SolShock Q&A with Dave Williams
by : Sharreace E. BaldwinHe blows his Battlehorn weekly at various local clubs and events as Musical Director and Trumpeter for the funky jazz band MajicBulletTheory and the Dave Williams Group. Producer/Trumpeter/Bandleader Dave Williams is first up for our exclusive SolShock Q&A:
Photo by Victoria Posthuma
SolShock: What inspired your latest project?
Dave Williams: Form wise, MajicBulletTheory is inspired by Miles Davis (his musical directions and method), groups like Kool and The Gang, Mandrill, Sly and The Family Stone, and War. But, with a MUCH heavier Jazz component. We’ll play stuff with a backbeat, but we want to blow over the stuff like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever or Weather Report . . . . There’s no such thing as a ‘latest’ project–I think of everything as one ongoing work. As for the band, generally, I got tired of backing up marginally talented singers, who thought they were God’s Gift to live performance, fake Bob Marley reggae singers, and ‘Golden God’ rock singers. I also didn’t want to disappear as an ‘instrumentalist’. I wanted to play what I wanted, when I wanted for who I wanted. Ultimately, we’re inspired by the concepts of Creativity and Autonomy. Plus, most of us are Jazz musicians. I felt displaced (and disrespected) in reggae bands.
SolShock: What makes you radiant?
Dave Williams: What makes us radiant is that the show we put on isn’t smoke and mirrors, isn’t dumbed down for dumb people with short attention spans, and I think we’re amazingly innovative. We look great on stage, many of our members are virtuosic on their instruments. Hell, even our DJ is a better musician than many of the cats floating around here. And, I mean fools who play guitar. I have probably the ONLY band around here, where our BACKUP Guitarist, is also our Full Time Drummer! To me, that’s having Chops. If you like cats who play real music, than MBT is for you.
SolShock: What was your most recent happy discovery?
Dave Williams: Wow, lemme think . . . Bixby Knolls. I used to roll through it on the bus, on the way to North Long Beach. I’m very surprised at how hip it’s become, with First Fridays and such. Nino’s also rocks–love the food, and it’s becoming a venue we can play around here, and not get jerked. Long Beach club owners aren’t the fairest people around here, sometimes. 562 City Life–those guys are helping do big things, connecting folks behind the scenes.
