“Where there is no vision, the people perish”
Proverbs 29:18
FEW MUSICIANS CARRY AS MANY MUSICAL HATS AS JAMISON ROSS.
SOME MUSIC FANS KNOW HIM AS THE DRUMMER FOR THE POPULAR JAZZ BAND SNARKY PUPPY. OTHERS FOR HIS SOULFUL VOCALS ON HIS SOLO ALBUMS. LIKE AN EARLY NAT ‘KING’ COLE, ROSS’ MUSICAL DIRECTION IS CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES OF JAZZ AND POPULAR SOUL MUSIC.
THE REASON IS SIMPLE-JAMISON ROSS IS FOLLOWING A VISION, AND THAT VISION TAKES HIM ON A WIDE NUMBER OF JOURNEYS.
I’VE MET WITH MR. ROSS A NUMBER OF TIMES, AND EACH TIME I ASK HIM HOW I CAN PRAY FOR HIM, HE ALWAYS SAYS THE SAME THING, “CLARITY OF VISION”.
HOW MANY OF US ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE VISION AND DIRECTION OF OUR LIVES?
IT IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND JAMISON ROSS’ LIFE, BE IT IN MARRIAGE, PERSONAL LIFE OR MUSICAL CAREER.
GROWING UP IN THE CHURCH, ROSS HAS HAD THE IDEA INCULCATED TO HIM AT A YOUNG AGE, AND HE’S NEVER VEERED FROM THAT PATH.
RECENTLY, WHILE WORKING ON HIS NEW ALBUM, MR. ROSS WAS KIND ENOUGH TO SHARE THE REASON AND MOTIVATION FORCE BEHIND THE VISION OF HIS LIFE. I THINK IT WILL INSPIRE YOU TO HAVE ONE OF YOUR OWN.
HOW ARE YOU COPING WITH THE LOCKDOWN? WHAT ARE YOU LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELF?
You have no idea how fast this time is moving by, this “new normal” that we have.
I’ve been homeschooling my 6 year old daughter since I’ve been home. That has been amazing; I’ve learned a lot about patience as a parent, which has kind of fortified my level discipline when it comes to my creative side. Applying more structure to the freedom that I’ve usually had. When you have a family you already have a structure, but with this pandemic happening, it’s like times ten! (laughs)
Before my wife was home most of the time, but now we’re all home all of the time in New Orleans with all of the school closed. It’s been amazing, and it’s given me a lot more time to work on and hone in on my vision. I must say that this has been a peak time for me when it comes to my developing for the future. I can’t complain; life is really great. It’s not as good for everyone else, and we all have our bad days, but I really can’t complain.
HOW HAS CHANGING YOUR ROLE FROM BEING “JUST A FATHER” TO A “TEACHER” CHANGED YOU?
There’s a level of gratefulness in the little things, to be honest. I’ve toured the world a lot. To be my age, I have a lot to show for being 33 years old. What I have to show is at the expense of the time that I’ve not spent at home. Now that I’m home, it’s like 180; it’s now “Dad is in the house; he’s present.”
To be quite frank, I don’t even think my daughter knew dad as “dad in the home.” Dad now makes certain decisions that mom used to make all of the time, but now it’s “What are we doing? Let’s go to the park. We’re gonna ride bikes.” I taught her how to ride a bike within days! It’s things that you don’t think about because you’re so consumed with the “ultimate goal” as a musician.
YOU COME TO A POINE WHERE YOU ASK, “WHICH IS INTERRUPTING WHICH” AS YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL?
I’ll be honest, at the beginning of the pandemic, that hit me very hard.
I was in Europe, stuck in Amsterdam doing something with the Metropole Orchestra. I was getting ready for five shows. It was going to be my ‘debut’ performance solely as a singer; not playing drums.
I was singing mostly with the orchestra, doing this opportunity that my European agents had got for me. It was going to be a big deal for me, but it was when President Trump had the travel ban, and I had to get home within 24 hours.
I got home, and I was displaced in Tampa, Florida with my wife, away from New Orleans, because my wife had a death in the family there. So, for me the pandemic was like a double whammy. Not only was I off the road, I ended up being with my in-laws for a month dealing with family affairs. So all I had was a pair of drum sticks and some books. That was it. (chuckles)
It was deep; I was away from music completely. I did some things on virtual stream, but I was ***completely displaced for a month. I was really in a “getaway”, and it was hard because I really had to face what I have not done before.
