In his capacity as resident keyboardist with the house band on
ABC’s
late night “Jimmy
Kimmel Live,” Jeff Babko has had the opportunity to back up a plethora of musical
guests, and as a valued, in-demand sideman, Babko has also toured and recorded
with a wide-ranging list of artists such as rocker Steve Lukather, fusion
drummer Simon Phillips, funnyman Martin Short and jazz guitar greats Robben
Ford and Larry Carlton. He has also racked up some impressive movie credits,
having played on such recent films as “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Garden State.” But
in spite of all that musical diversity, it’s safe to say that the Los Angeles-based
keyboardist has never before done anything quite like Mondo Trio.
Essentially
an experimental vehicle allowing Babko to delve into some of the more subversive
aspects of his multi-faceted musicality, this renegade trio offering is also
a brilliant showcase for all-world drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, who is turned
loose on these nine tracks with a vengeance, and also for the audaciously adventurous
saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Together these three highly creative musical forces
push the envelope on funk, fusion and organ trio jazz originals with some
cathartic, scintillating results.
While the three musicians may travel in different
orbits -- Babko in his Los Angeles niche of the Kimmel show, the studio scene
and the Baked Potato, Coffin as a road warrior with Bela Fleck & The Flecktones,
Colaiuta as one of the world’s most sought-after drummers for international
tours and recordings -- the stars finally aligned long enough for them to go
into the studio and track this session in just a couple of days.
“When I first heard Jeff (Coffin) play, his sound just blew me away,” says Babko. “Jeff
is so creative and open, so excited and positive about playing. And I also knew
I wanted to find an excuse to record with Vinnie and hear him play in a freer
situation. So I thought, ‘Why not play with both of them?’ Once we found the
time to do it, the session went exactly as I had hoped. By the time we got in
the studio, everyone was just really amped to create.”
The sound of Vinnie’s drums is very present in the mix throughout Mondo Trio,
grounding the session with resounding authority. As Babko explains, “That comes
from the engineer, Niko Bolas. Initially we told him, ‘We don’t want this to
be a safe recording. Let’s get it to be raw and let’s capture the live energy
of the session. And a lot of guys might want to have the drums play a more
supportive role, but here it’s really three equal voices.”
Those three voices combine for one resounding burst of kinetic energy and
inspired playing on the volatile jam-oriented Mondo Trio.
-- Bill Milkowski
Bill Milkowski is a regular contributor to Jazz Times, Jazziz, Bass Player, Modern
Drummer and Absolute Sound magazines. He is also the author of “JACO: The Extraordinary
and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius” (Backbeat Books).
Notes on “Broject”
“Yeah, Randy”
I began writing this at the Fender Rhodes during a
Simon Phillips winter ’97 tour “sound
check.” One would learn after a few years touring
with Simon that often, when there are about 200 drums
on stage, the “drum” portion of sound
check can take a few hours. So for the remaining musicians,
this equals lots of down time for eating cold cuts,
scampering about a dreary German jazz club, or composing.
On this particular day, I chose the latter.
My original idea for the concept that would eventually
become “Broject” was that, after seeing
some shows from some of the then contemporary “electronica”
acts live (Crystal Method, Fatboy Slim, Gus Gus),
the “kids” (i.e. my generation…
haha) really could dig intense rhythms, no matter
of what genre. So, Miles played the “Bitches
Brew” stuff in front of kids 30 years ago, right?
Why wouldn’t a combination of the two work?
Well, I would get sidetracked with the concept, because,
at the end of the day, nothing was “hip”
enough for me… it all sounded too “fusion,”
and I had a love/hate relationship with many of the
final recorded results. But “Yeah, Randy”
is probably as close as I ultimately got. I was definitely
saddened when someone compared it to the Brecker Brothers.
I thought I’d failed at my attempt at modern
hipness entirely, and kind of gave up for a while.
The inclusion of David Fiucynzski was major for me
though. I’d been a fan of his playing with Me’Shell
N’degeocello and the Screaming Headless Torsos
for a few years, and really wanted to play with him.
