A Conversation with Saxophonist Gerald Albright

On today's episode, host Louis Carr speaks with Gerald Albright, American jazz saxophonist and musician.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm Louis Carr. Post to the Blueprint Connect podcast. The
Blueprint Connect podcast is an extension of the Blueprint Men Summer,
where we have consistently given men a prescription bookprint not
just for themselves, but also for their families and their communities.
During these podcasts, we will educate and motivate our listeners

(00:22):
about entrepreneurship, careers, finances, health and wellness, and relationship. And
on today's episode, we have the great privilege of talking
to the Ikon of Saxophonists Basis overall musician General Albright.
Welcome to Thank you, Lewis. Appreciate the invite, Thank you,

(00:46):
Thank you here. Where are you at today? Well, I'm
at home in Council Rock, Colorado, where we moved in
two thousand five. And uh, you know, it's cold outside.
It's snowed a couple of days ago, believe or not May,
But uh, we're here just getting some work done in
the house and uh and everything's good. Life is good

(01:07):
right now. So, Jarr, you're originally from the l A area.
I am. I'm I'm from South central l A. Watts, California.
Oh wow, the kind of south central and why oh yeah,
absolutely so Jerald. Were you born with a gift to
play or was this something that you've learned over years?

(01:32):
How did you start? Well, the catalyst was my parents. Actually,
you know most uh black families that the mom and
dad usually think, well, it'd be nice if our child
was stout started with piano lessons. And we had this
upright piano in our then as we were growing up,
and nobody was really touching it. So I was that guy.

(01:55):
And it so happened that a gentleman named George Turpo,
who was the choir director at our church, UM also
had students during the course of the week that he taught,
and so, uh, my mom and dad hired him to
give me weekly piano lessons, which I absolutely hated. Didn't
like it. Uh, piano didn't feel good to me at

(02:18):
the age of eight years old, nine years old, Uh,
learning scales while I'm looking out the window and I'm
seeing my partners playing football and basketball down the street,
That's what I wanted to do. UM. So after a
few weeks, I'm not being prepared for my lessons. Subsequently, UH,
my music teacher had to talk with my parents and said, hey,

(02:40):
we need to put Gerald on another instrument and unannounced,
and the next lesson he brought an old king Alto
saxophone to my house. And you know, I looked puzzled
when he walked in the door with this case, and
I was like, what's going on? M turpo, And he said, well,
we're gonna do something different today, and he opened the
case and that you can smell the his you in
the case. Uh. It had been in his garage for

(03:02):
many years. It's an instrument that he played in the
Armies years prior. And so we had a saxophone lesson.
And when I made my first squeak, I loved it.
It was something that at the age of eight or nine,
you know, it's like a toy to me. I could
blow through it, I could press these cool little keys.
I can make a sound out of it. Um. It

(03:24):
felt good and I was inclined to play it. So
that's where it all started, Louis um and I've been,
as they say, squeaking ever since for decades. So well, Gerald,
we had a little something in curb Uh at the
age of eight. Uh. We had an old piano in
our house, all right, and I was forced to take

(03:45):
piano lessons. Uh. And then forced to join the school
choir and the church choir. Uh. And my mother was
sure that I was gonna be a music major in college,
and I was sure that I was not. Are you
sure we didn't have the same family, the same parent,

(04:08):
but but clearly you found your talent. I struggle around
even to day, Jeel. I can get on and play
a few chords, you know, I really focused. I can
play a song or two. I did become a youth
choet director in our church, but it was all begrudgingly,
all right. Uh, So clearly you have went on into greatness,

(04:30):
and I went on to do a few other things
in life. So you you you sort of adapted to
the Sacks immediately. Yeah. It felt like an immediate oneness
for me. Um. Uh. And it just came from nowhere.
You know. I never dreamt to be a saxophonist or anything.

