Lavitz is back in school. And he’s not complaining.
The veteran keyboardist, best known for his signature work with the famed jazz/rock group the Dixie Dregs, is riding high on the success of his new album School of the Arts. Recorded by T and an all-star collective of guest musicians, the album fuses jazz, blues, rock, bluegrass, and everything in between. And that’s just in the first tune alone.
“On XM Satellite Radio’s airplay charts, we’re currently number two right now,” Lavitz tells me from his home studio in Boston. “That’s unbelievable, because this record isn’t really that commercial. I mean, guess who won the Grammy Award for ‘Album of The Year’ this year? Herbie Hancock. That blew my mind. I mean, he’s a hero of mine. So I guess what we thought was commercial isn’t necessarily so. It’s all changing nowadays.”
School of the Arts features some of today’s most sought-after sidemen alongside Lavitz: drummer Dave Weckl, bassist John Patitucci, guitarists Steve Morse (of Dixie Dregs fame) and Frank Gambale, and violinist Jerry Goodman.
On tracks like “Fairweather Green,” “No Time Flat,” and “On Fire,” Lavitz blends intricate melodic figures with deep grooves and rich soundscapes that journey from New Orleans funk to bar room blues, with left turns all over the place — sometimes Lavitz and his players make music that brings to mind the intensely spirited and virtuosic jams Phish was known for, while other moments sound like rocked-up tributes to Dave Brubeck. It’s a combination of influences and styles that encompasses Lavitz’s lifetime of performing experience, playing with everyone from the Dixie Dregs and Widespread Panic to Jefferson Starship. “I’m really proud of this record,” he says. “And I’m incredibly glad that XM Radio programmed with their ears, as Steve Morse always says, instead of looking just at sales. The feedback on the album has been incredible.”
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD
Lavitz produced School of the Arts, working for nearly six months on the project. He also wrote nine of the album’s 11 tracks. For Lavitz, it all starts with composition. “I knew I always wanted to write music,” he says. “As a kid I listened to the tunes as much as the playing. The Allman Brothers, Keith Emerson, Chick Corea — all of them. I was checking out the tunes. I just liked the architecture of them. I think the mistake that many record labels make is that they assume that if someone is a great player, they must be a really great writer. It just isn’t always the case. That’s why I bow down to Steely Dan. Not since the Beatles has anybody written tunes like that.”
The songs on School of the Arts are not your average fare with standard melodies, AABA forms, and head-solo-head construction. They are through-composed, heavily extended compositions with interludes, expanded unison lines, and a fully orchestrated concept throughout — not your average lead-sheet tunes, by any means. The tracks also burst with a signature, explosive energy similar to what you can hear on Boston T Party — Lavitz’s solo piano work on “Maybe Next Time,” for example, makes it sound as though the instrument can barely contain the creative fire he pours into it.
Lavitz approached writing for the record with the knowledge that it would feature some of the most facile musicians on the scene today. With a virtuosic band at his disposal, he felt free to go wherever his instinct took him. “I felt like a kid in a candy store,” he continues. “With the guys on the record, I knew I had members of one of the premier bands anywhere. They had been in Chick Corea’s Akoustic and Elektric bands. I said, ‘Look at what you have here. This is amazing.’ So I didn’t try to write hard music, but I knew I could make it challenging. I felt like I could write anything, and I wouldn’t have to worry if the band could play it. Because these guys can play anything.”
WORKING IT OUT
Since his early days with the Dixie Dregs, Lavitz has relied on a relentless work ethic to shepherd him from project to project; whether writing or performing, he well knows the power of rolling up your sleeves and persevering. “I learned that first-hand,” he says. “When I was 22 and I joined the Dixie Dregs, it literally became my job to sit in the band’s house and learn their music. At age 22, I was lucky enough to be at the level where there was nothing that was technically too hard to execute — it was just a matter of how much time I had to work on it.” And if School of the Arts is any measure, for Lavitz, the hard work has more than paid off.
He recalls those early years with the Dregs, where the music presented a distinct set of challenges. “Some of the most difficult things weren’t necessarily the fast things — they were more about melodic complexity than speed alone,” he says. “There are tunes like ‘Night Meets Light’ and ‘Odyssey,’ where the melody doesn’t repeat for almost two minutes. [Steve Morse] somehow managed to create inventive lines that never seemed redundant. That taught me a lot and helped me in my own writing.”
BOSTON & BERKLEE
Lavitz uses his decades of musical experience to help mentor the next generation of musicians. As Artistic Director of the Berklee College of Music’s summer Rock Workshop, he coaches young players in their quest for jazz and rock virtuosity. “I might end up with players that are much better than I am,” Lavitz jokes. “But we put it together last year, with high school kids playing [guitarist John McLaughlin’s] Mahavishnu Orchestra tunes and Dixie Dregs tunes, and it went so well, we’re getting ready to do it again.”
Lavitz’s love of the school transcends his summer workshop. “Berklee is great, not only because of the kids and the program, but because they really embrace their faculty going on tour,” he says. “Can you imagine that? A job that lets you go on the road? It’s a great place. There’s an amazing amount of young talent there. It reminds me very much of being back at the University of Miami. The atmosphere is electric.”
FUTURE SCHOOL
Lavitz is hoping to follow up the success of School of the Arts with another all-star record, this time infusing it with a retro, groove-oriented sound. “My idea for the next record is to call it School of the Arts again — getting bass and drums that are really funky, with me playing Rhodes and Minimoog on top. It would be electric, with less orchestration than this record. The tunes would be easier to listen to, like a throwback to the L.A. Express.”
With the success of the current record, Lavitz is hoping to tour the Arts project across the U.S. and Europe. “I’d love to do two ten-day runs — one up the East Coast, and one up the West Coast. And then go to Europe and play festivals. It will be difficult to get the whole lineup from the record on the road together because of scheduling issues between the band members, but I’d love to find a way to make it work.”
Lavitz envisions developing the Arts franchise further, with future records pushing the genre envelope while at their core, keeping the formula of great players and inspired, intelligent writing in tact. “I think people will start to know that this is a cool project,” he says, “and that each time, I will get great players on the record. I want to leave our audience wondering what we’re gonna do next!”
A Selected T Lavitz Discography
School of the Arts (Magnatude)
Mood Swing (Nova)
T Lavitz and the Bad Habitz (Intima)
with The Dixie Dregs
California Screamin’ (Zebra)
Industry Standard (Arista)
with Boston T Party
Boston T Party (Tone Center)
Play Like T
In addition to his work at Berklee, Lavitz recently completed Jazz-Rock Keyboard, an instructional book and CD set published by Hal Leonard. As a lifelong fan of Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Weather Report, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Lavitz wrote Jazz-Rock Keyboard as a primer and foundation for the aspiring keyboardist. It also gives more seasoned players harmonic and rhythmic ideas with which to infuse their own playing.
The book is available at music and bookstores nationwide, or through Music Dispatch (1-800-637-2852, www.musicdispatch.com).
For more on T, visit www.tlavitz.net.