Dave Guy: “I knew it was a special thing we were seeing. New York was my home. It was just an incredible time….”

Unless you’re a real hardcore jazz fan, the name Dave Guy might not mean much to you. Make no mistake though, Dave Guy is a man who has worked with some of the biggest names in music and played on some of the biggest albums.

For his “day gig”, Dave Guy also performs as part of the house band on Tonight With… American TV show. This is a man who has earned his stripes in the jazz scene but is now ready to step out of the shadows and into the limelight with the recent release of his debut album Ruby.

In our latest Cover Story, V13 sat down with Dave to talk about the record, his incredible experiences growing up around the New York Jazz scene of the 70s and 80s, and why now was the right time for him to release his debut album.

I wanted to start with growing up in New York. What that was like and what were your early memories?

“It was a great time. I grew up in the East Village. I was born in 1978, so when I was running around, it was the early nineties and, I’ll never forget the first CD I bought was Three Feet High and Rising. I was into A Tribe Called Quest and the whole Native Tongue Movement.
Even seeing those guys around in the neighbourhood and just being in that energy, the city was so cool. It was a special time to be growing up in the city.”
You mentioned the first CD you bought…

“I was strictly a hip-hop kid for sure, all the way until I started playing trumpet in seventh or eighth grade. Then, I got pretty deep into straight-ahead jazz just because I went to the Fame high school, like LaGuardia. It was pretty full on then. I remember going to Tower Records twice, three times a week. I would buy like all John Coltrane or Lee Morgan or all Clifford Brown and I would just dive into that.

Coming from hip hop, growing up and then getting into Straight Ahead and then from there, moving into Daptone with the whole Soul thing. It felt like a real cycle. Everything connected because, once I got to the soul thing, I realized how hip-hop was sampled from those records so it was a full circle for me.”

Must have been incredible doing a deep dive into that especially in New York. What was it about hip hop and soul and jazz, especially in New York, that inspired you?

“All the venues I would go to in Irving Plaza and, it’s crazy to say, but I went to so many Roots shows when I was younger. I even saw them at CBGBs and you never know who would be there. One night I was there and Common was there, Erykah Badu was there, it was such a scene and it was so inspiring at a young age to see that on stage and in person.”

“Even seeing those guys around in the neighbourhood and just being in that energy, the city was so cool. It was a special time to be growing up in the city.”

That changes your outlook on life completely, doesn’t it?

“A hundred per cent. I knew it was a special thing we were seeing. New York was my home. It was so accessible, it was just an incredible time.”

You must have travelled the world with your music, but what makes New York such an inspirational place for music like that?

“I think it’s just the energy of the city. It’s just so different than everywhere else. I’ve been to so many amazing cities, but nothing compares to the energy, just the buzz of New York at all times. Also, there were so many great venues back then too, more so than now, it was a special moment, but the city has its own energy that it is always buzzing.”

Does it still have that buzz? Especially considering venues like CBGB’s have gone…

“It is not what it was. It’s a different thing. There’s more bigger theatres and not so many cool grimy clubs that I grew up going to but that was the cool shit. There were so many weird little spots. There was this one spot I’ll never forget on 14th Street called The Cooler. It was a basement thing and we would we wouldn’t go on till like 2 a.m. There was an energy and a moment that I don’t think is… The city always has energy, but the musical energy is not what it was.”

I think that’s the same worldwide. I think music has changed dramatically worldwide. I’m assuming the times you’re talking about, you were still at school then? How did you combine the two aspects of your life?

“Going to LaGuardia, which is like the Fame high school, it was pretty incredible because I just had other like-minded kids my age who were very, very into music and it was inspiring. I also had incredible teachers who were also actual working musicians. It was a firsthand view of what it could be like. What you could make out of it. I wasn’t going out crazy in high school, but just after high school, early college, I still stayed in the city and then we would go out and go to tons of shows.”

I can fully appreciate that as there was a theatre near my college that used to put on musicals and theatre, but they used to use the basement bar for underground shows. We’d go there probably three or four times a week to meet the bands and things like that…

“Yeah, it’s the best…”

It is. Were you sneaking into shows and clubs underage then?

“There was one club called Fez and I was lucky enough to know the woman who worked the door, through my mom she would always let me in when I was in high school. I would be downstairs in the jazz club checking out the big band. I’ll never forget that. It was four or five blocks from my house. I would walk over there when I knew she was working and she would always let me in.”