(04:53):
I owe all of that platform to my music teacher,
George Turpol. And that's when my interest changed. And uh.
And then my older brother had James Brown Records in
the house, and we used to listen to James Brown
and gospel music all day, all night, and within the

(05:15):
experience of hearing the Godfather soul. There was this really
cool sacks player named Maceo Parker, uh that he would
call upon to do a solo and I'm hearing this,
this cool alto sacks, and I'm like, I want to
sound like him. So he was my first mentor. And ironically, uh,
here in the past couple of years, I've been doing

(05:37):
jazz festivals with Maco, so everything is going full circle. Uh,
And that's that's been the blessing and all of it.
And my other guy, of course, on the technical side
of the instrument is Cannonball Adderley, who could play pretty
much anybody under the table with jazz improvisation. But the
thing I loved about him is that he had so
much soul in his approach to the sacks. And so

(06:00):
my sound basically is a marriage between Cannonball and Maco
with a sprinkle of g A in the middle. So
did as you started to play sacks, did you inherently
pick it up, whether it's just something that was just
easy to you, or did you really have to work
at it in practice, real hard. Well, I've learned it

(06:23):
very quickly. And then in the elementary school we had
a little I guess we can call it a combo
um that certain days of the week, we had a
teacher that you know, we practiced with. And I just
fell in love with camaraderie of playing with other kids
and being able to create the music together with these

(06:44):
kids in elementary school and and so the interests just
started there, and it just evolved through junior high school
and high school. And I was fortunate enough to go
to Elane leroy Lock High School, which was the breeding
ground for a lot of the music suessians and vocalists
that you're here today. Uh. Two or three members of
Earth when in Fire went through that school. Um. Ricky Miner,

(07:08):
who is who I call uh little Quincy Jones. Now,
I mean he's kind of like, uh the TV and
movie guy. Now he does all the Grammys and Emmy's,
and he's doing a lot of big stuff. He's done
halftime shows at the super Bowl and the whole thing.
So I'm around these people and I'm living and breathing
all this talent. Patrice Russian went to the high school. Uh.

(07:31):
Daniel Lamel who was Rick James saxophonists went to the
high school. Uh. So, and then we had great teachers
Mr Frank Harris and Donald Dustin, so that that was
the platform that I had to show up and play
around every day. So I had to keep my game up,
you know, and and and then it became a competition,

(07:51):
you know, with with other musicians. And then obviously you
just get better as you're trying to, you know, get
to the next level of being first share in the
concert band or whatever you're gonna compete against. You know.
So did you ever ask your your your teacher, George,
what made him think that you could play sacks versus

(08:12):
the piano? Well, there was It was pretty much a
no brainer. There was no progress on the piano at all.
He wasn't getting anywhere with me on piano. But um,
it was something within him, I guess him hanging out
with me on a weekly basis where he just had
an inkling. Well, let me try saxophone with Gerald and
see if he would would have interest in it. And

(08:35):
I surely did, and um and the rest is history,
as they say. So, so we're gonna say, Gerald that
George was way making number one regards to your your
your music career. George Turpo absolutely was way maker number one. Yes,
well that that that that's absolutely amazing. So when did

(08:58):
you really, guys that you were sort of super talented,
that you you were not just the average saxophonist or
the average musician, that you really had something special. At
what age did that kind of hit you? I'm gonna say,
Louis at the pivotal point was high school. Again. I

(09:19):
was around musicians like Patrise, Russian and all these folks,
and and my music teacher, Donald Dustin, uh treated me
a little different than the other musical students. Uh. And
there was a few students, a handful of students. Gary
Bias who is now with Earthmen and Fire and has

(09:40):
been with Earthmen Fire horn section for probably thirty years. Uh,
we were best friends. We still are and for many
years we sounded alike because we would play side by
side with one another in marching band and concert band
and jazz band, and and then Donald Dustin would let

(10:00):
us go to M ten, which is the room it was.
It was just a private room in the bungalow where
we had all of our rehearsals and practices. And he
would say to me and Garrett, you guys go down
and you just practice your licks. Go practice what you
need to practice. And if Gary Bias learned the new
lick on the saxophone, he would be anxious to show

(10:23):
me the lick. And then if I learned a new liking,
Gary check this out. So we were playing the same
licks for years up until we went to college together. Well,
we didn't go to college together. We went to separate
separate institutions. But once he went to col Stell Cow State,
l A. And I went to the University of Redlands,
then we had other influences and when we came back

(10:44):
to play together, we sounded totally there. But to answer
your question, that was high school was the pivotal point
where I knew that there was something going on within
me and the horn that was special, and that was
a passion for me, and that's something that I wanted
to really improve upon. And uh, when I went to college,

