Guitarist John Tropea and friends keep the jazz-funk flame burning | South China Morning Post 6/19/15 1:42 PM EDITION: INTERNATIONAL a FRI JUN 19, 2015 JOBS EVENTS EDUCATION COURSES ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LOGIN SUBSCRIBE " k t F CHINA HONG KONG ASIA BUSINESS TECH LIFESTYLE COMMENT SPORT VIDEO + LISTS Q ALL LIFESTYLE › ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT BLUE NOTES Guitarist John Tropea and friends keep the jazz- FOLLOW SCMP funk flame burning Robin Lynam PUBLISHED : Saturday, 13 June, 2015, 6:45pm UPDATED : Saturday, 13 June, 2015, 6:45pm SCMP Like 205k For about a decade from the early 1970s to the early '80s, an elite coterie of SHARE session musicians - who were also gifted improvisers - were kept almost MOST POPULAR (/MOST-POPULAR) permanently busy in the studios of New York and Los Angeles adding jazzy 1 1 sophistication to some of the biggest pop hits of the era. VIEWED (#QT-MOST_POPULAR-UI-TABS1) Like Share As well as performing for singers who wanted the groove only those players SHARED (#QT-MOST_POPULAR-UI-TABS2) could provide, they made their own instrumental albums. It was the heyday of jazz-funk. 6 submit COMMENTED (#QT-MOST_POPULAR-UI-TABS3) Times have changed, but some of those musicians have kept the flame Tweet reddit President of Apple and Samsung burning: some of the top New York names can be heard on Gotcha Rhythm supplier to become China's richest Right Here, the latest album from guitarist John Tropea. 0 woman (/lifestyle/technology/leaders- founders/article/1739027/president-apple-and- Tropea and fellow guitarist Eric Gale (who died in 1994) were the east coast Share samsung-supplier-become) counterparts to Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton in the west. Among those who got a call from Tropea were Steve Gadd on drums, the Blues Brothers Band Hong Kong app takes the pain out of saxophonist Lou Marini, trumpeters Lew Soloff and Randy Brecker, two of the 0 arranging a junk party (/lifestyle/travel- Brecker Brothers Band's former bassists, Neil Jason and Will Lee, and long- serving Saturday Night Live Band keyboardist Leon Pendarvis. leisure/article/1822789/hong-kong-app-takes- pain-out-arranging-junk-party) Soloff, whose many credits included Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Gil Evans Print Orchestra, died in March this year. 'Expat brats' give their take on growing (http://www.scmp.com/print/lifestyle/arts- up in Hong Kong as 'third culture kids' entertainment/article/1820532/guitarist- (/magazines/post- john-tropea-and-friends-keep-jazz-funk- magazine/article/1822696/expat-brats-give- flame) their-take-growing-third-culture-kid-hong) Email (http://www.scmp.com/printmail/lifestyle/arts- Four top Instagramers in Hong Kong entertainment/article/1820532/guitarist-john- and Macau share their secrets tropea-and-friends-keep-jazz-funk-flame) (/magazines/48-hours/article/1822826/four- instagramers-exploring-hong-kong-and-macau- one-snap-time) Nine Tsim Sha Tsui restaurants worth a try for lunch or dinner (/lifestyle/food- drink/article/1822199/nine-tsim-sha-tsui- restaurants-worth-try-lunch-or-dinner) WE RECOMMEND NEWS Porn stars in California to wear goggles under new health and safety… 31 May 2015 (http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1814105/porn-stars- http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1820532/guitarist-john-tropea-and-friends-keep-jazz-funk-flame Page 1 of 5 Guitarist John Tropea and friends keep the jazz-funk flame burning | South China Morning Post 6/19/15 1:42 PM may-be-forced-wear-goggles-under-proposed-new-california- rules) LIFESTYLE Women fighting fashion for shaved armpits, in China and West 18 Jun 2015 (http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health- beauty/article/1823410/women-fighting-fashion-shaved- armpits-china-and-west) NEWS Indian business leaders angry over proposal to abolish Hong Kong visa… 11 Jun 2015 (http://www.scmp.com/news/hong- kong/politics/article/1820009/indian-business-leaders-angry- over-proposal-abolish-hong) COMMENT Hongkongers must recognise city's racism 02 Jun 2015 (http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight- opinion/article/1814670/hongkongers-must-recognise-citys- racism) LIFESTYLE Mapped: Seven best places in Hong Kong to watch dragon boat races 16 Jun 2015 (http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health- John Tropea beauty/article/1822245/seven-best-places-hong-kong-watch- dragon-boat-races) Younger players who enjoy the sort of esteem that those representatives of COMMENT the jazz-funk old guard commanded in the '70s also feature, among them - on Mistresses and second the bonus track Boulevard Strut - drummer Keith Carlock whose credits wives of Hong Kong include Steely Dan and Sting, and who now occupies the Toto drum stool. businessmen in the Pearl… "I am very proud of this, my 11th solo project which is a showcase of some of 03 Jun 2015 the finest musicians I