Lloyd answers questions for Dave Aiken for Guitar Digest
I understand that you grew up in the Cleveland area. Were there any individuals or clubs that offered inspiration or opportunity to you?
When I was young there was a club/bar on the corner of, I think 135th and Kinsman [ I lived on 137 a little more than 3 blocks from Kinsman (I think that was the name of the main street)] they had a small band maybe a trio [might have been Organ, guitar and drums], and if you looked thru the door when someone opened it to go in or out you could see the guitar player sitting on a stool on top of the bar. I used to stand outside the club/bar and just listen to them play . I think that's the first memory I can think of. I had been playing an instrument of one type or another since I was 5 years old, I started by taking piano lessons.
When did you start playing guitar, what got you interested in the first place and what was your first guitar?
I think I started playing guitar when I was ten , I had to catch two busses to go to school and sometimes instead of catching the busses I would just walk home. I would have to pass this music store on the way home and it had a guitar in the window and I would want it. So remember saving my money from my paper route so I could buy it. You know what ?, while I was writing this answer I started wondering about the sequence of events so I called my Mom and Dad. Well My Dad didn't remember but my Mom did...she told me that I wanted a toy guitar that cost $6 but she went to Sears & Roebucks and found a real one for $15 and got it for me for Christmas ...my Dad does remember that I got my first guitar for Christmas (chuckle)...so I guess the guitar in the window came later because it was electric I remember that much. I also remember a Silvertone guitar (Sears again) that came in a case that was its amp..remember those?.... it was black with white speckles...but I know my first was acoustic.
What guitars do you use these days?
Right now I use an Ovation Custom Legend acoustic electric when I play soft and I play a Yamaha SBG 3000 solid body electric with a Bartilini on the front end and a Duncan Jeff Beck on the back end when I played loud, it's got a juicy sound.
What are your choices for amps, speakers, effects, strings, etc., and why are these your choices?
Right now I'm playing thru a Fender Concert with an Electro Voice speaker ...the magnet is huge and it makes this amp heavier than a Boogie.. My amp tech souped it up...As far as amps go I think the Dumble is a great amp , A friend of mine Terry Haggerty that played with the Sons Of Champlain had one , it was sooo cool. Boogies are great amps if you know how to tweak them , I hear each one has it's own personality. For overdriven sweet tone there is nothing like a Marshall, I used one on my first CD , it's just sweet.
Are there any other musicians, singers, songwriters, or bands out there that you would like to work with?
Stanley Clarke and I have been trying to do some stuff together for a some time now, maybe for my next CD. I want to play with Stevie Wonder's rhythm section , they are good friends of mine but we just haven't played together yet and they have such a great vibe on and of stage, just wonderful human beings, very spiritual. I could go on and on about people that I think are great Oscar Peterson , McCoy Tyner, George Benson,Gerald Albright, etc. etc. etc.There are so many truly gifted and highly developed musicians out there.
Who has influences you most as a guitar player, how about as a songwriter and Guitar player?
I love to listen to guitar so I've listened to a lot , I grew up listening to Kenny Burrell and Wes,Barney Kessell and Bo Diddly , then came George Benson I think at that time with Jack McDuff, then the Crusaders with Larry Carlton, Curtis Mayfield with the Impressions [ you can hear him in Hendrix's playing] , Then we used to do shows with B.B.King , I think he was the first one that I had a real one on one contact with. I remember being in the studio with Curtis Mayfield when he was doing the "Back To the World" album and he was soloing some tracks of Phil Upchurch for me and he was so excited about Phil's touch and God it was gorgeous. You see I could go on and on. I listened to all forms of guitar playing , I once went to see Andre Segovia ,he was incredible, John Mc Laughlin, Al DiMeola and Poco De Lucia when they were doing the trio with Steve Morse opening.
But I think my biggest influence was my teacher Warren Nunes he was a great teacher [rest his soul] I remember when I couldn't afford to take lessons he told me to keep coming and even gave me bus fare to get back home. It's really sad that the world didn't get to know about him...He used to tell us "Don't listen to guitar players , listen to horn players and piano players" I didn't understand the stuff he was teaching us until one day I heard Charlie Parker and I said to myself "That's what he is showing us how to do"As far as song writers that's another ten pages.
Whose music do you listen to when you want to relax?
I go on binges, sometimes I'll listen to one person for a spell then someone else. Like I'll listen to Oscar Peterson for a few weeks then I'll listen to Al DiMeola for a while then maybe classical for a while then Smooth Jazz radio for a while ,then Hip Hop,then I'll go on a HBO binge.
For years I've read all the different approaches to recording. What is the process like for you? For the most part is everything written and rehearsed before you hit the studio? Do you go in cold? Is much improvised?
I've never had the opportunity to rehearse before recording. Except for my solo project. I'll usually write about 5 to 10 pieces on paper [chord changes][when I was recording with Felton Pilate] we would sit down and I would strum for him what I had written ,when he heard something he liked he would jump up and start programming a drum beat to match what I was strumming. All the songs that I played for him before he jumped up would then go in the garbage. After he duplicated the rhythm we would then sit down and discuss the thoughts behind this song and what kind of mood we wanted to project ,once we decided the mood we would dive headlong into it until it was done if it took 6 hours or 3 weeks. With a band it was different but still somewhat similar. I would bring a group of chord charts in, but this time I would look at my musicians and try to decipher which chart would best fit this particular group of individuals. If the one I chose didn't fit I would move on to the next chart. This time when I strummed the chart I would ask the musicians to interpret it how it felt to them basically. Come up with your own parts, play what makes you feel comfortable with what I'm doing. The melody is always the last thing to be created because for me it comes out of the song like a flower comes after the plant is grown and standing strong on it's own. For me the song is an infant that starts with a seed { the initial chord chart}then it grows into itself until it is born then matures into it's own living breathing entity.
Out of everyone you've had the pleasure of working with, who stands out as being particularly memorable to open for, tour with or even play with?
I guess I have to say Stevie Wonder , when I was musical director for the Ballads [singing group] we toured for a minute opening for Stevie, man the incredible stories I could tell about the true genius that he is and how much he loves music, his talent, he is just incredible. I still sometimes go to L.A. and hang out at their rehearsals when they rehearse. To see him in his natural state with his band just having fun singing and playing, man !!! That's what it's all about.