Oteil Burbridge is one of the most celebrated bass players on the scene today. In 1990 he joined Col. Bruce Hampton, Jimmy Herring, Jeff Sipe and Matt Mundy to form Aquarium Rescue Unit. The band soon won acclaim throughout the south and later appeared on the initial HORDE tour with Phish, Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors. Over the years Oteil has continued his efforts with ARU while also stretching out in a number of other projects, including Surrender To the Air (the free-form jazz group organized by Trey Anastasio of Phish) and Frogwings (a line-up drawn together by Butch Trucks which includes Derek Trucks, Mark Quinones, Edwin McCain, Kofi Burbridge and Jimmy Herring). In June of 1997 he was tapped to become the bass player for the Allman Brothers Band. Recently he released his first solo disc with his band the Peacemakers, “Love of A Lifetime.” On October 22 he will take the Peacemakers on the road for the first time (tour info is available at www.nilerecords.com. You can also order “Love of A Lifetime” at the site).

During the following interview Oteil offers his views on various bands and players and of course his work with the Peacemakers. Portions of this interview are drawn from Dean’s interview with Oteil which appear in issue #20 of Hittin’ The Note (the HTN article also includes some great photos including one of a young Oteil with Sugar Ray Leonard). Hittin’ The Note is a chunky (70+ page) magazine that comes out quarterly and is devoted to the Allman Brothers Band and other groups who share a similar spirit. If you’re a fan of the Brothers and you’ve never seen HTN, that first glimpse will make your eyes pop. For more info, contact Kid Glove Enterprises, 2305 Vineville Avenue, Macon, GA 31204.

D- Let’s start right off with the new disc. What were your aims in putting it together?

O- There are two things that I wanted to do. One was I didn’t want it to be just a bass album. I actually put more bass solos on it that I wanted to but because it was first album I felt I had to but I really wanted it to be a band sound and I wanted to capture a different flavor than the ARU or the Allman Brothers. There are a couple of different band sounds on it and that was something I was hoping for. I also wanted to concentrate on the writing. (laughs) Of course Kofi wrote my two favorite songs on the record which sucks for me. His writing just kills me and I begged him to do those tunes. I really wanted all of the musicians to put their stamps or imprints on it and I wanted to concentrate on songwriting and not just playing. I was also happy that I did it myself and I didn’t have to put up with any bullshit from any record company or A&R; guy or anything and that’s the biggest joy in doing that way. Of course without the Allman Brothers I never would have been able to do it. I really have to thank them.

D- I notice that you play guitar on this record.

O- Well I just did a little bit. I play rhythm guitar on “Butter Biscuit” but on “Listen Bart” the only part I play is the melody. The intro s Regi Wooten and the guitar solo is Regi Wooten, so he really did most of that, I just played the head which is the easiest part.

D- Regi Wooten, one of the Brothers Wooten? {editors note- Victor and Roy join Bela Flack in the Flecktones}

O- Yes, the oldest brother. He’s a great man. He plays both bass and guitar. I’ve always tried to talk him into doing a solo record. He’s another one of the those cats like Kofi where it would take five different albums to represent all his different sides.

D- You played on Victor’s solo disc, right?

O- Yeah, that was a blast. We did a cut called “Naima,” by Coltrane. Actually I just did another record with him. I played on two cuts of his Bass Extremes album and I can’t wait for that to come out.

D- I am sure that a lot of people would love to know your thoughts on Victor.

O- You know there’s a certain class of player that just goes beyond a normal player and totally reinvents the instrument or the approach to the instrument and he is that true innovator. There is Before Victor and After Victor. There are certain cats like that who come along…Larry Graham was like that because he invented a new style and no one had ever seen it before. And after Larry you could see all these droves of players play in that style. Victor’s in that class, it amazes me how much he’s changed bass players and there’s a whole crowd of new players who are coming up and learning that style and it’s a good thing. I think he’s the best, I really do.

D- Speaking of Larry Graham, you dedicate the first song on the disc to him.

O- Well it’s funny I’ll tell you after I first heard Victor I kind of stopped playing in that style. Victor and Regi were the ones who talked me back into it. So I started doing more of that kind of stuff with the ARU. That’s the only tune on my record {“Subterranea”} where I do that kind of slap and pop style. So I dedicated to him because he’s the guy who invented it. I really should have dedicated it to him and Victor.

