Smooth Jazz Now

Michael Lington - Artist Of The Month for August

August 1, 2004 - We are very pleased to have another Rendezvous Records act as 'Artist of the Month.' First we featured guitarist Marc Antoine and new sax sensation Praful, this month we spotlight another sax-man, Michael Lington. Growing up in Copenhagen Lington's first taste in the disciplines of music was in Classical but by fifteen the saxophonist found a new religion via Jazz greats like Cannonball Adderly and David Sanborn. His biggest breakthrough was moving to L.A. and working with Little Richard and Gary 'U.S' Bonds which lead to working under his own name in Smooth Jazz. His new album 'Stay With Me' features the hit 'Show Me' co-written by touring partner Brian Culbertson. Read part one of our interview with Michael Lington.

John Beaudin - Hi Michael, how are you? Who is playing sax in the background?

John - Congratulations on a great lead off single from your new album 'Show Me.'

Michael - Well, thank you very much. We wanted a very inspirational song for the first single, so I am glad you like it. The thing for me about this particular single is I wanted to create something different from what I have done in the past. We approached it on a more pop, mainstream level. It's also a little more R&B and Smooth Jazz. I think it is very fresh but at first I was concerned about it because it starts with acoustic guitar and no one really does that. I am glad everyone welcomed the freshness of it. That was the most exciting part because we made versions that sounded very different, very different edits.

Michael - Oh yeah, but we really love that version with the guitar in the beginning.

John - I like the fact that it starts with that acoustic guitar and it builds. By the way Michael, where are you and Dave Koz doing a show tonight?

Michael - We are in Ohio. I am joining Dave Koz on tour for a couple of days.

Michael - Yeah, I am going out with Brian again and I am doing a handful of dates on my own plus I am doing about eight dates with Dave. It is a pretty full year but it is what you need to do to remind people that

John - How familiar were you with the U.S. culture when you moved to the continent when you were twenty-one?

Michael - I just had no idea. I am not really sure why I had such a strong drive to come to the U.S. but the reality is I just did. I have to admit American T.V. programs influenced me and when I lived in Copenhagen I met a lot of American tourists. Of course I heard a lot of American music growing up too.

John - The American entertainment industry seeps into Europe big time because it is so huge. Here in Canada, easily three quarters of our entertainment is American.

Michael - Yeah, I was really exposed to it too. I felt restricted in Denmark. The people there are very hard working and it is truly a beautiful country but it is a small country. There are five million people there.

Michael - Well John, I met an American musician that was on tour in Europe. We met in Copenhagen by accident. I basically told him that I would love to come to the U.S. and he said his tour is over in six months and to fly over and he offered to take care of me in America.

Michael - Oh yeah. He never thought I would call and we laugh about it today. In life we always need people on our journeys and we always say, "If you ever get in my part of town, call me!" (Laughing) Of course that hardly ever happens but in this case I did look him up and he was very inviting. He was serious about his offer.

Michael - His name is Mark Schulman and at the time he was touring with Richard Marx. In the last two or three years he has been the drummer for Cher. He has done phenomenally well and he was a member of Foreigner for a while plus simple minds.

John - What an amazing gift Mark gave you.

Michael - It really was and he never thought I would take him up on the offer. He and Dave Koz are best friends and I hadn't been here more than two weeks when Dave's first record came out in 1990. Mark took me to Dave's record release party and he was responsible for introducing me to Dave. You know Dave and I were talking about that last night the fact that when I met you it would lead to me recording for your record company. It's amazing how things happen. So Mark was instrumental in getting me settled in the U.S. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't met him. I just needed one person in the U.S. and he was the guy.

John - What an amazing lifeline he turned out to be and he introduced you to Dave Koz. I know it took a lot of years for the Rendezvous label to come to fruition but still it was Mark that got you there.

Michael - The reality is my expectation has already been exceeded. I have had to set new goals for myself because my earlier goals were just to move here and make a living. Now, four records later it is amazing. I would have just been happy living in the U.S. and just simply making it as a musician.

John - Well, I know you came from Classical music so you have a very strong work ethic.

Michael - Yes, I was very disciplined and I still am. I am actually so disciplined that at times I am trying to cool it down a little bit.

Michael - Yes, exactly. I started out in sort of a military school for children and they teach you as a professional musician but it is really strict. Your hair has to be cut a certain way and you have to talk and conduct yourself in a certain way. That started when I was nine years old and it gave me a very structured and forward approach to life. I was also playing Classical music at the time which as you know had nothing to do with your interpretation or any improvisation. Now that I am in Jazz everything is a little bit more free.

