This "Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley" podcast episode features an engaging conversation with the esteemed members of Pieces of a Dream: James Lloyd, Curtis Harmon, and Tony Watson Jr. These distinguished musicians share insights into their nearly five-decade-long musical journey, highlighting their origins in Philadelphia and the evolution of their sound, which melds jazz and smooth jazz influences. The discussion encompasses their latest album, *We Got This*, exploring the creative process that underpinned its conception. James, Curtis, and Tony reflect on the significance of their live performances, recounting a recent sold-out concert in Cincinnati where they debuted their new single. This episode serves as a testament to their enduring legacy and the deep connection they maintain with their loyal fanbase, affectionately referred to as their

Takeaways:

• The members of Pieces of A Dream discussed the importance of connecting with their audience during live performances, highlighting the value of shared experiences and interactions with fans.
• They shared insights into their musical journey, emphasizing the significance of their long-standing friendship and collaboration, which has been pivotal to their success over nearly five decades.
• The band members elaborated on the creative process behind their music, revealing their methods of blending older pieces with newer compositions to maintain a dynamic and engaging set list.
• They addressed the evolution of the music industry, particularly how artists now bear the responsibility for promoting their own work in the digital age, which contrasts sharply with previous practices.
• Tony Watson Jr. recounted his unique journey of joining the band, which involved a serendipitous encounter after a performance, showcasing the unpredictable nature of musical careers.
• The conversation touched upon their new album, which reflects both personal challenges and the collective resilience of the band, culminating in a work that resonates with their enduring legacy.

Hi, I'm James Lloyd.

And I'm Curtis Harmon.

And I'm Tony Watson Jr.

And you're watching Pieces of a Dream on Musicians.

Reveal with Joe Kelly.

Welcome to Musicians Reveal.

Joe Kelly here.

I am extremely excited because we have pioneers in music, jazz, Funky, smooth jazz melodies.

Nearly 50 years in the music business.

Originally from Philadelphia, Pieces of a Dream have a new album out.

We got this and we've got Piece of a Dream in the house.

James Lloyd, Curtis Harmon and Tony Watson Jr.

Thanks, fellas, to join us.

Our pleasure.

Thank you for having us.

So we were talking off air, you had a gig in Cincinnati at Ludlow Garage.

Tell us about the.

The night.

Well, it was.

It's a.

It actually, we hadn't played there in about what, about eight to ten years, I think.

Okay.

Yeah.

And so that was our first time back in Cincinnati in such a long time.

And we ended up selling the concert out.

The audience received us very well and we were able to preview our brand new single.

We got this for that audience and it was very well received.

Did you do it in the set?

Did you.

When did you put it in the set list?

Actually, it was first, it was the opening song because Tony did this, like, night.

Really nice intro for it and everything.

So we, you know, so we actually came on to it, came onto the stage, so.

Wow.

Yeah, you guys, you know, have a catalog of music.

49 years going on.

50 years, 26 albums.

What's the process of getting that set list together with the.

Amongst the guys and ladies?

The set list is basically the concept is we like to view it like a roller coaster.

You know, it has to have its ups and downs.

You know, it has to, you know, have to have a start.

Except, you know, unlike a roller coaster, it doesn't just start with a slow climb.

You know, we like to start with a bang.

And we like the show to have a certain flow between the faster songs and the slower songs.

You know, you don't put too many slow songs together or vice or fast songs as well, and just mixing up not only the tempos but different grooves of the song so that the show itself has a nice flow overall.

Also while mixing some older stuff with some newer stuff because, you know, like you said, we have such a catalog of music that, you know, people want to hear some of that older stuff that they grew up on.

So, you know.

But they also want to hear some of the newer stuff we've been doing also.

Yeah, it's as far as the rapport you have with your audience.

A quick Short story.

I got a friend of mine years ago, actually, we were working together and he.

I said, what'd you do on the weekend?

And he said, oh, I went to see Pieces of a Dream in Jersey.

I was like, I never knew you were a Piece of a Dream fan.

And he was raving about the show.

I mean, you got fans who, like, some of them been there from the get go, tell, you know, you could see in the crowd, you guys tell the stories with the fans.

Your fans seem awful important to you, right?

Very much.

So many of them have been with us for so many years that it's like, you know, we see a lot of the same faces that have been coming to multiple shows in multiple states.

And that's great.

That's a great feeling.

You got nicknames for them, like.

Like the Debt.

Family.

That's a good way to put it.

Yeah.

Right.

So we got.

We gotta ask the saxophonist, the brother that's the shortest I ever seen you.

How tall are you?

I'm six foot, four inches.

Okay, cool.

Yeah.

So Tony Watson Jr.

And how did you migrate into working with the.

With these guys and Pieces of a Dream years ago?

So my father's a musician educator, so I used to play with my dad back home in Canton, Ohio.

Okay.

And we were the opening act for, I think it was Marion Meadows at a nightclub called Tangier and Akron, Ohio, not Famous Nightclub.

Everybody has been through there.

And funny story, I almost didn't play the gig because I had like a fever, like 102.

And my dad's like, oh, come on, man, you gotta do it, you gotta do it.

So I did, you know, I sucked it up, got on stage.

At the end of the show, James Lloyd happened to be in the audience and he called me over.

He said, hey, man, here's my car.

Give me a call.

I was like, okay.

So I call him, like, there's no way he's gonna answer the phone.

He answers the phone and I mean, within a matter of weeks, he had me recording on my.

I think the first album was either Naji or Walter Beasley.

I was doing background Saxons for them and we started recording together.

That was Pillow Talk.

And then shortly after that, I got.

