Welcome to the April 2000 edition of The Secret Garden, the page which offers a British perspective on all that’s good, and not so good, in the world of smooth jazz. Later we will pick another Smooth Soul Survivor from the archives and take a look at some new music. But first it is a real Secret Garden privilege to profile a genuine heavy weight of soul and smooth jazz in the UK.

Robbie Vincent - Let the Music Do The Talking

It seems a long way from the troubled streets of riot torn Belfast in the seventies to the stage of the Barbican Centre, London and a collaboration with the smooth jazz great Bob James. But for one man these events are simply landmarks on the road of what has become a remarkable journey. This man is Robbie Vincent, current host of the breakfast show, Mondays to Fridays on Jazz FM 102.2 in London, and much more besides. The place where a generation finds its music is a place that generation never forgets. Whether it be a particular club, a record, a radio station, show or a cult presenter it is these early connections and influences that can shape musical appreciation for an entire lifetime. In those cases where these influences remain over a period of years the bond becomes that much stronger. For lovers of soul, jazz and fusion in London and beyond, the influence that has endured for over twenty-five years has been that exerted by Robbie Vincent. Robbie had been a news reporter for the London Evening Standard in the early seventies. It was during his time with the newspaper that he found himself providing the first London based reporter coverage of the sectarian unrest in Northern Ireland. This unrest led to riots which in turn led to the occupation of the province by the British Army. Shortly after this Robbie joined the local BBC radio station for London, BBC Radio London, first as a news reporter and later as News Editor. In retrospect it could be said that, for Robbie Vincent, this was the first of several seminal events in his career. He had made it into radio! The second of these seminal moments probably came when he started a Saturday morning show on Radio London. This meant that he could indulge his long time interest in black music by programming a little bit of r and b into the schedule. In doing so he had to ensure that the overall musical feel of the show remained familiar to management and that his choice of guests did not ruffle feathers or scratch heads. Robbie himself demonstrates an example of this political correctness by recalling that Marc Bolan of T Rex, the group who had a string of hits in the UK pop charts right through the seventies, was one of his early guests. For Robbie it was a slow process but gradually the show became a pure mix of soul, dance, jazz and fusion. It may not sound a big deal to the radio listeners of today but in those times when black music on the radio was extremely limited, this was something really special. The show was at that time the only UK source of fusion jazz, the music that we now know and love as smooth jazz. Through that one show listeners discovered a new brand of music that would stay with them for the rest of their lives. Robbie Vincent & Bob James Photos by Bob James & Paul Abecassis Photos Copyrighted © '00 bobjames.com Both the show and its presenter attained cult status. Artists who even today remain giants of black music appeared as Robbie’s guests. It was on the show that Luther Vandross gave his first UK interview. Other notables included Heatwave, McFadden and Whitehead, Herbie Hancock, The Moments, Maze, Randy Crawford, The Crusaders, Chaka Khan and Marvin Gaye. It was also on the show that Robbie interviewed Bob James, a connection that was to recur several times over the intervening years. In 1996 Robbie Vincent wrote the sleeve notes for the Bob James compilation The Best of Bob James and it was he who was instrumental in bringing Bob James to London in March of this year for the Jazz FM 10th anniversary concert. The quality of the music and the stature of the guests afforded the show a genuine cult following. Meanwhile the man himself gained massive respect from his listening public for his play list selections and his knowledge of the subject. This led to him winning the Blues and Soul best radio DJ poll year after year. A further musical opportunity arose in the early eighties when the national BBC pop station, Radio One, hired Robbie to fill their specialist weekly soul slot, first on Saturday evenings and then later, on Sunday evenings. The requirements of the play list meant that these shows slanted toward soul but, wherever possible, the chance was never missed to incorporate some fusion. Although less of a cult and more a vehicle to cater to the needs of main stream soul fans these shows elevated the profile of Robbie Vincent onto the national stage. Some of the consequences emanating from this wider recognition came with his uncanny ability to gain and retain the respect of his listeners. ‘Its good so Robbie will be playing it’ and ‘If Robbie is playing it must be good’ are statements that fans of Robbie’s show would find it hard to differentiate between. Fan loyalty is another feature of Robbie’s success. In the eighties, travellers started Sunday evening journeys to coincide with the start of Robbie’s soul show. Others religiously taped the shows in order that the flavours of Robbie’s music could be savoured over and over. When he stepped onto the stage of the Shepherds Bush Empire in November 1999 to introduce ‘Guitars and Saxes’ he received a great and affectionate cheer from the expectant fans. In continuing Robbie’s story it should be explained that during the time of his Radio London and Radio One music shows he also pursued something of a parallel career. While his Saturday morning show on Radio London was attracting some of the biggest ever audiences to the station, he also hosted a lunchtime talk and phone in show. Now, with a growing reputation in talk radio, he was noticed by a commercial competitor, the London based station LBC, who attracted him to take over their evening phone in show. In true Robbie Vincent style the audiences for these shows grew to be the biggest of any station in London. This move to a commercial talk station did not dampen Robbies enthusiasm for music and, while presenting for LBC, he also found time to fit in shows for the London stations Kiss FM and, significantly, Jazz FM. Here he hosted a Sunday show playing some of the best soul and fusion around. When Robbie played the music fusion fans across London listened. Chet Selwood, writing the sleeve notes for the 1996 compilation JazzFusions Three, recalls somewhat humorously how the selections for the album were all but sorted when, while listening to Robbie Vincent’s Jazz Flavours on Jazz FM, he heard ‘Daydream’ by Mark Johnson for the first time. He immediately realised that the list just had to be reworked to include it. When, in February 1998, Jazz FM switched to the smooth jazz format, Robbie joined the station full time to take over the 7-00 am to 10-00 am breakfast slot in London. The rationale of Jazz FM was, that with a new presenter, it would be possible to change the sound of the programme more radically towards smooth jazz and soul than would have be the case at other times of the day. The fact that Robbie had a huge reputation as one of the most knowledgeable and influential presenters of the genre made the transition that much easier and generated genuine excitement among his followers that undoubtedly made an immediate impact on listening figures. Since that time Jazz FM has consistently increased audience figures and, as well as continuing to bring great music to the listeners of London, Robbie has been instrumental in putting on two major smooth jazz gigs in the capital. The first of these was Guitars And Saxes in November 1999 which featured Peter White, Mark Antoine, Steve Cole and Dave Koz. More recently he brought Bob James to town for the Jazz FM tenth anniversary concert. Robbie is known for his saying ‘Let the Music Do The Talking.’ Although his many fans would agree that the groove is what matters it is certain that without Robbie Vincent doing the talking the soul and smooth jazz scene in the UK would be greatly diminished.