John - If you could go back to when you were working on your first album, knowing what you know now what would you tell yourself?

Michael - I would certainly tell him to be persistent because back then there were many opportunities to throw in the towel. To make a difference as an artist it really takes a lot of effort.

Michael - The tour has changed a little bit from last year when we did it. I was a surprise guest on the tour last year and this year it is billed as Brian Culbertson featuring Michael Lington. The new billing of the tour is worth gold and I can thank my signing to Rendezvous Records for that. Also, it was Brian who suggested it.

Michael - I met him years ago at a release party for my 'Vivid' album. He came out just to hang out. I was in the process of working on the 'Everything Must Change' album and I asked him if he wanted to be involved and he said sure.

Michael - Sure and I was a big fan. Then that led to him asking me to play with him in concert and we just had a great chemistry and a vibe. We also worked on the new album 'Stay With Me' together. Brian is one of the brightest individuals and he in an amazing producer and writer.

Michael - Yes, he is very ambitious and for anyone who has never seen him live, his show in unbelievable.

John - And of course Brian co-wrote a few tunes on the album including that lead off single 'Show Me.'

Michael - He sure did. Yeah and thats one of the reasons it's so special to me.

Michael - Bobby will always have a very special place in my heart because he got me started and prior to meeting him I was playing weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. (laughing)

John - Well, you got to love Bobby Caldwell. He's grossly undervalued in the music business.

Michael - You have to love him because he got me on tour with him and actually introduced me to Jazz and Smooth Jazz. I took over for Boney James as his sax player and Boney had taken over for Dave Koz and Dave took over after Richard Elliot left. Bobby certainly had a track record for sax players and he has a very special place in my heart.

John - I have to track Bobby down and talk to him. I've been a fan of his since I was 17. Is there a Smooth Jazz scene in Copenhagen?

Michael - Not for Smooth Jazz, no, but there is a scene for Traditional Jazz or R&B music and Funk.

Michael - Radio is very different in Copenhagen but some things are the same like you still need people to promote your stuff on there. So until the whole structure of Smooth Jazz is worked out it's not going to happen there.

John - I hear you performed 'Show Me' at the royal wedding of Denmark's Crown Prince Frederick. (the country's future king)

Michael - I sure did and that was a whole other experience and it's something that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. It's something I never thought I would be a part of so when I was asked to do it I was very flattered and amazed.

Michael - Oh yeah. There were 400 people there, kings and queens you know royalty from all over the world.

Michael - We started playing at the first dance and there was no taping allowed, not even still photography. Now remember they've been going through television and press in general for six months leading to the wedding. I took one picture inside the ballroom and that's the only picture that I have. Also remember there hasn't been a crown prince wedding for 150 years and there probably won't be one in my lifetime so it was certainly a historical moment.

John - I was talking to Kevin Toney late last year and he talked very fondly of Paul Jackson Jr. and he said there's nothing that cat can't play! I know he played on 'Hey You' on your album and listen that tune reminds me of the early sound of Contemporary Jazz that got me into this Smooth Jazz thing.

Michael - (laughing) Well, good then I did my job. I wrote that song based on my inspiration on what got me started as a saxophonist. I was trained first as a classical clarinet player and when I became a teenager I got heavily involved in American R&B and funk. This was the early days of David Sanborn, Grover Washington Jr. and the Brecker Brothers. I wrote that tune with that time and those guys in mind. It's homage to old school. When someone tells us it sounds like it's from the seventies or eighties it makes me happy so thank you John. (laughing)

John - Do you find the quality of life in the U.S. a lot better or just simply different?

Michael - I am so comfortable living in Los Angeles and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. I love visiting all countries and as a matter of fact I'm going back to Australia in the fall which is one of my favorite countries.

Michael - To me it's a very inspiring place, I love the weather and I love the consistency of the city. My friends are here and there's simply a lot of music going on its amazing.

John - You have Chuck Loeb on 'Two of a Kind,' that song demands attention, it's very punchy.

Michael - I'm a real fan of his and that song was produced by Michael Colina who worked with David Sanborn. I thought what the heck I'll call up Michael Colina and ask him or beg him to be involved in this project. He was just the coolest guy and while he was talking to me on the phone he was looking me up on the internet. He said he'd been waiting for the right artist to work with and so we did the Michael Sembello tune together and we co-wrote 'Two of a Kind.' He's great friends with Chuck Loeb and that's how Chuck ended up on the album. The interesting story about me and Michael Colina and the making of both 'Two of a Kind' and 'Pasionada' is that during the making of those songs we actually never met until we had completed both songs.

