For six years Matt "Atlanta Bliss" Blistan was the trumpet player for the famed rock artist “Prince” in the historic “Purple Rain Revolution” band. While performing under the “Prince-given” stage name of “Atlanta Bliss,” he performed in four world tours, three movies and 12 videos. In addition to his Grammy award Atlanta has also earned 12 gold and platinum records for his recording studio performances.

As a studio musician, Atlanta Bliss has recorded with other artists such as Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, Patti LaBelle, James Brown, Shelia E, Madhouse, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Chaka Kahn, and Miles Davis. While teaching at Georgia State University in Atlanta, he was nominated for the Outstanding Musician award in the Atlanta Music Awards.

With over 40 years of professional trumpet playing, Atlanta has developed from a local band artist to a performer, composer, arranger, and producer with worldwide recognition. Atlanta began his professional music career in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he received a B.S. in Music Education from Duquesne University. This experience developed into a performance career, which earned him a national Grammy Award.

As a way to give back to his community, Atlanta spent many days in inner-city schools in Atlanta, Georgia speaking to students about careers in the music industry through the National Association of Recording Art and Sciences (NARAS) “Grammies in the Schools” education program. His book Mind, Body, Trumpet, is his effort to expand the reach of his desire to help trumpet players maintain and develop their mental and physical connection of playing their instrument.

https://www.atlantabliss.com

https://www.musiciansreveal.com

"Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley" Podcast Bio

"Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley" has been a fixture on the radio airwaves since 1982, earning recognition as the first show to be featured on Prince's official website, www.npgmusicclub.com. Co-hosted by Joe Kelley and Gi Dussault, the podcast is known for its creative approach and support of independent musicians, solidifying their reputation as respected figures in the music industry.

Our website, www.musiciansreveal.com, showcases a vibrant mix of music genres, including funk, R&B, jazz, blues, rock, hip-hop, Latin, and gospel. Joe Kelley has interviewed a host of renowned artists, such as Victor Wooten, Sheila E., Cyndi Lauper, Larry Graham, and many more, offering listeners an insider's perspective on the world of music. Join us for insightful conversations and inspiring stories from the artists who shape the soundtrack of our lives.

Matt "Atlanta Bliss" Blistan takes listeners on a captivating journey through his illustrious career as a trumpet player, most notably with Prince's iconic Revolution band during the Purple Rain era. The conversation unfolds as Blistan shares anecdotes from his time touring with Prince, highlighting the unique recording process that set the artist apart in the music industry. He paints a vivid picture of the atmosphere in the studio, where Prince would often take the reins, singing parts directly to the musicians without the usual formalities of sheet music. This organic approach to music-making is a testament to Prince's genius and intuitive understanding of sound, which allowed Blistan and his colleagues to contribute creatively while still capturing the essence of Prince's vision.

Throughout the episode, Blistan reflects on his extensive collaborations with other legendary artists, including Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan, showcasing the breadth of his experience in the music world. He discusses the challenges and triumphs of being a studio musician, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and quick thinking in a fast-paced recording environment. Blistan also shares insights from his educational background, discussing how his degree in music education from Duquesne University shaped his understanding of music and teaching, which he passionately imparts to young musicians today.

Blistan's book, Mind Body Trumpet, serves as a focal point in the discussion, where he elaborates on its purpose to help trumpet players connect mentally and physically with their instrument. He advocates for a holistic approach to music education, encouraging students to engage in practices that enhance their playing without solely relying on traditional methods. This episode is not just a recollection of past glories but a rich exploration of Blistan's philosophy as a musician and educator, inspiring listeners to appreciate the art of music beyond the surface level and to nurture their creativity with dedication and passion.

Takeaways:

• Matt 'Atlanta Bliss' Blistan reflects on his transformative years performing with Prince's band.
• He emphasizes the importance of adaptability and improvisation in a fast-paced studio environment.
• Blistan shares insights about the unique recording process he experienced at Paisley Park.
• His journey from Pittsburgh to becoming a renowned studio musician is truly inspiring.
• Blistan's book, Mind, Body, Trumpet, aims to help trumpet players enhance their skills.
• He discusses the lasting impact of his musical career on his family and community.

