Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Our Mission
Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2015-2016 season is made possible, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation and other numerous foundations, corporations and individuals. As a courtesy to the artists and for the uninterrupted enjoyment of your fellow patrons, please turn off all cell phones, pagers, beepers and other electronic devices. Please unwrap any lozenges before the performance begins. No portion of this performance may be photographed, recorded, filmed, taped, broadcast or mechanically reproduced without the written consent of the Artist and/or the Presenter. Mayo Performing Arts Center is not responsible for lost or stolen items. FM KIRBY FOUNDATION
THE BLANCHE & IRVING LAURIE FOUNDATION
Media Partner
Jonny Lang and Robert Randolph & The Family Band Jonny Lang Sixteen years ago, at the age of 16, Jonny Lang found incredible success with the release of his major label debut album Lie To Me. Fame does not seem to have impacted him from being the same country farm boy from Fargo, ND who got his start in the local clubs of Minneapolis. He survived the passage of youth to adulthood, fell in love, began a family, and in the process passed through the life lessons we all endure. He has a keen sense of what he aims to achieve creatively, what music means to him, and is focused on the impact that his songs bring to the lives of those that encounter his repertoire. For Lang, with the release of Fight For My Soul, he is entering a chapter wherein he has found his true voice. When asked what he would tell his younger self if he was afforded the opportunity to share advise, he wisely answers, "I would say all of those voices steering you away from questionable decisions, listen to them. They are right." He has encountered many in the public eye through his career that approaches two decades. With those experiences, and the personality traits he has witnessed, he has a clarity of how he wants to be, and how he wants to treat others This sense of who he wants to be is the core of the album. Lang shares, "The inspiration for the songs on the record vary widely. Some are about personal struggles, some are focused on injustices I have seen. Some are random fictional stories that hopefully can relate to people in some way that is a blessing to them. I’ve wanted to make this album for a long time. Creatively, I think there is a lot more going on inside of me than I’ve been sharing on recordings." The album defies categorization by a single genre. The textured arrangements, broad worldview, gorgeous vocal melodies, and expressive guitar playing are what defines Fight For My Soul. It is unequivocally what Lang aimed to achieve over the long period he has been working on reaching a realized vision. He offers, "Much of what I've experienced through music and life in general is in these songs. I really like reaching out and connecting with people. For me, this is what it's all about. It keeps it fresh with different experiences every day." Lang has been working on the release for
three years with Producer Tommy Sims, who co-wrote Eric Clapton’s Grammy winning “Change the World.” The duo collaborated on the project from the ground up. The first step was fine-tuning the soulful numbers Lang demo’d at home. He relates, “Sometimes I write music that I could never imagine putting on a record, and thanks to Tommy's ability to see the continuity in these songs, where I might not have, they are on the album. Sims also brought in one number, the acoustic-electric soul-rocker “Blew Up (The House),” and played several instruments the album that include resonator guitar on that tune, and contributing world class bass guitar performances on select others. This grass roots approach was new to Lang, whose four earlier studio albums were written and crafted under the watch of his previous record labels. It was a welcome change. After Lang released his Grammy winning Turn Around in 2007, he made the decision to forego the major label route and became an independent artist. The first result was 2009’s Live At the Ryman, but Fight For My Soul, by its nature, is his first fully realized artistic achievement through his own label SayRai Music, featuring his own touring band: drummer Barry Alexander, bassist James Anton, rhythm guitarist Akil Thompson, keyboardist Dwan Hill and background vocalist Missi Hale. “Recording with the band for the first time was really gratifying,” says Lang. “They’re all amazing musicians and we’ve grown together musically and personally by playing hundreds of live shows. This served us well in the making of Fight For My Soul. Because of them, I have grown musically in ways I never thought I could, and it really is an honor to have them on this record." Lang’s full touring schedule as well as making his family a priority in his life, are the primary cause for the length of commitment it took to deliver this album. He reflects, " Between being with my family, and being out on the road touring, the last thing you want to do when home is to go and make a record. We have had to pick our spots to fit in recording time. In the last year, we've been able to work on it more consistently, and to finally wrap this thing up. And with the delivery to label partners Mascot in Europe and Concord for North America, he achieved what he set out to deliver offering, "I'm really happy with
the body of work we have for this one. It's kind of hard to be excited and know what the record was going to be like when the process is extended over such a long period of time. Today sitting here I am really proud of the recordings." As an artist he has evolved since he began the writing process. The sound of that evolution is all over Fight For My Soul. “What You’re Looking For” carefully layers banjo, guitars, spacey keyboards and a percussion sample to create a sonic dreamscape for its story of searching for life’s essentials — faith, love, hope. The arrangement of “We Are the Same” evokes the freewheeling spirit of Motown’s Psychedelic Shack era. The path Lang has been on has brought him the opportunity to interact with some of the most respected legends in music. On the way up, he shared the stage with The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, Aerosmith, Sting, and Buddy Guy, who he continues to tour with today. As a 12-year-old, he began a journey in Fargo, ND that has brought him to points across the Globe, and as he looks on the upcoming near-term future, he shares, "With this album, I really look forward to bringing our music to people in places where I've never been before. Music is one of the greatest conveyers of ideas and emotions, and in a sense that doesn’t