That was important, as I now can’t wait to get out with my new perspective on what really is this thing that we’re doing.
“IT WAS GOOD THAT I WAS AFFLICTED, SO THAT I MAY KNOW YOUR WAYS”
Oh, man! Don’t get me started on that! (laughs) I feel like I know His ways more than ever, now.
Just having a clarity of vision; I think that’s the biggest thing. Me and my career as a jazz musician, especially when it comes to my platform. Being a jazz musician, being known as a jazz musician, and growing up with the perspective of life that I’ve been blessed to have…sometimes the vision gets blurry when you stay too close to it.
You don’t see certain opportunities, and if you don’t see the opportunities, you start to lose track. Because things are going so good, it’s easy to lose that vision that keeps you vulnerable.
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“sometimes the vision gets blurry when you stay too close to it”
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IT COMES TO ASKING YOURSELF “WHAT IS MY IDENTITY”? IS IT “JUST” A FATHER, VOCALIST, FATHER, SALT AND LIGHT? WHAT ARE YOU IDENTIFIED AS?
I just spent some time this morning, and I’m doing this thing about writing up my vision. I’ve been reading Scriptures about vision and planning, marking the words here and there. I see my self not doing the things that I grew up on.
My grandfather was a pastor; my whole family is just deep in it. But what’s deep is that I’m the one member of the family who’s been blessed with a platform that is quite larger than some of the perspectives that we grew up in.
My mom and I have had these conversations about my life’s visions, and she reminded me of when my first album came out in 2015, after I had gotten the record deal in 2013.
No one knows what I’m going to tell you next, but I wrote out exactly what I thought that my artistry was. At the time I was young, 22-23 years old, just a Young Jazz Turk trying to get it. “Yeah, Let’s Go!”
But at the beginning of the year I always was go out on a fast, just trying to clear my mind and get ready for what’s to come, and I’ll never forget writing the vision of “Joy Ride”, and I remember just writing down “Joy” and “Joy Ride” and that word steeped into the system of my soul, and I went home and told my wife and wrote this three part thing about joy, and it’s about instilling joy, bringing joy into the world through music.
I wrote this whole thing about the right mind of the musicians with the heart and the passion, and the next thing you know it’s about 8 years later and I’m looking at what has transpired. I didn’t really think about what I had already written down for what I was presently doing until talked to my mom, as I was so far away from it, as I was thinking about different work opportunities.
SO WHAT DID YOU LEARN MUSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY GROWING UP IN CHURCH
People don’t ask me these questions! I’m glad you are, as this is the core of who I am.
What I really learned was the power of music in the message. You need to understand what music is really used for in church. It’s to expound upon the sonic range of the Gospel. A lot of the time you are spreading the Good News in gospel music. Sonically, textually and arrangement-wise there’s a deep reverence for playing with a purpose.
There was nothing that you played in my grandfather’s church that was just happenstance. It’s like “you can’t do that-you have to have a purpose. What is the goal here? What is message? What are we trying to say?” That has stuck with me.
So, I think that here I am now and I feel that God’s vision for me is that I have been blessed with an exceptional gift to expound and bring others’ visions to light; to help people (and not just in a musical sense) develop their sound and approach by playing with them, but also through relationships with them. Just be open and honest with them and open about what we’re hearing. That’s part of my career; ***a purposeful approach to playing music where there is nothing lacking, no gibberish in what you’re playing. It all means something.
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“You need to understand what music is really used for in church. It’s to expound upon the sonic range of the Gospel. A lot of the time you are spreading the Good News in gospel music. Sonically, textually and arrangement-wise there’s a deep reverence for playing with a purpose.”
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THERE’S NAPOLEON’S GREAT LINE “I’D RATHER WRITE THE SONGS THAN THE LAWS, BECAUSE PEOPLE REMEMBER THE SONGS”
That is true! I was just in the studio last night working on my new album. I wrote a song about a heavy place in my marriage, when I first got married. It was a place of growth. I learned a lot as a young man.” I said “you can’t really write a song until you have blood on your hands”. In other words, you need to get to the true essence of the truth. If you don’t get there, people won’t believe you . They want to know if you’ve seen the burning bush.
