John Beaudin - Hi Kim, how are you man? Welcome to our site. I've been playing you on radio here since the mid nineties thinking you were a new artist back then and someone called me up saying, "Hey, this guy's been doing R&B before this he's not new!"

Kim Waters - (laughing) Yeah, 1988 man.

John - I see you're doing the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival on October 12th. Is this your first visit?

Kim - To the Catalina? Yes.

John - It's the Smooth Jazz thing to do these Festival's, isn't it?

Kim - Yeah, I've done tons of them.

John - They're fun aren't they?

Kim - It's one big happy family because all these guys are great and everyone is down to earth. You know most of the time people have a tendency to be hard to deal with but not in the Smooth Jazz genre, we have fun together.

John - When you play a festival though that must mean a shorter set doesn't it?

Kim - Well, our set at the Catalina will be somewhere between 75 and 90 minutes.

John - And good company with Mindi Abair, Richard Elliot, Peter White..

Kim - Yeah, they're all good friends of mine.

John - That first album of yours that was very R&B back in 1989, it did very well very fast right?

Kim - Yes, it did very well. It was a huge CD and it was a #1 new adult contemporary album of that year. We had a good time making that man and it really put me on the map as far as the longevity of my career.

John - Well, at the Breeze in Calgary we're playing "In the Groove," "In the House," "Waterfall," and "Secrets Told" and getting some great reaction, so it's also working in Canada.

Kim - Great, thanks man. You guys have to call me when you do a big Festival. (laughing)

John - Tell me about "Waterfall."

Kim - I did that song in New York when I was there to do a remix for the song "In the House" with Davy D and we put "Waterfall" together in about half an hour. I brought it home and fixed it up and there you have it "Waterfall."(laughing)

John - No Kidding? Half an hour?

Kim - Yeah. (laughing)

John - So is Kim Waters the violinist all but dead?

Kim - I don't play at all. (laughing) It's mainly Sax and Keyboards or the production stuff I do.

John - If I gave you a Violin now could you play it?

Kim - (laughing) Probably not.

John - I Know the Smooth Jazz format has been good to you but hey nothings perfect. If you could change anything about the radio Smooth Jazz format what would it be?

Kim - I think the whole sound is changing you know. When Smooth Jazz first came out it was more of an electronic loop thing like the Down to the Bone thing and now it has more of a live type of feel which is good.

John - The "Streetwize" album that you put together with some of your buddies was totally geared at a younger demo.

Kim - Well, the whole object of "Streetwize" was to bring the young kids into Jazz. A lot of kids don't know that sometimes when they hear a great song it's really an old Jazz song

John - When did you play with Isaac Hayes?

Kim - Isaac Hayes was on my second record "All Because Of You."(1990 - Warlock Records) It was good to work with him. I flew down to Atlanta where he was living at the time. I spent a week and a half there and he told me all the horror stories about the music business.

John - I'm sure he's had a lot of them.

Kim - (laughing) Yeah, but he's back on top now. He's doing great.

John - I know this guy named Ron, he's the biggest Isaac Hayes fan I've ever met and he introduced me to a lot of his music. Let me just say Hayes is one of the few guys that can make repetition in a very long song really work. (laughing)

Kim - Yes, he can.

John - So in 1989 at the beginning you were not strictly Smooth Jazz guy right?

Kim - No, it was all adult contemporary and then you had Contemporary Jazz and back then all the major R&B stations were playing this type of music and there were only a few guys doing it. There was me, Grover Washington Jr., Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright and of course David Sanborn. We were the few getting a lot of R&B Jazz play. For me, it had a lot to do with the success of my first record.

John - When you're doing shows are you seeing a younger demographic out there?

Kim - Oh Yeah but it's a varied audience young and old but yes it's good to see the young people getting involved.

John - You first played with Chuck Loeb on "Loves Melody" right?

Kim - Yes it was. We got hooked up by the producer at Shanachie, Danny Weiss.

John - And you two are still working together. Something good is happening there!

Kim - Oh Yeah, he's my buddy. (laughing)

John - Did you guys click right away?

Kim - Chuck is just like me, very easy going and easy to work with. It's a good thing. So yeah, we go back and every year we do something.

John - "Secrets Told" is a good example of how well you two work together.

Kim - Yes, that's another one of those Kim Waters/Chuck Loeb productions. Chuck sent me the bulk of the music and I came up with the melody. Chuck is also really great at coming up with catchy melodies. We gel together easily and have made a lot of hit's together

John - I'm going to get your Christmas album "Home for Christmas" this year.

