AN interview with
richard niles
Question: Niles Smiles was written and recorded over a period of six years. Why did it take so long?
Richard Niles: “Bandzilla Rises!!!”, released in 2016, was only the second album of my jazz orchestra, BANDZILLA. The first was released back in 1987, 21 years later! So maybe six years isn’t that long. The truth is that when you don’t have money, you can’t buy a burger. One of my first music jobs was working with singer/songwriter Cat Stevens. And one of the things he told me was that the key to making great records was “Time and Money”. You need a lot of time, both to get things right, and to hire the best musicians and studios - and that costs money. But, contrary to what most people think, I don’t have a lot of money. I’ve been a ‘backroom boy’. So for both my guitar albums, Santa Rita, and Club Deranged, I’ve relied on the kindness of some incredibly talented people who actually played for free. Many people think the ‘pandemic’ slowed me down, but actually, it kind of helped. Musicians were at home with some spare time. I was just lucky they wanted to spend it on my music.
Q: How did you choose the players who would be right for this unusual and demanding music?
RN: Why do artists create? It’s our way to deal with mortality, to leave something behind that says, ‘This is what I feel about life. Here are the things I have found fascinating.’ And although I’ve had a very active career in Pop music, Jazz has always been my starting point. Over the last 45 years, I’ve been working in studios and doing concerts with incredibly gifted musicians. I heard a young Indian film director today on the radio talking about “finding his crew”, his team of like-minded people. And over the years I have a floating ‘crew’ of people who understand ‘my thing’. That’s quite an amazing thing because what I do with music is an unusual mix of ideas.
Q: O.K. How would you explain what that is?
RN: Obviously it’s a combination of my love for Jazz, Pop, and Soul. And it was definitely my specific goal with Niles Smiles to make it decidedly funky! I have loved the music of James Brown, and Randy Brecker, since I was a teen in the 1960s. To be able to work with both of them is more than any boy could wish for. But I also love the art of songwriting. My Dad, Tony Romano was a singer/songwriter/guitarist, and he worked a lot with Johnny Mercer, one of the great lyricists. Then in the 60s, like everyone else of my generation, I was listening to Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. I was also very fond of the satirical songs of Tom Lehrer, and I saw direct line from Lehrer to Frank Zappa. And I believe it’s imperative that a contemporary artist respond to their time. So, I comment on ideas and sounds, and those are the influences that are very evident on Niles Smiles. Lots of funk and jazz attitude, with a lot of humor.
Q: Hence, the title Niles Smiles.
RN: Well, that’s the name of my company and of course it’s taken from the Miles Davis album, Miles Smiles. In fact, the cover, and the back cover of the vinyl record, is designed like the Miles cover. And I write stuff that makes me smile. As they say in London, ‘Ya gotta laugh, innit?’
Q: Tell me a little about the things you want people to hear on the album.
RN: The album starts with a multi-tracked choir by the incredible vocal phenomenon Kim Chandler. I don’t have a big band this time but I have the 3-part brass section pitted against Kim’s vocal section. My vocal arrangements are rather complex and require the highest standards of technique, taste, and stamina. I actually don’t think there is anyone who can do what Kim does. Her intonation is SO perfect and her time and phrasing is SO accurate. Yet she manages to be emotional and groove like hell!
Q: And the brass is pretty impressive!
RN: Yes, I’m lucky to have my friend John Thirkell on trumpet who I’ve worked with since the early 80s. No one knows my music better and he was a founder member of BANDZILLA. Because I was doing the album between California and London, it was great to have John as a co-producer. I’m also always grateful for his advice. John recorded his parts first. He’s such an accomplished player, not only in jazz but performing on so many pop hits for so many years. So, he knows exactly how to play my parts. Then Snake Davis on sax phrased his parts to John. Snake and I have done a lot of great work together over the years and it was so much fun to have him on these tracks. And his solos are so snaky, and slithery! Joey Sellers is an incredibly respected trombonist and composer, and is the Head of Jazz at Saddleback College, near where I live. He took the solos but was very busy, so he recommended his incredible student, Elijah Parra, to play the written parts. This was Elijah’s first jazz recording, and it really was a ‘baptism by fire’!
Q: Your son Alexander Niles contributes some great textures and solos.
RN: Yes, I’m so lucky to be able to work with Alex. He’s an amazing musician, and he understands my sense of humor. I taught him from the age of 3, but I’m older, and now he’s teaching me! He brings to the record a knowledge of the tradition of jazz combined with what’s happening now - and of course the fearlessness of youth.
Q: Steve Hamilton plays wonderful piano on Monochrome Velvet.
RN: Steve is another old friend and a beautiful musician and composer. He’s played fantastically on both my solo albums. This song was written to evoke the Bill Evans duets with Jim Hall - some of my favorite musicians of all time. So, I asked Steve who has always had a rich, introspective touch on the piano. I am so lucky to have been able to do this recording with him. I think writing is like a composer making a wish, and for me, this wish came true.
Q: Now, this is definitely a groove-oriented album.
RN: Oh yes, that was always what I wanted this to be. And the thing that brings the groove right to your bedroom is Ian Palmer. I’ve been fortunate to work with him since the BANDZILLA RISES!!! album. He comes from a family of drummers - Carl Palmer is his uncle - and he plays with an amazing mixture of relaxed looseness and fire. Then you add the great Mark Egan on bass, and you have a solid powerhouse of rhythm that would make any backbone slip! Mark has been a friend since we worked together on Pat Metheny’s American Garage record. Being a great composer, he has an added edge on how to understand the intent of a piece and how to express it. He was also on my solo albums, so he really knows how to make Niles smile!
Q: With the grooves, quite short solos, and relatively short tracks, was it your intention to make this a radio-friendly record?
RN: Yes, that was quite deliberate. I listen to radio in the car a lot and I have been a BBC jazz broadcaster for 20 years in London. So, I love the medium of communicating with sound. I’ve always thought of myself primarily as a composer. Much of jazz today is generic rather than original. But I believe the jazz tradition demands innovation. So although this is a rather funky affair, I’m always interested in ‘subverting’ whatever genre I may be working within. You can do that by a fusion of other styles, or by just throwing an elephant into the room! And that’s what this album has to offer. Apart from the ballad Monochrome Velvet, each track has a humorous point to make about itself, but with a serious intent. A good example is The Truth. Superficially, it’s kind of a blues/soul track that might have been played in the 1960s in a London club. As a teenager, I used to go to clubs like Tiles, The Marquee Club, and the 100 Club to see The Who, Ten Years After, The Pretty Things, and Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band. Imagine my delight when I contacted Zoot through Facebook, and he agreed to play organ on the track. Beyond the music, I think it’s pretty obvious that the song is about our current political climate where science and evidence are being discounted as “fake news”. People favor what they believe over factual evidence. So Kim sings, “There’s nothing as true as the Truth. You don’t have to believe it.”
Q: Will you be taking the Octet on the road?
RN: Of course, that is my dream. But what music lovers don’t appreciate is how expensive it is to do gigs. It’s boring but taking 8 musicians and a sound engineer out, you have to pay them, put them in a hotel, feed them, transport them. So, we’re talking now to managers and agents and record labels to see if we can make that dream a reality!