On the road with him and.

And haven't stopped since.

Haven't stopped.

Yeah.

It has a funny story, though, because when I.

When James first brought Tony to me, we.

We're doing a gig in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Okay.

And so after the gig, and I had heard Tony, I was like, well, he's all right, but, you know, and then.

And then Tony called me and was like.

Or James said.

James said, you know, that's not the Tony I know.

You know what I mean?

And then I saw.

I called Tony.

I was like, tony, listen, dude, I heard you on the album.

You gotta play, you know, you gotta play like you want to play.

You know what I mean?

Then nobody's gonna stop you from being you.

So in this band, we let people shine.

We let people be who they are, you know?

And so the very next gig, because I was, like, not that impressed at first, but then when he played the next gig, I was like, now, that's what I'm talking about.

Yeah, he blew it up.

On the next gig, unfortun, I had right before Pieces, I had a touring experience where the artists, they didn't want us to, you know, shine.

Okay.

I came in, like, with my head down with Pieces, you know, like somebody on the side.

Yeah, yeah, I'm plugging cords on you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I told him, no, that's not the.

That's not the way to be with us, you know, we want you to show your stuff, man.

You know, do what you do.

And he did.

Yeah.

So it's a great partnership, the three of you.

And of course, you got a smoking band, and you give a spotlight not just once.

You, you know, call them out to do solos and introduce them in their names.

Everybody gets a chance to show.

Yeah.

And the stories in between the songs.

Really cool.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, Pieces of a Dream, it's an interesting story.

The.

The original members, Curtis and.

And James and.

And of course, Cedric.

Rest in peace, you guys.

It's interesting how you met, because I heard stories like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

They were a upward bound.

They met.

And Prince and Andres Simone.

Is that one of you were playing music and the other person or persons walked in and say, who's this guy?

What was the story when you guys met?

Way, way back, right, Jay?

Yeah, James.

James was playing piano in the orchestra room.

And Cedric and I had walked in and he was playing.

He's playing some classical stuff, I mean, and he was killing it.

And then he started playing Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain and to Kneel.

Is that part of the set still?

No, actually, that song never was.

But.

He was killing it.

And, you know, so at the time, you know, we were part of the middle school jazz band, Cedric and I.

And then James ended up coming in and being Part of the same band also.

And the school was about to have a talent show.

And this was the Ada Lewis Middle School in Philadelphia.

And we kind of broke off with three horn players to do the talent show.

And we ended up taking third place to a dance routine and a Billie Holiday impression.

So the Billie Holiday impression won first place, the dance routine won second place, and we got third place.

We actually played Earth, Wind and Fires, Reasons and then happy music by Donald Burton, the Blackbirds.

But we ended up staying together and rehearsing.

And my father, Danny Harmon, took an interest in us and had us sat us down at, at home at, you know, where I live and had us listening to people like the MJQs, the three sounds.

I'm a Jamal, Milt Jackson, Count Basie, all the, you know, the heavy swing jazz people.

And so we learned to really, you know, swing like, you know, 40 year old men.

So.

So, you know, people would say that if you close your eyes, you couldn't tell how old we were, you know, so we were actually ended up.

We ended up doing dinner dances with him and my father's dinner dances.

We would play the intermissions, his band would play the actual, you know, functions.

And then he, as he said it got so that they wanted to hear more of us than his band.

So.

Wow, it was kind of a meteoric rise.

What was the first airplane you got?

Was it RTI in at temple?

Go ahead, James.

It may have been, you know, because back then there weren't that many avenues, you know, there were no smooth jazz stations, of course, because there was no such thing as smooth jazz.

Right.

So we got played on jazz stations and I guess what was known as power stations or.

And it worked in our favor, especially since we not only had instrumentals but, you know, vocals on our, on our records.

So we were able to get airplay on both avenues, R B and jazz.

Yep.

Yeah, I do think our first actual airplay was a television show though, called City Lights.

Yeah, yeah, I remember seeing.

It's still up there if you go to YouTube.

Right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that was the first time we ever was like, you know, played in public, you know, on a national scale.

Then the next big, big thing, meeting Grover Washington Jr.

A fellow standout musician, rest his soul.

How did he take a liking to you and take you under his wings and zoom your career?

Well, we actually met Grover through that TV show.

Well, that was our first time playing with him on the City Lights show.

We had to play two tunes and of course, you know, we seen him around, you Know, being in Philly and whatnot.

But soon after that, he took us all out.

Did you take us out to dinner first, Kurt, or was it.

No, with us at the BG first?

Right.

The Bijou was first.

Okay, so we were performing at the Bijou.

We were either opening for Betty Carter or Denise Williams.

It was always, pretty much always one of those two.

And Denise Williams and Grove was in the audience.

He would come up and sit in with us.

And he did.

He came in and did Mr.

Magic.

So we got to play Mr.

Magic with Grover on the Bijou stage, you know, where he recorded it.

And.

And then he got on the mic and announced that he was starting a production company and we were going to be his first act to be produced.

Now, of course, being, you know, what, 14 and 16, we didn't know what the heck that meant, you know, production company, and broke it down.

Well, basically you got a record deal.

You know, you guys are going to make a record and I'm going to help you.

And so we knew nothing about writing songs.

You know, I think I had written a song when I was 12 or 13 called Sunshine.

It actually wound up on our Joyride album.

But other than that, we knew nothing about, you know, writing original material for, you know, to make an album.

So we just got our, you know, together in our little rehearsal studio with our eight track reel to reel and put some ideas down, presented them to Grover and he.

He listened to them.