(11:05):
same deal, you know, I just wanted to learn. Uh.
In fact, where you're a music major in college, I
was a music minor. Actually my minor in music performance.
I'm major in business management and that's what I got
my degree in, which of course is apropos for the
music business. You got to know how to read contracts
and and redefined print and the whole deal. So the

(11:28):
marriage between the major and the minor was a great
emphasis on what I'm doing now only my own record
company and things like that these days. So it's a
good thing that That's great. We'll be right back with
more of my interview after this quick break. You've played

(11:53):
with some of the biggest names in the business, whether
it's you know, Whitney, Houston, Needer, Baker, Trace, Russian, Uh,
you the wine is, You've you've covered the gamut. How
and when did you start getting those type of gigs.
Was it in college, after college or was it happening staffs?

(12:14):
Was it playing How did all of that happen? Well, um,
it was right after college. I had graduated and at
that point, now I have to establish credit, you know,
I have to start making money. And I lived with
my godparents, who were our next door neighbors growing up,
Leanna and Leroy Stafford. Namely that's their soul, and so

(12:38):
I stayed with them, and I worked at Woolwork's department
store for eight months as an assistant manager trainee, a
job which I truly detested, but I had to make,
you know, some money so I could pay rent and
you know, pay my bills and things. Like that. Um,
Mrs Hutchins was my boss at the time. She looked like, uh,

(13:01):
a labri librarian. She wore these these skinny glasses and
she walked around she always looked above her glasses, you know.
And uh, but she was a great boss. And long
story short, she knew that I wasn't there to try
to get a career at Woolworth. She knew that I
was a musician. And about eight or nine months into

(13:23):
the job there, um, Patrice Russian called me and that
this is when her single Forget Me Nots, which was
her biggest single, was at the apex of radio and popularity.
And um, and I actually I was blessed to do
the sax solo on that on that song. And she
called she said, Gerald, you know, I'm getting ready to

(13:43):
go on the road and we're gonna be gone for
about two or three months. I would love for you
to be a part of the horn section. I'm like, absolutely,
this is what I've been wanting to do from forever.
But the dilemma was, you know, you always have to
give your job to notice and uh so I went
to Mrs Suttons and I said, Miss Suttons, and she

(14:05):
looked in my eyes and said, Okay, here we go. Yeah,
I said, uh and uh, I said, I got a
call and I have to pursue my music career. I'm
going on the road, and I wanted to know if
I could be exempt from the two week notice. And

(14:25):
she says absolutely. Gerald, She says, I knew that this
day would come. You've been a great employee, and uh,
I would never want to dilute your passion in any way,
So go do it, so be it. And from that point,
Um I went on the road with the Trees and
she was way Maker number two and UM had the

(14:48):
pleasure of touring with her for probably three or four
years off and on, and it was just, you know,
a wonderful platform. And then my name started getting around
the Los Angeles area about you know, Jerald All writes
out with the race Russian. So when I came back home,
I had kind of a reputation for doing uh, you know,
uh basically road work and then developing session work on

(15:11):
different records. And that's that's when I started getting calls
for uh, pretty consistent work as a musician. So so so, Jarald,
you name two people who who are waymakers and one
of the things that young people ask me a constant
basis is how do you get away maker? Uh? Do

(15:34):
you choose them? Or are you chosen? And it seemed
like in both of these cases you were chosen. So
I'm gonna ask you the same question that young people
asked me. How do you set yourself up? How do
you prepare yourself to be chosen by a waymaker? What
are the things that you do well? I think? And

(15:55):
I learned this early on. Relationships are I was the
biggest part of the pie in terms of escalating and
whatever your passion is. Uh. Someone once said that if
you hang around nine losers, more than likely you'll be
number ten if you if you hang around nine wealthy people,

(16:17):
more than likely you'll be the tenth wealthy person. And
so I found myself wanting to stay to be amongst
great people, you know, and and just keep that happening
on a daily basis, making new relationships, keeping things positive, uh,
internally saying to myself every day, Hey, I want to
do something better today that I didn't do yesterday, and

(16:40):
just try to be a better person on a daily basis.
And and that's that's basically been the story of my life.
I've I've been put in certain positions where where way
makers would because I was there and I was ready
for whatever was happening happening at that time. Um, I
was able to get a gig because of my reputation

