After 40 years as a music man, Jimmy Carpenter's philosophy is a well-written song deserves undying respect.
Jimmy Carpenter invokes that image of a lone saxophone player, standing under the street light as the sounds of his craft reverberates throughout the dark alley; where you can almost see the notes floating up into the darkness before disappearing forever in front of the full moon. With Jimmy, in those notes, you hear the soul of an artist who wouldn’t be complete if he weren’t playing music, whether that be in front of 1,000’s or alone on that quiet street corner. With each passing note you hear the anecdotes of the last 40 years of a music man’s life and the philosophy that a well-written song is art, it’s elusive, challenging, fun, and real work, but most importantly… deserves undying respect.
Vizions of Rock: Who plays what instruments in your band?
JIMMY CARPENTER: I play sax and a little bit of guitar. The young blues phenom of Las Vegas, Trevor Johnson on guitar; my old friend Jason Langley, veteran of Coco Montoya and Shemekia Copeland’s bands on bass; and on drums, Cameron Tyler, who also engineered the record.
Vizions of Rock: How did the band come together and how long have you been together?
JIMMY CARPENTER: It has taken me a while to get it up and running, but I’m very happy now. I just happened to run into Jason at a blues bar here, hadn’t seen him in over 10 years. Trevor is very busy but was the obvious choice, and Cam was engineering another record I worked on. He came highly recommended and was the last piece of the puzzle. When I signed with Gulf Coast Records, I got Mike Zito’s ok to record here in Vegas, with those players. Cameron engineered it at his studio, and the chemistry was apparent from the start. I am thrilled with their contributions to the record, and I love playing with them live.
Vizions of Rock: How did living and playing in New Orleans for so many years influence your music?
JIMMY CARPENTER: It’s hard to overstate the impact New Orleans had on me, personally and musically. It is a totally unique city, certainly in America but really… worldwide. There is no music scene like it that I’ve seen or heard of. There is a lot of work, not exactly high paying work, but still, I was able to work steadily. The musical bar is set very high there, and I was blessed to play with some remarkable musicians, and I very much benefited from that. For example, my ten years with Walter “Wolfman” Washington were a nonstop growing experience. There is not a better rhythm guitar player on the planet, and he has a much different concept than anyone. He voices chords like a piano player, and he is one of the funkiest people anywhere. Every day life in New Orleans is something of a challenge, and it taught me a lot about co-existence, tolerance, community, culture…it is an incredibly beautiful place, but I’m not talking about the surface. It is very complicated, with many layers of society, culture, history. It’s often happy, but also dark and tragic, and I think all the great things come as answers to the not-so-great.
Vizions of Rock: I find the history of the saxophone fascinating. It has been called the devil’s horn. It was lauded for its sensuality, then outlawed for its influence, and finally credited with changing the face of popular culture. Why do you think that this instrument has encountered so much scrutiny over its 160-year history?
JIMMY CARPENTER: That is a good question. I just passed through the Brussels airport and saw a tribute to Adolph Sax. He was an interesting character, not exactly a paragon of polite society. The rules and norms of the classical music world were tough, and anything that stepped outside them was frowned upon. Not unlike when Bob Dylan was booed for playing electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival. There was very little music written for sax until some time later, so they transcribed flute parts, clarinet parts etc, and that didn’t always go over well. Eventually its own genre was created, and in the late 30’s when improvisational jazz got going, people like Sydney Bichet and Coleman Hawkins took not just sax, but jazz in a new direction. Of course, they were vilified by some, as was Charlie Parker. Big Jay McNeely was criticized for his honking and screaming…but of course, the kids LOVED it! Change is hard for some, especially for those who feel they are the ultimate authority on something. Music is no different.
Vizions of Rock: Can you tell us more about how you got involved in the BIG BLUES BENDER and what it means to you personally, and the “Blues” scene in Vegas?