So, okay, I'm gonna take this and take this and I'll have some guys play on that.

I'm gonna play on these and.

And I'll have some other people write some stuff and.

And boom, there you're gonna.

You're gonna have an album.

And that was the first one.

And then when it came out, when it came out, I was 16, actually.

And you travel with your parents?

Just mine.

Oh, yeah, that's right.

Your dad.

Yeah, yeah, he was in contact with all the other parents.

Right, right, right.

Yeah, yeah.

How about those early albums for Pieces of the Dream, Tony, do you have any favorites from.

From the early days before you joined the band?

Oh, wow.

Put you on the spot.

Yeah, no, I did really love Joyride.

I just think that the.

This, that one takes you on a nice, like James said, on a nice roller coaster.

There's a couple really nice, you know, hits on there.

So I think Joy Ride might be my favorite right now.

And how about Grover?

Were you a big fan of him?

Oh, of course.

Right, of course.

Yeah.

Like I said, my father was an educator and A jazz musician.

So he.

He had me turned on to all them, you know, Grover and then Pieces and everyone.

So.

And the big, big smash off the bat was four, five, foe.

Now the story, that was Moses Malone.

Actually, I think our first real.

Our first big hit was Non Airy Groove.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, there you go.

Yeah, because that way that ended up.

That actually was the side B of us of a single that came out called Please don't do this to Me, which was written by Dexter Wines on Cynthia Biggs and Mallory.

Groove was the side B of that single.

And Grover called us back in the studio to remix it and said, everybody's flipping the record over.

Yeah.

So we went and remixed Mount Airy Groove and that was.

That became the single.

So Lenny White was involved with the remix, right?

Not with that one.

Lenny White didn't come along until the joy ride out.

Oh, okay.

I gotcha.

Right.

Lenny White did half of the album and Maurice White did the other half.

Wow.

You guys, you get being great musicians and traveling with the greatest.

This.

We did half in New York and half in.

In la.

Wow.

Yeah.

So how.

Bernard Wright, you work with him ever?

Yes.

Yeah, we worked with him on the Joyride.

Yeah, Through Lenny White.

Right.

And he wrote say La La, which was awesome.

And I think someone saved some time for me.

Save some time for me.

Now you know why I like that Joyride album so much.

Yeah, there we go.

We're focusing on the Joyride.

Yeah.

I was telling James before, a friend of ours, Foley, from.

From out in Columbus, actually, he was really good friends with Bernard Wright.

So.

Okay, you.

You guys have probably run.

Running together, you know, through the years.

Very possible.

Yeah.

Now.

Now, the 450 video, where was the scenes?

Was that South Street?

Yes.

Okay, record.

What was it like recording a video like that?

You know.

Oh, that was our first video.

So that.

That was a.

That was an amazing experience.

You know, we had seen videos of other, you know, artists, you know, like, wow, let me see Bobby Brown New Again, New Edition.

And so many other artists had done videos.

And of course, you know, being in the R B genre at that point in time, you know, it was.

It was probably inevitable that we were going to end up doing one too.

So.

Yeah, 454 was, you know, was our first video, and it came out very well.

You know, people to this day remember that video and go to YouTube to get it.

So, you know.

Yeah, that one was a.

Was a hit for us.

And you have to also remember that at that time, we had nothing else to go On.

No, no frame of reference as to what a smooth jazz or, you know, even before the term was created video should look like or what it should consist of.

You know, we were all just kind of flying out the seat of our pants and, you know, following the director and, you know, I think we may have offered a couple of ideas and.

And then it turned out how it turned out.

Yeah, yeah, great video.

And you know, the early.

I.

I love the early days videos, you know, early 80s, mid-80s, and then after that kind of, you know, was more about straight up music.

But yeah, check it out, everybody.

You just.

All the pieces of a dream stuff on there is cool.

Yeah.

Now.

And although the records.

I know Pat Prescott, big supporter of you throughout the years.

Yes.

Did the music start to get on DAs and BLs in New York City?

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yes, it did.

We were actually.

It actually started to.

To get on stations all around the country.

You know, Tim Watts in Baltimore was playing it.

You know, actually the Baltimore D.C.

area was like a second home to us anyway, but.

But yeah, it got around a lot.

You know, the power stations in Los Angeles were playing it and, you know, yeah, everybody.

Yeah, it was getting around.

It was getting some national attention.

Have you found with the new records the past few years, has radio change as far as how the strategy, you guys promoting or have people promoting it?

Oh, definitely.

Okay.

In what ways we're doing well, the artists are doing a lot of the promoting.

We're doing a lot of it ourselves at this point where, you know, with some help from the record companies and.

And, you know, certain social media outlets, but basically we run those social media outlets ourselves, you know, and so, you know, I think that we're more hands on at this point with our own promotion than we used to be.

So, you know, the game has just changed into that.

You know, of course you realize that it was a different norm, you know, a while ago, you know, just a few short decades ago.

And.

But now the onus is more on the artists to promote themselves.

You know, the album and the shows.

And the shows.

Yep.

Yeah.

Which is.

Which is rough, you know, and it's.

Yeah, I don't think it's actually fair.

Right.

But it is what it ain't, man.

You got to do what you got to do.

Right.

Because it takes away from our creative.

It takes away from my create creative time.

Right.

So time, weeks, times that we could be spending writing.

We're doing more administrative stuff and, you know, promotional stuff than we used to do.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm all I Mean, I love having you guys on, but, you know, I understand, you know, playing music, doing this stuff is probably what you want to do most.

Yeah.

I mean, doing stuff like this, though, you know, is what we need to do to let people know that.

