Remembering Joe Sample! During The Making Of My Third Album DARKMN, I Had A Conversation With The Label Executive Hillery Johnson About Who I Wanted To Feature On This Album. I Was Featuring An Artist/Musician That I Was Inspired By While Coming Up In The Industry. I Had Already Featured Guru Jerry Peters On My First Release Project, And Legend George Duke On My Second Release Got That Thang! So, I Was Asked Craig T, Who Do You Want For This? My Reply JOE SAMPLE, If You Think You Can Get Him! This Exec Was Magic! He Knew Everyone, And Everyone Knew Him From Being A Veteran In The Biz! I Had The Perfect Song In Mind To Feature Mr Sample On, And Was Anxious To Have Him Play On It! A Few Days Later, I Got A Phone Call From None Other Than JOE SAMPLE! We Talked Briefly About What I Needed (Fender Rhodes or Acoustic Piano), I Told Him, I Was Huge On The Approach He Did With The Hunter, So Acoustic Piano PLEASE! I Would Usually Record At My Studio, CraigLand, But At The Time I Didnt Have A Acoustic Grand Piano. Within A Weeks Time, We Were Blessed To Get The Famous (Quincy Jones/Michael Jackson Go To) Westlake Recording Studio, Room #A (Santa Monica)! If You Didnt Know By Now, I WAS ON CLOUD TWELVE... LOL! Im Living A Dream Come True! As I Walked In The Room, With My 2 Inch Reel-To-Reel 456 Ampex Tape Masters In Hand! Hillery and Joe Were Already There At The Piano! I Felt Like I Was Late, But I Wasnt! You Are Suppose To Arrive Well Before The Given Time When Spending $500. An Hour On Studio Time, Especially When You Dont Own The Studio (LESSONS LEARNT)! I Had A Cassette Of The Song, So I Played It While Explaining The Chords, Structure, Texture and Approach That I Needed Him To Play! I Gave Joe The Title Of The Song, So He Could Reach In And Feel My Story! The Title Was Thats The Spot! Now Said To Be One Of My Classic Recordings! The Engineer Put On The Tape, Adjusted The Faders, And Now Its Time To Record... RED LIGHTS, BAMM! As Joe Played, I WAS GOING CRAZY! His Sound, His Notes, His Energy WAS INCREDIBLE! Because Of The Live Microphones, I Could Hear Him Breathing, Humming And Singing While Touching The Ebonies And Ivories Of That Famous Yamaha Grand Piano, Played By Only THE Best! After A Few Takes, He Nailed It! He Joined Us In The Control Room To Listen! He Seemed As Excited As I Was, Just Enjoying The Atmosphere. He Went To The Remote And Pushed The STOP Button, Looked At Hillery, And Then Turned To Me And Said Do You Have Another Poem I Could Play On? ...(Im Not Even Ashamed Of The Tears Coming From My Eyes Right Now)... The Biggest Smile Appeared On My Face, And Said To The Engineer Go To Last Song On The Tape, Please! Im Literally In LaLa Land Right About Now! We Went Through The Same Procedure, And I Gave Him The Next Title A Reason For Love! Once Again, Said To Be Another Craig T Classic! This Recording Was A Little More Identifiable, Being Id Already Recored The Vocals By The Angel and Songbird Julie Delgado! Joe Added That Soulful Magic Once Again To My Babies, And The Rest Is History! This Was The Beginning Of A Great Friendship That I Will Treasure Forever! The Last Time I Saw Joe And Performed With Him, Was At Fellow Jazz Crusader, Wayne Hendersons Home-Going (Another Great Story)! We Sat On A Piano Bench And Talked Back Stage For A Good While, Speaking On How He Thought Hed Be The First To Pass And Being In Shock Of Waynes Passing Before Him. It Was A Very Emotional Conversation. I Was Able To Tell Him What A Blessing He Was By Gracing My Record With His Gift. That Man Turned Right Around And Said, Craig T, Thank You For Blessing Me Also! I Told Him I Loved Him, And Gave Him A Fragile Hug! My Life Has Been Truly Blessed, To Have Been Surrounded By Soo Many Gifted Angeles! I Thank God For Allowing Me To Live In His Playground Called Music! ...Love Craig T! Ladies And Gentlemen! ... Guest Featured Soloist! ...Off My Darkmn CD! ...On Thats The Spot! .....My Friend, The Legend, The Pianist, The Crusader, The Hunter, The Man! ....JOE SAMPLE (RIP)
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 01:24:02 +0000
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