If they know you’ve seen it, they feel like you’re one of them.
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“you can’t really write a song until you have blood on your hands. In other words, you need to get to the true essence of the truth. If you don’t get there, people won’t believe you . They want to know if you’ve seen the burning bush”
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WHAT DO YOU BRING FROM CHURCH TO YOUR PRESENT CAREER EITHER WITH SNARKY PUPPY, IN THE STUDIO OR WHEN YOU LEAD YOUR OWN BAND?
First, it’s that feeling of joy, a feeling of hope, and a feeling of unwavering peace. Then, there’s a feeling of “soul” that is a combination of merging the positivity in African-American music.
When I say that, before we had modern music, we had “soul” music, which is a blend of gospel, jazz and R&B music. Our core soulfulness and our feeling of when we want to be present with that moment is what I want to bring to every musical situation. That has gotten me far.
Those two words, joy and soul are what I can give to people. And people give it back!
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM RAMSEY LEWIS, BYRON CAGE OR CARMEN LUNDY?
Man, you went back in the Rolodex! (laughs)
Carmen was a 7 year stretch in my career that was really powerful. She really changed me as an artist
But Byron Cage came first; he goes back to my gospel roots.
I did a New Years Eve run with Byron Cage with my friends back in college in Jacksonville. A lot of those guys I grew up with playing gospel are now top R&B artists, musicians and songwriters.
I was the one who went to school for jazz, and a lot of my friends went the other route.
For me, Byron Cage was the guy to play drums with. It was great because it was a high level gospel and when you’re growing up, you want to be part of the highest level of musical environments, especially in the African American community.
You know, your granddaddy is a prominent pastor, and my dad, though he died when I was 9, he was really popular in town because he was a great songwriter. My whole family was known for music from church, one of the biggest Baptist churches downtown. My mom was in music ministry for years, everyone was involved.
So for me, growing up, gospel music was “IT”. My mom would listen to soul and R&B music in the evening, so I would get this merge of the black musical experience in my household.
So it was Byron Cage who represented me being able to achieve that moment of being in that circuit.
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“joy and soul are what I can give to people. And people give it back!”
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SO NOW, A BOUT LUNDY?
Here’s the thing-Carmen Lundy was a seven year stretch of my life that actually taught me the importance of owning who I was.
In Carmen Lundy’s band, we’re talking about a lady that comes from the Betty Carter School. This is a real jazz gig.
The first tour was a month in Europe. We started in the Ukraine, and then Slovakia. I was only 19 years old! Getting that kind of experience.
Getting on stage with Darryl Hall on bass, Anthony Wonsey on piano, with Patrice Rushin at times. Carmen had a different perspective on the jazz lineage that I was learning in college.
I was studying with Marcus Roberts in college, along with Jason Marsalis as my professors who had very traditional perspectives in music.
So I get this traditional drilling in learning how to swing, how to play the blues, how to comp and ***understand the spirit of the music. And then I go on the road with Carmen Lundy, and she’s telling me “C’mon, PLAY! LET LOOSE! Let me hear who you are!” She was super intense!
What it did for me was that it pushed me into finding the balance into taking the knowledge that I had accrued over the years and made sure I kept who I was in the music. But when you get into the high level of a musical situation, this is where it all came to a head for me.
Whenever you get thrown into a high level musical situation, you’re going to get pushed to the brink of what your bottom asset is as a musician.
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“Whenever you get thrown into a high level musical situation, you’re going to get pushed to the brink of what your bottom asset is as a musician”
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YOU TOOK YOUR BASIC LEARNING FROM SCHOOL AND HAD IT PUSHED BY LUNDY AND NOW OWN IT. HAS THIS HAPPENED SPIRITUALLY AS WELL? IN OTHER WORDS, HAS YOUR FAITH CHANGED OVER THE YEARS-DO YOU NOW “OWN” IT?
I don’t want to say “changed”, because the older I get, the closer I talk the way my mother used to talk. (laughs)
I notice it; I called her the other day, and my entire language and even the syntax of the verbiage was exactly how I grew up.