Okay, we got new product out and, you know, and we're still around.

Yeah.

And people like you keep us relevant, so.

Right.

Yeah.

Thanks.

Yeah, we.

Let's tell the audience, our viewers and listeners on the outlets where they can pick up the new music.

You want to give them the best spots, Tony.

I mean, on all music platforms right now, you know, Spotify, Apple music, you know, itunes, all that.

You can do it.

Even YouTube, I believe, some of.

Some of us on YouTube.

Amazon, too.

Amazon.

Amazon.

You can get it at pieces of a dream.net along with our schedule, things like that.

Come on.

Don't just get the music.

Come on out and see us.

Yeah, yeah.

Curtis was saying you guys are playing the.

In Hartford, the Bushnell Jazz Fest in July, I think.

Yeah.

So that's cool.

You.

You love the festivals and cruises, right?

We do, yeah.

You know what I mean?

It's like the clubs have a certain vibe to them, you know, being indoors and the close proximity of the audience, you know, you can really make eye contact with people more.

A lot more.

So there's advantages to that.

And then there's advantages to the.

The big festivals where you get seen by, you know, a lot more people and, you know, in a.

In a chunk.

And so we.

We love them both.

Yeah, we just love to play.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And.

And that's the good thing that you guys, all these years, still tight as ever in play because a lot of people get at home, they put out the music and two weeks later they don't know about it.

So.

Yeah, the travel part for me is a little difficult right now because I live in.

Near Newark.

I fly out of Newark Airport, so.

Oh, you might want to find another airport.

Right.

Yeah, that's.

That's a little difficult right now.

I'm considering Philly at this point, so.

Yeah.

Yeah, we fly out of Albany.

We went to visit my dad in Vegas.

It was like a three and a half hour layover in Atlanta, so.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

Those direct flights, few and far between, right?

For those long distances.

Yeah.

Yeah, they are.

How about traveling with your instruments, Danny?

You probably.

Tony brings his stuff along, right?

I do, yeah.

I bring my horn.

It's pretty easy.

I.

I think out of what, 20 something years?

Maybe one time somebody gave me an issue about it, but it was fixed I just walk right on with it and it fits on every plane.

I mean, even the.

The smaller ones that they fly.

So.

So yeah, I used to travel with my symbols and snare and stuff, but when my symbol, case and symbols got broken, that.

That was it.

I'm done.

So I travel with drumsticks now.

Yeah, yeah, right.

Do you have signature, you guys, any endorsements?

I'm working on one right now.

The guy is actually hand making sticks for me.

Oh, cool.

Yeah, yeah.

EPOS posted on that.

Yeah.

James, I assume you don't travel with the Kronos keyboards, right?

No, I do not.

I barely travel with my hands.

He used to.

He used to travel with him.

Yeah.

Oh, really?

Okay.

To bring stuff.

I used to bring my keytar on the road.

I.

Sometimes I would bring an eight track digital recorder, you know.

Yeah.

And so there have been things that we've used over the years that are really not a part of the show anymore.

And we've scaled it down to just what can be done with.

With the live performers on stage.

You know, we don't use any tracks at all during our shows.

We have, you know, we're not knocking it at all.

Right.

But we just don't currently.

Well, we got this.

The outstanding new record, the title of the.

The new record, the 26 release from Pieces of a Dream in 49 years.

You know, not too many people can have that claim to fame, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's a long time.

Yeah.

And now I assume it's a lot different.

You guys are in different locations and a lot of times you record different spots and pass tracks along, right?

That's exactly what we do.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm in Tampa, Kirkson Jersey, and James in Ohio, so.

Yeah.

And you still make it happen.

Yeah, yeah.

We try not to make it sound like that, though.

Yeah.

No, and I got to give you a big compliment on the.

The single we got this because I'm listening in my headphones, I'm thinking, I want to hear the drums.

Okay.

I could focus on the drums.

I want to hear the sax, the keys separately.

And they're all coming through strong, not overriding each other.

Tremendous.

Whoever did the mixing and producing on that.

Oh, that's Martin Walters.

Yeah.

He does an excellent job.

Right, right.

Yeah.

He's been with Pieces of a Dream for.

Right about.

Yeah, at least a decade, maybe two, maybe going on 15 years or so.

Yeah.

I mean, we started with Shaniki with.

No, no, A.

Heads up.

Heads up.

Right.

So it's been.

Yeah, so it's been about 25 years he's been with us.

Oh, wow.

So he's got, he's probably going to do the 50th year release, right?

Most likely.

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

Let's talk about the actual recording of.

We Got this.

The picture has you guys up front pointing fingers and everything, but there's, there's a lot of background to the, the recording.

This record unlike anyone that you re recorded ever before for.

Piece of the Dream.

You guys want to mention some of the stuff?

Well, we, this, this record took, uh, a while to record.

There were certain things that happened during the recording and you know, James was going through some things.

He had had three strokes in one night, you know, and so, you know, Tony and I, he couldn't participate as much as he wanted to or as much as we would like, have liked him to also.

So, you know, Tony and I, you know, was like, man, look, we got your back.

You know, we got this, you know, and that's kind of where the title came for how the title came about too.

So.

Right.

You know, but it's, we just wanted him to know that, you know, we had his back and, you know, so Tony and I just kind of finished up the rest of the album.

James did put.

Was able to do and complete three tracks for the album and, and those tracks are very nice too.

So, you know, but we were able to pull it all together.

You know, we worked with Chris Big Dog Davis.

He's from Connecticut, right?

Yeah, he's from.

Yeah, yeah.

