Category Archives: Outta World interviews

Composer, singer-songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Malcolm Bruce has toured, performed, recorded and appeared on records with some of the biggest names in music including Little Richard, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Dr John, Steve Cropper, Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa, Bill Ward & Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath), Simon Phillips (Toto, The Who, Jeff Beck), Leslie West & Corky Laing (Mountain), Tony Butler & Mark Brzezicki (Big Country) and his father, the late Jack Bruce of Cream. Malcolm curated a tribute to his father in October 2016 alongside Pete Brown (Cream lyricist) at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and performed with legends such as Lulu, Eddi Reader, Maggie Reilly, Paul Young, Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones), Dennis Chambers (Santana, Parliament / Funkadelic), Gary Husband (Level 42, John McLaughlin), David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Stanley Clarke) & Ginger Baker (Cream). He released his album ‘Salvation’ in 2017, a collection of 10 songs recorded at Kevin McKendree’s (Delbert McClinton, Brian Setzer) The Rock House Studio in Franklin TN and mixed by Steve Orchard (Paul McCartney, Chris Cornell) and toured the UK and USA in support. Between 2017 and 2019 Malcolm played around 100 shows in the UK, US, Australia & New Zealand with ‘The Music of Cream’, a tribute to his father’s band, featuring special guests Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) & Robben Ford (Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell). Malcolm was also the bass player for the late Pete Brown’s final record ‘THE SHADOW CLUB’ featuring Richard Bailey (Bob Marley, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, Incognito) on drums, Clem Clempson & Eric Clapton on guitars, slated for release in 2024. He’s currently working on a new album, ‘FAKE HUMANS AND REAL DOLLS’, to be released in 2024. In 2018/2019 Malcolm was co-executive producer, arranger & performer for ‘HEAVENLY CREAM’, a project headed by Cream lyricist Pete Brown and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, which featured performances by Ginger Baker, Joe Bonamassa, Bobby Rush, Paul Rodgers, Deborah Bonham, Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake), Pee-Wee Ellis (James Brown), Abass Dodoo and many more. Produced by Rob Cass. The album along with a documentary, ‘THE CREAM ACOUSTIC SESSIONS’ will be released by Quarto Valley Records in November 2023.

I had the chance to catch up with Malcolm recently to get the low down on the project ‘Heavenly Cream: An Acoustic Tribute to Cream‘. We discuss how the project took shape, including the roster of incredible participants (including some of the final recordings of a few leGends). It was not difficult to get people to want to be a part of this record, not a big surprise but when you consider the raw, almost naked at times versions (compared to what our ears are accustomed to), it does make me feel like I/we are able to be there as these songs get (re)discovered. Malcolm clearly has the chops as his own performer, which I would recommend getting out and seeing as much as he is a part of as well, but as many of you, the music of Cream will always summons special times as a person, both as a musical explorer but also as a human doing. The music comes with feelings. So, we do discuss some of that from Malcom’s feelings point of view. I apologies for the poppin’ P’s etc. Must have been the long-distance connection.

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For over 55 years, Tower of Power has delivered the best in funk and soul music. .“We were a Soul band called The Motowns.” recalls family of the proGram, Emilio Castillo. “Rocco was the bass player, I was there, and my brother was the drummer. I met “Doc” Kupka back in 1968, and gave him an audition. He came in the band, and we eventually changed our name to the Tower of Power.” The reason for the band name change was that they had a specific goal in mind.East Bay Grease defined their sound and landed them with Warner Brothers. Bump City, their 1972 debut for the label, was a hit on both the Billboard 200 and the R&B Albums chart, and netted them the hits “You’re Still A Young Man” and “Down to The Nightclub.” The 70s were a boom period with radio classics like “So Very Hard to Go” and “What Is Hip?,” and the band continued to tour and record over the years. Castillo says their love of the stage is the same today as it was back in 1968. 50 years later, in 2018, they returned to Oakland to celebrate their landmark 50th anniversary. Tower’s window-rattling grooves and raucous party spirit has been a balm for the soul throughout their half-century existence, but the release of 50 Years of Funk & Soul: Live at the Fox Theater couldn’t have arrived at a better time. The band has long since surpassed Castillo’s modest aspirations, traveling the world, enjoying hit singles on their own and backing legendary artists including Otis Redding, Elton John, Santana, the Grateful Dead, John Lee Hooker, Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, and countless others. In the process they’ve defined an “Oakland soul” sound as instantly recognizable as those from Castillo’s hometown, Detroit, as well as inspirations like Memphis and Philadelphia. The future of Tower of Power is set out to be vigorous and dynamic, and will prove to be just that for fans around the world starved for the band’s groove just the way Tower of Power likes it! And you do too!!