(17:00):
that preceded me and and the way that I conducted
myself around those people that I was in real time
or you know, around and dealing and doing business with. Wow,
that's that's that's absolutely amazing. So you get this great career. Now.
The next question that people ask me, also journalists, how

(17:22):
has it lasted so long? Well, it's uh, it lasted
so long. I think passion is a driving force. Um,
if you're doing something that you would do for free,
I think it will last because you know I of
course I partially partially got into it for the money

(17:43):
because I had to make a living. I mean, I
got kids, I got a wife, blah blah blah blah,
gotta do that. But the the the oath that I
took as a musician was and I've done many gigs
for free. Mind you, I have stories, but but you know,
if you if you do it for free, uh, it's
probably something that you can do for life. And I think. Uh.

(18:06):
The other part of the pie is having good integrity. Um,
you know, having good business relationships with people. When they
call your show up on time, be prepared, um, go
that extra mile that they didn't expect while you were
there to make sure that they're comfortable with having called
you for whatever there vision was at the time. And

(18:30):
I think that's what promotes longevity, Lewis, is just being
the best person you can be around people and just
being a being in a giving mode versus a taking
mode all the time. If you if you give, you'll
receive tenfold a hundredfold. So so, Jerald, here's a question.
I know that you guys always hate all right, but
I'm gonna ask it anyway. So you've performed all over

(18:54):
the world. You performed with some of the biggest names.
Give me your top three favorite performances. I know you
hate it. I hate give me the top three. I
don't wanna say the top one. Top three? Wow, top three. Um,
I would have to say Whitney Houston was number one.

(19:19):
God rest just vote. Um. The reason why I say
with me is because that was the first time I
had really performed for people in mega fashion. I mean,
we would play for crowds. For with me, that was
just a sea of people, you know. And I would
be on stage and Whitney on certain nights would be

(19:43):
so on vocally that I was I would forget that
I'm a musician backing her up and I'm watching the
show like the rest of the people, you know, and
I'd have to regroup, you know, And it was just
I was very much in awe her of her, you know,
she was just a great person, very personable with her
and with the musicians. And uh when she left us, man,

(20:03):
it was like somebody threw a brick aff you know.
Number two would be Phil Collins. Um. Phil took me
all over the world. Um. The crowds were even bigger. Um.
And as I stood on stage with Phil, the thing
that kept going through my mind was, Okay, there's sixty

(20:25):
people out there we're looking at and they came to
see this one guy, you know, and that fascinated me.
So as a musician wanted to be a recording artist
in my own regard, you know, that's that's like fuel
for me. I want to do that. I want to
reach that, you know. Number three I would have to
say I sat in with earth Wind and Fire. There's

(20:51):
a venue called the City of Lights downtown Denver, and
Philip Bailey called me and said, hey, man, we're in
town performing. Once you come to the show, bring your horn.
I'm like what, I'm like, what, bring my heart? Yeah?
Bring your horn, man. And so I went to the

(21:13):
City of Lights, got backstage, and Phillips says, okay um
on the song reasons I mean Gary Bias, who we
spoke of early earlier. He normally does a sack solo,
but for tonight, I want you to do the sack solo.
And of course, being the biggest fan of Earth when
the fire, I knew the solo like the back of
my hand. So of course the City of Lights venue

(21:37):
was was just full maximum capacity, and they broke down
the song. I'm reliving it so vividly right now. Uh.
They broke down the song and I came to the
mic and I played the first two notes that Donald
Meyrick actually played on the original recording, and the crowd
just went wild. And that feeling of acceptance and embrace

(22:01):
I will never forget. And and I was just sitting
in with the band at that point. I wasn't even working,
but because earth Wind and Fire was and is one
of my favorite all time groups. Um. You know, it
was just the greatest compliment for Philip to invite me
to play just that little segment of the song. You know,

(22:22):
it's all good. So that's the top three. That was
a hard top three Lewis. But but but I can
tell you this, they're no slouts. Uh, that's all tall
cotton as they would say, Hey, there you go, thank you.
We'll be right back with more of my interview after

(22:44):
this quick break. But for aspiring musicians that are maybe
listening to this or who were trying to find their way,
what would be the top three of four things you
would tell them to do? Uh As if they could
sit in a room with you and say, give me