Mike Elizondo had done some work with him, so I asked
Mike to ask Fuze if he’d be into it. He said
yes, so that jumpstarted this recording.
We tracked at Sunburst Recording in Culver City—a
great little room with a B3 that is run by Bob Wayne.
I’d done some jazz sessions there and thought
it had a cozy vibe. Simon and I worked on the loop
and electronic overdubs at Simon’s Coy Sound
studio, and Simon played tamborine there as well.
My solo, if anyone cares, trading with Albert Wing,
was done on a Hohner D6 clavinet through a Big Muff
pedal and a Whammy pedal. Pretty cool sound.
“Yeah, Randy,” incidentally, is how it
sounded when Simon (with his British accent) said
“Yeah, ANDY” to Andy Timmons, the band’s
guitarist. Andy and I used to really enjoy this phrase.
“Frash Right”
The title here is an obvious homage to Parliament’s
“Flashlight,” thanks to Bernie Worrell’s
sick Moog bass work on that song. “Frash Right”
is how our good friend Toshi might say the title.
This began as a late night jam session at Toss Panos’
awesome home studio, Tossimo Studios. From 2001 through
late 2002, we’d often record twisted jams, no
matter what instrumentation. This jam session (which
also produced “Moopshack”) was just me
and Toss, with Bob Bradshaw engineering. Other jams
included Dean Taba (see “Video Game” and
“Las Vegas”), guitarist Lyle Workman,
and bassist Lance Morrison, among others.
I love how this one turned out. Although it began
as just Toss and myself on tape, we overdubbed stuff
and did our best to make a “song” out
of it. Albert Wing played some killer soprano on it—I
wanted that angry Steve Grossman/Dave Liebman thing
on it, and he killed it. Toshi Yanagi played some
great rhythm stuff (as usual), as well as some cool
Echoplex stuff.
The really funny thing about this song (besides the
overzealous Nord Lead portamento on the bass sound)
is that, actually, the digital recording device we
were using ran out of disk space, and just stopped
mid-song. The last part of the song (the louder part)
is actually from a jam about an hour earlier. I spliced
it at Toss’s big drum fill, and I love the way
it works. (Toss’s drum fill is one of my favorites
ever!)
“9-1-1”
The title is a play on the Tony Williams “Emergency”
idea (get it?), and the song is based on that great
groove from Tony’s “Red Alert.”
Dan Lutz, Toss, and I tracked this as a trio at Tossimo
Studios with Oscar Doniz engineering. It was such
an easy session. Later, Tosh overdubbed some killer
rocking guitar, and a blistering 8 bar solo that is
one of my faves—at my old “home studio”—i.e.,
my old apartment in Studio City. Finally, Albert Wing
overdubbed his soprano at Tossimo a while later. I
love his intensity on this track.
Toss’s playing on the outro (between 6/4 and
two bars of 4) is so much fun.
“Yours”
This began as a silly distorted drum loop I did on
from my old Trinity, and wrote the first part of the
song to that. I left it on the shelf for a year or
two, and revisited it, needing more material to complete
all this music we’d recorded and finish an “album.”
When I revisited it, I immediately wrote the remainder
of the tune. I really can say I like this one.
Toss replayed the loop at his house (during the same
session as “9-1-1”) and we played to that.
Dan Lutz played some beautiful acoustic bass on this
track. Obviously, it becomes a feature for Mike Landau,
who played such lyrical, soulful stuff on this—I’m
so thrilled with what he did. Mike was so generous
with this whole record—he offered to mix it
when we were on the James Taylor tour. Needless to
say, I was touched and honored. And his playing is
unsurpassed.
I’ve been a fan of Mike’s since I’d
go to the Baked Potato to see him play with Coma and
Karizma in the mid- 80’s. I even asked him to
sign my Crusaders “Life in Modern Times”
CASSETTE in about 1988. (He said, “But I only
did overdubs on this thing!”) But now, his playing
with his own trio, not to mention every night I heard
him with James, is constantly inspiring and awesome.
He doesn’t disappoint on “Yours,”
playing so perfectly.
