Sample individual
song selections by clicking on titles below:
Pieces of a Dream Soul Intent
HUCD3136
UPC: 053361 313623
Release Date: February 24th, 2009
PIECES OF A DREAM GETS BACK TO BASICS
Soul Intent due in stores February 24, 2009
In the age of digital technology, the art of assembling a handful of musicians in the same place and time to craft a live, organic recording full of creative interplay and artistic energy can be easily lost. But keyboardist James Lloyd and drummer Curtis Harmon, the founding duo and driving force behind the enduring contemporary jazz collective known as Pieces of a Dream, haven’t forgotten that the old school is still the place where some of the best and most enduring musical ideas are born.
Nearly three decades after their first recordings, Pieces of a Dream revisits their original approach to songwriting and recording with Soul Intent (HUCD 3136), set for worldwide release on Heads Up International on February 24, 2009. In many respects, the new album takes a back-to-basics approach, one that maximizes the most fundamental and enduring components of the Pieces experience.
“One of my main goals was to go back to the original approach to making a Pieces record,” says Lloyd. “The idea was to bring everyone into the studio at the same time so we could all work together in real time. A lot of people really get into that vintage sound from our first three albums, that period from ’81 to ’83. I figured if we went back to those old-style methods of recording and writing, then that element of vintage Pieces might show up in the music itself. It was an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other in a way that we could never have done had we recorded it separately. Five heads are definitely better than one.” read more
1. Sway On
2. Vision Accomplished
3. Give U My Heart
4. APB
5. Hindsight
6. Soul Intent
7. Step On It
8. Things Are Looking Up
9. D Fuse The Situation
10. Stand Up
11. Anywhere You Are
In the age of digital technology, the art of assembling a handful of musicians in the same place and time to craft a live, organic recording full of creative interplay and artistic energy can be easily lost. But keyboardist James Lloyd and drummer Curtis Harmon, the founding duo and driving force behind the enduring contemporary jazz collective known as Pieces of a Dream, haven’t forgotten that the old school is still the place where some of the best and most enduring musical ideas are born.
Nearly three decades after their first recordings, Pieces of a Dream revisits their original approach to songwriting and recording with Soul Intent (HUCD 3136), set for worldwide release on Heads Up International on February 24, 2009. In many respects, the new album takes a back-to-basics approach, one that maximizes the most fundamental and enduring components of the Pieces experience.
“One of my main goals was to go back to the original approach to making a Pieces record,” says Lloyd. “The idea was to bring everyone into the studio at the same time so we could all work together in real time. A lot of people really get into that vintage sound from our first three albums, that period from ’81 to ’83. I figured if we went back to those old-style methods of recording and writing, then that element of vintage Pieces might show up in the music itself. It was an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other in a way that we could never have done had we recorded it separately. Five heads are definitely better than one.”
The sense of togetherness and common purpose is evident from the opening bars of the upbeat and lighthearted “Sway On,” a tune that builds a solid groove on a straightforward recurring riff. Written and produced by Lloyd, the track maximizes the interplay between Lloyd’s keyboards and Tony Watson, Jr.’s artful sax runs.
The soulful and nostalgic “Vision Accomplished” is a collaborative effort by Lloyd and Harmon. As such, it takes the Pieces experience back to its earliest and deepest roots. “This song really captured the true Pieces of a Dream flavor,” says Harmon, “because it was written by the two original members of the band. It gets back to the heart and the core of how we like to write, what we like to play and what we want our sound to be.”
But Lloyd and Harmon are just the tip of the creative iceberg on Soul Intent. At a number of points along the way, the album is a free-for-all where any and all parties in the studio had a hand in the songwriting process. “Hindsight,” “Things Are Looking Up” and “D Fuse the Situation” are all credited to the band as a whole – including guitarist Rohn Lawrence, who had just joined the Pieces lineup as the album was coming together. “We wanted to incorporate some of Rohn’s guitar into the mix – not just as a player, but as part of the songwriting process as well,” says Lloyd. “It was really surprising how those three songs came out. It was the first time in a long time that we’d done that together as a complete band.”
Lloyd sees his work on “D Fuse the Situation” as a nod to keyboard legend Herbie Hancock, his longtime idol. “I can’t really think of myself as being in the same league as Herbie,” says Lloyd, “but when I listen to that song, I feel like there are some moments where his inspiration is coming through. It’s a very old-school track, where we just let loose and play.”
In the home stretch, “Stand Up” rides a groove that’s both cool and energized at the same time, thanks in large part to saxophonist Joe Cunningham. “This one has a faster, more funky vibe, and I will tell you right now, this song is going to rock in concert,” says Harmon, who wrote the track with assistance from bassist Bennie Sims and Cunningham. “It turned out a lot better on the album than I originally thought it would. At first, I wasn’t getting the vibe and the energy that I was looking for. But when I added some guitar and percussion, as well as the saxophone parts, the song started to breathe and really come to life.”