(23:05):
some advice on what to do, I would say Number one, Um,
be objective and be very honest within yourself. There are
certain people who are designed who are wired to be
a musician or vocalist. There are many who are not. Uh.
And for those who aren't, you have to recognize that

(23:28):
you may not have the talent to get to the
next level. But if you do, you have to be
able to recognize it. From that point, I have to
say number two is letting those students know that there's
no show, no shortcuts in this business. You have to
do the work. You have to be passionate about it.
You have to be you know, in your bedroom or

(23:49):
your practice room or wherever you practice and really refine
your craft. You know, find those mentors that really speak
to you, like Maco and Cannibal spoke to me. And
study them, you know, don't copy them, but but get
enough of their essence to where you can develop your
own sound, which in turn develop your own brand. Uh.

(24:11):
Number three, being in the music business, you have to
learn the business of music. You have to learn how
to read contracts. You have to learn how to pick
a good manager, pick a good entertainment lawyer, pick a
good booking agent. Um. Uh. I would say number four,
learn the Internet, as you so eloquently mentioned earlier right now,

(24:35):
which we didn't have back in the day. The Internet
is the basis for anybody who wants to be an
independent recording artist. Uh, you know, take your career in
your own hands. Uh. There's a lot of millionaires that
have developed through YouTube, through Instagram, you know, just sitting
at home, uh, figuring out their concepts that people will

(24:58):
will monetize for you and um, and then number five,
I would say, just be the best person you can be. Uh,
treat people well, UM, treat people the way you would
want to be treated in the business and outside of
the business, and always keep great people around you. I
think that's I think that's the formula for for my

(25:19):
being in the business so long. You know, thank you
for that. So what's next for you? Well, I have
a brand new EP called g Stream to turn it Up.
I just found out yesterday we're number number two on
the Billboard Smooth Jazz Radio Play chart. Uh. If we
make it to number one, that will be four number

(25:41):
ones in a row, between the three songs from my
previous c D and this new single. So we're promoting
the new record. Uh. We're on the road uh doing
the new music, and people have really uh embraced the
new music as well as all the oldest stuff that
I've done. And Uh, I'm blessed to have me two
projects out there. So UM, it gets harder and harder

(26:04):
to figure out which songs too to play for folks
if everybody has their favorite. But basically, UH, to answer
your question, I'm just promoting myself, my brand my new music. Um,
you know, keeping the family intact. You know, I'm a
new grandpa, and yeah, thank you. I have a two
year old grandson and the next month I'll have a granddaughter.

(26:28):
She's coming, she's gonna make her appearance. And so life
is good, and um, I'm content. I can't complain. Man,
God has been very good to me. So there our
final question. You have been our artists through multiple decades
and multiple genres. It's music harder today or easier today

(26:52):
than it was some forty years ago. Um, I would
say it's it's easier if you have the platform to
make it easier. I made a decision in two thousand

(27:13):
fifteen to become an independent artist after all of those
years of being on the record label. I've probably been
on five or six record labels in my career, having
three or four managers, you know, two or three booking agents,
lawyers all that. I decided I had an epiphany one
more and I woke up and I said, I gotta

(27:34):
take my career back in my own hands. It's about
legacy now, it's about ownership of your masters and things.
So I think the answer to your question is, um,
how deep does a person want to go to grab
their career by their own hands to make it work.
If you want to rely on a plethora of of

(27:55):
other people to speak on your behalf, you're taking a chance,
you know. But if you have your finger on the
pulst with every aspect of your business, I think it's
easier because the only one that can fail at that
point is you, you know, So you've gotta make it work.
And again, as we said earlier, you know you have
the internet, um, and you have a lot of things

(28:16):
working for you these days that we didn't have back
in the day. UM. And I think I think it's
easier these days. Um. But it's all a mindset, you know.
You just have to be ready to take on the
task and and uh. And you know, if you go
from A to Z through your vision, you'll make it
work because you got to you. But I want to

(28:42):
thank you for this opportunity and sharing your journey and
giving us ticks. But I also want to thank you
for your successful career and really sharing and motivating us
and inspiring us through your greatness and through your music
over are than many many many decades. So thank you

(29:03):
so much, as we're wishing you continued success m