John
Beaudin - Hi Peter welcome to the site. I've really
enjoyed your album "The L.A. Project" It's a treat
for anyone longing for that classic L.A. sound and the segue
into Smooth Jazz is of course a perfect fit.
Peter Friestedt - Hi John,
Thank you very much.
John - Let's start with the beginning of the project.
How did the idea start for the album?
Peter - The idea came when
I moved to LA in 1999, I did start to re-discover the music
that I had listened to and admired for many years. It felt very
natural to take this direction musically. I played a demo to
drummer/producer Michael Shapiro of some tracks I had recorded
back home. Michael liked my tunes and wanted to help me record
them, so he booked the studio, hired an engineer and got the
rhythm section together for me. I was a new kid in town so without
his help it would have been hard. I also won a jazz competition
at Cal State University and got to know Ralph Humphrey, who
also helped me out. Then we did that first session around Christmas
2000. There was a certain chemistry in the studio that day that
is hard to describe.
John - The album is a treat for Chicago or Toto
fans as you feature vocalist Joseph Williams who was with Toto
during the "Seventh One" stage and also Bill Champlin
of Chicago. Had you known them before this album?
Peter - Thank you John.
Hopefully it will be appreciated both by the fans of Toto
and Chicago as well as the smooth jazz/fusion audience since
the music is a combination between pop and jazz. I have listened
a lot to Bill's and Joseph's earlier works but did not know
them personally before working with them on the CD.
John - I find with Bill that he just sounds like
he's in the zone every moment of the day. He really project
projects the image of a guy who truly loves to sing.
Peter - Yes Bill is outstanding,
to watch him work is a complete joy, to me he is just the ultimate
musician. It is a true honour to have him singing on the CD.
 |
| (Left
to right) Joseph Williams, Peter Friestedt and Bill Champlin
of Chicago |
John
- I look at two tunes specifically on that "Time to Play"
and "Take a Chance."
Peter - "Time to
play" became sort of a big band shuffle because of the
arrangement, I am very happy with the way this track turned
out, Russ Ferrante
who plays Fender Rhodes on this one did quote his own song
"Revelation" during the horn section feature, it
was the first tune I had in mind for Bill, I couldn't think
of a better singer for that song. You may hear the groove
and energy of that live playing rhythm section on this track,
which is something that is not very common on CD's these days.
John - Joseph is one of my favourite vocalist's
of all time. He did a great vocal on "Got To Find It."
I always found Toto
to be less of a band without him, having said that let me
just say I think Bobby Kimball is a kick ass singer as well.
I know they were together on stage during the reunion tour
a few years ago but I'd love to see him back in that band.
Tell me about Joseph. What's he like?
Peter - I agree with you,
although Bobby is an incredible singer I think Toto
did some of their finest records with Joe. He sure is a fantastic
singer and a very nice guy. To work with him is a blessing,
he and Bill comes up with some of the finest background vocals
together.
John - "Got to Find It" has a great
BG vocal with Joseph, Bill and Keyboardist Stefan Gunnarsson.
Peter - I won't argue
on that, Stefan does the "way to get you into my life"
part while Bill and Joseph sings the rest, very nice arrangement
by everyone here, listen to the Chaka Khan phrasing on the
line "I don't wanna live without you", just wonderful.
John - Let's stay with vocalists. Michael Ruff
is very smooth on "Only Prayer." Tell me about him
and that tune?
Peter - Michael was busy
as a musical director and studio musician in LA for a while
but then he decided to move to Hawaii, he is very popular
in Scandinavia and tour here a lot. He is a wonderful musician
and composer no doubt about that.The song was done all in
one take, live, everything except for the lead voc and one
of the guitar parts, I feel very blessed every time I hear
the song and it is one of my favourites on the CD. The rhythm
section here, Ralph Humphrey and Abraham Laboriel have great
history together playing on many classic records.
John - "Only Prayer" has a great Smooth
Jazz Vocal thanks to Michael and Brandon Fields on Alto Sax.
Peter - Yes I think this
one would fit the Smooth Jazz format very well.
John
- I like your solo on that tune, it's very clean.
Peter - Thank you, it's
kind of my tribute to George
Benson and that style of guitar playing which I love very
much. I will definitely feature more of that on my next CD.
John - George
Benson
is one of the guys that kept me in this style of music.I know
you're a Marc
Jordan
fan. Have you met him?
Peter - Marc has written
some wonderful music. I have never met him, I sure would like
to someday though.
John - How about getting Marc to do some stuff
with you. I believe your styles would really work together.
Peter - That would be
wonderful, unfortunately I don't know how easy it would be
to arrange.
John - I would love to see a tour for this album
in North America. Would Bill and Joseph be available?
Peter - The CD is planned
to be released in the states by BMG early this spring so if
it does well it might be appropriate to consider a small tour.
I know Joseph has a busy deadline schedule with his TV-scores
and Bill tours a lot with Chicago. With the right timing we
might be able to squeeze in a small LA-Project tour if there
would be a demand for it. Only a few showcase concerts in
Sweden are being planned as we speak though.
John - What's the music scene like in Sweden?
Is the LA sound popular there? Is Smooth Jazz part of the
scene at all?
Peter - The well produced
LA music has always been popular here, I would say that Scandinavia,
France and Japan are big countries for the LA sound or "west
coast" music as we call it here. The Smooth Jazz has
not been introduced here yet but I think there would be a
big audience for it here as well.
John - I'm a big Yellowjackets
fan especially Jimmy Haslip who makes me dizzy he's so damn
good? How was it working with them?
Peter - It was wonderful.
They are all very nice and humble and when it comes to playing
they are some of my favourite musicians. Russell met me a
week before the sessions and we went through the arrangements
together at his house.
John - I'm going to play your two instrumentals
on my show here in Canada. Tell me about "Storyteller"
and "All Alone?"
Peter - "Storyteller"
is really my hometown musically, my arrangement is designed
to fit the Jackets with those unison bass/saxophone lines
in the bridge, kind of a bright, positive fusion tune with
a little history touch of Whether Reports "Birdland".
"All Alone" is almost like a lullaby with a little
bit of a comforting feel, just me on a steel stringed acoustic
guitar with an orchestra arrangement behind.
John - What's next for you?
Peter -
The future looks bright, the CD was re-released worldwide
by the BMG in February (2004). I have also been writing most
of the songs for a new CD that I will start recording in LA
sometime this year. Two tracks are co-written by Randy Goodrum.
I just feel very blessed to be able to work with all these
wonderful musicians and to make music for a living!
John
- What guitar player out there makes you want to practice
more?
Peter - I have to say
two players, George Benson
and Larry Carlton.
John - I want to touch on Bill Cantos before
we leave. Tell me about him?
Peter - Bill is a very
talented vocalist/piano player. He is also a great songwriter.
The lyric he wrote for the song "Peace of mind"
on the CD is just wonderful and I feel blessed to have him
on the project.
John - Peter It's been great connecting with
you. Your album is fantastic. I highly recommend it to anyone
who loves the LA sound or Smooth Jazz or anything in between
for that manner.
Peter - Thank you very
much John, it was a pleasure talking to you.
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