Recorded horns in Amsterdam with a dream team: Fred Wesley (tb), Pee Wee Ellis (ts) and Candy Dulfer. On top of that, a trumpet solo by the incredible Arturo Sandoval (on Island Lady)
Still remember nervously entering the wrong studio at 10 am sharp, excited to meet the JB horns in person.… When Pee Wee showed up at 2:30m PM I was still excited and we finally started recording.
The recording: All together, separated by huge acoustic barriers, so I never saw anyone actually play, they only appeared on my headphones… but I recorded with the JB’s…
It was such a treat to meet some of my musical heroes and to even play music together! Fred’s ever groovy, energetic and funky melodies had together with Maceo’s playing style, a very important role in my musical education. Besides, I just played their records almost on a daily basis. Still remember how proud I was every time I heard a loud “Hey Jan” at any given festival or lobby , coming from the big friendly teddybear Fred! For those of you who are interested in Fred’s musical background: His biography Hit me Fred offers you a unique view on Fred’s musical life, gives you an impression of the early funk days, and his cooperation with James Brown.
During the European summer tours we got to hang out a lot, and that’s how I became friends with Fred’s trumpet player, the great Gary Winters, who’s now living in Germany.
Now back to Candy’s record: Soulala was one of my favorite live-tracks of that album during our tours at that time, because the uptempo brass outro.