Because, I mean, I'm a Connecticut guy originally, so I was like, his name comes up a lot of people's records.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

He just got finished producing Jasmine Gin for what I understand.

Oh, okay.

Wow.

But he was, we were fortunate enough to have him on two tracks with us and, and Tony and I, you know, pretty much pulled together the rest of it and, you know, made things, tried, tried our best to make things happen, man.

And James, you're happy with what they did, their portion?

I really am.

I'm.

I'm very happy with it, very proud of it.

You know, I, I could hear the, the work and, and the joy and the love that they put into it, you know, into all of these songs.

And I'm, I'm just thankful I was able to do as much as I could, you know, granted, not as much as I, I normally would participate in, in, you know, a piece of a dream project.

But you Know that title is more than just a title of a song.

It's a sentiment.

Yeah.

And you could tell the love you guys got for each other, you know, pointing the fingers and saying, okay, we got it.

And like, thanks, you know.

Yeah.

Really nice.

Yeah, yeah.

We're just glad he's all right.

Yeah, we're happy to see him smiling.

And stuff with us, you know?

Yeah.

I mean, that's.

That's your brother family, man.

That's right.

50 years.

Wow.

You're gonna break out the white suits for the 50 year?

You know what?

That's a good idea.

Yeah.

You know what?

I have one too.

I have a couple of them, actually.

Oh, okay.

There you go.

No, no, we gotta get them.

We had.

We gotta.

People.

People would like that.

I mean, not for the whole tour, so.

We'll give you credit for the idea.

No, yeah, thanks.

You could.

You could take it wherever you guys want to do it, because that.

That was the first record I got from you guys saw, you know.

Oh, imagine this.

Okay.

Yeah.

It's one of the few records that I ever put in a plastic sleeve to protect it.

Oh, okay.

You know, we can sign one of those at the Cincinnati gig too.

Oh, really?

Okay.

Somebody, yeah, one of the fans brought their album, said, look, man, I need you to sign this.

And we were like, wow.

Yeah.

The actual album?

Yeah, yeah, I got it in the closet back there.

So.

Yeah, so.

So you do a lot of meet and greets after each show?

Yes, as much as we possibly can.

Yes.

We learned from Grover early on by watching him growing up, seeing him on the road.

It didn't matter if there was a thousand and twelve people after the show.

He would give each one, you know, that got, I guess, near him as much of his time as he could, you know, and he was always gracious and humble, and that's something that we, as peace ever dream, not only try and perpetuate ourselves, but try and teach to up and comers, keep that humility.

Give people, you know, the time, you know, because they're the reason that you're there in the first place.

That's right.

I mean, we've watched other artists too, like, you know, Boney James and Gerald Albright and.

And see how they interact with all with.

With their audience too.

And.

And it's so, you know, that you.

That we do that because the audience don't want to feel the separation from you.

They.

The people don't want to feel they're separated from you.

You know what I mean?

They want to feel comradery And a closeness to you that makes them want to be friends with you, that makes them want to go and get your product.

You know what I mean?

I mean, I remember we did the Tom Joyner Cruise, and we were actually sitting in one of the restaurants and just, you know, kind of shooting the breeze, telling jokes and having fun.

And one of the girls in back of us said, you know, that's so cool that they just come out and just sit with everybody and, you know, and kind of have fun and, you know, so a lot.

Because you'll find a lot of artists don't do that.

Yeah.

The fans are outside the tour bus and just seeing them run into.

Yeah, right.

Oh, I mean, somebody can understand they need to do it like that.

But that's good.

You have that rapport with your fans.

Yes.

Yeah.

You know, and when we come off stage, you know, we're tired like anybody else, as you would expect.

You know, the amount of energy and focus that we put into our shows, that.

But still, you know, tired and sweating.

We try and give the people some of as much of our time as we possibly can, so.

And it's a good feeling.

Yeah.

Yep.

And you.

You give them something they're taking home and telling friends and.

Yeah, exactly.

I met Piece of a Dream.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What is the early favorite to add into the set from the.

The new record?

I know you're playing the title track this past weekend.

You guys have any thoughts on that?

Actually, I haven't had time to concentrate on that.

I don't know what.

The other two might have some feeling on what should be next.

Yeah, well, I gotta say, I'm.

I'm a bit partial to Take a Stroll.

Well, being one of the only three that I did, but.

But, yeah, it.

I kind of see it as a sequel to Night Vision, you know, in.

In its vibe and just the overall feel and.

And tone of that.

Of that song.

So, you know, that might be something that makes its way into the set.

You know, here and there, you know, there may be things that we pop in and out of, trying different times, different things at different times.

You know, we try not to get too married to any one particular thing because, you know, that's.

That's maybe not such the greatest idea, but, you know, being able to mix it up and then having many things in our repertoire that we can just draw from and change up at the drop of a hat.

I think that's the power right there.

How about you?

Tony One played a solo on.

Right.

What's that one that you played a solo on, maybe.

I think I soloed on all of them.

You know, for me, I'm actually working on putting together a new.

A new show, you know, that's going to feature a lot of the older pieces, stuff that people loved.

And Curtain.

We're all working on it, you know, but I think eventually maybe three or four of those new songs are going to work their way into the set, into this new show and still feature this.

The, you know, the songs that people have loved from Pieces of a Drink for so long.

You know, we just try to keep it high, energetic.

James calls it a party on the stage, you know, so we're gonna keep with that format, but, yeah, we'll slide some of the new ones, and one of my favorites is Be there for you.

Okay.

And that one has some vocals on it.

You know, that's the one we work with Chris Big Dog Davis on, you know, so.

