When this host looks at the mass of interviews that he has done and continues to do he realizes that the full impact of the stories, camaraderie, and spirituality may resonate years after I have left this life.
To be discovered or rediscovered is a mystifying and gratifying at the same time. My guest today has had a career full of starts, stops, punching bags, blue notes and love bugs.
He grew up in sunny southern California during the cool bop era and came of age with fellow luminaries like George Coleman, Grant Green and Mickey Roker.
His albums for blue note represented the soul jazz of it's time. The swirling organ lines, the fender bass and rapid fire melodic solos. Opportunities with Groove Merchant produced more electric groove music that epitomized the moody and jaunty 1970s.
Still my guest flew under as other organists like Charles Earland and Groove Holmes took up much of the space. However with the rebirth of soul jazz in the late eighties and early nineties my guests albums became highly coveted for music fanatics and crate diggers alike. All of a sudden my guest became a household name with a generation that wasn't even born when his albums were pressed. His infectious smile and earnest efforts have earned him solid acclaim with the music community and in the record books.
I can only hope that the interviews that I am doing have the staying power and sustenance that my guests music has had.
Reuben Wilson, welcome to the JFS