It’s that time of year aGain and you can feel it in the air. Tower Of Power is heading back to Party in Madison on October 3rd at the Orpheum. As usual, we got a chance to hang out with Emilio to talk about what is going to go down. We chat a bit about there to hear and then to now, and a lot of the feelings and conversations shared between all the people in the venue. Emilio and I always try our best to connect to the younger crowd who maybe through it all has not quite bumped into this scene, we’re going to be on the look out for all of you(s) at this party.

Here we are in the perfect part of Summer for Madison’s outdoor and free music and arts festivals. Atwoodfest is an east-side neighborhood tradition, it’s a block party that keeps on growing! I had a chance to catch up with the man who helps put together the music the people get to enjoy on the yearly,Rökker. We spend some time going over what is new this year and man, there is plenty of newness going on this year. Since Rökker helps choose te acts, we talk a bout the thnking that goes on to try and have people feel torn about which stage when for their entertaining choices. We talk a little about many of the bands playing Atwoodfest 2023 and who this event ultimately helps out. Speaking of helping out, there is always room for you to volunteer!

Music Lineups:
Saturday, July 29

Clyde Stubblefield Stage: 12:00 PM Moon Gypsies; 1:45 PM The Stephen Hull Experience; 3:45 PM Steepwater Band; 5:45 PM New Primitives; 8:00 PM VO5 (stage sponsor: The Bur Oak and Weichert, Realtors – Lakepoint)

Madison Heritage Stage: 12:00 PM Forró Fo Sho; 1:15 PM Elizabeth Mary & Paul Schluter; 2:45 PM Butter Brick; 4:30 PM Frank Martin Busch and the Names; 6:30 PM Kyle Megna & The Monsoons; 8:30 PM Miles Nielsen & The Rusted Hearts (stage sponsor: The Alchemy Cafe)

Sugar Maple Stage: Teen Fest produced by Madison Music Foundry: 12:00 PM The Sandblasters, 1:00 PM The Blue Dyes, 1:50 PM SLAG; Sugar Maple Concert Series: 3:00 PM Tony Casteñeda Mambo Combo, 4:30 PM, Katie Powderly & Her Bluegrass Boys, 6:00 PM Piper Road Spring Band (stage sponsor: The Lauer Realty Group)

Sunday, July 30

Clyde Stubblefield Stage: 12:00 PM Steely Dane, 2:00 PM Kirstie Kraus, 3:45 PM God’s Outlaw, 5:30 PM Jane Lee Hooker (stage sponsor: The Bur Oak and Weichert, Realtors – Lakepoint)

Madison Heritage Stage: 12:00 PM Seasaw, 1:45 PM Lynda & the Zeros, 3:30 PM Porky’s Groove Machine, 5:30 PM Dub Foundation featuring Jah Boogie (stage sponsor: The Alchemy Cafe)

Sugar Maple Stage: Kids That Rock produced by Forward Craft & Coffee: 12:00 PM Charlieboy, 1:30 PM Jane Hobson Band; Sugar Maple Series: 3:00 PM The Donna Herula Band, 5:00 PM Joel Paterson Trio (stage sponsor: The Lauer Realty Group)