Tony Windle - Unframed Picture

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Word is that Tony Windle has a new CD due for release in May 2000. This being the case enthusiasts of smooth jazz could do worse than check out his current release Unframed Picture. Sacramento based Windle, describes his own music as, ‘New Adult Contemporary Pop, with a dash of jazz and ambient and a pinch of Latin…’ Well, I guess that pretty much covers all the bases but the point to make is that the music of TW is all about rhythm. As he says himself, ‘I have no time for words – I have taken all the elements of music that I truly love and have come up with a style that is my own’ So what feeling does Unframed Picture evoke? As could be expected from an album that includes sax superstar Eric Marienthal and percussionist Mombo Hernandez this is an accomplished and competent piece of smooth jazz. The fact that all but one of the tracks on this debut album are Tony Windle compositions is further testimony to the potential of this performer. However, there is one facet of his music that TW does not comment on but perhaps should. One of the primary vehicles for the music that we now know as smooth jazz, during those years when it lay undiscovered, has been the TV series theme. Dave Grusin with St Elsewhere and Bob James on Taxi come to mind. Equally and not to be overlooked is Chuck Loeb, with his theme from the Montel Williams show and credits for themes for CNN newscasts. Leaving aside the funky, track #1, ‘Casbah’, the haunting melody of track #2, ‘Unframed Picture’, and the great piano playing on track #3, ‘One’, it is the considered view of Secret Garden that the music of the album Unframed Picture is just crying out for a TV series to play over. So come on you Hollywood big shots, listen to track 4 ‘Clover Street’, track 5 ‘Inspirational’ or, particularly, track 8 ‘Destiny’, decide for yourself and give TW a call. He could be delivering the music on your next prime time ratings buster. One way or the other Tony Windle is a name that we will hear more of.