Dave Guy – V13 Cover Story – Issue 069

You’re saying all that with a smile on your face. There’s obviously a lot of great memories. What took you into trumpet then?

“I was in junior high school, seventh and eighth grade for us. We had band and I was forced to play clarinet by this one teacher that I didn’t really like. He got fired or left, I don’t even remember what happened. The new guy came in and I always had my eye on the trumpet. I picked it… just naturally gravitated toward it and was able to pick that when the other guy left. Soon after that, my mom was extremely supportive and, she got me private lessons right away and then I took it pretty seriously. A year and a half after, that’s when I auditioned for the LaGuardia High School, the Music and Arts High School, and then, from there, it was just a great springboard.”

Going from high school to the Fame School, how encouraging were people for you to do that? You mentioned your teachers.

“It was incredible. I had a great private teacher. I did the audition. It was nerve-wracking. My mouth was dry and I was nervous, but I made it through. Then, from there, I did a bunch of really great summer programs and I would say after sophomore year of high school, I felt, ‘Okay, I really want to get serious.’”

We’ve talked about your musical education on the streets and in the clubs of New York and then having that education as well. How much did it help having both?

“Like I said, you have incredible experience with your colleagues in school and then to be in the city and be able to go see the best musicians in the world… it’s priceless, especially if you’re aspiring to be that. There’s no other place you would want to be.”

“There was this one spot I’ll never forget on 14th Street called The Cooler. It was a basement thing and we would we wouldn’t go on till like 2 a.m.”

At what point did you go from playing the trumpet just as something you enjoyed to wanting to make a career of it?

“I would say early on in high school, maybe halfway through High School. After my sophomore year, I went to Europe to this great camp in Switzerland where I was around other people and playing a lot. From there, I was like, ‘Alright I’m pretty serious about this.’ Then I took to the craft and, as they say, put in my 10,000 hours, practising a ton.

I had a cool crew in high school. We formed our own band… it was kind of a live hip-hop band. We would play at tons of cool little spots in the city. Just to be on stage at that young age shaped me to have the confidence to be on stage, and also to create with friends and discover that experience of how beautiful that can be.”

I’m guessing from that answer, that people were supportive of your choice of trumpet up as a career?

“Even my neighbours in the New York City building. I had some really great neighbours that were cool with me practising. It was a community effort for sure.”

You’ve got to have the right neighbours. From there, you’ve gone on to work with some incredible names.

“When I think about it, it’s pretty crazy. When I hear it back, I’m like, Whoa.”

When you sit down and look at that, what goes through your head and what were your ambitions? I know we’ve talked about you taking it seriously, but what were your ambitions back at college?

“I thought I would be more of a jazz musician. Going on the first real tour that I did with Lee Fields and the Sugarman 3 driving ourselves doing 26 gigs in a month and going to Europe and going all around and just being on stage and grinding, that really shaped me. From there, joining the Dab-Kings soon after was a really special time. I love jazz, but I’m glad that I don’t have to struggle to make a living playing jazz because that’s really difficult.”

Going from high school to then going out on tour and touring Europe and places like that, was that your first time outside New York? What was that experience like and what did you learn from that?

“It was amazing. I feel like growing up in New York, prepares you to go anywhere so I never felt flustered or nervous about being anywhere because I just grew up in the city and I knew how to handle myself, but it was an incredible experience. Travelling the world with close friends, being on stage every night, eating great food, experiencing that and all of those different cultures was a priceless opportunity.”

What about the music scenes?

“I remember going to Holland early on and France and seeing how into it they were and the level of enthusiasm. New York can be a bit skewed sometimes with the too cool for school shit, but they always were so appreciative and they showed so much love that it was an amazing experience, especially in Europe back then.”

“I feel like growing up in New York, prepares you to go anywhere so I never felt flustered or nervous about being anywhere because I just grew up in the city and I knew how to handle myself, but it was an incredible experience.”

Where were the highlight places or memories?

“Always Amsterdam. The smaller cities in Holland, France, Spain… we had great shows in Spain. It was just a great time.”

In terms of a songwriter and a musician, those experiences must shape you as a writer. Do you take influences from outside the New York scene?