He would be.

There wouldn't even be an engineer in the studio with us.

It would just be Prince at the controls and he would be singing the parts to us and have his fingers right on their red button ready to record.

And he would sing.

Okay, you guys got it?

You ready to go?

And you know, we would record it right there.

And my next guest, I'm really excited.

We've been a fan of his musicianship for many, many years, going back to the late 80s, mid-80s, actually.

He toured with Prince and the Revolution.

He's recorded with Prince and the Revolution.

Also many.

There's too many to name who he's been in the studio with.

Jill Jones, George Clinton, Chaka Khan, Miles Davis.

And we'll talk about Miles in just a moment.

But he is also great friends with Eric Leeds, his longtime friend in the horn section with Prince.

We welcome all the way.

He's got a brand new book called mind body trumpet.

Mr.

Matt Atlanta Bliss Liston.

That's a, that's a mouthful there.

It's a long one.

Yeah.

So listen, I gotta ask you first question off the bat, who has more vinyl records in their collection, you or Eric Leeds?

Oh, no, Eric has.

He has probably triple what I have.

Oh, okay.

Way back.

Yeah, he's the, he's definitely the historian.

Yeah.

Every time I see him cut it.

We've had Eric on the show a couple times, but he's always got the, the backdrop with the vinyl and you've got it there.

Yeah, yeah.

He, him and his brother, just incredible.

No music inside and out history.

Definitely.

Right.

They went.

Yeah.

Alan goes back to James Brown and working in radio, right?

Sure, Yep.

Yeah.

He was our manager with the bands that we had with.

When I played with Eric in Pittsburgh, we had on the Corner and taking Names and Alan was our manager and he helped us get gigs and really develop our.

Our music.

Musicianship with the band.

And it was great influence, of course.

Well, we'll talk about those.

Those gigs live when people actually went to go see bands at clubs and stuff like that.

70s and 80s.

What was it like back then?

How big were some of these bands?

The bands that we worked with?

Yeah, well, we were the biggest bands in and the most well known bands in the city of Pittsburgh and actually western Pennsylvania, Ohio.

We went as far as we played Detroit and played Cleveland a lot and I guess we didn't go too far to the east, but it was.

We.

We did travel a lot, but mostly in.

Based in Pittsburgh and we're the number one band.

Pittsburgh Dance band.

What Kind of music back then.

R B and funk.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

We played Earth One and Fire Cooling the Gang.

Yeah.

Gotta.

Gotta have them in the repertoire.

Yeah.

And you know, all those.

All those average white band.

Those were the.

Were the bands that we played.

Right.

Tower of Power.

Right?

Yeah.

Some great, great music.

Yeah, we've had the average white band.

We had a member of the group yet.

So talking about Duquesne in Western Pennsylvania and meeting.

Is that where you met Achilles?

You were in school together?

It is.

We went to.

Went to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Downtown Pittsburgh together.

Okay.

Eric was in the performance side.

I was in the education side.

So I ended up with an education degree.

I used it at.

I taught at Georgia State University for a little bit and some high schools and things like that, but never really got into the.

I've been teaching trumpets since forever and ever and ever.

But privately never got into doing the.

I guess into a school 100%, because I always wanted to play.

Were you guys roommates or were you commuting to school?

No, I was commuting.

Eric also, I believe, was commuting too.

He lived sort of the Oaklandish side of Tom, which is the.

You know, that's the performance and that's where all the artists are.

And I was out in the South Hills, so we're pretty distant, but we played.

Played in Pittsburgh and all the clubs and everything together.

So mileage didn't matter.

Yeah, that's right.

And with all the passion you have for.

Oh, yeah, music.

Yeah, yeah.

Now.

Now, choosing to go into music back then, what.