One of the best musicians to emerge from the Twin Cities, St. Paul appeared in Purple Rain as a teenage wunderkind, playing keys with The Time on hits like “Jungle Love” and “The Bird.” He was hand-picked by Prince himself to be lead singer of The Family (best known for “Nothing Compares 2 U”) on Prince’s Paisley Park label. In the tradition of Motown’s Funk Brothers, St. Paul has assembled the who’s who crew of the Minneapolis Sound with St. Paul & The Minneapolis Funk All-stars, showcasing those who wrote, produced, performed, or sung on some of the biggest hits from the heyday of electro funk-rock in the Twin Cities.

Their incredible show: “THE MINNEAPOLIS SOUNDS” is now a National Tour!!

I had the pleasure of catching up with St Paul Peterson ahead of the July 27th event at the >Majestic Madison where St. Paul and the Minneapolis Funk All Stars will be brinGing all the hits of some of the most important grooves to be born with many of the original players, the people who have this sound running through their veins. We get into these artists that’ll be doing this thang here in Madison, the amazing history of the Minneapolis Sound and how carrying on the legacy has taken on a new meaning now without Prince. We talk Prince, The Family & The Time of course as well as a little Purple Rain, because, well, how could we not. I ask St. Paul to by=uild a set list around some of the artists he has worked with and the list is of course, diverse like we like it here on the proGram, and in that same vein, he shares a new thing he is up to, his Funk Fridays series he is doing on social media, sending out a groove to others from his rolodex and putting it together. While this will be his first time playing in Madison, he is well connected here with Ben Sidran sited as a pal. Gonna be an amazing time in Madison. Hit Me!!

The All-stars include (Bolded members will appear in Madison):

Jellybean Johnson – Drummer for The Time and The Family.
Dr. Fink – Keyboardist for Prince and the Revolution.
Kirk Johnson – Drummer for Prince and the NPG.
Elisa Fiorillo – Singer for Prince and the NPG.
Oliver Leiber – Producer of Paula Abdul and guitarist with Tamara and The Seen.
Jason Peterson DeLaire – Keys and saxophone with Solo and Carmen Electra.
Horn Heads – Horn section for Prince.
Homer O’Dell – Mint Condition
St. Paul Peterson – The Time and The Family

Javon Jackson was raised in Denver, Colorado and chose saxophone at the age of 10. At age 16 he switched from alto to tenor and later enrolled at the University of Denver before spending part of 1985–86 at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He left Berklee in 1986 to join Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, where he later played alongside pianist Benny Green, trumpeter Philip Harper, trombonist Robin Eubanks & bassist Peter Washington. Mr. Jackson remained a fixture in the Jazz Messengers until Blakey’s passing in 1990. In 1991, Javon made his recording debut with Me and Mr. Jones, FT. James Williams, Christian McBride, & master drummer Elvin Jones. He joined Jones’ group in 1992, appearing on the great drummer’s albums Youngblood & Going Home. His 1994 Blue Note debut, When the Time Is Right, was a straight-ahead affair produced by iconic jazz vocalist/bandleader Betty Carter. His subsequent 4 recordings for the Blue Note label through the ‘90s were produced by Craig Street and featured wildly eclectic programs ranging from Caetano Veloso, Frank Zappa & Santana to Muddy Waters, Al Green & Serge Gainsbourg. His subsequent 4 recordings for the Palmetto label had him exploring a blend of funk, jazz & soul with such stellar sidemen as organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, guitarists Mark Whitfield & David Gilmore, trombonist Fred Wesley and drummer Lenny White. In 2012, Javon released a potent tribute to a towering influence, Celebrating John Coltrane, his inaugural release on his Solid Jackson Records which featured the venerable drummer and former Coltrane collaborator Jimmy Cobb. He followed later in 2012 with Lucky 13, which featured the great soul-jazz keyboardist Les McCann and included a mellow instrumental rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing along with a version of McCann’s 1969 hit, Compared to What. That same remarkably productive year, Jackson was the recipient of the prestigious Benny Golson Award from Howard University in Washington, D.C. for recognition of excellence in jazz. Jackson’s debut on the Smoke Sessions label, 2014’s Expression, was a live quartet recording from the Smoke Jazz & Supper Club in Upper Manhattan. On February 18, 2022, Javon released, The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni, his 5th album for his Solid Jackson Records label.

