special affinity for that genre of music, having
grown up listening to all the R&B bands of the '80s and early '90s
including Riley's bands
Guy and
Blackstreet and artists like
Keith Sweat and
Bobby Brown.
James shares, "I like to fuse contemporary jazz with other forms...
jazz with gospel, hip-hop, soul, R&B or dance. I love the rawness
of the sound on this one." On "Under the Influence (of Pieces)" a
bright, positive vibe is counterbalanced with a touch of moodiness.
James calls it "bright darkness," saying, "I love duality and contrast
and mixing up different things and textures. It'll be a real cool, fun
song to play live as well." Curtis admits he's always been a fan of
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and co-wrote "Never Let It End," with
Rohn Lawrence.
The song was penned with Babyface's production style in mind. Rohn
takes the lead on a bluesy, melancholy riff that surely makes you feel
like you're longing for 'it' to last... Tony adds a beautiful saxophone
solo to create an overall mood that matches the title of the song and
offers a cool new dimension and edge to the Pieces repertoire. Tony and
James teamed up to write "Coming Home," a track that came together at
the very end of the recording process. As James explains, "On a lot of
songs we have full production - drums, bass, this, that and the other
thing - how 'bout we go just minimalist on this one. Just Rhodes and
sax and that's it, almost a gospel-y duet kind of thing." The album
closes with James on solo piano on the jazz standard "There Will Never
Be Another You." He was especially glad to include this one on the
album saying, "We used to delve into straight ahead a bit on earlier
albums, but we haven't had anything jazz-jazz in a while.
Oscar Peterson has always been one of my idols since I was a teenager. He was a great inspiration for that song and that version."
Celebrating
37 years making music is no small feat and both James and Curtis are
looking forward to sharing the new material with their fans. Curtis
sums it up like this, "I think we made a good collage of music on
In The Moment.
The songs blend well together to make a CD that includes different
flavors from David, Rohn and Tony's writing. I think we're covering a
lot of different flavors in this particular CD and a lot of people will
be pleased." James adds, "I hope our fans like the album. For me
personally, I'm always trying to push the boundaries of what's accepted
as cool or playable. I'm not one to say 'ok that worked, let's do that
again,' but rather 'that worked well and let's do something else.' It's
a hard line to walk, staying true to what people expect of you but
being true to yourself and your creativity." With
In The Moment, it's safe to say
Pieces of a Dream continue
to explore new territory yet remain aware of their amazing history and
the core sound and style that have gotten the band this far. Pieces
fans will definitely enjoy this 'moment' and the ride.
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Butler
recorded eight Christmas chestnuts for the collection and penned a pair
of new songs, including “Happy Holidays,” an ardent urban groove
ornamented with riffs of cool jazz guitar. High-profile hornmen Dave Koz, Rick Braun and Paul “Shilts” Weimer contribute to the festivities on a couple of tracks as does Butler’s daughter, vocalist Jodie Butler, and bassist Dan Lutz,
who plays upright on a tune, but the heart of the intimate recording is
Butler solo pouring his impassioned voice and acoustic guitar into the
seasonal songs. His arresting performances and sparse production
captivates, fostering an air of freshness to the evergreen material.