Michael - That's right he's in New York and I'm in Los Angeles. This was all done via the internet and courier sending hard drives back and forth. (laughing) That hard drive did a lot of traveling coast to coast quite a few times.

John - It was nice to hear Michael Sembello on 'Apasionada.' Who could forget his hit 'Maniac' and his stuff with Sergio Mendes.

Michael - Michael is one of the sweetest individuals I've ever met. He sends me these really wonderful emails and he's so excited about the work he did on the album and he's one of the hardest people to get in touch with.

Michael - Well, he's just really hard to get a hold of lets just leave it at that!

Michael - Yeah, I'm proud of that song I really love the melody. The sax recording of that ended up being very important to me not only because we ended up using my demo take on sax but it was the microphone I used. I know it might sound insignificant to someone else but that microphone that I used on that ended up being the mic that we used on the whole album and it started with that demo take. It's important because it's a part of my sound.

John - Tell me about your grandfather. Otto Lington was a big influence on you and very big in music.

Michael - Correct. I would probably say that he is the ultimate inspiration of why I became a musician in the first place. We had a very strong bond and we connected in a way that was indescribable. My Grandfather taught me how to be in show business and still be myself. He of course was a celebrity back home and he always got invitations to premieres and he would take me as his date. (laughing) It could have been the circus or the movies or the theatre. It was just awesome.

John - How did he handle his celebrity status? Did you learn a lot from him there?

Michael - He'd been a celebrity since 1939. My grandfather was such a loving person to me but he at times could be a little different to people on the outside. He liked his privacy. He loved family, his wife who unfortunately passed away over 20 years before he did. With the outside world he was a little reserved. If you look at a European music dictionary he's credited for bringing Jazz to Scandinavia. In the 1930's he did the first dance concert and no one knew what it was all about and he was the very first composer and band leader after the silent movie era. His band would play the music at the same time that they were filming, there was no post-production so he made lots of money way back and became very famous. He really inspired me to really pursue music.

Michael - (laughing) Right now I have no time to relax! I'm on the road five, six days a week however two days ago for the first time in a long time I forced myself to take the day off and I got up at five o'clock in the morning to go water skiing. I have a boat here in California and I hadn't taken it out all year and it was really bugging me so I called a couple of buddies of mine and we got out there it was great! Another great way to relax is to play in the Caribbean, I'll play at the Barbados Jazz Festival or I'll play in Hawaii and I'll scuba dive and that's quite relaxing.

Michael - I just want to be able to continue making records and more importantly raising the bar in what I'm doing. I want to become a better artist and writer and becoming a better person.

John - Do you get touched by the celebrity thing either from your fans or from you meeting a certain celebrity?

Michael - Well, from me being a fan I'd say no. You can go out to dinner and the stars are there here in California.

Michael - Not really. Some people are star struck but I'm the least star struck person you'll ever meet. For instance I just did the Playboy Jazz Festival and I was hanging out with Bill Cosby and he was a really nice person. Bill also made everyone feel so comfortable when you're around him you feel like you've known him for twenty years which you have basically since we all grew up watching him. I found John that some of the people that are on top are some of the nicest people and many are just themselves.

John - David Sanborn was a big influence for you are there others you want to mention?

Michael - First off, yes, David Sanborn was a huge influence and I just recently had an opportunity to meet him. I had a great opportunity to go out on the road with Grover Washington Jr. and he became a friend. I was up there on stage playing 'Mr. Magic' with Grover it was great. Dave Koz is one of the superstars in this format and to consider him one of my closest friends is an honor.

John - What's the best piece of advice that you've received in the music field?

Michael - It's the same advice that I'm passing on to other people and that's be persistent. Just never give up! In life one door closes trust me another one will open. It may not be when you want it to open, you may have to wait a bit but trust me another will open. It will all make sense in the long run! Also so many people wonder where their next break is going to come from, well it will come to you but your duty is to be prepared for it.

Michael - Exactly, that too. Be good at what you do practice all the time just get better at it. This is not a complicated formula! In life you can't just wait around for it you need to be ready.

Michael - I will John. Thanks so much for all the work you do for all of us in Smooth Jazz and take care buddy!