What was a music school like?

I've got a friend who.

I worked at Fairfield university for almost 30 years, and my friend Ran.

Still runs the music department there, Brian Torf.

And I made the comment to him because the music department's rooms are in the basement of a dormitory.

And I said, they got to give you a better high visible spaces.

No, we like it down here.

What was it like at Duquesne?

Well, Duquesne, I think there was three floors and there was practice studios on each of them, especially on the.

The second floor.

It was the.

The five foot by eight foot practice room, the piano stuck in there and a music stand.

And, you know, you're in there for 10 hours a day just practicing scales and, you know, doing all that.

And it has the little window in the door seeing who's playing all the time and how high you can play and how loud you can play and.

Right.

How much you can disturb the person next to you.

How was it taking Other courses while you were involved in music, which I'm sure that was.

That was your most fun.

How was it with the other courses?

I think questionable, I guess.

I was a.

I was a.

An education major.

So I did have to take like physiology and English and luckily I didn't have to take any math.

But you know those type of classes that you shake your head and say, why, why am I taking this?

Right, right.

How many years?

A four year program.

Yeah, I was in four years.

Okay.

And then after those four years, when was your first professional gig?

I mean, I guess gigging in the clubs was.

Was a gig.

Oh yeah, yeah, definitely.

Eric and I.

And even.

I worked with fans even before Eric.

And all during college and right after I got out of high school, I started gigging in clubs and.

And playing with different bands.

Show bands, stage bands.

We did a lot of road road gigs and traveled well, mostly around the east coast.

You played Philly?

Yeah, oh yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

I don't know.

We played, but we played.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I was, I was.

I went to temple for a couple years.

So I was there 85 to 87.

Yeah, so.

So Eric Leeds, you guys were cemented as great friends there.

And of course he had the connection with his brother.

Managing tour manager for Prince.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, go ahead now.

We played.

We played in a band with Alky Stereopolis quintet.

Oh, okay.

We played a lot of the hospitality ends and things like that.

It was a real great learning experience.

That's when Eric and I really started getting together and playing with.

Playing together as a, I guess a horn section.

And so we played everywhere from Detroit to into around New York and all the way down into Florida.

We played a lot of hospitalities.

Indianapolis.

We played around the 500.

When they had the Indianapolis 500, we played there.

That was just an amazing time and opportunity that we got to see the 500.

Which, you know, big car fans.

Okay.

Yeah, A lot of fun, right?

Yeah.

And then we played.

Well, we played with Elkie and then we came back to Pittsburgh and we started our own band on the corner.

And that was a ten person band and we had four horns in that.

And with taking names after that it was just Eric and myself.

And then after taking names, I started my own band called the Parker Brothers.

And Eric went with a band called.

With a musician, a singer named Billy Price.

And Billy Price is a great.

He's a staple here in Pittsburgh.

In fact, he's still singing and doing a great job.

He's a R B blues singer and just incredible Musician and always has great musicians with him.

So Eric was doing that at the same time that I had the Parker Brothers.

And then he eventually went to work with Prince, which was another story I'm sure you've heard before.

Right.

You know, Prince or Eric once at one time was living with us right before he won the Prince.

He went up there and he was, you know, played the back end of the Purple Rain tour, played solo things.

And he called me one day and he said, hey, you're.

You're booked tomorrow for an audition with Prince.

And I said, what?

I said, played in six months now, right?

Yeah.

So he said, okay.

Well, I said, okay, well, let's do it.

And went up and talked to my wife, and I said, should I do this?

Because I, you know, and played and.

Right.

This is what you've always wanted to do.

So, yeah, go ahead and do it.

So I went downstairs, got my trumpet and oiled the vowels and said a lot of prayers and said, it's a B, it's to be.

And Eric called back in about an hour and said, hey, I'm sorry, it's.

It's off.

And I said, well, ain't nothing.

Nothing happened that's wasn't meant to be.

And he said, no, and it's not an audition.

It's a recording session.