D- If we could move back for a minute, during the summer of 1996 you joined the Allman Brothers Band. I’m sure people would be fascinated to hear how that came about. I mean, what are your memories of the audition, whom did you play with?

O- The very first time it was me and Jack and Dickey. Gregg and the drummers weren’t there. That was before I really caught on to the concept. When I first went down to play with Jack and Dickey I was really unprepared, that’s the only way I can put it (laughs). Fortunately my wife is a huge Allman Brothers fan, off the scale. So she hipped me to the fact that you can’t go down there without knowing “Jessica,” “Whipping Post,” “Midnight Rider,” “Ramblin’ Man.” So I got a couple CDs and some live tapes from friends and started working out a few tunes. When we got down there I think we played “Jessica” and maybe “Elizabeth Reed,” I can’t remember I was so nervous. I think Dickey knew he wanted Jack right away but he wasn’t sure about me. I was still playing my six string, I don’t think I was playing with a pick at that point. He did let me play on Berry Oakley’s bass which was very cool. He dug my playing but he wasn’t sure so he brought down a couple players just to make sure they didn’t miss The Guy, because they knew they had The Guy with Jack. My philosophy has been to try to recreate the past except for those points when you have a twenty minute guitar jam, where you have plenty of freedom to express your own vision, still within the context of the Allman Brothers. And I try to do that by playing with a pick and playing a Fender Jazz. But they let me use my six string on the bass solo so I get to do my thing too. It was a trip though playing with Dickey and Jack at first. You really get that sense that you’re with a legend, how much you don’t know. Or how much I didn’t know. Jack kw all of it (laughs) I didn’t know anything, I felt so stupid.

D- When had you first met the Brothers?

O- I met Jaimoe about ten years ago in Atlanta. He came and sat in with the ARU. Then I didn’t see anyone for a while. I always knew Warren and Allen because the ARU and Government Mule played together quite a bit. Also, I didn’t meet Gregg but I played on his album.

D- How did that happen?

O- Through Johnny Sandlin. He just had me come in. I was supposed to do Johnny Jenkins and Jimmy Hall’s records but and I missed them because I was on the road. But actually, I never did get to meet Gregg, he was off gigging with the Brothers. Of course I get to ride on the bus with him every night now so I can’t complain (laughs).

D- What about Butch?

O- I met Butch, right before I joined the Allman Brothers when we were doing Frogwings. I got to play with him and Quinones.

D- How did you become involved with that?

O- Through Jimmy (Herring, guitarist for the Aquarium Rescue Unit). He had played with Butch and the Brothers.

D- What was that like, playing with Frogwings? That’s quite a line-up.

O- Those are some bad cats. Butch, Marc, Jimmy, Derek. It’s funny, I have a tape of Derek playing with the ARU when he was twelve. It’s nice to see his musical growth. I’m so glad he hooked up with John Snyder, what a great combination. Anyhow, we had about two weeks of writing stuff and rehearsing it. Edwin McCain came in about two days before and started writing lyrics. He was amazing, I couldn’t believe he pulled it all together that quickly. Of course, fortunately if you’re going to do anything with Butch it’s going to have a long-ass jam in it so we didn’t have to come up with thirty songs (laughs). It was fun. And I’ll tell you, it was helpful for me to play with Butch for a month before playing with the Brothers. It was a blessing. He has his own thing rhythmically. At least it gave me a foundation. It’s funny, Dickey was the only one I didn’t know and he was he one I first played with.

D- So you played with Dickey and Jack. Then what happened?

O- I played with Dickey in April. Then in May we did Frogwings. The day after we finished with Frogwings was the day they had the tryouts with the full band. We started rehearsing three days later.

D- How did you find out you were in?

O- Butch had first called me and then the call-waiting clicked and it was Bert {Holman, the band’s manager}. So it was a pretty exhilarating day. I was doing the dishes when they called (laughs). My wife totally freaked out. She lost it. I’ll tell you the truth, that’s probably been the most fun for me, introducing her to the band and having her riding on the bus with Gregg. He is one of her greatest heroes. Gregg and Jerry Garcia She was just freaking out. It was great, it was really great. Anyhow, right after that the rehearsals started, I had to learn thirty songs. It was a blast.