So as shows go throughout the year, this summer, I'm sure a few of them will make their way in there.

Testing to see.

Yeah, I also love how you guys live.

You mash up other artist songs and whoever was responsible for you doing that version of Heartbreak Hotel.

Kudos.

Kudos to you.

Whoever chose that, that was all of us.

Okay.

How do you.

Yeah, you guys do.

I mean, doing the butt.

You got the go go sound and you.

What goes into choosing other artists and making it your own?

I think basically it's what we're able to do.

Do with it.

What.

What the vision is, you know, if we don't see.

See it happening, you know, I don't think.

I don't think we use it sometimes.

One of us may see something happening and the other may not, but, you know, we try to give each other a chance to actually, you know, prove the point of what should be in the show and, you know, what shouldn't.

But the idea for other stuff, I mean, you know, if you look, listen to Brian Culberson, he does the same thing, you know, Gerald Albright does.

You know, he has his Luther section and stuff like that.

So, you know, they're.

We're not the only ones doing it.

I think we're the only ones doing it with the high energy funk stuff, though.

You know what I mean?

But it's a joy to play.

And plus, you know, we were fans of these people that, you know, we grew up with them too.

So, you know, we like their music, so.

And we're able to play.

We're able to play it.

You know, sometimes it's fun.

Do somebody else's stuff for a change.

Yeah, one thing we, we did for, for, I guess, quite a while was come together.

Oh, really?

The Beatles?

Yeah.

Go from come together into Purple Rain.

So love Prince, love the Beatles.

Yeah, yeah, some of those things.

Go ahead, James.

I'm sorry.

I was just saying, how can you go wrong with those, you know?

No, no, everybody knows those songs too.

So, yeah, some of the things that we do in the set, though, I mean, some of them are planned and some of them happened by accident, and we were like, oh, we, we like that.

We just put it back, you know, make a whole thing of it, you know, So a lot of that magic happens on stage.

You know, we're, we're not out there.

Just we're not playing music.

We're making music on stage, you know, we're creating, you know, that's still a creative process on stage, you know.

And what I love about this group and what I love about these two is everyone's always listening to each other.

You know, it's never, look at me.

We're always listening.

So you'll come to a show and we'll fall into something by accident, you know, and it just keeps going and building and building, and sometimes that ends up in the show, it's, you know, as a staple.

So, yeah, people get out all pieces of Dream.net, the tour listings, and you can see they, they play just about everywhere throughout their career.

But is, is there a.

You guys keep track of old gigs, like where you played?

Is there anything.

You guys have an official thing like that?

No, I think our manager might do that.

Yeah.

I mean, I, I, I hold on to the old contracts, you know, and everything sometimes.

So, you know, I'm, I can refer to those as far as where we've been, you know, but I don't put a lot of thought into where we've been, mostly into where we're going and.

Yeah, yeah, I guess that's me thinking back to when I went to shows in my teen years, like what year and who, you know.

Yeah.

So do you individually have a special place that you've played at a venue or want to play at with Pieces of a Dream?

Let's see.

One place that I would love to do a show that we've never been is Paris and maybe even Australia.

Okay.

Let'S see.

Some of the favorite gigs we've done, of course, Yokohama Stadium with Grover, the RX Jazz Festival, the Hollywood Bowl.

You know, we did three years in a row back in the early 80s, and of the The Capital Jazz Festival and the Capital Jazz Cruise.

You know, it's another favorite.

Of course.

The Tom Joyner Cruise was awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah.

There's.

I think, for me, Carnegie.

Yeah, Carnegie Hall.

Yeah.

Radio City Music.

Yeah, Radio.

That's a huge stage, right?

Radio City yesterday.

Yeah, yeah.

The Greek Theater in Oakland.

San Francisco.

Out in Berkeley.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

The Apollo.

Yep.

Yeah, yeah.

So we've done some of the very big names.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

Hey, Cool's Parade Stars Telethon, where we back?

James Brown for two tunes.

Yep.

Yeah.

He was the first music celebrity I ever met backstage.

It was him and Wilson Pickett.

Yeah, he had.

James had his hair up in curlers and everything.

They were two shows.

Yeah.

So you guys backed him.

Wow.

Yeah.

Back to the two tunes.

And he actually came around and played my top keyboard and took a solo while I was playing the bottom keyboard and then grabbed the mic and went back around to singing.

Is that video online?

Can you find anywhere?

I've been trying to find it.

Hopefully someone else can, you know, find it and put it up.

But I'm.

So.

I'm putting that out there to the.

To the social media ionosphere.

Anybody listening to this dream, backing James.

Brown for two tunes on the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon.

There you go.

You're giving out.

You're giving the viewers and listeners homework.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

How about you, Tony?

How about some venues that stick out or you want to grace the stage with your saxophone, James?

And they named a bunch of them already.

You know, I love doing the Hollywood Bowl.

One thing I think the North Sea Jazz Festival is one that I would love to do.

I haven't done it yet.

Other than that, you know, I've been really blessed to hit a lot of the places and stages that I've wanted to in my career, you know?

So I think the only one I would really like to do, not the only one, but one that I would really like to do now, is the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Yeah.

That's got groups from all different kinds of genres, which Pieces of a Dream is.

They just.

It's just great music, that's all.

Yeah.

Have you guys played the Montreal Jazz Festival in Quebec?

We did that.

That was some years ago, though.

Yeah.

Yeah, That's a great festival.

My wife's from Montreal, so I'll take.

His word for it.

Yeah.

Okay.

No, actually, we got an award from them.

Oh, okay.

And it was.

I don't know whether it was, like, very equivalent of Music of the Year award or something.