JIMMY CARPENTER: I came to the predecessor of the Bender, called the Sin City Soul and Blues Revival, with Mike Zito and The Wheel. During the event I met one of the promoters, named AJ Gross. He liked my energy and told me he would love to have me back. The next year the Big Blues Bender was born, and, true to his word, he brought me back, this time with Walter Wolfman Washington. It was that year that I met my girlfriend, Carrie Stowers, who worked merchandise. We also launched the idea of The Bender Brass, a horn section available to all the artists. A year later, I moved to Vegas, and my role has grown exponentially, to assistant talent buyer and musical director, and the Bender Brass is now a full 8-piece band that has become a huge part of the festival. We back up somewhere between 6 and 9 artists each year, and put on epic 3-hour, late night shows. The Bender has grown and done very well, and it has pushed my abilities as an arranger, bandleader and musician. I am very proud of the work and blessed to be involved.
The Vegas blues scene has ebbed and flowed over the years. In the 90’s there were about 1,500 members of the LV Blues Society. Albert Collins and BB King lived here, and the blues society put on 2 big festivals a year, and countless jams. When I joined the board 3 years ago there were less than a hundred members. With a lot of help, Carrie and I have worked hard to rebuild and it’s working. The Bender has brought thousands of blues fans here, and given us some street cred, both in Vegas and beyond. There is no shortage of great musicians here, and we are trying to support the blues and clubs that book it. We’re now at almost 400 members, present 2 jams a month, several special events, and our Fall into The Blues Festival in October. We had Rick Estrin the first year, Bob Margolin and Bob Corritore last year, and we’re hard at work on 2020.
Vizions of Rock: It has been said about you that “You toured in the ’90s with the blues-rock band The Believers, with whom he learned about the music business”. What did you learn about the music business in that time?
JIMMY CARPENTER: When I joined the Believers in 1988, I was a bit on the wild side, not much on responsibility. I was sort of thrust into the business out of necessity, and it turns out I had a bit of a flair for it. Over those years I learned about putting out records, from financing to recording to promoting. I did press releases, booked all the shows, did the budgets, the books, payroll…pretty much everything except write the songs, which were mostly written by my old friend Charlie Pastorfield. I secured a group health insurance plan for the band and had everyone on salary. We put out 3 albums and played a ton of shows. But, when grunge and alternative rock got popular, we were suddenly not hip, and it became impossible to maintain things. So, I learned that lesson, too.
Vizions of Rock: As a follow up – How has the music industry changes over the last 40 years?
JIMMY CARPENTER: Well, I guess just about everything has changed, except you still need good songs to make good records. In the 80’s we accumulated names for a mailing list and sent out hundreds of postcards every month. That’s gotten a lot easier! It is much easier to make an album these days. Then it was a nearly insurmountable task financially. It’s still hard to make a good one, but it costs a fraction of what it did. Although the cost has come down, now it’s very hard to sell one in the digital age. We’re lucky that the blues audience is old school and still buys CDs…but that’s changing too. It’s not all bad news though: you can reach millions from your phone or laptop, and millions can find you. One thing that hasn’t changed: cover charges at clubs are about the same as they were in 1990…
Vizions of Rock: Who are your influences?
JIMMY CARPENTER: My first exposure to sax was Paul Desmond, alto player with Dave Brubeck. I still love his melodies and tone. I’m a huge fan of melodies, and how they relate to songs, how you can structure a solo with melodies that echo the song, or not, but somehow fit into the song. I’m also a huge fan of brawny, powerful tenor players, like King Curtis, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Arnette Cobb, and guys like Illinois Jacquet, who really included blues and jazz and rock-n-roll in his playing. I had the great pleasure to meet Junior Walker several times, and I think I incorporate his style a lot, maybe too much, in my music. As a songwriter there are many. I really love and respect a good song. John Hiatt, Spooner Oldham, Gary Nicholson, Dan Penn, Donny Fritts, Al Anderson, Rodney Crowell..there a lot of them. A well-written song is art, it’s elusive, challenging, fun, and real work. People like these that create a body of work over a lifetime have my undying respect.
Vizions of Rock: How does your song come together, where do you get your inspiration?
JIMMY CARPENTER: Life is a never-ending source of ideas. Generally, I think of a line, a phrase first, and then sort of work backwards. Usually I have a melodic hook that comes with it, although sometimes that changes. There are several songs on Soul Doctor that are directly or indirectly related to my girl Carrie…Wild Streak is the story of her leaving a small town in Pennsylvania. Love it So Much is about my inner struggle between normal life and the road.
Vizions of Rock: What is the creative process like when writing your songs?
