Earl Klugh is an easy person to talk to, and when I ask about who he is bringing with him to Joy of Jazz he says, “Oh boy… Ok. I’ll tell ya. I’m bringing a great array of some very fine players. Nelson Rangel, a saxophonist and flautist who gigged with Eric Gale and Jaco Pastorius, recorded with The Rippingtons, Chuck Loeb and Patti Austin and has 15 CDs out under his own name.
“Jess Cox on bass, he’s a Nashville musician but he’s played with Tom Scott, myself and other jazz players, he’s an excellent bassist. Marcus Finnie is our drummer. He’s a young man who has played with a lot of people – Donna Summer, Billy Preston and myself. He’s a great drummer. On keyboards I have David Lee. David has been in my band for 18 years, there will also be a few surprises as well, but that’s the main band right there.”
Klugh will be playing an acoustic guitar that has been amplified. “It’s not an electric guitar, it’s a classical guitar. I’ve been playing the nylon (string) acoustic guitar all my career and just over the last couple of years they have made a lot of improvement in the electronics that makes the guitar sound so much more natural. It’s such a relief now to have great electronics that you can rely on. I can’t tell you over the years how hard it was just to get the proper amplification and have yourself heard. So I think that has been my happiest experience over the past five years, the way electronics have transformed the nylon-stringed guitar. It sounds totally natural now.”
What about repertoire? “I’m going to try and do a lot of my songs chronologically. I’m gonna pick songs from my whole career. The one good thing about a career is also the one bad thing, everyone wants to hear different songs, and if you don’t play them all, somebody gets frustrated. I try to pick the ones I think the audience will like the best. I don’t make a big job out of it, but I try to put it together that when we do our performances, it will all make sense to the listener.
“I try to put together something that is a good overview of everything I’ve done over the years. It’s not smooth jazz, but I guess it is a fusion of a kind.
What does he listen to? “One thing that is always good for me is (that) I’m a big Bill Evans fan, I listen to a lot of his music. It’s very inspiring the way he played especially his earlier recordings. I’m a big fan of Wes Montgomery’s work. I also enjoy contemporary music, and I’m a fan of music from the 70s and 80s. I also listen a lot to straight-ahead jazz. I like Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass and Jim Hall, all the greats for me. Wes was an influence and George Benson too.
“I’m really excited about coming over. I just can’t tell you how excited I am, and the band too, several members have never been to Africa.”
• Earl Klugh will appear at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz in Newtown on August 23 and 25. Booking at Computicket.