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As far as my musical tastes are
concerned,
keyboardist/arranger/writer/producer/performer Rob Mullins is
#1, and in a class by himself.
“Awesome” is an understatement.
My first introduction to
Rob Mullins was about five years ago,
when ex-Denver radio jock Cheryl Steele, a then-weekend disc
jockey on the
Quiet Storm (the original Wave format station in L.A.) started playing
her favorite
Denver-based jazz musician, Rob Mullins. The public’s response was so
great that
Mullins was soon appearing before SRO crowds in the L.A. area at Bon
Appetite in
Westwood and At My Place in Santa Monica.
I went down to these clubs to see if the live presentation would be
true to the records I was hearing. To my pleasant surprise, Mullins
live was the
best jazz keyboardist I had ever seen. That first weekend, I saw all
four of his
shows and left the club blown away both nights.
Since my life has been
fairly active in other areas of the music
business over the past few years, I hadn’t been in touch with the jazz
scene until
about three weekends ago, when my friend Lauren Wood was going to
perform with the
Tim Weissberg Band in San Diego to celebrate the 15th anniversary of
radio
station KIFM (FM 98). I was thrilled when I saw Rob Mullins’
name on the same
bill.
What has happened to Mullins since I last saw him is hard to believe.
He’s gotten even better. His two sets left the crowds on their feet
screaming for
more. I’m not kiddin’. I got back in touch with Mullins and went to see
him last
weekend (July 13) at Bon Appetit with his trio-consisting of Dave
Carpenter on bass, Joel
Taylor on drums and sit-in sax player Wilton Felder of
Crusaders fame--and he
really blew the room away.
I am very rarely at a loss
for words. All I can tell you is that if you
want to hear and see one of the most
exciting/musician/performer/arranger/writers
anywhere. Rob Mullins is what the word “virtuoso” means. Check him
out-you won’t
be sorry.
Citing influences ranging
from the Beatles and the Beach Boys to Chick
Corea and Pat Metheny, Mullins, a 30-year-old Denver native, claims
that
it was Buddy Rich who inspired him to become a jazz drummer at 11.
After
playing drums for a while with a California-based big band, Mullins
switched to piano
at age 14 after an ill-fated accident limited his ability to play
drums. At this
time, he began listening to piano greats like Errol Garner and Oscar
Peterson and thus
his career as a jazz keyoardist was born. Jazz was a guiding influence
in high school,
where Mullins received critical acclaim and musical guidance from
recognized
leaders such as Oliver Nelson, Clark Terry and Urbie Green.
In 1981, Mullins started
his own label, RMC Records, and released three
albums, which were successful enough in the Rocky Mountain area to lead
to the national release of Soulscape, which sold over 40,000
copies and earned
him a Grammy nomination for the song “Making Love.” Nite
Street, the follow-up
release and his fifth album on RMC, became his second release to hit
the jazz
charts. In 1988, Mullins made his L.A.-based Nova Records debut with Fifth
Gear
(Nova 8810), one of the most popular jazz releases that year. After an
extremely successful musical sojourn back to his mainstream roots with
last year’s Jazz Jazz
(Nova8918) he returns with his new album, Tokyo Nights, which
features his previous
aggressive contemporary fusion grooves and is his latest creative
pursuit into new and innovative musical territories. As the name
implies, Tokyo Nights is
a tribute to the Japanese culture Mullins has been exposed to on
numerous tours
of Japan these past few years.
One of the elements that separates both Mullins’ recording and live
shows (which he describes as “the most thrilling aspect of making
music”) from
those of other keyboardists is his remarkable ability to fuse lush
synthesizer
grooves with some of the most sensitive acoustic piano playing you’ll
ever hear. He
does it again here on upbeat tunes like “Memory Lane,” which features
the sweet
soprano sax of Ernie Watts. Also quite appealing are “B 4 U
Go,” which is done in the
flavor of his earlier hit, “Making Love,” and the elegant solo piano
piece “No
Secrets.”
Mullins’ main objective
with Tokyo Nights is to “continue to do music
which goes beyond the limits of what you normally hear on the radio. I
want to keep
creating music that’s exciting and interesting, offering a split
between
something that is listenable and music that will keep jazz connoisseurs
and keyboard
enthusiasts satisfied.” Mr Mullins, I am more than satisfied. Thanks
for reminding
me why I love music.........