Richard Boulger is not your typical jazz musician. Over his career he has played and/or recorded with R&B singer Joe and a range of jazz luminaries, including John Hicks, Aaron Goldberg, Reuben Rogers, Steve Davis, Dennis Irwin, Anthony Wonsey, David Schnitter and Randy Brecker. In 2001, Boulger began an extensive two year stint touring with Gregg Allman, a run that included his work as a featured soloist on The Allman Brothers Band’s double DVD set Live at the Beacon Theatre.
His newest album Lookin Up was recently released, and the tunes are marching up the jazz charts. His first single, "Lookin Up," is at the top of the charts on iTunes. His latest project features keyboardist Dario Boente along with some of New York’s finest musicians including vocalists Francis Mbappe and Brent Carter, Bassists Gene Perez and Gary Foote and Victor “YA-YAH” Jones and Luisito Quintero on drums and percussion. Also featured is Saxophonist Kris Jensen.
Boulger released his first solo effort, The Calling back in 1999, then waited until 2008 for his second, Blues Twilight. The latter included liner notes from his teacher and long-time friend, Freddie Hubbard, who called the project by the renowned trumpeter and flugelhorn player “truly inspirational.”
Hubbard passed away late in 2008, but there’s no doubt he would use the same words to describe his protégée’s latest collection. While the jazz electronica, old school funk and world music fusion Boulger creates with keyboardist Dario Boente on his latest collection marks a dramatic shift from his hard bop leanings of the past, Boulger pays homage even more directly to Hubbard, using a phone message from the trumpet great as the intro to the opening title track. Hubbard’s words say it all: “Things are Lookin Up.”
Boulger's latest collection is the perfect fit to a relazing evening - kick off your shoes, pour yourself a nice glass of wine, put on Lookin Up, and your mood will definitely soar. This is an album you want to listen to from start to finish - smooth, relaxing and refreshing, and better than a soak in the hot tub.
An active part of the jazz scene for years in his adopted hometown of NYC, Boulger has done numerous clubs, concerts, recordings and festivals as part of drummer Victor Jones’ Cultureversey, a group that blends hip hop, urban soul, modern jazz and funk. The trumpeter had been experimenting with pads and synth sounds since he began working on music with a computer in the early 2000s, but his deeper immersion into the possibilities of jazz in an electronic setting began when he met Boente when the two were on tour with Jones in South Korea in 2004.
Boulger enjoyed the way the trio mixed drums and synth with his trumpet and flugelhorn and was later wowed by a video Boente did for his jazz electronica song “Cara a cara.” “If it’s got soul, I’m into it,” Boulger says. “I loved the array of sounds Dario created with his keyboards. So over the years I started playing around with different patches and beats on my computer and considered this period part of a learning curve. I’m very intuitive when it comes to creating music, but after recording Blues Twilight, I knew that my next project would incorporate all of these exciting new influences."
“The tracks that evolved into Lookin Up started organically, with simple melodies coming to me and then creating these sonic worlds around them with Dario. Usually everything begins with a basic motif. Having the time and the resources to get every detail just right is a challenge for an independent artist, and I fully appreciate the support given to me by my sister Carolyn, her husband Bill Karlson and my life partner Sarah French so that I could pursue this project that I became so passionate about.”
Although Boulger put Lookin Up together with songs he wrote and recorded over an extended two year period, the final tracking and the titles he chose lend themselves perfectly to using groove, atmosphere and funky, improvisational contemporary jazz to create a message of hope and global harmony. Weaving the names of the songs into a narrative, he says: “Lookin Up,” I see “August Blue”…”Care,” feel and live “A Prayer for Peace. “Be One” and “You Can Be” “Somebody’s Dream.” “For Now,” we watch the “Sunrise,” and a new day…at last we are “One People One World.”
While these songs are designed to inspire listeners to think about our individual roles in creating global harmony, Lookin Up also includes a batch of songs that can be enjoyed as joyous groove or soulful chillout experiences. These include the mystical funk of the title track, the dreamy reflective ten minute meditation “August Blue,” the trippy and percussive “Care” and the ambient, synth effects filled “You Can Be” and “For Now.” Boente’s lush solo piano work shines on tracks like “Somebody’s Dream.”
In addition to his recording, performing and educational endeavors, Boulger recently began doing film scoring, composing, producing and recording the soundtrack for the forthcoming animated movie Indigo's Soul. He is also looking forward to gathering some of his favorite musicians and doing live performances of the music on Lookin Up.
“I want to get out and promote this project and create a new musical reality for myself and for fans of jazz and electronic music,” he says. “There’s nothing more exciting than playing live and seeing people moving and dancing, having a wonderful time and being inspired. It adds a whole new exciting dimension that goes beyond what can be captured in the studio.”
Find out more about this incredible artist by visiting his website, www.richardboulger.com.
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