D- What went through your mind when you stepped on stage that first night at Great Woods and started on your first song, “Don’t Want You No More.”

O- I was real psyched with that. When I worked on their stuff I had Beginnings, their first two albums put together. So when I put in that CD, that was where I started (hums a few bars of “Don’t Want You No More”). And it was very comforting for me to start with the Brothers with that one, just like I had been starting all my private practice sessions. It put me more at ease. Of course, then I realized “I can’t look anywhere.” (laughs). If look over there I see Dickey and Gregg and I freak out, If I turn around I see Butch and Jaimoe and I freak out, If I look in the audience I freak out. It was a trip. I’ll never forget it.

D- Did you find moving from ARU to the Allman Brothers Band where you have two drummers and a percussionist, more confining or liberating?

O- It’s just totally different. For one thing, ARU and the Brothers, the songs are totally different, the writing styles. Me and Kirk West talk about this a lot. It depends on how you define confining or limiting. Kirk and I were talking about expectation and how if you don’t have expectations you don’t have disappointments. So when I came into the Allman Brothers, I hadn’t played a four-string in ten years; I’d never played with a pick; I’d never played with flatwells which are a different type of string- mine are roundwells, they’re the exact opposite. So this entire concept is diametrically opposed to what I had been doing. Now, somebody might say that’s limiting but I’d say that opened up a new avenue. Now I have two or three more sides to my playing that I never had before. Playing with Butch and Jaimoe and Marc, you’ve got to learn their thing and you’ve also got to learn the Allman Brothers thing. I was four when they started. Butch and Jaimoe have been playing together for twenty-eight years. It’s such an honor, it’s unbelievable. You’ll never work with two other drummers that feel like one drummer. You’ll never get to, it won’t happen. Well let’s say I won’t get to, let’s put it that way. It’s really liberating, it’s been a blast. When you’re playing with Butch and Marc and Jaimoe it lifts you off the ground, it’s an unbelievable feeling to have that much percussion happening all at once. And the way they build and go down together and the interplay, they’re together and then they’re separate, it’s wild man, it’s wild. It’s a heavy thing to watch.

D- I know people would love to hear your impressions of the Brothers. Let’s start with Jack Pearson.

O- I’ve never met a guitar player like Jack. Somebody who excels at so many styles. Playing acoustic delta blues, just tapping his foot and singing. Unbelievable. And then he can just turn around and slaughter be-bop stuff. And he can also completely rock out. The way he plays rhythm guitar, it’s a lost art because kids nowadays don’t know how to play rhythm guitar. And his slide playing, he’s unreal. He has this way, I call it falling up and down the stairs. When he’s playing sometimes it’s like he’s falling down the stairs, but other times, it’s like he’s falling up the stairs. It just spills out. He can do Duane’s thing or Warren’s thing, the way they did it on the records, but then it’s Jackland. I don’t see how anybody can criticize it. It’s its own thing. If you want it to be more like Warren or more like Duane, that’s not a criticism, that’s a preference. I think he’s totally unique and awesome.

D- Marc Quinones?

O- Marc is the best percussionist I’ve ever worked with. I really want to see Marc play in a Latin jazz group because man I’m telling you that dude is bad. He was playing Carnegie Hall when he was like five. He played with all the heavyweight Latin cats, those guys are legends in my eyes. Tito Puente was a legend in my eyes, growing up. I really saw how incredible Marc was with Frogwings.

D- Jaimoe?

O- Bruce Hampton says every group has a Zambi, a spiritual conduit. And Jaimoe is it. He is the most enigmatic person I’ve ever met in my life, besides (Phish bassist) Mike Gordon (laughs). I’d love to get the two of them in a room because something would happen, prophets would appear. Or at least a couple of aliens (laughs). Jaimoe is just amazing. And I had no idea how many people Jaimoe has played with. He has played with everybody. He is a walking musical history book. Heavyweight. And he brings that surprise and that background to the Brothers. He is the embodiment of Bruce Hampton’s philosophy. I really want to do a straight ahead jazz gig with him. He’s so great, he’s taught me a lot. He gave me some invaluable insight into the band, where they’re coming from musically, where Duane and Berry were coming from, where Lamar was coming from. He’s been a very cool influence. And I love to watch him play, it’s like the way they talk in kung fu about The Snap because he comes from a very relaxed place and then POW! He does this thing in High Falls that’s absolutely outrageous. He calls it an inverted samba, and it just blows my mind.

