# The band formed after a chance encounter Blicher had with Gadd: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/02/28/the-band-formed-after-a-chance-encounter-blicher-had-with-gadd-video/
- Published: 2018-02-28T10:40:39+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Trading under the bold, equal-bill banner Blicher Hemmer Gadd, saxophonist Michael
Blicher, organist Dan Hemmer and veteran session drummer Steve Gadd have been making
music together now for over five years. **

During this time this extraordinary trio have just about managed to co-ordinate 
enough space in their individual work schedules to tour extensively, work up fresh
material, and record two live albums together, all of which is no easy mission given
both Blicher and Hemmer still reside in their native Denmark, and Gadd in the U.
S.

The band formed after a chance encounter Blicher had with Gadd at a masterclass 
in Denmark in 2012, and the style the three have since refined is hung around a 
mutual love of strong groove, the music of New Orleans and all the classic organ
groups led by the likes of Larry Young, Jimmy Smith, Ramsey Lewis and Jack McDuff.“
I took some of my music along with me and Steve really liked it…” Blicher remembers
of that first meeting. “I also gave him a CD that I had just released with my band,
Astro Buddha Agogo, which also featured Dan on Hammond, and he loved that too. From
there we started talking about possibly doing a Scandinavian tour together and our
debut as a trio happened in 2014 when we toured Denmark, Sweden and Norway…”

![Image result for Blicher had with Gadd](https://i0.wp.com/www.moderndrummer.com/
wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1_30_18_On-The-Beat-with-Michael-Blicher_2-copy.jpg?w
=640&ssl=1)

Selecting tracks from sold-out shows recorded in Denmark, Germany, and London in
2017, the trio’s latest disc, Omara, is a melodic, groovy and, at times, sassy set
wet with warm, sludgy Hammond, mellow tenor and soprano sax and some slick stick
and brush work from Gadd. Flipping among blues, swing, latin and funk feels, it’s
a record driven by dazzling interplay and represents the real vibe of the band in
a live environment. “I love playing live in front of an audience” Blicher enthuses
with a smile. “For me, it’s where everything is taken to a higher level, and listening
back to these shows we were all happy enough with the recordings that we didn’t 
see any reason for going into the studio…” For a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how
the band does work in the confines of a small studio space, a short fly-on-the-wall
film produced by documentary-maker Anders Jepsen to promote Omara is worth checking
out on the band’s site. It captures the camaraderie and chemistry of the group as
they perform on stage and work on arrangements for some upcoming shows. “We very
much share a love for the same kind of music, and we all focus on the same values
of listening and playing which makes it really easy to play together” Blicher says.“
Our focus when we’re in a room together is to make each song sound as great, and
as hard-swinging, as possible. I remember Steve once said that one of the reasons
the trio also works so well is that there are no egos in the band, and I totally
agree with that. We are all bringing something unique and individual to the music.
Dan comes from a blues and soul background, and has played behind all the biggest
blues, rock and pop artists in Denmark for many years. He is also a master of orchestrating
and arranges the music on his organ so that each song get its own unique sound and
dynamic arrangement. And you could say the exact same thing about Steve. He is such
an amazing producer and orchestrator and has a real talent for making a song sound
unique.”

As a distinctly lyrical writer and saxophonist, you could say Blicher brings out
the soul of the band. He maintains that much of what he writes, or plays, can be
traced back to New Orleans, especially within the laid-back grooves and the soulfulness
of artists like singer Alvin Robinson and guitarist Snooks Eaglin. “I’m usually 
inspired to write with a specific drum-groove in mind” he explains. “I record sketches
of the songs with me singing, playing the drum-groove or playing the piano or sax
melody, and then I bring in a sketch or idea of the arrangement. From this we all
work on the song. Sometimes we can end up playing almost what I had originally planned,
and other times we work out completely different grooves or arrangements. There’s
even some songs that seem to keep changing during the whole tour because we’ll experiment
with both the tempo and feel to get the vibe perfect.”

“For me, a lot of what I play also comes from listening to my dad’s Ray Charles 
and Frank Sinatra albums growing up.” he adds. “I must have heard “Hit the Road 
Jack” a thousand times as a kid, and on Ray’s stuff there are great sax solos by
David “Fathead” Newman whose playing I adore. Michael Brecker too, I think his intro
on “Your Latest Trick” by Dire Straits was what first made me want to play the saxophone.
I remember buying Brothers in Arms, that was my first cassette!”

