Casey O’Brien is a bass guitar player from the Twin Cities. This recording from Jazz Central Studios in Southeast Minneapolis showcases O’Brien’s original compositions realized by his quartet featuring Nathan Hanson on saxophones, Ted Godbout on keys, Davu Seru on drums, and Mr. O’Brien on bass. Produced for KFAI by Daniel Zamzow.
MinneCulture programs are part of KFAI’s Legacy Project, which highlights Minnesota arts, culture, history and the environment. MinneCulture airs every Wednesday evening from 7:30 to 8pm. The program features short stories from our 10,000 Fresh Voices series, audio documentaries, and live local performances.
KFAI is part of the AMPERS/IPR network (Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations/Independent Public Radio).
All MinneCulture programs are uploaded to ampers.org.
Funding for MinneCulture comes from KFAI listeners, and the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
KFAI’s MinneCulture stories and concerts highlight our state’s art and cultural heritage. The radio show airs at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Listen online at kfai.org or on the radio: 90.3 FM Minneapolis or 106.7 FM St. Paul.
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Fear Not, presents the captivating work of innovative, potent and dynamic neo-soul singer PaviElle French, and represents her much anticipated return to performing after a five year hiatus.
In the past, PaviElle has taken the stage professionally as a vocalist, singer songwriter and spoken word artist, working with Khalil Queen, Everyday People, and as an early member of EduPoetic Enterbrainment, a group integrating spoken word, R&B, jazz, reggae and hip-hop. Her new endeavor is a musical collaboration with bassist, producer and composer Casey O’Brien and presents ten years of her songwriting, all of it deeply personal and autobiographical.
“It’s like you’re opening up and reading my diary,” PaviElle says. “’These songs are my life, the ups and downs of it all.”
In the new recording PaviElle says she’s committed to “honoring the black aesthetic in soul music,” something she fears her generation (she’s 29) has abandoned.
“With the millennials, that black soul music appreciation seems to be gone,” PaviElle says. “And that bothers me. I grew up wanting to be Chaka Khan. That’s the sound and style I loved. I want to hold up that lineage that she carried, and that Aretha carried and also groups like Parliament.”
Indeed, PaviElle’s sound often has the faint flavor of Sly and the Family Stone, or seems to draw on the influences of little Jose James, and Rufus—with the soulful feel of Bill Withers occasionally evident in the groove.
“It definitely has the 70′s R&B feel,” says O’Brien. “It’s a close album, it draws you in and keeps you in that space. You’re taken into the room. There’s no excess baggage. You’re hearing real musicians actually playing together.”
PaviElle hails from St Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, growing up in a family steeped in music. As a devoted music connoisseur, her father introduced her to a wide variety of sounds, her uncle, George Young, played saxophone for Purple Haze, her mother played saxophone as well and her actor/playwright brother Ahanti Young is an accomplished percussionist and performs with her on the new record.
For Fear Not, she strayed only a couple miles from her old neighborhood, recording at St Paul’s Bellows studio with O’Brien on bass and guitar, Ted Godbout on keys, Nick Dodd on drums, Bryan Highhill on trumpet and Tony Beaderstadt on trombone.
While the sound the group captured was vintage, PaviElle brings her own personal style and passionate energy to her singing, making for a fresh sound that’s uniquely her own. She says she always has a way she wants her songs to “swing,” and it’s this free-style emotion, in the scatting and vocalizing, that brings a millennial’s heart-born, contemporary vision to a classic soul music sound.
I had the great pleasure of producing, playing bass and guitar on this album and got a chance to sit down and talk with PaviElle about her process:
What is your songwriting process?
I don’t really have a songwriting process. A melody or a bass line usually comes to me out of nowhere and then I just go from there. I create the: Bass line, beat, lyrics, chords. In that order.
Who would you consider a major influence?
I have several major influences but only three come to mind: Chaka Khan, Ella Fitzgerald, Parliament/Funkadelic.
How has the success of the band and the recent play affected you?
The success of the band and my one-woman show has affected me in a huge way. I am overwhelmed…with joy, and also with sadness because I wish I could share this with the people that raised me. But, overall I am motivated to continue pushing and, I am highly inspired to create more art.
What is coming up next (album, tour, play, ect…)
What’s coming up next? Not quite sure. I have a lot of ideas, one being that I plan to remount the show, “Runnin’.” I feel that more people need to see art that provokes them to think as if there were no box. And, I would like to write and produce another album…maybe for a 2016 release. I work with kids and, would like to see my junior class graduated next year so, I would like to keep playing venues and creating a following until I feel its time to get up out of here in the next year or so.
What are you listening to right now?
