DB: You sat in with Deep Banana recently. Is that how you came to play with Erik and Johnny?

JS: Exactly. I sat in with them at the Berkfest and also at the Gathering of the Vibes. That’s a band who immediately I heard and I could relate to what they were doing.

DB: Speaking of Berkfest, I’d love to hear your thoughts on that jam? (John performed in the Saturday afternoon Allstar Berkfest jam with Bob Moses, Oteil Burbridge, DJ Logic, Fuzz, Nate Wilson, Karl Denson, Rob Somerville and Dr. Didg.

JS: It was wild. I think Bobby Moses is one of the greatest drummers and certainly one of the most underrated ones. Unfortunately I couldn’t hear him and I was standing right next to him. And Oteil is great, I have so much respect for him. Fuzzy from Deep Banana, we’ve become friends- he can really play. The keyboard player from Percy- he turned out to be really good too.

DB: There were a lot of players up there. To what extent did you huddle up and discuss what you were going to do before you went out there?

JS: We didn’t work anything out. So we did what typically happens when certain players come together in that type of situation is we found our way into songs like “Chameleon” and “Cissy Strut” and then just let them go anywhere. The other thing was DJ Logic was there and he’s a real improviser and he just gets cool stuff going. I had a blast. The wonderful thing about the audience that day is we were just taking a chance and they were aware of that. They understood the whole process and they got into it.

DB: Speaking of festivals you also have the Autumn Equinox coming up. You played there last year, right?

JS: I was there with the Stubblefield, Medeski, Wood thing. That’s a great festival. I love that spot, Wilmers’s Park. People love it there, and Tim Walther Productions has done so many successful festivals now that it’s become a big thing for people all over the east coast.

DB: Jumping backwards, one fact that I know will interest our readers is that in the mid-seventies you played with Billy Cobham and Alphonso Johnson, who recently started performing in Jazz is Dead [editor’s note- although Cobham has left the group- replaced by Jeff Sipe and Rod Morgenstein].

JS: That was almost my first big time jazz gig.

DB: Right out of Berklee?

JS: Right out of Berklee. In 1974 the first thing I did was play with Gerry Mulligan, and that was a wonderful thing. He picked me up to play in his band. The first record I was on was Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker Live at Carnegie Hall. I left Gerry Mulligan’s band after a few months because Bill Cobham called me. You may have heard him with Jazz Is Dead but in 1974 he had the Billy Cobham Band and the Brecker Brothers were in it and then they left and Alphonso Johnson was in it and the great George Duke. Right now it’s funny because I meet all these young musicians at these festivals who were into old George Duke records and that record I made with Cobham, Duke and Alphonso Johnson- these records from the 70’s.

DB: How did you come to perform with Mulligan and Baker?

JS: I have this other aspect to my playing in that I’ve always loved straight ahead jazz and I can fit in that context too. Gerry Mulligan came to Boston and he needed a guitar player. A wonderful drummer from Boston, Alan Dawson, recommended me. If someone only heard me on A Go Go and then went to hear me play with Gerry Mulligan they would almost wonder if it’s the same guy but it is.

DB: You also performed with Charles Mingus. How did that come about?

JS: I played with Cobham band for two years and then that broke up, and I got a call to play with Mingus on his album 3 or 4 Shades of Blues. It was a great experience. Mingus had never recorded with guitar so he got me and Larry Coryell and Philip Catherine another great guitarist and we went into studio with Mingus to make that record. I got lucky.

DB: I’m curious, for our readers who have heard Mingus’ name but aren’t sure where to start, what disc would you recommend?

JS: My favorite Mingus record of all time is Mingus Ah Um. It’s a beautiful small big band with four or five horns. Great writing. This music transcends categories like much great music.

DB: Chet Baker was in the midst of a comeback when you played with him, right?

JS: In 1974 he had returned from Europe and he was in great shape. I got to play with him later on You Can’t Go Home Again.. Michael Brecker was also on that album and Tony Williams played drums. I was really lucky because in the late 70’s there were still some of these giants of jazz on the scene. During that time I made a record with a trumpet player named Terumasa Hino who was Japan’s leading trumpet player. He made a record with me, Tony Williams and Ron Carter. That was a thrill.

DB: And then there’s Miles. How did you come to join his band?

JS: I started playing with Miles a couple of years later, in 1982. I had played in a band with a great, underrated saxophone player named Dave Liebman. He had played in Miles’ band in the 70’s before Miles retired. Miles retired for like six years and then came back on the scene in 1981, and a year later he called. Actually he had his saxophonist Bill Evan call and say “Come to Cleveland” that same day. And I said “Okay I’ll be there” to play with Miles. Then I stayed in his band for three years.

DB: What did you take away from that experience?

JS: It was the greatest for me. It was an affirmation of my musical values. Getting to see Miles putting these things into practice affirmed it all for me. He believed completely in musical spontaneity and the power of the moment, letting it happen, and the absolute value of improvisation. I mean this is the guy who started everybody playing loose. He really would take chances. He would go into the studio with a bare framework and just see what happened. And then he would sculpt the music. It was really different from the western tradition of writing everything out. What he did in that day really influences the process of music today. He really tapped into a natural way of doing things.

DB: How open were the individual gigs?

JS: Well we had themes worked out but between those it was really loose. He would direct us with hand signals because the music was mostly vamps and themes. It was different every nigh as we followed his directions.

DB: Speaking of Miles, a few years ago you also toured with Herbie Hancock.

JS: That’s another of my idols I got to play with. His style of piano playing influenced us all on every instrument. He’s another giant. When it comes to playing piano and really going for it every night I can’t think of anybody who’s better than him at all. He’s beyond words. He was there with Miles when they really took jazz to another level. He’s another god to me. And Joe Henderson, a great saxophonist. I’ve got to play with him over the past couple years, and I feel the same about him as I do those other guys. So I’ve been really lucky: right place, right time, and been able to pay with some of the greats. A dream come true, really.

Dean very much hopes to speak with John again for a future issue of jambands.com. Until then, for those people who only know the guitarist’s work through A Go Go, John recommends his early records on Grammavision: Still Warm, Blue Matter, Electric Outlet and Pick Hits Live. You may want to check out his Blue Note records with Larry Goldings: Groove Elation and Hind Jive. His personal favorite is Time On My Hands, which he recorded with Joe Lovano on saxophone.

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