D- Butch?

O- Butch kind of surprised me. When were rehearsing with Frogwings we’d play these songs and we just couldn’t quite get them right and then we’d come back the next day and Butch had them down. Overnight, that astounded me. And the force with which he plays. There’s a lot of unique things about Butch. He has this way of inverting beats and playing over the barlines, the way that he slips into it and out of is totally unique. He’s unbelievable, the way he works with Jaimoe, they have that yin/yang thing completely down. I think I end up going more with Butch because his bass drum is louder and that’s kind of the foundation and he’s closest to me. He’s got that hard driving style, he’s like a dynamo force. One cool thing about Frogwings was having Butch as the only drummer because with the Brothers you take it all together. Although that’s a very cool thing too (laughs). I guess I get to have the best of both worlds. If I can get Jaimoe on a jazz gig then I’ll have the best of all three. Butch is something, he really is amazing. He and Jaimoe have developed their own language, their own drum lexicon. They pretty much wrote their own book. I’m privileged to be called on to learn it. And if you listen it’s not hard because they make it easy for you. You don’t have to play with one drummer or the other and juggle it. They’re already juggling it, you just hop on for the ride. It’s pretty intense, and it’s unique out there.

D- Dickey?

O- Dickey is great. The cool thing about Dickey, what everybody told me before that first gig, is when Dickey wants to play with you he comes over and gets in your face. To me, that’s a blessing. I love it when someone comes up to me and lets me know what he wants. Dickey is an architect. He doesn’t take a solo, he constructs a solo. When you’re soloing with him, he leads you through that, through all of these different levels until he just blows his stack. I also love the way he constructs a melody or a song. I guess that’s the classical side of me that likes form. You have guys who can play but they can’t write. Well Dickey, first of all, obviously he’s a genius at writing melodies. I think the Brothers are going to change the way I write music more than the way I play, although they’ve already given me some new aspects to my playing. He is just so unique- I never met somebody was into both Jimmie Rodgers and Charlie Hunter. That’s really unbelievable hip. And man, does he know his blues. At times I swear Albert King is standing there next to me. The way he comes in on Statesboro, that’s the real McCoy. It’s as good as Stevie Ray or anybody. I don’t think he’s gotten enough due as far as I’m concerned. He knows his blues and I have a deep respect for that.

D- And finally, Gregg?

O- Gregg, he is amazing. He’s such a funny person, he’s hilarious to hang out with. It’s been a real surprise to me to find out what Gregg is like and what he’s into. He’s so knowledgeable about music and that has impressed me a lot. For another thing, I think Gregg’s sounding better now than he ever has. My wife said that to me, she said that she loved his voice when he was young but there’s something in it now that’s he’s older. I think she’s right. Now that I’m used to hearing him live, I realize that I like the way he sounds now, better. And I wonder what how he was able to tap into whatever he was able to tap into at such a young age to write these songs, both musically and lyrically. He’s a very old soul, I guess he always has been. He’s done so much and he knows so much. He’s really killing lately too on the piano. He’s stretching it out, taking some solos.

I’ll tell you, knowing the background of things is where everything is at, that’s the whole ball game. If you know where stuff is coming from then you know what road you’re on and you can better define where you’re going. And Gregg, he and Jaimoe have been the biggest help to me as far as that history. It’s not intimidating but it’s overwhelming. I hope I can hang out with these guys for a long time so I can learn more. I really want to soak it up. Jaimoe can have a five minute conversation with you that is worth more than eight years of school, that can clear up everything like that (snaps finger). And Gregg has given me a lot of stuff like that too.

D- I am sure that many of our readers were big Oteil fans prior to your days in the Allman Brothers Band. I am sure they would be interested to hear about the future of ARU.

O- Well, we just did an album in July and I’m pretty sure it’s going to come out after the first of the year. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I don’t know what’s going to happen tourwise because our schedules are so mixed up. Jimmy’s with Jazz Is Dead now, my brother’s doing two or three other projects, and of course I’m playing with the Allman Brothers and the Peacemakers. My rule is whatever album’s out, that project takes priority in terms of touring.

