Jazz saxophonist Marion Meadows who toured as part of Summer Storm 3, during 2007, appears on the title track, “Pearls,” leading Jhonson to comment, “It has been really fantastic to work with Marion Meadows in Summer Storm. He is easy to work with and he’s fun. The audiences love him and his songs are great. Marion Meadows is a great musician too. He takes his time, spells out what he wants to say, and then if he really wants to get busy and get down, he can do that too.”

 

Jhonson recalls her first conversation with Marion Meadows, regarding his involvement with her CD Pearls, “We were working Summer Storm 3 and that was my first time meeting him. We hit it off right away. We would be riding on the bus, talking while we were going to some gig, and I told him about my project. I said that I would love to have him play on it and he was, ‘Ya, sure no problem. I am going to Sedona to do some bike riding and I will be back in two weeks. We’ll do it then.’ I was like, ‘ya’ ya,” but in two weeks when he got back from bike riding, he called me up and said, ‘Let’s do it.’  He is a man of hi sword and it turned out really great.”

 

All of the musicians who appear on Pearls are fabulous and Jhonson drew my attention to guitarist Paul Brown who plays for the deliciously textured song, “Silky Slide.” She says, “Paul Brown has a really nice flavor. He reminds me of guitarist Eric Gill who used to record in the seventies and eighties, before smooth jazz got to be smooth jazz.” 

 

Jhonson, ever the proud Philadelphia native, reminisces about growing up in the city and the music that she heard, “You couldn’t walk down a street in Philadelphia without hearing a band playing. We were playing songs by Mandrill, the Ohio Players, and when Chicago came along, we loved their stuff. We listened to The Stylistics, Blue Magic and groups like The Intruders. The O’Jays and The Spinners were not from Philadelphia, but they made their sounds with Philadelphia producers. Their albums were recorded in studios in downtown Philadelphia. Those were the songs that I listened to when I was coming along. My mom turned me on to Mongo Santamaria (percussionist) and Hubert Laws (flautist).”

 

Jhonson also lists James Williams, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack and Laura Nyro as also influencing her music.

 

“I was inspired to see other women who were singing, playing, writing and producing.

I am sure that part of their spirit is with me and that I have carried it on, in my music as well,” says Jhonson.

 

The songs on Pearls are bright, upbeat and mid tempo. “Moments Of Love,” is described by Jhonson as, “one of my favorite songs. I wanted to capture love. Love is sometimes heavy and sometimes light, sometimes fun and sometimes serious. The different sections of the song just keep moving in and out of those feelings and out of those different moments of love. I wanted to capture that idea. It is not really funky, but it does move and is upbeat. It ticks on another little groove and then it settles down.”

 

Jhonson describes “Feel Good Groove,” as a song that creates, “a happy feeling, like riding down Sunset Boulevard and turning on the radio. That song is relaxing and makes you feel good while you are listening to it.”

 

When Gail Jhonson was in her preteens, she attended a Stevie Wonder concert at Philadelphia’s Uptown Theater. “I said oh my goodness, I can do this, and I can do this. That was definitely a wakeup call for me to push forward.”

 

Later it was music from groups such as Sly and the Family Stone that caused Jhonson to think, “This is where I can get in and make this thing grow.”

 

The world of music, and particularly jazz are that much richer today, because Gail Jhonson was inspired to push forward and believed that she could continue to grow as an artist. Just as she was inspired by the many artists whom she mentioned, you be sure that she is inspiring a new generation of singers, songwriters and musicians, who are witnessing her accomplishments and are saying that they want some of that in their lives too.

 

 

 

Interview by Joe Montague

 

August 2008

 

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