The Joe Locke Group
The Joe Locke Group
Featuring Joe Locke (vibes), Geoffrey Keezer (piano), George Mraz (bass), Clarence Penn (drums) and Kenny Washington (vocals)
audio interview
In 1994 I recorded an album called “Moment to Moment”,
celebrating the music of Henry Mancini. It was a pleasure to arrange some of his
great songs, re-imagining them for my quartet. 2007, thirteen years later, found
the producer of that CD, Todd Barkan, serving as artistic director of
Dizzy’s
Club Coca-Cola (at Jazz at Lincoln Center) in NYC. He and I talked about
revisiting the “Moment to Moment” project for a week-long engagement at
Dizzy’s.
I was fortunate to be able to bring together the supreme talents of Geoffrey
Keezer, George Mraz and Clarence Penn to realize the music. The new addition to
the mix was vocalist Kenny Washington (not to be confused with the drummer of
the same name). A couple of years earlier, I had walked into a venue on the West
Coast (the Douglas Beach House in Half Moon Bay, CA, to be specific) and was
introduced to Kenny’s voice, as he sang “My Ship” by Kurt Weill. It was a
revelation. I was deeply affected by what I heard and vowed to myself to find a
way to collaborate with him. The Mancini week at
Dizzy’s was the perfect
opportunity.
"Verrazano Moon"
Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, New York City, January 20, 2010 (video by Jeff Jones, Jazz At Lincoln Center)
I had originally recorded all of the songs from “Moment to
Moment” as instrumentals, but of course they all had been written with words,
and Kenny fit seamlessly into the arrangements, giving them a new depth by the
way he used his skill as a musical storyteller to deliver the lyrics. The
group’s residency at Dizzy’s became an annual event and the following year we
expanded the concept to include the music of other film composers such as Johnny
Mandel and Ennio Morricone. Now, with “For The Love Of You”, we’ve widened the
scope even more with other material we like, including music from The Isley
Brothers, Neil Young and some originals by yours truly. “I Miss New York (When I
Been Gone Too Long)” is about the feeling I get when I return home after being
on the road. “Verrazano Moon” was written and played in memory of the great
saxophonist Bob Berg. “Bright Side Up” is a contemporary tune with a positive
vibe.
I love playing with this band. With Geoffrey, Clarence, Kenny and
George, the sky’s the limit. I can’t wait to see what comes next. Many thanks to
Chuck Mitchell and E1
Entertainment for helping us document this project, Wynton
Marsalis, for building the house in which it gestated, and Todd Barkan for all
the bright moments... from the very beginning.
New York City,
October, 2009
Discography
Comprehensive Joe Locke discography incl. music samples.
Find a list of albums with Joe as a...
Concert performances of the Joe Locke Group: for appearances of this band, please visit the tour schedule.