D- It’s been a while, I think people miss ARU.

O- It’s funny, all the people who ask me about it. It really makes me feel good because I didn’t think there were as many fans out there as there are. But at every Allman Brothers gig I see people out there with ARU T-shirts. People who are buying my solo record are always on-line asking me what’s happening with the ARU. It makes me feel good. You can’t be objective when you’re inside something but now that we haven’t done it for a year I’m amazed how many people are really giving me good feedback on it.

D- While we’re talking about ARU, I’d like to take a step back to 1992. ARU was on that original HORDE tour. I remember that first show in Portland, Maine. It really felt like a momentous occasion to many of us there that day. Did it feel the same way to you?

O- In retrospect it really blows me away. It was so different at the time. We’d never played places that big- “look at all these seats.” But on the other side of the coin, it was just this big hang because it was all of our friends. It was Phish, Blues Traveler, Widespread, Bela. It was so much fun. I couldn’t think anything about it at the time, it was just eight gigs and then it was over, just about as soon as it started. Now that I look back on it, I’m just real proud to have been on the first one that started it off. That feeling, we never had it again after that. That first one was THE one, it was wild. Then when it got bigger the next summer, with more people involved, the bickering started. Popper and Widespread actually had to insist that we be on the tour because some people wanted some bigger names that would be able to draw more. But they were like “Look, if they ain’t on it, it ain’t happening.” And I’ve always been indebted to them for that. But that first one was the shit, man, it was so much fun.

D- Do you have any particular memories of those tours?

O- So many different things. Mostly, just different hangs, moments that I had with Phish or Widespread or Blues Traveler. Obviously, there are certain Fishman antics that are unforgettable (laughs). And then sitting in with other bands, because there was a lot of that going on too. I have fond memories of sitting in with Blues Traveler. I also remember one year Bruce sitting in with Widespread- I was out in the audience, and I was in this big argument with him, I thought his voice was much more in the mandolin than the guitar. But Bruce, he’s a frustrated blues man. And that night was the first time he convinced me that he was right because he played his ass off.

D- Let’s move back to your current project. There are a number of players who appear with you on the disc. Who will be out there on the road with you as a Peacemaker?

O- We’re having the core group which is me, my brother {Kofi Burbridge who also plays in ARU and in Frogwings}, Marcus Williams on drums, and Mark Kimbrell a buddy of mine from Birmingham who plays guitar. Mark and I have been playing together for about eight years now and I hope to work on his solo album because he writes such great tunes. I’d love to do Kofi’s solo album too because lord knows he’s got a million songs- it would take five different albums to do his stuff. he has so many different styles.

D- How long will the band be out on the road?

O- We’re starting out doing two weeks, mostly northeast. I think then we might go out in early December and do a Southern run because we’re not really hitting our hometown spots like Athens, Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville. We hope to hit those places on a southern swing.

D- What can people expect when they come and see the band? I would imagine you will focus on the album but what else can people expect?

O- Actually, we’re going to do some other stuff too. I hope Derek {Trucks} gets to read this because he turned me on to this album by Jimmy McGriff and it is really amazing because it was done in 1969 and it was just reissued by Blue Note. It’s called Electric Funk, and when he turned me on to it I fell out because it sounds just like Medeski Martin & Wood or Charlie Hunter but its 1969. I’ve been dying to talk to Medeski to see if he’s heard the record because it seems to be the only one McGriff recorded which sounds like that. I bought a bunch of records trying to find the one and the others are more swing but this one is funk, organs…So I want to do a couple of tunes from it because the first four songs are just total classics that you’ve never heard. I’m sure people will think we wrote the songs or picked them up from the Meters or Medeski but it’s Jimmy McGriff. I’d also like to do some of Mark Kimbrell’s tunes because people need to need to hear that stuff. I’ll probably whip out a few of those if I can talk him into it

D- I’ve seen Jimmy McGriff play with Hank Crawford a couple of times and I recall think those guys are underappreciated.

O- It’s amazing, I thought it was amazing that Medeski and Chris Wood grabbed Clyde Stubblefield because I almost called him to do my record. I remember Bruce Hampton telling me along time ago that Clyde was in town, he was living in Atlanta. I couldn’t believe that Clyde Stubblefield was in Atlanta. And Bruce says “Yeah and he probably needs a gig.” (laughs) It’s amazing these cats that are right under our nose that people don’t flock to see in droves.