Kim - Yes, get that one. I really like the way it turned out you know it's one of my favorite albums.

John - Do you remember the first live show you saw as a kid?

Kim - The first show I saw as a kid was the Temptations and I really liked it.

John - What about the best show you've ever seen?

Kim - The best show other than myself was Earth Wind and Fire back in 1981.

John - Our question of the month last month (Sept, 2003) was "What's the craziest thing you've ever done? Do you want to tackle that one?

Kim - (laughing) I've done a lot of crazy things. I wouldn't know where to start. (laughing)

John - (laughing) Do you remember what was the first album you ever bought? Better yet do you still have it?

Kim - The first album I bought as a Kid, I'm not sure but it was probably a David Sanborn record.

John - Do you still listen to the albums you had as a kid?

Kim - Oh Yeah, I've got all those Grover Washington Jr. records "Live at the Bijou" and stuff like that.

John - Do you have a lot of the old CTI stuff?

Kim - Oh yeah, Creed Taylor. I met Creed Taylor and I liked the Ernie Watts stuff on CTI.

John - Later in October we're going to showcase an interview with Linda Nash who used to be tha main rep. for CTI in Canada. She just started a new Canadian Smooth Jazz label called Tidal Wave. You must have had some great mentors as a kid?

Kim - Yeah I did. I had a guy named Mel Spears who lived around the corner from me. He was a great Jazz pianist and he played with Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. He got me started as well as Cyrus Chestnut. Me, Cyrus and my brother had a band together when we were kids so this guy helped us a lot.

John - How old were you when you met Cyrus?

Kim - I was thirteen and he was fifteen and we played in a college band together. We clicked right away, I heard him and he joined our band the next week. We played Jazz and some R&B together.

John - You told me earlier that you've always had some great Jazz friends.

Kim - I have. There was this old guy that I used to hang around with name Mickey Fields in Baltimore he played with John Coltrane and he was the one who really taught me how to play. He was the one who snuck me in all the clubs when I couldn't get in.

John - You were really hungry?

Kim - I wanted to be with the best cats so I could learn. You couldn't get up there and play if you didn't know what you were doing.

John - I found in Jazz it's great to be a good player but you get even more respect if you are street wise, if you know what makes people tick.

Kim - I'd say yes. For those guys who stuck to one kind of music I think that's a hindrance. These days it's good to know a little bit of everything and that will keep you abreast of what's going on.

John - You mentioned before we started to role that you're from a big family.

Kim - I'm from a big family there's eight of us and there was a lot of music and a lot of excitement. We had a full basketball court and it was a real neighborhood house where everyone came to play. I still have a lot of friends who still come to the house. They sit at the bar and drink up all the liquor. (laughing) No, just kidding!

John - Tell me if you couldn't be a sax Player would you at least try the violin again? (laughing)

Kim - (laughing)

John - (laughing) Ok, if you couldn't be a musician what would you be doing?

Kim - Oh, that's a tough question. Probably a pimp or something. (laughing) No, just kidding.

John - Kim Waters the pimp that could be the name of your next album. (laughing) That would look great on a card.

Kim - (Laughing) Man, if I couldn't be an artist I think I'd probably be a music teacher or something like that.

John - You know you have to be one of the most laid back guys I've ever interviewed.

Kim - (laughing) I'm really easy going nothing really drives me crazy.

John - I hear you did a tour with a broken ankle?

Kim - Yeah, I did the whole tour with a broken ankle. That was rough just walking on stage or rather hopping along but the show must go on.

John - What's coming up next for you?

Kim - Well, just what I'm doing right now. I'm really extending myself as a producer and I've got a lot of projects going on. I just finished the Pamela Williams CD and I'm going to be doing some stuff with Maysa Leak and I'll be doing a lot more compilation CD's. So, just more production and when I get tired of doing that I'll probably be one of those A&R guys at one of those big labels. (Laughing)

John - Considering what you've done that might be a natural progression.

Kim - Sure, I've been offered several positions but I'm not ready to stop playing yet I'm working on a new album right now.

John - Before I let you go I have to mention Inter-Jazz. It's a pretty good organization for Jazz websites.

Kim - Yeah, InterJazz. If you're a musician who's into Jazz you can go right there and this guy will set it up for you. He's got a lot of the hottest cats in the country. Chuck Loeb is on there, Special EFX/Chieli Minucci.

John - Thanks for talking with me.

Kim - Your welcome man. It was fun and I look forward to seeing you soon.

John - Take Care of Yourself Kim

Kim - You too buddy.