Along comes 2023, and it is now time for the With Peter Bradley Soundtrack & Original Score via Solid Jackson Records. The record features Jackson’s stellar quartet with pianist Jeremy Manasia, bassist David Williams & drummers McClenty Hunter or Charles Goold, with guest trumpeter Greg Glassman. Jackson’s gift for musical portraiture is evident in the score, which nods to some of Bradley’s favorite jazz icons – including Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Jackson’s former employer, Art Blakey – while vibrantly capturing the moods and personalities of the film and its subject. I had the opportunity to catch up with friend of the proGram, Mr. Javon Jackson to dive into this new release. With the Peter Bradley Soundtrack & Original Score, we find the acclaimed sax-man composing his first original film score for this art world documentary that he has a close relationship with. We find out how Art Blakey introduced Javon to abstract artist Peter Bradley and they’ve been friends ever since. of course, when he was asked to compose an original musical score for the documentary, he was honored and inspired. We get deep into the process of making this score/album, the relationships between the film and the music and the stories of the people it tells. We get really in depth on the man behind the film as it paints an image of the man behind the ideas. After catching the documentary finally, I can say that the stories the music tells, certainly seems to jive with the style of rhythms & inspirations that an outsider like me miGht think Mr. Bradley enjoys walking to. I am honored to be a part of spreading these conversations with all forms of art that speak to me. Another cool part is how we will figure out how t get Javon back to Madison to hanG with his pal MISTER Richard Davis, play a show and get a chill in with ‘Doc” G.

John Himmelfarb is an American artist, known for idiosyncratic, yet modernist-based work across many media. His diverse influences ranging from Miró, Matisse & Picasso to Dubuffet, New York school artists like de Kooning, Guston, and Pop artists inform his work, described by critics and curators as chaotically complex and tightly constructed. He often employs energetic, gestural line, dense patterns of accumulated shapes, and fluid movement between figuration & abstraction, using strategies of concealment and revelation to create a sense of meaning that is both playful & elusive. His work is also unified by “a circulating library” of motifs and organizing structures, such as geographic and urban mapping, abstracted natural and industrial forms, and language systems. One of the things he is fond of as a subject is trucks. His “Trucks” series represents a most improbable journey. It began unexpectedly one day after seeing a Dubuffet painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. Dubuffet employed a liquid black line over a multicolored background that electrified Mr. Himmelfarb. He immediately went to his studio to emulate the graphic impact on an “Inland Romance” painting. When a crane-like form emerged, he drew what appeared to be a truck below it. In the next painting, Avion (2004), he dispensed with the crane and only a truck appeared. A new series was born which would expand to include drawings (many on old library catalogue cards), prints, & sculpture employing ceramics, wood, cast iron, steel, and eventually, 25-foot, drivable assemblages incorporating actual trucks, that critics have described collectively as whimsical, formally inventive. Curators would bring together this eclectic work in the touring museum exhibit, “Trucks” (2014–6). While he initially focused on two-dimensional works that bore the influence of Dubuffet & Guston, after a 2007 residency at the Kohler Arts Center “Arts in Industry” program he felt enabled to seriously explore three-dimensional work. He began casting molten-like, expressionistic trucks that were sometimes indistinguishable from their freight, such as Greek Opera & Bird in Hand. In 2008, he made a huge leap, acquiring a 1946 International KB-1 pickup truck, along with a host of found objects—steel barrels, equipment, tools, pipes—that he welded together and painted stop-sign red to create the assemblage, Conversion. He followed with Galatea (2010), a work more essential in its forms and drivable, and later, with the widely traveled Penelope Awaiting Her Chamberlain (2013), a mobile work using a 1946 Chevrolet farm truck that references the mythological Penelope and assemblage sculptor John Chamberlain. Despite their more literal references, Himmelfarb’s “Trucks” function much like his other work, freely shifting from familiar to strange, functional to artistic, industrial to whimsical, with the trucks serving largely as “carriers” of form (colors and shapes) and meaning (stand-ins representing human qualities reflected in titles such as Charity, Dedication, or Forbearance).