The set closes with the emotionally powerful “Anywhere You Are,” a track carried along by the fervent sax work of Eddie Baccus, Jr., a longtime Pieces member. Co-written by Harmon, Sims and Baccus, “Anywhere” takes a number of interesting turns, shifting from a stirring ballad to a triumphant march and then back to a ballad in the final coda.
While there’s no denying the consistently high caliber of music generated by Pieces of a Dream over the course of their lengthy career, Soul Intent may be the most direct, back-to-basics experience of this enduring jazz combo in many years. “For this CD, the songs were recorded as the writers had originally intended them to be,” says Harmon. “They weren’t reworked and rearranged from their original intent and turned into something else. They weren’t tampered with. This recording as a whole portrays the intent of the writers a lot better than some of our past albums. As a result, the initial inspiration behind the songs comes across better.”
The intent is clear: a little bit of soul, delivered the old-fashioned way.
In the world of jazz, commodities are fleeting. Styles come and go. Artists at the top of this week’s charts could be history by the end of next month. Words like “staying power” and “longevity” are for anyone or anything that sticks around for more than a couple years.
But then there are those rare few, gifted with the right stuff, who hang in for the long haul – musical collectives that continue to explore and evolve album after album, year after year, decade after decade, eschewing fashion and fad and reaching instead for something much more permanent. This is the story of Pieces of a Dream, a contemporary jazz band that opens the next chapter in a career that spans more than three decades with the February 2009 release of Soul Intent, their fifth album on Heads Up.
Pieces of a Dream emerged out of Philadelphia’s music scene in 1976. Keyboardist James Lloyd, drummer Curtis Harmon and former bassist Cedric Napoleon, were (and still are) managed by the drummer’s father and uncle, Danny and Bill Harmon, respectively. The group based their name on “Pieces of Dreams,” a cover tune by Stanley Turrentine that the group performed.
Pieces of a Dream first started playing throughout the Tri-State area, and were soon featured on Temple University’s pioneering jazz radio station, WRTI-FM. Long before the “Young Lions” era of Wynton Marsalis, Lloyd and Harmon were swinging so hard as teenagers that the great Count Basie once proclaimed them “a tough act to follow.”
But it was another jazz legend, the late Grover Washington Jr., the sax man who made Philadelphia his home, who helped Pieces of a Dream become the internationally known stars they are today.
After quickly becoming popular around Philadelphia, the trio landed a spot as the house band for a local television show called City Lights. Their experience widened as they played backup on the broadcasts to a wide variety of artists, and that’s where Washington first heard them. One day while the teenagers were playing at the Bijou (where Grover had recorded his Live at the Bijou album), he sat in with them to play “Mr. Magic.”
Soon Washington announced that he was starting a production company and that Pieces of a Dream would be his first act. Lloyd was only a senior in high school when his first record was released.
“That felt awesome,” recalls Lloyd. “Not just having an album out, but going all over the world touring and performing with Grover.”
From 1981 to 1984, Pieces of a Dream built their reputation with three albums on Elektra that would come to define the musical essence of the smooth jazz radio explosion: Pieces of a Dream, We Are One and Imagine This. Those seminal records yielded some of their earliest hits, including “Warm Weather,” “Mount Airy Groove” and “Fo Fi Fo.”
Soon after completing Joyride, their last effort for Elektra, Pieces of a Dream moved to EMI/Blue Note and went on to record seven more albums. During this period, the group amicably parted ways with long time friend Cedric Napoleon.
In 2001, Pieces of a Dream signed with Heads Up International and celebrated their 25th anniversary with what was undoubtedly their best album in years, Acquainted with the Night. The group’s silver anniversary release featured guitarist Ronny Jordan, vocalist Maysa Leak, and saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kenny Blake. Highlights included compositions from Albright and Michael Bearden, along with remakes of “Mahogany” and “Upside Down.” Acquainted with the Night generated two top-five singles on R&R's NAC chart. The follow up album, Love's Silhouette, also scored top radio chart positioning and Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart top 10 status. Their April 2004 release, No Assembly Required, proved to be another hit album in their long and illustrious career. Pillow Talk, released in March 2006, marked the band’s 30th anniversary with a satisfying set that showcased the band’s trademark catchy riffs, infectious grooves and compelling vocals.
The youthful exuberance of those two Philly kids from the mid-‘70s is still very much alive in Soul Intent, Pieces of a Dream’s latest effort on Heads Up. The 11-song set gets back to the basics of Pieces’ original songwriting and recording philosophy by reconnecting to the band’s original live-in-the-studio approach and maximizing the most fundamental and enduring components of the Pieces experience.
It’s that kind of innovation and eclecticism that keeps Pieces of a Dream fresh and authentic in a jazz world that’s ever-changing. “We will always be true to ourselves and our roots,” says Lloyd, “and at the same time try to stay in touch with the times.”