Was a Juno.

Huh?

Juno Award.

That's like.

No, no, I gotta.

I gotta.

You know what you're talking about.

This is real, real TV here.

Let's see.

I think I have it here.

Okay.

It would be hanging up, but as you see, I'm kind of soundproof in my studio, so.

Okay.

How do those work?

Pretty good.

They're actually dampening the sound.

Yeah.

Okay.

But I still got, like, three walls to do, so.

Oh, okay.

But, you know, it's.

It's fun.

I wish I had somebody else doing it with me, but, you know, it's fine.

We'll be right there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

Right.

While.

While Curtis finds the.

The award, we gotta ask, does Pieces of a Dream have a plaque in the sidewalk outside Academy of Music?

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

Yeah.

For 50 years.

That.

That's another thing.

It would be a nice thing.

Anybody listening, you know.

Yeah.

Deserves, you know, a thing.

Oh, wow.

The International Group of the Year Award.

I don't know if you can see the plaque.

Okay.

Wow.

So they.

They gave it up in Montreal or just Canon.

It was in.

I think this.

Yeah, this is Montreal.

Oh, cool.

Yeah.

So.

So next year for the 50th year, that's another thing.

Yeah, they gotta have you up there.

That's a great tool.

Yeah, you tell them.

That's right.

Yeah.

I mean, it's.

It's a little too late to get in this year.

I think it's about three weeks, but.

Yeah, probably.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's a little close.

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

So let's talk about the Philly tradition of music, which you guys are right there with the greats and everything.

How many studios in Philly did you guys record in?

And what was some of the big ones?

Sigma Sound.

Okay.

Morningstar and the Studio.

John Smelts and Larry Gold.

Okay.

Yeah.

Do you do want to go back to those days in.

In the house together, like that recording, or you prefer like this now?

Wouldn't mind.

Yeah, I'm open to either way.

You know, sometimes, you know, you just have to do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do, you know, and satisfied with the outcome.

More than satisfied with the outcome of, you know, the way we've been recording in the process.

But, you know, somewhere down the line, is it possible that we would do some.

Some things the old school way?

Definitely.

Right.

Back in the old school days, was it, like, do multiple takes and then listen back and which one was the best?

That's how you guys did it.

Yeah.

And then, you know, you had to actually punch in and play it again.

Punch.

Right.

Because.

Right, right.

Do it again.

One of the songs on.

What is it?

Just Funking around, we recorded at James's studio with all of us there.

Oh, okay.

And what song is that?

Was that just Around?

No, it was.

That was.

Was that Soul Intent?

No, it was.

No, that was.

What was the name of the song?

Because I did the solo at the end of the song on electric drums.

Things.

Things Are Looking Up.

Okay.

It was done at James's house.

Yep, that was done at James's house.

Right.

Things Are Looking Up.

That's what it's called.

I had.

I was.

I think I was telling Kurt before I had Philly musicians in the studio to play live.

Jeff Lee Johnson and drummer Ted Thomas.

I don't know if you know Ted from Philly.

He passed away, unfortunately during COVID Yeah.

But I didn't know that.

Oh, I was thinking of the drums in the studio back then.

He.

He got a spotlight because it's really tough in a radio studio to tamp down the volume of the drums.

It's almost like he had to play Max Roach Brush style.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, but, yeah, so.

So I'll.

I can't do that now, unfortunately, when we moved up here, because we do out of a home and it's a townhouse community, but yeah, I always used to love to have bands come in and play.

Did you guys do a lot of in.

In house gigs like that with radio?

Not.

Well, not at this point.

It's mostly serious talking interviews.

Yeah, we just did serious xm.

That was.

Yeah, that's the only one last October.

I think maybe something that was last October.

Right, but that's about the only one.

Okay.

Yeah, it'd be a bit hard for us to do like a pop up kind of thing, you know.

Yeah, radio station, you know, you got keyboards.

Where's the drums?

You know what?

Yeah, you gotta.

You got an ensemble.

Yeah, you gotta bring the back line and.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Now our band is not that small, so, you know, we've got like yeah, six, seven pieces on stage sometimes.

So let's talk about the other players in the band.

Let's not.

Okay.

All right.

It's like that, right?

All right, there's.

Well, we have.

We have two females in the band now.

Carolyn Brewer, who's one of our premier keyboardists, and she does, she does a great job.

And we also have lead vocalist Stacy Richardson.

We have two bass players that we use uh, David Dyson is our.

Is.

Has been with us for, wow, probably about 15.

No, no, almost 20 years.

Yeah, longer.

Me.

Yeah, yeah, almost 20 years.

And then we also use John hall on bass.

Okay.

Who's on percussion?

Yeah, Alex Simon.

Alex Simon.

Okay.

Yeah.

Trades off with you sometimes, right?

Yes, he does.

Yeah.

He's also from the hit Broadway show Stock.

Oh, okay.

Yep.

Let me, I gotta ask her a question because I know you got the drum set up front locking in with your basis when you're, it's, it's.

You're up front, he's in back.

Is there any change to that, how to do it, vice versa basis up front?

Not really.

Okay.

Yeah, it's like as long as we can hear each other.

You know.

When Turk sets up in the front, we usually put the bass right beside him.

Right beside me.

Right.

Oh, okay, I got you.

And even when I'm in the back, the bass is still right beside me, so it's to my.

It's always.

He's always to my left.

Yeah.

I gotta ask James the wizard on the keys, of course, what do you have in your setup and.

And do you upgrade stuff and have your eyes on different keyboards through the years?