Curiously, Blicher admits that these days inspiration comes more from singers and
drummers than horn players and, alongside Cuban vocalist Omara Portuondo (who inspired
the title track of the new album), quickly lists legendary sticks-men like Shannon
Powell, Earl Palmer, Freddy Below, Bernard Purdie, Al Jackson Jr., Jim Keltner, 
Jay Bellerose and, of course, Gadd as huge musical motivators. “All these guys have
their own unique way of playing a swing that’s kind of between straight and swing,
and many of my compositions have come from me playing along with a great drum groove
from one of these guys. I have also been to Africa a few times touring with my band
The Kuti Mangoes, and I was hugely inspired by the drumming from Mali, Burkina Faso,
Morocco and Angola.”

Indeed, whether it be touring or simply taking a trip, travelling too plays a huge
role in Blicher’s life and the music he makes. As both a band leader and credited
composer for television and film, he finds stimulation in the fact that every country
and city has its own exclusive vibe, and believes that embracing local or regional
music, engaging with foreign musicians, and tasting new foods has opened his eyes
to diversity and varying approaches to life and culture. One such experience that
made a significant impact on his music was a trip to Bulgaria over ten years ago,
an excursion he now describes as a “voyage of inspiration,” and one that was instigated
by an unplanned encounter with another legendary drummer.

“I met Brian Blade at a workshop in Denmark and he introduced me to a couple of 
albums featuring the Bulgarian Women’s choir that I fell in love with straight away.”
the saxophonist recalls. “Years after this I went to visit a friend of mine who 
was studying Balkan-clarinet in Bulgaria and together we heard these amazing folkloric
Goatskin-bagpipe players and some female vocalists that truly blew me away. Their
playing is so emotional and soulful and held references to both original blues music
from Mali and the old Son music from Cuba. Interestingly, that way of writing melodies
and phrasing them has since inspired me to write tracks like ‘Omara,’ ‘The Colour
Red’ and ‘On the Porch’ which feature on the new album.”

While most of the tracks on Omara may have been borne out of Blicher’s memories 
of Mali, affection for Bulgaria or fetish for New Orleans, he is quick to confess
that cuts like “Korean BBQ” and “Three Grains of Salt” were very much written for
Steve Gadd. “No other drummer can play those two grooves like he can.” he insists.…”
and they sounded even better than I ever imagined when I heard him play those songs
for the first time during our last tour.”

When quizzed about his first-time hearing Gadd drive a delicious groove, Blicher
believes he was around twelve years old and a friend of his introduced him to David
Sanborn’s Hideaway. “I listened to that a lot, but I’m not sure I noticed his name
until I started studying the saxophone and a singer I was rehearsing with wanted
to play (the Rickie Lee Jones track) “Chuck E´s in Love”! Then came albums like 
Paul Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years, Bonnie Raitt’s Streetlights, and
Joe Cocker’s Stingray! The way he makes the song and all the other musicians around
him sound so amazing is a huge inspiration. His gift for playing is so clear and
musical that it communicates to so many people all over the world, and that’s an
amazing gift.”

While beautifully understated across many of the album’s tracks, it’s clear from
hearing the record or seeing the band play live, that Gadd brings a lot to the music,
not just as a drummer but as a musician suggesting melodic ideas or making changes
to an arrangement or melody. “Steve has an incredible feel and sense of what a song
needs, and how a song should lay, and we talk a lot about this during rehearsals
and on tour. Of course, they are my compositions and some sketches for songs are
more final than others, so sometimes it can be very hard for me to make big changes
in the melody or in the chords during rehearsals. Changing the groove, tempo or 
form is fine but I´m always open for trying all kinds of changes. Most of the musicians
I work with come up with all kinds of ideas during rehearsal, some work and some
don’t, and I think this is a very important process in making both the band and 
the music sound unique…”

![Michael Blicher: Groove is in the Heart](https://i0.wp.com/s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/
photos/a_large/177f976dd867754b6123017d689ab60a.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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