D- Did you get a chance to see that Scofield/Medeski/Wood/Stubblefield show?

O- No, I would have killed to see it.

D- Aside from the Jimmy McGriff disc what other stuff have you been listening to lately?

O- Let me think what’s in the CD player in my car right now…Derek Trucks, he always kills me…Medeski Martin & Wood I have their new album, I love those guys…There’s so many great cats out there. I tell you what I bought a Bob Moses CD that really killed.

D- He played a show last week with Medeski and Bob Gullotti, Stan Stricklan, they did the music of Coltrane.

O- Bob Moses and Gullotti together? Whoah, that’s too much. Those are two of my favorite drummers. I’d love to get Gullotti on my next album, definitely. He’s one of the last true hip cats. He’s definitely the real thing.

D- Was the first time you met him the time you went in for Surrender To The Air?

O- Yeah that was the first time I ever heard him play and I was “who the hell is this guy?” I just couldn’t believe how good us he was. I couldn’t believe I’d never heard him before.

D- That was a very interesting project. How did that come about?

O- Trey called me up out of the blue and told me what he wanted to do. And as soon as he said Marshall Allen, I was in. I said any time, I’ll make time, I don’t care if I have to walk there, you just let me know. And Trey said “cool,” because at that point he was really into the spirit, the vibe. And what a line-up: (John) Medeski, Marc Ribot, Marshall, Michael Ray. I had never heard James Harvey before, he blew my damn mind. That guy is bad. Bob Gullotti? One of my new favorites, he is in the top echelon of drummers. Everybody on that project, Damon (Choice), Fishman, Trey, my brother. And we did it at Electric Ladyland so that was a highlight in itself. There’s so many more hours of that stuff, we did like nine hours.

D- You just went in there and played

O- Yeah, I hadn’t even met these cats. I mean I’d played with Fishman, Trey, Medeski, Michael Ray but the rest of the guys, I hadn’t even met them. Obviously, we had no songs, no anything. That was just a blast. I thought the live gigs were really great. But like I said earlier, you can’t beat having that energy in the crowd.

D- So for those two shows {April 1 & 2, 1996}, you just walked out, and plugged in?

O- Same deal as the record. And the Academy Theater was great. I thought the reviews we got were so funny, some people loved it and some people just hated it. It’s so funny. I mean it’s very hateable. It’s what we talked about before with expectations. If you go in there without expectations it’s all going to be a pleasant surprise but if you’re going to try to put it in some category, you’re going to be frustrated because it was a music of no categories. It was intangible. I had a blast, some of the best memories I have in life were doing that. I hope we do some form of that again in the future. I actually hope we do something a little smaller, to get more interplay happening. Actually, it seemed like there was more interplay at the live gigs but that might have been because of the audience, the interplay from that too.

D- What do you think an audience contributes to that? What does an audience contribute to a performance?

O- I hate to say it and it shouldn’t be true but for the kind of music I do most of the time…I don’t want to say that the audience can make or break it but they can severely retard it. You can be feeling crappy but the audience can just BOOM turn the whole thing around. Or you can come in there feeling like a million dollars and if the audience is not into it, they can slowly drain it out of you, because you never get anything back. When you get something back it creates a circle and it keeps flowing back out. It gets bigger and bigger.

D- I think people will be happy to hear that because I think they often sense that there’s something going back and forth.

O- Sometimes, I’ll focus on one person. It can be somebody out there dancing. And they’re just really getting off because at that moment that’s what they need more than anything, and that’s the kind of energy I need. I’ll focus on them all night long. I’ll play to them all night long. It can happen on that level. When you see someone going for it, it’s inspiring. I’ll say “shit, I gotta get off my lazy ass and get into it, look at this guy.” (laughs) It’s just great. You can’t beat that kind of energy, you don’t get that anywhere else.

***

Update: due to other commitments Marcus Williams will not be drumming for the Peacemakers. Instead, current ARU drummer Sean O’Rourke will step in.

Come out and supply The Peacemakers with that energy as Oteil hits the road with his band at the end of October. –www.nilerecords.com