What the difference is, though, is that God has blessed me to have a lot of perspective and experience. So, along with that knowledge of seeing different cultures, different people and being in the position that I’m in, there’s almost a 2.0 version. I’m using my own perspective, but I align and mix it with just as much of the dye that I know that I believe.
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“the older I get, the closer I talk the way my mother used to talk”
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DO YOU HAVE AN EPITOME OF THE “BEST” GOSPEL SINGER OR VOCAL GROUP?
It’s interesting; there is no gospel singer or group with the career arc that I’d like to have. I don’t mean that in a negative way.
I just think that what I see for myself is actually of that realm.
That’s not a negative thing; it’s just that there’s a sound that I get to that includes something just a little bit more unsaid musically. I’m not proclaiming the name of Jesus in my music. Not all gospel music does this, but there’s an artistic perspective here that leaves the listener to feel something, versus gaining a specific title.
Having said that, there are some gospel artists who musically I really love what they are doing with their careers. One is a guy named Rance Allen.
Rance Allen was a pastor; he died a few months ago. He was a bishop in the United Church of Christ, which is part of the Charismatic-Pentecostal movement. Before that, he put out a bunch of R&B albums on STAX Records. He was the epitome of soul in the ‘70s. Him and DJ Rogers were guys who were extremely soulful musicians 2401.
What they were putting out was R&B with a positive message. They weren’t selling sex and drugs; they were selling hope and the Good News.
The record labels in the 70s and 80s didn’t know what to do with that. They didn’t know how to “sell” somebody that was talking about getting through another day.
I have a deep affection for that era of soul.
The other artist is Marvin Wynans. His voice is one of my biggest influences. He did a record called When I’m Alone I Cry, and there’s a specific song on the album called “I’ll Try”. He’s singing this song so powerfully; his tone, his delivery…that’s musically what I pull from in gospel.
When it comes to career art, I see something huge that God’s going to do through my career. I just keep having to stay focused to that so I can see what the possibilities are.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN YOU SEE A SINGER OR DRUMMER PERFORM?
I’ll do a singer first: tone. Tone is it; tone alone wins the battle.
I also want to hear the truth. Sometimes, with singers, everyone has the gift to sing, but the gift to deliver the message in the story, that is powerful.
I’ve worked with a lot of singers, my time spent with Cecile McLoren Salvant was very special. I’ve recorded with and sang with Jazzmeia Horn on her album, so I’ve been the part of a lot of different singers. I can tell the real ones, the ones who have the real thing.
When it comes to drummers, what I really look for is orchestration. That is very important for me. ***Orchestration is one of the things that makes or breaks an idea or a band sound. When I say “orchestration”, I mean “how do you navigate the tune, the stage, the set, the entire show? How do you navigate everyone’s role?”
That is really big for me. That’s the separation with a mature drummer-that’s what Art Blakey did-you talk about Roy Haynes, that’s what he does-you talk about Grady Tate-they orchestrated in a way that made everything feel good, like no one could ever play a mistake. The other guys could say, “Man, we can just fall in”
Billy Higgins-that kind of drummer who can really speak to me. That alone shows that drummers don’t have to come from a gospel tradition, but it shows you where the influence has penetrated me.
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“everyone has the gift to sing, but the gift to deliver the message in the story, that is powerful.”
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DOES THAT CHANGE WHEN YOU’RE IN A LARGER ENSEMBLE SUCH AS SNARKY PUPPY?
Oh! Now this is the part that I get a lot of joy about!
Snarky Puppy is literally made for someone like me to play in.
What do I mean by that? Coming from where I came from-modern gospel was super influenced in fusion and what was going on in the early 80s with Dave Weckl , Weather Report and The Yellowjackets. Gospel was heavily influenced by that.
When you get the opportunity to be in a band like Snarky Puppy, it’s almost like I felt that my brain is perfect for it, as I have this jazz sensibility and intellect, but I also have this grit and funk/soul side that comes from the gospel tradition. Because of the years I spent in apprenticeship with so many great musicians, I have the range to play in a band like that and still be myself.
People always ask me “Do you think of this stuff differently?” No! The only thing that changes is the drum kit, the technical perspective. What I play with Snarky is with way more drums; way more tunings, way more variety of sounds.