have as much to do with the individual performing, but the power of the connection. One of my goals is the music can be a blessing to the people listening to it in some way. And if Fight For My Soul can help somebody by making them feel better or that they’re not alone, that’s my idea of success for this album.” Robert Randolph When Robert Randolph talks about his new album, Lickety Split, a few words come up over and over—"joy," "freedom," "energy." Which is no surprise, really, because those are the same things that immediately spring into a listener's mind when these twelve tracks from the virtuoso pedal steel guitarist and his longtime accompanists, the Family Band, explode out of the speakers. "My thing is really upbeat, uptempo, with great guitar riffs," says Randolph, summarizing his musical ambitions, "but also catchy choruses and lyrics that someday will make this music into classic tunes." “Robert Randolph is an American Original," says Don Was, President of Randolph's new label, Blue Note Records. "He has mastered
what is, arguably, the most complex instrument in the world and developed a unique voice that is equal parts street-corner church and Bonnaroo. This album finally captures the energy and excitement of his legendary live performances.” But for Randolph, the road to Lickety Split—his first studio recording in three years—wasn't an easy path. Though his distinctive mix of rock, funk, and rhythm & blues continued to earn a rapturous response from a fervent, international audience, he felt that he had lost some of the enthusiasm and intensity that had driven him to make music in the first place. "We just weren't being creative musically," he says. "Being on the road 280 days a year, you wind up playing too much and it isn't fun anymore. Soon, you stop being that concerned about how good you can be, how important it is to create and write. You kind of lose sight of that, of being focused on your craft and spending time with your instrument. I've become more in love with my guitar now, and staying relaxed and practicing and trying to create different sounds." The new album showcases the unique chemistry of the Family Band—comprised of the guitarist's actual family members Marcus Randolph, Danyel Morgan, and Lenesha Randolph, together with guitarist Brett Haas. The eleven original compositions, plus a stomping cover of "Love Rollercoaster" by the Ohio Players, were produced by Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Danyel Morgan, Marcus Randolph, Tommy Sims, Drew Ramsey, and Shannon Sanders; engineered by the legendary Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin); and feature special guest appearances from Trombone Shorty and Carlos Santana. Randolph notes that the title track of Lickety Split (on which his sister sings the hook) is one of his favorites. "What's great about that one is that it's something we actually played in church, just like that," he says. "There's a section in the service called the 'Jubilee Jam Session Time,' and I can show you video where we played that very same riff." But if there's one track on the album that captures the band's new spirit, it's one that started as a jam session in a Nashville studio during a break in recording, and later came to be titled "Born Again." "It's about finding the joy again," says Randolph. "At first it was more of a love song, the sense you get when you find the right person, but then as we were recording this new music with a whole new
sense of direction, and feeling free again, that all came into it. It's not a religious thing, it's just new energy—which is really the old energy that I had at the beginning of my career." Robert Randolph & The Family Band first gained national attention with the release of the album Live at the Wetlands in 2002. The band followed with three studio recordings over the next eight years—Unclassified, Colorblind, and We Walk This Road— which, together with tireless touring and unforgettable performances at such festivals as Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, won them an expanding and passionate fan base. Randolph's unprecedented prowess on his instrument garnered him a spot on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list, and also attracted the attention of such giants as Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana, who have collaborated with him on stage and in the studio. "What I've learned from being around those guys—and you never really notice it until the moment is away from you—is that it's really important to them that someone keeps original music going, that you're not just trying to be like everybody else," he says. "Eric really wants to know what's going on now, he's always going 'Show me that lick again!'— they're like little kids, and that's really the great part about it. It makes me think that I need to keep getting better, to stay excited and keep trying to be innovative and keep growing." Most recently, Randolph has attempted to amplify the tradition from which he came by executive producing the Robert Randolph Presents the Slide Brothers album, a recording which features some of the older "sacred steel" players from the House of God church who inspired him to pick up an instrument. "This is part of my whole story, which a lot of people don't understand," he says. "In our church organization, playing lap steel in church has been going on since the 1920s. These guys were my mentors, my Muddy Waters and B.B. Kings. Thinking that I started this style is like saying Stevie Ray Vaughan was the first guy to play the blues. I wanted to do this record so that everybody could understand the story and start connecting the dots." He is also taking a bold new step by remodeling an abandoned school building in his hometown of Irvington, New Jersey and opening the Robert Randolph Music and Arts
Program. "There hasn't been any arts in the schools, period, since I was in high school," he says. "So my whole motivation changed to a full-on effort to get these kids into music, and also find out what other passions they have and try to offer that. These kids don't have anything to do, they don't have any hope." With a new label, a new dedication to his craft, and a new sense of responsibility in his life off-stage, it seems like Lickety Split might also represent the urgency Robert Randolph is bringing to all of his efforts these days. "I'm still undiscovered, and that's really the best thing about it," he says. "Now we have the chance to present the music right, and have the story told right, and for me to be focused on being an ambassador for inner-city kids and a role model, and also an ambassador for my instrument and as an artist. As all these things happened, it got fun again."