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June 8th... New York Session players are a kind of revered class, with the knowledge, versatility and supreme taste to make every record date they do come alive. What they don’t always get is the spotlight, the chance to pursue their own projects and document what they’re about when they’re fully unleashed. SRT embodies that elusive ideal in power trio form: it’s what you get when you match up John “J.R.” Robinson, often cited as the most recorded drummer of all time (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Rufus & Chaka Khan), with organist Mitch Towne (Terrace Martin, Jerry Bergonzi, Eric Gales) and guitarist Andrew Synowiec (Ariana Grande, Elton John, Frozen, The Who).
Vanguards of Groove, SRT’s debut album, is the work of three seasoned and accomplished pros who are still hungry. It’s an all-instrumental outing, as tight, funky and thunderously rocking as it is warm and nuanced. All three wrote for the project, and the results cut across a wide spectrum, conversant with funk, rock, fusion and of course organ trio jazz, although Vanguards of Groove is not a textbook example or carbon copy of any genre. It’s three distinct personalities, with chops formidable enough, and instincts refined enough, to know when to rein it in and when to turn it loose.
Towne likes to refer to Robinson, quite aptly, as “the heartbeat of the hits.” He brings to SRT 45 years of experience in the music industry, and 50 years playing the drums. His irresistible fill is the first sound you hear on “Rock With You,” from Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, an essential piece of pop music history. It’s J.R.’s hip drum intro that starts off Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love,” the No. 1 hit from Back in the High Life (1986). Robinson was also on the megastar-packed charity single “We Are the World,” and has lent his singular feel to recordings by Bonnie Raitt, Lionel Richie, Peter Cetera, Peter Frampton, Lady Gaga, Daft Punk and a dictionary-sized list of others. His beat helped define an era in pop and R&B, yet Vanguards of Groove reveals a whole other side, in an environment where stretching out is the rule.
Towne, based in Omaha, had been dreaming of such a project, particularly during the isolation of the pandemic. After meeting Robinson at a local club called The Jewell, he brainstormed a J.R. Robinson tribute show in the hope that the drummer could be enticed. He could, and The Jewell sold out two shows in December 2021, with a crack band playing iconic hits that J.R. did so much to immortalize.
That lineup was too much to take on the road, but an organ trio was another matter. Once again, Towne pitched it, Robinson liked it, and discussion turned to who would be their third. Synowiec, enormously successful on the LA session circuit since 2004, was eager for a bit of stretching out himself. He and Robinson met on a soundtrack date that involved cutting a version of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. It wasn’t long before Robinson emailed the guitarist, with characteristic economy: “Hey, July 11-12, let’s make a record.” Synowiec likens his reaction to the “Are you a god” scene in Ghostbusters: “Ray, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes!”
“We went into LAFX and did this the old-fashioned way,” Robinson says. “We made the whole record in two days, very few punches, like in the old days.” “The floodgates were open,” Synowiec adds. “I had a lot of ideas, and it was really a collaboration, we didn’t just show up.” The tunes needed to be engaging, challenging, but not least of all achievable within the time constraints, and Vanguards of Groove hits that sweet spot. Robinson shares credit with Synowiec on the opening shredder “Tal Shia” and with Towne on the boogaloo burnout “Goin’ Uptown” (“our remembrance of the ’60s,” Robinson calls it). Robinson’s entry is “Liquid Office,” which refers to a jacuzzi, or more exactly the experience of writing a tune while lounging in one.
Towne reveals his range with the laid-back elegance of “Alta Vista” and the gnarly funk of “Mr. CT,” an homage to Tower of Power organist Chester Thompson (not to be confused with the Weather Report/Genesis drummer). Synowiec stirs the stylistic pot with “Burn That Bridge,” “Memory Lane,” “The Royal You” and the tender, deliciously bluesy ballad “Long Road.” “I think some of the best stuff is Andrew’s,” Robinson declares. “His tunes just fall right into this setting, they’re exactly what we were going for.” Playing mainly a Les Paul, Synowiec can morph from screaming leads to crisp funk rhythm parts to pure melodic tones and textures with the flick of a wrist.
SRT’s July tour dates will feature the great Tom Scott, legendary tenor man, composer, arranger and leader of the L.A. Express, the formative session-player superband that backed Joni Mitchell in the mid-’70s. SRT’s trio foundation is strong enough to thrive with additional input, and Scott brings tons of commonalities to the table. “I’ve been recording with Tom for decades and seeing his whole progression,” Robinson says. “He’s still probably the funkiest tenor player there ever was, and he immediately wanted to do this. He’ll bring in some of his tunes as well. Tom has also never played Birdland, so this is a premiere.” And the first, Robinson hopes, of many SRT guest collaborations to come.
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