But, when I’m playing with my band, it’s way less drums. There’s singing involved, and I’m playing with Cecile there’s even less drums. Playing with Jazzmeia…I always say, if you want to understand my brain, cut open Jazzmeia Horn’s last record where I’m swinging, singin’ and I’m playing. If you cut open Snarky Puppy’s latest you hear me swinging, and then cut open my own record and hear me singing. That’s when you can get a synopsis and a picture of where I’m coming from. I’m just crazy enough to believe that one day there will be more people like me.
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“That’s the separation with a mature drummer-that’s what Art Blakey did…Roy Haynes… Grady Tate…they orchestrated in a way that made everything feel good
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TELL ME THREE BOOKS YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD READ
I’m glad you asked me this!
First book has an obscene title, The subtle art of not giving an ‘F’. The second would be Between the World and Me by Ta-Neshi Coates. A great book.
The third book should be Begin Again by Eddie Glaude. It’s a story about James Baldwin. It’s really heavy.
Got a last one, Blues People by LeRoi Jones. It’s also heavy.
WHAT PERSON, LIVING OR DEAD, WOULD YOU LOVE TO SPEND AN EVENING WITH AND PICK THEIR BRAIN? 3018
Prince.
Why? ‘Cause he was crazy! And a music genius!
I just feel that you can learn something from somebody who is not afraid to do something that nobody else is doing. 3047
JUST TO TALK TO HIM ABOUT HIS SPIRITUAL TORMENT…
(laughs) You just said exactly what was in my brain. He was obviously crazy, but I would just love to talk to him. That’s what I’m talking about, the experiences that we bring from being around so many different people.
We have the chance to talk to people, and hear these different brains. Some of these people are just “different”. Prince-some of the musical decisions that he made, well I want to talk to you! What are you talking about in these songs? Let me see what your process is.
WHO WOULD YOU PAY $1000 TO SEE PERFORM, LIVING OR DEAD?
James Brown. Either James or Sam Cooke. You also have to put down Marvin Gaye. He’d be very deep.
ANOTHER TORMENTED SOUL!
Don’t get me started.
I’ve got this thing called “Marvin on the Couch”. There’s something in his voice-I guess you’re right, there’s torment. You feel this level of something beautiful yet dark sound. Donny Hathaway-same situation.
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY WHEN THEY PUT YOU IN THE BOX AT YOUR MEMORIAL SERVICE?
I want people to tell stories about their interactions with me. I don’t have any deep things; I want people to talk about the moments when they were with me and the moments they actually got a chance to experience me.
That’s what is really important, and I think that sometimes we forget them. I just want to make sure people remember those simple moments.
WE’RE CIRCLING BACK TO WHAT GIVES YOU YOUR BIGGEST JOY, BUT YOUR JOY IS GIVING JOY.
I love giving joy.
I just wrote this thing about my wife and my family this morning. I said, “I feel like my whole family is called to give joy to the world in everything that we do.” There’s a certain love, joy and honesty that we’re supposed to give.
I feel that it may even turn out to be something that’s even more broad. My wife’s talking about doing a pod cast, and I’ve been thinking about a bunch of stuff, but that “joy” word is just something that has stuck with me. Not just what people have felt from my music, but just what I’m thinking about. When I’m giving it, I’m encouraging you.
THE VENERABLE WESTMINSTER CATECHISM FROM 1647 STARTS OFF WITH A SIMPLE QUESTION: ‘WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN?’
HOW MANY OF US TAKE EVEN A MOMENT OF OUR LIVES TO CONSCIOUSLY THINK OF WHAT OUR PURPOSE, OUR VISION OF LIFE IS TO BE? MOST OF US SPEND MORE TIME PLANNING A 2 WEEK VACATION THAN OUR LIFE DIRECTION.
JAMISON ROSS USES HIS MUSICAL GIFTS AS PART OF HIS VISION, AND ONCE YOU HAVE A GOAL, YOU KNOW WHAT TO SHOOT FOR. MR. ROSS IS AIMING HIGH, AND WITH GOD’S MIGHTY HAND, HE SHOULD HIT HIS MARK. WHAT ARE YOU AIMING FOR?