Obviously, lots of people have commented on the song’s
reminder of old Jeff Beck, and I think that’s
great. How great did Max Middleton’s Rhodes
sound on “Wired?”
But I digress! We recorded “Yours” in
one take, and Toss overdubbed some cymbal swells a
few weeks later—that’s it. It seemed perfect
to me.
“Las Vegas”
Thanks to Jeff Young, who left his B3 at Toss’s
studio after the Blue Horn sessions. We used the organ
as an excuse to do some playing—and called Dean
Taba out to jam with us to tape. “Las Vegas”
was a little riff I though we could jam on…
and I love the spirit of what came out of it. (Toshi
overdubbed guitar and some really cool echoplex effects
at my old apartment later.)
Toss is HILARIOUS on this track—I just LOVE
the way he plays on it. Hopefully, the whole song
showcases the communication between Toss and myself,
which I cherish.
“Busted Video Game”
This was recorded during the same night as “Las
Vegas,” and was perhaps indebted to a few vodka/crans.
But that’s ok, right?
Bob Bradshaw tweaked effects from the control room
as we played, so he was really in on this jam session.
"Kabuki Oogie Oogie"
The koto ensemble starts us with a mid-tempo funk
jam. This one was
recorded at Bob Wayne' Culver City Sunburst
studios as well.
Incidentally, the congas during Fuze' solo
were added by myself (via a
sample CD, which I laid into the track and sat to
fit in with the pocket), and credited to Ramon Sauze.
Unfortunately, the fictional "Ramon" was
not credited on the CD (I think that part of the artrwork
text was inadvertently deleted somehow) anyway.
Fuze' solo is great, and John Daversa'
unique trumpet solo is surely
mentionable as well. John explores his instrument
in very unconventional
ways˜all over the register of the horn and with
strange sounds and colors
that aren‚t usually associated with typical
jazz players. He' also mastered the EVI (electronic
valve instrument), but didn‚t play it on "Broject."
"Moopshack"
Another jam from the "Frash Right" evening.
This jam began just as the
listener hears it, with Toss playing the hi hat with
his maraca (or shaker,
or something) instead of your usual drumstick. There
was originally the
Nord bass thing, and a lot more Yamaha S90 Rhodes
sound through a wah. I left a lot more space with
the Rhodes parts and made room for Landau. After much
editing, I had Albert Wing overdub the melodies suggested
by my original Rhodes thing' I‚d played
at the jam. Then, I gave the tracks to Landau and
said, "Play as much or as little as you want."
This is what he came up with.
Mike' really into Derek Trucks and slide playing
these days, as well as
playing a lot more Les Paul, and these influences
definitely permeate into this track. Landau'
amazing at constantly developing his approach and
style as the years go. His touch is truly special,
and his sound is always unsurpassed.
And how about Toss' playing˜with that shaker?
Crazy fills toward the end
of the track.
"United Nations"
Here' the third song recorded at Sunburst.
There were actually four
tracks total recorded at Sunburst˜the fourth
was a rocking version of
Coltrane' "One Down, One Up." That was a
misguided effort in hindsight. I tried to make that
one work, but after revisiting it and revisiting it,
I
couldn‚t make it work. A lot of these older
tracks were hard for me to
stomach as the years went on, but this ("One
Down") was the least
comfortable for me.
But "United Nations" lives on. Mike Elizondo
laid it down on the 12/8
groove, smooth as butter. There was originally also
a straight 8ths Miles-y funk/rock section in middle
of this song, but Simon Phillips heard and
thought we‚d already visited that groove enough
on "Yeah, Randy." He'
right. And also, this song dragged on until we made
that edit. Simon made a lot of wise, valuable decisions
on directions for this CD, and I‚m
grateful to him for it!
"Jojo' Lullaby"
I recorded this as a kind of palette cleanser at the
end of the album.
With so much musical density on the rest of the record,
it' nice to end it
simply. I recorded it at my old apartment at about
2am. I‚m a terrible
guitar player (as is obvious here), but I think the
simple little parts are
kind of charming.
