Your name:
Bud Brown.
Where are you from?
Pequot Lakes, Minnesota – originally
from San Diego, California.
Name of band:
The Buddy Jack Band.
Who else is in your band?
Primarily
it’s just me these days but I’ve been playing music for awhile so there are a few songs on the TBJB
page that feature and incorporate many other artists; some famous and some not. There is one of my
older pop songs ‘Alabama’ on the RN page sung by R.B. Greaves of ‘Take a Letter Maria” and “Always Something
There to Remind Me” fame a number of years ago as a label demo.
How would you describe yourselves?
The premier
Electroclassic music maker in the world; The Buddy Jack Band’s electronic instrumental creations tantalize
the very depths of the listener’s mental canvas and paint colorful and dramatic tonal images; apparitions
that are full of real life experiences and emotions. Every one of our compositions is carefully
crafted and produced to deliver passion and vision to our listeners in a very personal way. We want this to be the musical score that
will let our listener’s imaginations run wild or if they so desire it will
artfully fashion a casual and unobtrusive background ambiance for private time with friends or loved
ones. The right instrumental music in
the background will enhance and improve conversations. When the mood and
the right song is playing, you might find that you have the desire to get up and start dancing.
We know that we’re not going to be everyone’s first
choice of music for every occasion; and that’s OK. Everybody has to find their own space and time to enjoy
music; be it our music or any music for that matter. To fully
enjoy our musical experience to its fullest we recommend that the listener find
a quiet moment when they can put the world aside, slip on a
comfortable set of full range headphones, close their eyes, relax and enjoy the full sound range of what
will quickly become familiar tunes and rhythms; launching a new and exciting journey with every song. We
welcome everyone to the world of lyrical and ethereal expeditions; journeys filled with adventure,
emotion, and even the occasional sweet taste of serenity. It’s
really music that you can reach out and touch with your mind if you let
yourself go.
This isn’t just music – whether it’s the focus of a
listening experience or just background enhancement these remarkable Electroclassic compositions will make
you feel good about yourself, the world, and everything around you. Our music is different than the
rest. It is mood music; music to make you feel better; no prescription needed. It's that simple...all we
ask of anyone is please give it a try.
Who are your main influences musically?
It’s not so much who in particular is an
influence but what type of music has influenced and still influences me
personally. The single most influential person for me historically would probably be Art Farmer as listening
to him years ago convinced me to switch from trumpet which was my main instrument at the time to
Flugelhorn; which then quickly became the instrument love of my life along with mellow jazz.
Someone once commented on the ‘ElectroClassic’ style of
The Buddy Jack Band and our current compositions and ask how I personally got to the point of
writing this type of music. After thinking about it for a few seconds what came to me was "I suppose
that's what happens when you start off being trained in classical/orchestral music starting at four
years old, marched through years of military music and then get kicked into contemporary jazz to have fun
playing, bounced into rock n' roll with electric trumpet and rock festivals while trying all the while to
support your musical habit with a steady run of big band James Brown style R&B..." They said “Yeah; that makes perfect sense, a
recipe for arriving at an original sound."
What do you hope to achieve in music?
As simplistic as it
might sound, what I personally want is the largest audience of people around the world listening
to TBJB music and really enjoying it; letting it make their lives better in some way. I want to see this
through downloads and plays of TBJB music and the eventual incorporation of compositions and segments
into movies, advertisements and other media as background.
Seeing live performances of the music by great musicians
is another distant but potentially achievable goal. I’d ultimately like to use Sibelius software to
create sheet music so the songs can performed live.
But in the long run whatever happens, the knowledge of
others enjoying the music will in fact bring the greatest sense of achievement. In creating this music
and The Buddy Jack Band ElectroClassic style I am leaving something tangible and memorable for my two
daughters; something they will have with them to remember and hopefully share with their
children. And of lesser but still
relevant significance; a modicum of income from the music would also be
acceptable.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and
why?
The highlight of my career with The Buddy Jack Band has been seeing the volume of remarkably
positive comments from some incredibly talented musicians on ReverbNation, SoundCloud, YouTube and
MySpace. The lifetime highlight of my personal career was to be able to work with and become close
friends with R.B. Greaves. He was one of the finest friends I have ever had and taught me so much about music
and life. I am still incredibly distressed at the fact that he died of cancer last September; at such a
young age. I’ve worked with a lot of musicians and I am convinced that he was one of the great singers
of our time; but unfortunately for a number of reasons too few people ever got to experience his
greatness. Having him as a friend and
mentor was definitely the most significant highlight.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
I’m going
to be completely serious about this: once I worked with a show band doing Las Vegas ‘lounge music and
comedy’ and traveling around the country. We weren’t necessarily very good or funny but I was a
sideman getting union wages and housing so it was a good gig. The most remarkable thing about this
group was that once the audience had a couple of
drinks in them the music got better and the jokes funnier
(to the audience anyway).