Prhyme, J. Cole and, Kandace Springs. (and of course all things old school).
01. Runnin’(P.French/C.O’Brien) 02. I Miss You(P.French/C.O’Brien) 03. Logic and Reason(C.O’Brien/T.Godbout/N.Dodd) 04. Disbelief (P.French/C.O’Brien) 05. Strange Plane(C.O’Brien/T.Godbout/N.Dodd) 06. Sometimes You Wanna Be(P.French/C.O’Brien) 07. Dreams(S.Nicks) 08. Aftertheafter (C.O’Brien/T.Godbout/N.Dodd) 09. Be Right There(P.French/C.O’Brien) 10. The Breakup Song(P.French)
PaviElle – Vocals Ted Godbout – Keys Nick Dodd – Drums Ahanti Young – Percusion Bryan Highhill – Trumpet Tony Beaderstadt – Trombone Casey O’Brien – Bass and Guitar
Produced By Casey O’Brien Recorded and Mixed by Adam Krinsky & Graham O’Brien @ Bellows. St. Paul, MN.
Mastered by Huntley Miller @ HM Mastering.
Disbelief (P.French/C.O’Brien)
PaviElle – Vocals Ted Godbout – Keys Nick Dodd – Drums Ahanti Young – Percusion Bryan Highhill – Trumpet Tony Beaderstadt – Trombone Cole Pulice – Saxophone Casey O’Brien – Bass and Guitar
Produced By Casey O’Brien
Recorded by Alex Proctor @ Icehouse. Minneapolis, MN. Mixed and Mastered by Adam Krinsky & Graham O’Brien @ Bellows. St. Paul, MN.
The Casey O’Brien Trio Series will feature unique combinations of talented improvisers, performing original music and interesting standards every Thursday in July at the Red Stag.
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One of Minnesota’s most exciting saxophonists. He returned to the twin cities in 2006 after six years in New York City and a six month stint in Shanghai, China. Wozniak studied music at Indiana University with David Baker and privately with Tom Walsh. Brandon performs regularly with Dave King’s (Bad Plus, Happy Apple drummer) Dave King Trucking Company with saxophonist Chris Speed, the Atlantis Quartet (City Pages Best Jazz Artist 2011, Star Tribune Best Jazz Artist 2012), the great drummer Eric Kamau Gravatt (Weather Report, McCoy Tyner), Bryan Nichols Quintet, Chris Bates Red 5 plus others. Brandon has also performed with singer Nellie McKay, toured with the Tommy Dorsey Jazz Orchestra and shared the stage with organ great Dr. Lonnie Smith, guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Francisco Mela(Joe Lovano’s US Five).
Ted Godbout | Piano
Ted Godbout has performed professionally throughout the Midwest and the Northwest. Ted earned his Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from St. John’s University and his Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Oregon. Ted is currently very active as a pianist and keyboardist in the Twin Cities and performs regularly
Pete Hennig | Drums
Peter Hennig graduated from McNally/Smith College of Music with a degree in percussion performance, followed by 2 years of private study with Twin Cities based drummer Dave King.
From 2001 on, he has worked steadily as a dedicated drumset/percussion instructor teaching up to 50 private students per week. Peter has also been featured as a guest clinician at UMD, UW Superior and McNallySmith College of Music. Currently teaches at Schmitt Music and Mount Olivet School of Music.
As a composer he’s had original compositions featured on 89.3 The CURRENT, 88.5 KBEM, and 90.3 KFAI. He also received the Minnesota Emerging Composers Award (MECA) from the American Composers Forum in 2010.
Since 2010 he has performed at several european festivals and venues including, the Sons d’hiver festival in Paris, the Atlantique Jazz festival and the Pannonica Jazz festival in northern France. In 2011 he received the Twin Cities Best Jazz Award with The Atlantis Quartet.
Casey O’Brien | Bass
Casey O’Brien is a bassist, producer, composer and performer based in the Twin Cities. Casey’s unique and distinguishable style of playing along with his versatility make him standout performer in a variety of musical fields and styles.
Casey has appeared on over 30 recordings and his discography includes notable albums with with Eyedea (Rhymesayers), Kristoff Krane (Crushkill Recordings), No Bird Sing (F.I.X.), Graham O’Brien (No Echo), Adam Svec (Drawfire), Carnage (Fill in the Breaks), TD Mischke (Independent) and Face Candy (Rhymesayers), among many others. He has released remixes under the upcoming record label F.I.X., as well as with Kristoff Krane. His work in film and video includes the score for “The Place Where We Were Born” by Minnesota Book Award Winner, Kao Kalia Yang.