“For me, the writing thing comes from just being with a great group of people. I’m lucky to have been playing with the same guys for so long that we feed off each other. It’s a community-based experience, especially when we’re in the studio together. At this point, my record came about with just Homer Steinweiss and Nick Movshon, who are both members of Menehan Street Band and El Michels Affair.

Homer was the original Dap-Kings drummer so the start of my record was just me being not fully satisfied musically on The Tonight Show. You don’t get to play that much. It’s a day job which I’m grateful for but I was a little burnt out and I just said “Do you guys want to just go into the studio without anything and like see what happens?” A lot of our writing comes that way. Together, we’ll just jam or one guy will have one idea and then we’ll feed off each other so it’s a nice process.”

It must be nice to be able to just go and sit and jam. At what point then did you decide you wanted to make an album?

“It was always, for me, timing. I have a family. I have kids. I have the Tonight Show. I tour with The Roots, how do I do it? Last year, there was a writer strike for the TV, and it was the perfect moment. Five months. We had already started the process of recording stuff, and just getting together. It just really evolved from there. ‘Wow, I have this time. This is perfect. Let me just like do it now.’ I never wanted to force my own record. I’ve been thinking about it for 20-plus years, but I never wanted to force it and I never wanted it to be a burden. I wanted it to be a natural, organic experience and we were able to make that happen.”

Do you feel like the result matches up to what your vision was for it?

“Initially I thought my main inspiration was those Donald Byrd-like spaces and places. More of a 70s funky kind of thing and then it just evolved into my own personal sound which takes from honestly the root of hip-hop stuff and jazz and soul. I think it’s all in there like really. The foundation of my musical growth. What I grew up with. It would have been easy to make it sound like a Menahan record because it’s all the same guys. I was trying to make it have that almost hip-hop bass and the vibe of that. I wanted to use the trumpet as a voice also. I think we came up with something really cool. I’m really proud of it.”

You’ve talked about your writing style being more of a community of people coming together with ideas. From a listener’s point of view, what do you think would be the ideal setting to listen to the record in?

“The ideal setting? I’ve been enjoying it walking around the city listening to it, or on the subway. It seems almost like it has a city soundtrack vibe to me. I’m always a car guy so if it sounds good in the car, I think you have something…”

Now you’ve done the process and you’ve gone through recording your album, is it something you want to do again?

“I’m definitely going to do another one. I want to try to get in… well, we’re working on getting in there soon… absolutely. I definitely want to keep the momentum and the energy rolling. I have amazing access to incredible friends and musicians and an incredible studio here, so I’m definitely gonna do another one for sure.”

You talked about the Tonight Show being your day gig. Taking that away from the equation and looking at yourself as an artist, that whole experience of writing a new record for yourself, what have you learned?

“I surprised myself. It wasn’t just playing the trumpet on this record. I played a lot of keyboard synthesizers, different things and I feel like, as a musician, I’ve really evolved to not being just a trumpet player, which is all I’ve been my whole life. On this record, I played a ton of synthesizers and different things. I wrote a lot of chord progressions. I feel like everyone knows me as a trumpet player, but I want them to think of me as more of a well-rounded musician who can really do anything.”

Dave Guy ‘Ruby’ Album Artwork

Have you played it to any of your old teachers?

“I don’t think I have. A couple of them sadly are dead, but I need to do that…”

It will be interesting to see what their reaction is…

“I’m curious too… A lot of them are straight-ahead guys so I’m curious if they would scoff at it a bit, but I feel like they would like it. It has a good energy and I feel like, for me, I want people to be able to hear my trumpet and think ‘Oh, that’s Dave.’ It’s a personal sound, so that’s what I strive for.”

If you look back on your career and your journey from high school, I would just sum it up in a couple of sentences.

“It’s had so many different moments. I’m so grateful for the Daptone family in my early twenties and the experience of really hustling on the road. I feel like it made me a better person and we’ve had such great relationships that I’ve kept for 20-plus years. I’m in a beautiful community and I’m really grateful for my close friends, and also incredible musicians that we can create music together in this moment.

The Roots are incredible too and I’m so grateful for that family. I have two incredible musical families that I can lean on and it feels like a special place to be at. I started touring probably in my early 20s, and I’m about to be 46, I’ve been on The Tonight Show for 10 years, which is insane to say, so I think it’s just an evolution and it feels like this is perfect timing for me to step to the front for a bit…”