have been fortunate to record and perform live with over the years," says Tropea. (http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight- opinion/article/1815628/mistresses-and-second-wives-hong- He has quite a career to look back on. A graduate of the Berklee College of kong-businessmen-pearl) Music in Boston, Tropea's first major gig was with Brazilian keyboardist and NEWS bandleader Eumir Deodato. Tropea's guitar work featured prominently on Chinese woman killed Deodato's Grammy-winning 1973 adaptation of the Sunrise theme from minutes after messaging Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra - which was popularised as the her car was stranded theme to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. by… 17 Jun 2015 Big-selling albums to which he has contributed range from Janis Ian's Stars and Van Morrison's Veedon Fleece, to Alice Cooper Goes to Hell and Eric (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1823126/chin Clapton's Journeyman. He also contributed to some of John Lennon's last, ese-woman-killed-minutes-after-messaging-her-car-was- posthumously released, recordings. stranded) LIFESTYLE In between those sessions he made more jazz-oriented contributions to Six Italian restaurants albums by Billy Cobham, Hubert Laws, Lou Donaldson, Blue Mitchell, Grady in Hong Kong worth Tate and Art Farmer, among others, as well as contributing bluesy licks to trying for lunch or sessions for Bonnie Raitt, Bo Diddley, John Mayall and Dr John. dinner 09 Jun 2015 http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1820532/guitarist-john-tropea-and-friends-keep-jazz-funk-flame Page 2 of 5 Guitarist John Tropea and friends keep the jazz-funk flame burning | South China Morning Post 6/19/15 1:42 PM He started making solo albums in 1975 starting with Tropea, the most recent (http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1819151/six- being 2007's Take Me Back to the Ol' School. Since 1997's A Simple Way to italian-restaurants-hong-kong-lunch-or-dinner) Say I Love You Tropea has worked closely with Hammond B3 organist and NEWS multi-instrumentalist Chris Palmaro, making albums strongly influenced by Outcry over sexy photo organ trio soul jazz, and he credits Palmaro as a full partner in the writing, shoot featuring naked arranging and recording of Gotcha Rhythm Right Here. model at Beijing’s… Palmaro's Hammond is heard on every track, but he also contributes parts on 01 Jun 2015 piano and other keyboards, bass, drums and percussion. (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1814407/outcr Black Eyed G's is by Pendarvis, and the easy-swinging NYC Direct 2014 is y-over-sexy-photo-shoot-beijings-forbidden-city) composed by Tropea alone; he and Palmaro are credited as co-composers on PROPERTY everything else. Made for Hong Kong mini-flats: foldaway bed The opening Gotcha Rhythm Right Here, Part 1 features Tropea and Palmaro makers get creative in a bluesy fusion mode reminiscent of John Scofield. The other tracks on which a larger band is deployed range from retro '70s style funk to a more 09 Jun 2015 modern take on the genre. Tropea's guitar is the dominant instrument throughout, and his growth as a player since the rockier solos for which he (http://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong- was often employed at the outset of his career, is evident. His sound is a little china/article/1818696/foldaway-bed-makers-perfect- more electronically processed than it used to be, but characteristically clean, disappearing-act-creative) and with each note clearly articulated. VIDEOS US and Japan say Anyone who likes a little funk in their jazz will enjoy this. China's island-building in the South China Sea Take Three is… 31 May 2015 Three more albums featuring Tropea's guitar work. (http://www.scmp.com/video/china/1813359/us-and-japan-say- Live at Mikell's (1982, Video Arts Music): Tropea leads an all-star band chinas-island-building-south-china-sea-eroding-regional) including Richard Tee, Steve Gadd and Will Lee through a fine and funky LIFESTYLE 1980 club date with some subsequent overdubbing of additional Naked, muddy Miley instruments. Cyrus hugs pigs; talks Standard Influence (2003, Video Arts Music): a set of mostly ballads, blues about attraction to girls and bossa, allowing Tropea to tip his hat to some of the players and tunes which first inspired him. 10 Jun 2015 The Time is Right (2007, Video Arts Music): with additional guitar work from Steve Cropper and Hugh McCracken, Tropea tackles a mixed bag of tunes (http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts- including jazz standards and pop songs. entertainment/article/1819514/naked-muddy-miley-cyrus-hugs- pigs-talks-about) COMMENT Common courtesy isn't quite so common in Hong Kong For unlimited access to: SCMP.com 04 Jun 2015 SCMP Tablet Edition (http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight- SCMP Mobile Edition opinion/article/1816296/common-courtesy-isnt-quite-so-