JIMMY CARPENTER: I am always thinking about great lines, wordplay, clever or funny phrases. I have a few hundred snippets on my phone. I also get obsessed with grooves, playing them in my head, humming them into the phone and trying to make them real when I can get to a guitar. I usually get the chorus first, and then try to hash out the verses to support it conceptually. I write on guitar, and then Logic or Garage Band to find a beat, bass line etc. By the time we actually record I have a pretty strong demo done.
Vizions of Rock: Do have any advice for up and coming musicians who want to follow in your footstep, aside from “Stay in school” and “Don’t quit your day job”?
JIMMY CARPENTER: Well, I didn’t follow either of those 2! I will say that if you’re in music school, and you’re a great player, gig opportunities will come your way. Chances are very good they’ll still be there when you’re out of school. I left school to work, and although regret is a tough word, there were things I would have benefited from down the line. I quit my day job as soon as I was sure I could make $100 a week, and I don’t regret that for a minute. But aside from making a living, a musician needs to know his craft. All the knowledge you accumulate will help you some day. Learn songs, learn horn parts, changes, grooves etc. When I moved to New Orleans, I was confronted with a huge repertoire of songs that everybody there knows, and I didn’t. I did my best, tried like hell to learn the horn lines and changes, and to absorb the feel of that music, which is the absolute most important part. The best thing is to listen, and be open, let it in, let it percolate, and see how it comes out of you.
Vizions of Rock: Is there a message that you’re trying to communicate with your original music?
JIMMY CARPENTER: It depends on the song. I released my first record, Toiling in Obscurity, in late 2007. That was after Katrina, which of course was a big deal in my life. I wrote one called Don’t Believe It, about the government role in rebuilding. Another was Common Man, about wealthy politicians treating people like they’re stupid. I’ve also written a lot of love songs, even some happy ones. I want to create a mood, an atmosphere, with my songs, and with my arrangements and solos, something that the audience can feel, get taken away by, just for a moment.
Vizions of Rock: What do you like best about being a musician and what is the worst part about being a musician?
JIMMY CARPENTER: Sometime this year, not sure exactly when, but it will 40 years for me. I really don’t know anything else, although I’ve taken some brief detours here and there. It is in my soul, and I’ve always felt like I would be denying my nature to do anything else. The actual playing, onstage or not, is as close as I come to being totally present in the moment. What I just played is gone, and what I’m about to play isn’t here yet. It’s a precious thing, and I consider myself very blessed. The flip side of that is the business. Artists of all kinds struggle in the world. It’s a daily battle with finances, and an environment that runs counter to most creative minds. Not to say that it can’t be navigated, because it can. But it’s not easy, and it’s not for everyone. I told a friend once that one of most useful skills a musician can have, is that of denial…if you really look at this from a practical standpoint, it seems batshit crazy.
Vizions of Rock: What is on the horizon for the future?
JIMMY CARPENTER: I am fired up for the future! I am totally concentrating on my solo career these days, after years as a sideman. It is really exciting to be fronting a band and singing my songs. My friend Mike Zito believes in me enough to sign me to Gulf Coast Records. We released Soul Doctor in September, and it is doing very well. I’ve just come home from 2.5 weeks in the UK and Switzerland. The UK run was outstanding, 7 shows in a row with great reaction and lots of plans for the future there. I’ll be touring in the US and Europe as much as possible this year and next, and I’m writing songs for the next record.
Vizions of Rock: Is there anything that I did not cover, that you would want the world to know?
JIMMY CARPENTER: I assume I don’t have to tell your audience how important their support of the music is! It is literally the only thing that keeps the music coming, keeps musicians working and creating, and living. It is important, and very much appreciated!
To that end, my new album Soul Doctor, is out on Gulf Coast Records, now!
Vizions of Rock: Is there a tag line that describes JIMMY CARPENTER?
JIMMY CARPENTER: I’ll borrow one from another sax idol, Sam Butera: It’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice!
Vizions of Rock: How can we find you music?
JIMMY CARPENTER:
www.jimmycarpenter.net, the only place for signed CD’s!
https://www.facebook.com/jimmy.carpentersax
https://www.facebook.com/jimmycarpenteronsax/
gulfcoastrecords.net for all their amazing artists
Amazon, iTunes, and anywhere cool music is sold!
