Rob Mullins Interview Hollywood, CA 11/12/18 by Greg Scelsa Voting Member at the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards)

Greg Scelsa: So tell me, Rob, about your new “The Nearness of You.”

Rob Mullins: This trio record is something I’m excited about. I met some great players this year, so I didn’t want to let them go to waste. I ended up in the Valley on Magnolia Blvd at studio row in North Hollywood a couple months ago and was ready to record. I took a couple young guys with me on bass and drums and we did the album with no rehearsal...just like guys have done for decades.

GS: Interesting. Most modern involve a lot of preparation. How were you able to pull off such a great sounding record without rehearsing?

RM: In my opinion, the preparation is all about how many hours you spend in a practice room alone getting ready for the unknown. That’s how it is for jazz guys. I put in about 60 hours in my studio getting ready for the date. I picked mostly songs I didn’t know, and then spent the time learning them. The engineer was good and had worked a lot in the room, so he got a good sound pretty quickly. The bass and drums got the charts in advance, but we did everything live and on the fly in the studio.

GS: Do you see jazz musicians as different from other musicians?

RM: Absolutely. Years of time, years of work go into creating your sound, your skills, your vibe as a player, always practice practice practice. Much more about your sound, and less about image.

If you prepare correctly for your future, you can do pretty much anything you are asked to do. Jazz guys study history. What jazz guys don’t care about is hairstyles, beards, gender studies, politics, social justice and other things that don’t matter musically. We just want to pay our bills, and keep making more music.

GS: I get it. What is an example of a challenging studio situation you’ve been in?

RM: Back in the 90’s I was on staff at Wide Tracks Studio in Hollywood and Wayne Henderson was producing Ronnie Laws who had already gone Gold with his early releases. Wayne called and said “come to the studio, man” and I did. Ronnie had recorded a solo sax part to “Stairway to the Stars” but with no band, no time, no drummer, no pitch reference, no nothing. Wayne said “make it a hit, man.” So I did show up and bring all of my keyboards to Hollywood and did my best. 13 hours later, we had the magic. Ronnie’s part was great, but it needed support tracks and that is a lot of what I do these days is support tracks. Make everything beautiful…that’s what I try and do. It is always about the song, and how to get the point across.

GS: You started recording your songs in the 80’s. How do you compare recording then to recording now?

RM: Actually, Tom Burns from Capri Records in Denver reminded me last week that the first recording I was on was in 1973. I was playing drums for a German pianist at that time while a junior in high school. Not a great album, but you have to start somewhere, right?

As far as then vs. now, there is a lot more tek available now than there was back in the day, but by far the biggest differences have been caused by the internet. I mean, now I can play piano on anyone’s album no matter what part of the world they live in. That is really cool.

Still my favorite studio session memories are of the Wide Tracks days where we had Bubba Bryant, Nate Phillips, Wilton Felder, Mayuto Corea, Wah Wah Watson, Craig T, and others. It was great. Wilton Felder had played bass on a lot of hits including Michael Jackson and hits, and he and I became best friends in 1992 and that lasted until his death. Great guy.

There are also the many epic sessions with Preston Glass who was the guy who made Kenny G success even though he doesnt get much credit for that. Preston is an icon in the biz and I’m lucky to have been his go to keyboard guy since the early 90’s. We’ve done a lot of music together.

GS: That must have been an incredible honor to replace in the Crusaders. Tell me something about that.

RM: Sure. Joe hit everything in the business at the right time. He sold so many albums, he didn’t need the band any longer. When he recorded “Carmel” it was game over, man. He left all his former guys in the dust in a way. Wilton Felder from the Crusaders got me the audition when Joe quit and I made the cut. It was a thrill for me, great band.

GS: Joe and the Crusaders did a lot of records that sold well, including “Street Life” with singer . Did you know her?

RM: No, but one of my favorite singers of that era was Merry Clayton who got on A&M and did a wonderful album. I ended up meeting her husband Curtis Amy who recorded some of my songs before he passed. Good times. GS: Back to the new album. What was your vision for this project?

RM: Everything in life is a cost/benefit analysis if you get down to the bottom line. All that has ever mattered to me is that I record the soundtrack that is constantly playing in my brain. Sometimes easy, sometimes not so much. When opportunity comes, you need to be ready and this was a great opportunity. I’ll always love straight ahead jazz and the piano bass drums trio format.

GS: So what about your work with “The Matrix” producers of the biggest hits of Avril Lavigne.

RM: I only ended up in their studio because they contacted one of my students and my student was afraid to go there. I’m not afraid of anything. I’m Rob Mullins LOL. I took her and her mom and dad there and it went great. I heard from a friend recently that the Matrix is no more…a shame. They made a lot of hit records.

GS: The new album is a combination of Great American Songbook songs, originals, and holiday music. An unlikely combo. What about that?

RM: The free studio time guy needed holiday songs, and I had been playing a lot of weekend gigs with Will on bass. Works for me. We’ve got 15 tunes that are well arranged, well recorded, and holiday music was part of the session.

GS: I agree. The audio quality is very good and the album is well done. So what do you hope to accomplish with this new album?

RM: I want to take it on the road and play more shows outside LA if possible. I do 8 shows a month in Brentwood, CA--one of the richest areas on planet earth. A lot of stars come to this place. I love being able to get to work in a few minutes and they keep the 7-foot Steinway tuned just for me. Few people in town know about this gig because the agent doesn’t let me publicize it. I do it every Friday and Saturday night. A great local gig, but I do miss going on the road sometimes and I hope to get around the US next year to say hello to many of my fans with the new record.

GS: You’ve done 35 albums under your own name at this point. Do you have a favorite project?

RM: Hmmmm, probably the two albums that bookend my jazz music catalog are “Soulscape” and “Storyteller.” Soulscape was the record that radio people really got behind, and Storyteller is about me looking back at the early days and summing it up. Honestly, everything I have done since 2008 I consider a bonus and gift from God. So many of my friends died that year that I found myself mostly sad and wondering how much time I have left on this earth. As the head of my record company, I put out some collections of the early stuff for fans and listeners as well as other releases.

“The Edge Of Dreams” from 2010 for example is an album about the death of my wonderful mother Ellen Mullins. Altzheimer’s took her during a painful 8-year decline, and that album is about that. If you listen closely to that record, you can feel the experience of that. I also am really proud of the “TRUE” album as it was the music that got me through my mother’s death and helped me continue on as a musician and human being. The performance by the Denver guys on that record is astonishing and world class.

GS: Your website says that you are a multi-genre artist and composer. What does that mean?

RM: It means that I really like all great music regardless of genre limitations. My album before this trio record was a documentary about Venice Beach and the artists who live and work there. Not jazz, that’s for sure, but so what. Music is life, life is a song. I do what I think means something to me. Music should be about growth, innovation.

GS: So when is the album coming out?

RM: Mid November 2018.

END INTERVIEW.