Well for one week the agency booked us into what was
definitely the wrong venue in the South. It was a very large and impressive/expensive restaurant and show
lounge. It was huge with cloth covered tables, a huge bar with electronics, and even a creek
running through it with little bridges and all. It started off well enough and the audience enjoyed the
music we played during the dinner hour but when ‘Showtime’ started things changed quickly. Part of
the act was a segment where the drummer dressed up in a full gorilla costume and ran through the
audience. To most drunk businessmen in a secluded hotel lounge (our usual fare) this was funny;
but to the ‘fancy’ and ‘proper’ crowd at this establishment the whole thing was perceived as ‘rude’ and
‘crude’.
The first show set ended with the gorilla skit.
Immediately after the curtain closed the owner/manager of the club came up to the band leader and told him that
the group was one of the worst groups he had ever booked in his lifetime and that we needed to keep it
‘more acceptable’ or we would be fired ‘union or not’. Well that
pissed off the band leader and during our break he created another ‘gorilla’
skit and we opened the second set with the curtain going up to him
standing in the center of the stage in full costume making noises and jumping around. He then proceeded to jump off the stage and
run quickly through the crowd who were sitting at the cloth covered
dining tables. He would pick up drinks from them and pour them into his costume and sit in ladies
laps and numerous other things he knew would piss off the owner.
Before he was no more than two or three minutes into this
‘new act’ the owner climbed up on the stage, grabbed the microphone and said to the crowd “this
is the worst and most disgusting band and show I have ever seen. Please accept my apology and know that I have fired them and they will
be leaving the building immediately.” At that point the
sedate audience broke into loud cheers, whistles and applause supporting the knowledge that we were being
fired. We immediately stopped, closed the curtain, packed up our instruments and headed out the
back door. I didn’t read it but I heard that there was an article in the ‘Entertainment’ section of
the local paper the next day describing the whole incident.
I have never been back to that city; nor do I plan to go.
So, what do you think would you want to remember that?
If you had to choose just one of your songs to represent
your music, what would it be and why?
It's hard to pick just one because so much thought goes
into the development of every one of them and each is so completely different. But because you want me
to pick just one I will pick 'Sidewalks' because of how the piece flows to create such a wonderful visual
image of city sidewalks as they start empty at the break of day and become increasingly more crowded
and busy as the day wears on. You get peaceful and mellow sounds, unusual instruments, some
light Jazz, strong rhythms and some powerful electronic sounds all mixed together just like the cacophony
you find on a city sidewalk. It seduces you gently and slowly building until it’s really cranking
then it lets you down just as peacefully and gently as it started.
'Sidewalks' as a part of the 'CityScape' album (along
with every song in that album) paints a musical image of an integral part of life in the mythical
CityScape city. I like the sound and feel of cool Jazz and I was able to incorporate that along with a woodsy flute
and tenor sax into the initial movements of the piece creating the feeling of a city waking up. One of my favorite segments is the Steel Drum
band playing in the park in the middle of the city for the
lunchtime crowd. I hope you enjoy it; hey I hope everyone enjoys it.
Here are the EB notes for that composition from the album
– “As the sun softly rises over the city the barren sidewalks are quiet and peaceful places. As the
sun continues to spread its light and warmth over the area you notice the store owners beginning to
prepare for the day; cleaning and washing the sidewalks getting ready for their upcoming business
everything adding to the activity. As the day grows elder the walkways become increasingly livelier and are
soon overflowing with throngs of people moving swiftly but dedicatedly to their ultimate destinations.
Throughout the day things may slow down a little except for the always vigilant street musicians and
vendors and before the onslaught of hasty lunchtime activities. Things then calm a little but at the end of
the day these human thoroughfares are once again filled with the sounds of activity; eventually ending the
day on the same quiet but not foreboding note upon which it all began. Sidewalks; take another look,
they are very interesting places if you let them be.”
Where can we listen to it?
Where can we find out more about your music?
Anything else you’d like to say that I forgot to ask?
Greg, yes and thank for asking we’d like everyone to know that TBJB is wrapping up the final few songs for the Audiot album (meditative melodic trance rhythms) and is preparing for the official release later in 2013. When completed the album will be available as downloaded MP3s initially and CDs later. The Homecoming album is respectfully dedicated to the memories we all have of coming home after living away for the first time in our lives. Homecomings are always interesting as is the composition of this album which features more of the film type of genre. Artistic juices are flowing and work is underway and everything is expected to be finished before the scheduled 2014 full release. Individual songs are available and will continue to be available for sale as they are released as downloadable MP3s.
Greg, yes and thank for asking we’d like everyone to know that TBJB is wrapping up the final few songs for the Audiot album (meditative melodic trance rhythms) and is preparing for the official release later in 2013. When completed the album will be available as downloaded MP3s initially and CDs later. The Homecoming album is respectfully dedicated to the memories we all have of coming home after living away for the first time in our lives. Homecomings are always interesting as is the composition of this album which features more of the film type of genre. Artistic juices are flowing and work is underway and everything is expected to be finished before the scheduled 2014 full release. Individual songs are available and will continue to be available for sale as they are released as downloadable MP3s.
The Whirled Peas album (a play on words but something we
nonetheless want to see) is a collection of songs that are more focus on the musical and rhythmic
fringes of Hip Hop, Dance and House electronic music. Two songs
are currently available and there is no scheduled date for release of this
'work in progress' album. New instruments and software are being
acquired in order to complete this project.
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