On November 20 and 21, John McLaughlin, Lenny White, Wayne Krantz, Jimmy Herring, Ranjit Barot and Alex Machacek will share the stage in Raleigh, North Carolina. These musicians will come together at the Lincoln Theatre for the inaugural New Universe Musi Festival. The event has been put together by Abstract Logix, which began as an informational website and has evolved into a record label, tour promoter and now record label. Here, founder Souvik Dutta tracks that evolution.
Can you talk about your background? Are you musician yourself or just a music fan?
I grew up in India until I was 18. I came to the States to go to see some Rock N Roll as well as go to college. I was big into the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers and I knew that I had to move to United States to have a chance to see them live. I was playing the bass Guitar, starting at the age of 11 or so. I was an OK musician and eventually going to college took away time from playing the instrument. I had only so much time in my hand during after working and going to school and partying.
What led you to take your initial steps towards Abstract Logix?
Although I was never into the pursuit of creating a business entity of any kind, I always wanted to be involved with music. It so happened that I connected with John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, Jimmy Herring, Jeff Sipe early on and organically created the label. One thing led to another and destiny had in store for me. So here I am today, running a label, distribution company as well as managing folks like Jimmy Herring, Wayne Krantz among others.
It appears that Abstract Logix originated as result of a house concert you hosted. How did that event come about and how did it then lead into the website/company?
It was a hang at my place with some old friends from college, we had graduated a few years back and some of us had moved to different parts of the globe, so we wanted to have some kick ass music right in the living room while we all met up so many years later.
I was a big fan of bassist Jonas Hellborg (John McLaughlin) along with the late great Shawn Lane and Jeff Sipe, aka Apt Q258 on drums. They were on tour in the States and invited them to come and perform. We broadcasted the performance on the internet, had to come up with a website, so that’s how it all started.
How many house concerts did you host in the day (and since) and which was the most memorable for you?
It was the only one I did at home. We had about 50 folks the first time and I knew we just did not have the space or the capacity to do it again.
Can you talk about the initial challenges of bringing Abstract Logix online? In terms of your growth what were some of the significant milestones along the way?
Well, my professional background is in Computer Science, so I was quite hip to software development and web technologies. However I learned immensely in applying that knowledge to run a online business. I dealt with all technical aspects – Design, writing code, building databases. It got interesting when I started to promote the site, getting new visitors to check out the site, purchasing music and spending time reading content. I learned quite a bit about customer behavior and how they react to various stuff. It’s a wealth of knowledge that I was able to acquire by managing all parts othe business
How did you come to work with John McLaughlin? What were his concerns in working with such a small/developing company and how did you address them?
I first heard John McLaughlin when I was about 10 years old. My father took me to see Shakti . Although I don’t remember that day much I know it created a big impact on me. Years later, I saw him the States few times and it was such a majestic experience. I actually got to do merchandise for the 2003 Remember Shakti Tour due to a recommendation by Zakir Hussain and then John eventually called me up a year later and asked me to work with him. He had been with all major record labels all throughout his life and I think he was in search of a personal and close relationship with someone that would honestly care about the music. So it was a perfect match and I am privileged to able to work with someone I look up to.
Can you take about the transformation from a website into a label? What was the precipitating factor? Was this something you had been contemplating for a while?
I was actually hanging out with Jimmy Herring and Jeff Sipe in New Orleans after some gig and they were talking about the new Project Z Record, The Lincoln Memorial.” Ricky Keller, the other member had just passed away and they wanted to get the music out there. I had made some connections over the past year running the website and retailing music. I decided to give it a shot, gave them an advance and put the record out there. Honestly, I did not have much of an idea about what I was doing. It was a start and we are at release number 27 today.
What was the most significant early lesson you learned in this regard? What were the challenges in securing distribution?
I learned on every step of the way. I still do everyday. Transparency and fairness is a big motto of my business. The record industry had always been unfair to most artists over the years, so I hope I am making a difference. I was able to secure US distribution for the first record and then once I started to eventually releasing more and more, things became easier. Distributors around the globe took notice and today, we are glad to be represented in most territories.
You mounted a global tour with Wayne Krantz. Can you talk about that learning curve?
I had already been working and managing tours or taking care of merchandise stuff for John McLaughlin and Jimmy Herring in the States as well as in Europe and Asia and had done short international tours with other artists, so it was not new, but with every time you do something you always learn more. We were able to work with new Japanese and Korean Promoters as well as connecting with European agents. The learning curve was always there but it’s there in anything new you do.
What record in your catalog are you most proud of for one reason or another?
This is a tough one to answer, the records that have come out on Abstract Logix represent some of music I really love and I go through phases where I will pick up something older and listen to them and I always find something new and refreshing. Abstract Logix represents some of the most cutting edge music and musicians. We are just not into fluff as you might have figured out by now.
You have many notable players on your label but you also work with some folks who are not as well known. Can you hip us to someone we should know about and explain what this artist has to offer?
I am just privileged to work with some cats that I think are leaders of the next musical generation, guys that can really rip it up. You ought to hear Alex Machacek, Austrian born guitarist, plays with Terry Bozzio and Jeff Sipe ; Chris Taylor from New York, his record is going to come out in 2011; Wayne Krantz, serious force of nature; Paul Hanson, just a freak on the bassoon (Jeff Sipe hipped me to him); Gary Husband, who is a genius and plays with John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth, Level 42, Jack Bruce; and Ranjit Barot, who hails from Mumbai-India. A great drummer and composer, his new record Bada Boom comes out November 16
The New Universe Festival is set for the weekend of November 20 and 21. How long had that been in the works and what led you to move forward?
Actually, it’s been in the works since March of this year. John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension are going to be touring the States, so will Jimmy Herring. It started out from an idea to have those guys double bill in Raleigh. Both the musicians have tremendous respect for each other. Jimmy idolizes John and John just fell in love with Jimmy’s playing after he heard the Lifeboat Record.
I started to think about some logistics and thought it might be feasible to invite some other cats on the label, so I buzzed Wayne Krantz, Lenny White, Alex Machacek, Ranjit Barot and everyone was into it. So there you go – We got 2 nights of some amazing musicians that are going to rip it up, collaborate with each other and surely create some musical magic.
Both the nights are being filmed for DVD for a 2011 release.
Do you envision that it will be an annual event?
I certainly like it to be an annual or a bi-annual event.
What expectations do you carry into those nights?
I know that musicians are excited, which is most important. I don’t think that there is a festival that presents all these artists under one roof. We are going to have a tribute to the one and only John McLaughlin who have musically influenced all of us.
Jimmy Herring and I started to have this conversation and it became a reality. Gary Husband who is a tremendous keyboardist and drummer is directing the finale. All the musicians are going to be featured in the jam. We are going to to visit some very important music from John’s career including the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra. Jimmy will close out the night with a couple of gems.
If you are into Jazz or Funk or Jam or Rock N Roll, you don’t want to miss this.
What else is on the horizon for Abstract Logix?
We have quite a bit on the plate. In fact 2011 is pretty much full. We going to have some new releases featuring Wayne Krantz with most likely Vinnie Colauita on drums and Pino Palladino on bass; Chris Taylor; Human Element with Matthew Garrison, Scott Kinsey, Gary Novak and Arto Tuncoboyaciyan, live cds and DVDs from this years festival. We also have John McLaughlin Euopean Tour in the summer. So it looks like a pretty fun-filled action-packed year.