Smooth Soul Survivors
For a recording to be classed by Secret Garden as a Smooth Soul Survivor it must be a much loved smooth jazz track which has its origins deep in the soul music of the 60’s and 70’s. The intention is to encourage you to search out these items of buried treasure from the racks of your favourite record stores.
	This months Smooth Soul Survivor sums up just what the concept is meant to represent. Firstly it is a recording that has its origins deep in the soul music of the 70’s. Secondly it has been frequently covered by a variety of artists over the last twenty five years. Thirdly it has become firmly established as a much loved smooth jazz track. It is the Isley Brothers composition For The Love Of You which appeared on their 1975 album ‘The Heat Is On’ and which made #10 in the USA R and B charts in the same year. Before going down the memory lane of For The Love Of You it is worth pausing to reflect upon the contribution that the Isley Brothers have made to soul and smooth jazz over a period now spanning forty years. As performers, the group are known to all who have a love for soul music. As such they are broadly bracketed as ‘Motown’ performers. However, how many people realise that although the Isley Brothers signed to Motown in 1965, and had their smash hit ‘This Old Heart Of Mine’ while with them, this was their only major hit on the label and that in 1969 they moved on to resuscitate the T-Bone label. Also perhaps not widely known is the fact that for a band that clearly revelled in moments of classic smooth music they had, during the mid sixties, a distinctly non smooth performer in their backing band. This performer was Jimmy James who went on to cut his first solo records on the Isley’s T-Cut label under the name by which he was to become famous, Jimi Hendrix. The Isley Brothers actually date back to the fifties. Originally a quartet but reduced to a trio by the untimely death, in 1955, of Vernon Isley in a bicycling accident they scored a hit in 1959 with ‘Shout’. UK music fans will remember the cover version of this track by Lulu. They went on to spend two years with RCA. While with Atlantic they cut four singles and worked with legendary producers Leiber and Stoller. In addition they scored a hit with ‘Twist And Shout’ on the Wand label. The Beatles subsequently experienced great chart success with their cover version of the number. With the formation of T-Neck in 1969 the three older brothers invited guitarist Ernie Isley and bass player Marvin Isley to join the group together with brother in law and keyboard player Chris Jasper. After being a vocal trio for many years the band was now a self contained unit and it was this combination of musicians who penned ‘For The Love Of You’. Although in the mid seventies John Holt had offered the track his distinctive reggae feel on the album ‘1000 Volts Of Holt’ it was Earl Klugh that provided its first introduction to the smooth jazz genre, including it on his 1986 Life Stories. This interpretation can also be found on Klughs 1998 release The Best Of Earl Klugh and the compilation Best Of Smooth Jazz Volume 2 of the same year. The soul - jazz altoist Hank Crawford covered it on his 1988 album Night Beat and light soul superstar Whitney Houston featured the number on her 1987 Whitney. Into the nineties and the credits continued to come thick and fast. First up was Kim Waters with his 1991 recording Sax Appeal quickly followed by Doc Powell on his 1992 recording Doctor. 1994 saw Larry Coryell gave it his treatment on I'll Be Over You, Laverne Butler include it on his Day Dreamin' album and Norman Brown provide a Secret Garden favourite version on his release After The Storm. This Norman Brown example can also be found on the 1994 compilation JazzFusions One, which was featured, in the January 2000 edition of Secret Garden. In 1995 it was Jason Weaver on his album Luv Ambition and then, in 1997, three more examples came along. Bryan Carter on Whatever You Want, Charles Earland with Blowing Away The Blues and sometime Van Morrison collaborator, Candy Dulfer, on her album of the same name. In 1998 gospel rooted Gregory Owen featured it on his Conversions release. That’s what it’s all about. Twenty five plus years and numerous covers versions. Yet another excellent Smooth Soul Survivor.

If you have any comments on what you have found in this months Secret Garden please contact the Smooth Jazz Vibes Guest Book or e mail me on DenisPoole@AOL.com

Added: 4/3/2000