I had the great opportunity to chat with Mr. Himmelfarb ahead of the Outdoor Mobile Orchestra event he and his two interactive “truck” sculptures as part of Madison Make Music Day, June 21st at Café CODA. John and I get into the impromptu nature of this special Make Music Day event and how for this get toGether, he has something brand new attached to one of the sculptures for a brand new sonic experience. I mean, people can drum on and play these trucks items to find the rhythms and vibrations of that moment.. Find out what he has in store for us on the 21st here in Madison and how people can plan on actually interacting and creating with this. We talk about how this process got started for him and where it has taken him along the way as he saw his idea form into a true entity. Check out a lot more insights and participation in the project here. We got into the moments just before he puts that final bead on with a masterful weld, and what goes into making that final decision. This man is quite the prolific artist and music has been a part of his life and while he ended up on a unique path, I am thankful the exploration of sound in such a thoughtful and creative way has been shared for all to share in. With that said, John and I talk about the ‘smile factor’ for him as this and other events see his idea(s) turned into a cool, useable creative space being explored, examined and inspiring. I think this is what it’s all about and hope to see some or many of you seeing just how to express ourselves with this interactive art.

photograph of KB-3 by Kathy Moens; photograph of John with KB-3 by Rick Graves

On Mardi Gras morning, your eyes may feast on the intricate & elaborate beadwork of the Indians as they dance down the street, but the first thing you’ll hear when they make their way toward you is the back line, known as “the rumble”. Featuring 6 Grammy-nominated musicians, The Rumble is more than just a band — it is an opportunity to be immersed in a wholly unique facet of New Orleans culture. Composed of Second Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the Golden Eagles, trumpeter Aurélien Barnes, trombonist José Maize Jr., bassist TJ Norris, guitarist Ari Teitel, keyboardist Andriu Yanovski, and drummer Trenton O’Neal, the group fuses iconic New Orleans funk in the vein of The Meters & The Neville Brothers — but updated, modern & vibrant befitting the next generation with electrifying brass and the singular visual splendor of the Black Masking carnival tradition. Their live show is a symphony of rich color & propulsive sound, with each member sharing vocal duties and engaging the audience in the classic Mardi Gras Indian-style call-and-response chanting. The group pays homage to trailblazers like Wild Magnolias & Golden Eagles, both of which featured the vocal stylings of Boudreaux’s father, Monk Boudreaux. The Rumble continues the fight to preserve the legacies and traditions of the community for the next generation while bringing new layers of depth to their live performance. The Rumble provides audiences with not only a top-tier musical event, but a chance to participate in a culture that, while deeply rooted in centuries-old tradition, is thriving and evolving through the active work of this next generation of bold and passionate culture-bearers.

I had the pleasure of connecting with Aurélien Barnes ahead of The Rumble’s June 10th headlining set at the Marquette Waterfront Festival. We get deep into what the party this band will be bringing with it to Madison should look and sound like. We dive head and ear first into the band’s debut album, “Live At The Maple Leaf” and how the band went from being within the entity know as Cha Wa to to where they are proudly representing the past, present and future of the complete NOLA scene as The Rumble. We talk a little about a couple of the many cool traditoions that come with this world that we get to share in stories of. Aurélien makes up a setlist that would definitely keep the listeners tuned in and wanting more, just like we will feel when The Rumble do their thanG on June 10th.

Photo by Tiffany Anderson