Currently I'm using a Motif XF8 for my bottom 88 note weighted keyboard and Chronos 276 key for the top board.

And I have thumb drives that I take with me on the road that I can just load my pre programmed sounds into both of those.

And on the rider we have a keytar where they have a choice of two in case one is hard to get.

And.

And I bring my own wireless system for the keytrude and that's either either an AX Synth or the AX Edge.

AX Edge, both by Roland.

And that's basically my rig.

I don't, you know, I've changed into this because I used to use the, the Triton, the Cord Triton.

Okay.

And start having problems with that with the, you know, with the rental gear, with the disc drive.

So I had to switch to something that was writerable, as I call it.

Right.

And then make sure I have that at home so I can program my sounds and have continuity on the road.

How difficult is the keytar to first learn to play?

Is it any, you know, learning process?

It took me, you know, a few days to get used to playing in that position and, you know, move my hand that way and the difference in the spacing of the keys and.

But, you know, I just spent a bunch of time with it when I first got into it.

And yeah, just walk around the house just playing the thing, you know, Just.

Yeah, get used to it.

Practicing your craft.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

How about you, Tony?

As far as.

Do you.

Do you play the flute as well?

I do, but I don't travel with it, you know, I only.

Right now I'm just traveling with my tenor sax.

That's.

That's it.

I cover everything on that.

Who.

Who are some of them with the soprano soon.

No, I have a feeling.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, he's gonna have them both, right.

Like a little stand.

We got some soprano tracks on this new one that.

Yeah, because of the new album.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, what's more difficult to play for you?

It doesn't matter neither.

I mean, I don't know.

They feel like extensions of me, so I don't feel like either is harder, you know.

And then I worked really hard to my soprano, alto and tenor.

I can switch back and forth between the three of them and it's not that big of a change, you know, that's.

That's.

It's set up for.

I set myself up like that.

I found things that complement each other and so it's not such a huge jump.

And I always try to tell other saxophone is that too.

It's like you got to find a mouthpiece recombination that allows you to switch between your torns and there's not a huge change, you know, so.

Yeah.

And looking forward people hearing that.

All that sacks and all great stuff on.

We got this released last week.

Available on all the major outlets.

And before we go, I gotta ask Kurt in the back, we see his drum set right there.

What do you play on stage for the Pieces of a Dream gigs?

Yamaha maple customer.

Okay.

Yeah.

And I'm partial to pasty symbols, you know, And I'm currently using Vic front sticks until my brain comes out, so.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

Hey, I gotta.

I'm not a musician.

But for.

For cymbals, for drummers, when they have the.

The holes cut out on.

What is that for?

Usually they have rivets.

Rivets in them.

Okay.

And a lot of times the rivets come out and you're just left with the holes.

But usually when you hear like when you hit the symbol, the rivets make the ring last a long time and it's almost like.

Almost like a sizzling sound that it has to it.

So I think he's talking about the bigger holes, Kurt, not the.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, the real big one.

Oh, yeah.

Actually that makes the symbol sound a little More hollow.

Almost like a.

Almost like a China symbol.

Okay.

So that, you know, those are kind of custom made things, but I mean, most of the brands have them now, so.

Okay, gotcha.

Well, I gotta.

I was gonna do at the beginning, but I gotta congratulate you on the.

The Eagles victory for the Super Bowl.

It's nice to be a champion.

Oh, you're up closer to the Giants now.

That's my team, so.

Yeah, that's my wife's team too.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

The house divided.

Yeah.

It's a happy household.

Twice.

Yeah.

I got nothing but love is probably.

Real fun at that establishment.

Yeah.

Right.

As long as it's not the Cowboys.

Oh, man, tell me about it.

Yeah, great, great.

I wish them any ill will, but, you know.

Right.

Yeah.

You guys have been synonymous with some great sport teams.

I remember I.

I was living in Philly when Dr.

J was on his retirement tour.

Every visiting city, you know, to give him a rocking chair before the game started.

Well, that championship came from.

That's where 454 came from.

Yeah.

That was like a quote from Moses Malone, right?

Yeah.

Moses Malone is actually on the record saying 450.

Oh, crazy.

Listen to, to that part of the song.

When Moses Malone said to Dr.

J.

Said, My lucky number is you heal some.

You feel Moses Malone in the background.

Wow.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Legendary studio and did that on there.

You.

You.

I'm sure you met Dr.

J and.

Oh, yeah, all of the Sixes.

Yeah.

Because Grover was great friends with them.

And then they even had Pieces of a Dream day at one of the Sixers games.

They gave us all tickets and.

And they showed the 454 video on the telephone.

Wow.

So that was an awesome feeling.

Yeah.

Great memories and 49 years of memories with Pieces of a Dream and 26 Record.

Love to have you guys come back for that 50th year.

That would be outstanding.

Thank you.

Yeah, we would love to.

Yeah.

We got.

This is the new record, Shauna Key Records.

And just type it in.

Pieces of a Dream.

We got this.

And keep playing those new tunes.

Yeah, yeah, right.

And don't forget to look us up on our social media outlets, Facebook, Twitter or X as they call it now.

Instagram, we have all of that.

So, you know, and.

And our.

Of course, our website, piecesofadream.net and we'd like to thank all of our fans, man, for, you know, especially all of the longtime ones who have been with us from the beginning, because if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't still be relevant and thank you also, Joe.

People like.

I appreciate it.

Love you guys.

Yeah.

Definitely.

So we got this Pieces of a Dream, the new one.

James Lloyd Curtis Harmon and Tony Watson, Jr.

Thanks, brothers, for coming on the show.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

Peace.

Take care.

Peace.