Wow.

And I'm a place.

So, yeah, that ended up being.

And I went up there and we ended up doing the mountains.

We recorded mountains with the band.

And that was.

So Paisley park wasn't built then.

Where did you record that?

No, no, we were in the warehouse.

Okay.

We've heard stories about the warehouse.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dwayne Toodall's book, really in depth about those.

Those days.

Yeah, it was just a big warehouse and he had a studio in there.

And, you know, Susan Rogers was the engineer that was doing the sound, recording, the recording, everything in the back.

And we had the big ltech Lansing speakers pointing towards us for the.

For monitors.

And I don't know how she did it, but it was amazing.

The product that she got out, it was just incredible.

How was he at that point in his career as far as recording?

Was he demanding, like, multiple takes?

Because we hear you.

He just.

That's it.

It's good.

We.

We go fast.

Yeah, I don't think there's a thing.

I don't think he could say multiple takes.

And that's not his repertoire.

The fans would want to hear that.

But.

But, yeah, we heard everything was like.

Yeah, this is it.

Let's do it right yeah, well, you probably, and probably the fans have heard when we did, when we recorded Power Fantastic.

That was in his house before Paisley park was built and we recorded that.

And you probably heard the live.

Him speaking live on that, like the instructions before.

Right.

This is the first take and you know, we might do several takes after this, but it never was.

He used the first one.

Wow.

Yeah.

Pure genius, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Let me, let me ask you, as a trained musician, reading music and everything like that, working with, I guess, Princeton Reed Music, but working with people, different backgrounds like that, how do you gel or is there not a problem?

Well, it was in the, in the, I guess two scenarios.

One in the studio and one out of the studio, one in the studio.

You know, Eric and I have probably worked with Prince most in the, most in the world than anybody because he can play, obviously play guitar, bass, drums, vocals, all the keyboards and everything, but he can't play trumpet and sax.

So he called us up a lot to play in the studio, which there's still a lot in the vault that's, you know, hasn't been released and I guess maybe someday will be.

But yeah, Prince did not read music, but that's how I was brought up.

Of course, Eric was brought up like that too in the, with music school, but Prince wasn't.

But he would be.

There wouldn't even be an engineer in the studio with us.

It would just be Prince at the controls and he would be singing the parts to us and have his fingers right on their red button ready to record and he would sing.

Okay, you guys got it?

You ready to go?

And you know, we would record it right there.

Right.

So it wasn't anything about writing it down.

I, I would have to sketch some things down every once in a while because I don't have as great.

Eric has great memory.

Like all the, the other musicians in the band are like self trained, you know, the street players.

So you sing them something, they're playing in it and they're remembering it.

Right.

My, the thing that I do is I sort of scratch things down and it helps me remember and you know, if we do change things and I can change things right there.

But yeah, that's the difference between I think the different types of players.

The, you know, the kind that go to music school and write things down, the other people that just pick it up and can go it and remember it and that's how the rest of the band was.

I had to sketch things down.

But that was, that was par for the course back then.

That's what I did.

Did he give you a little bit of leeway to improvise, like some of the.

On some of the tours with the horn parts, the interludes and everything like that?

You mean improvised, like little sections that.

That you and Eric performed?

Did he let you kind of make up your own stuff, or was he hands on saying, I want it exactly like this?

He would.

In.

When we would do tour rehearsals, he would be singing parts to us and we would be playing them back and working them out.

The thing that Eric and I, I think we worked well, so well together that we could sort of interpret what Prince wanted.

Sometimes, you know, we would play a unison line that, that he would want, and sometimes we would say, no, we really think he wants that harmonized.

And then Eric and I could pretty quickly harmonize things together or change up a little bit of the rhythm or something.

And it was always pretty satisfactory with Prince, if it was very close.

Most of the times it was right on with what Prince wanted.

But we would have to change the tessatura to our own instruments to trumpet and sax, because he would.

He would sing us parts and sometimes they'd be too high for.

For the trumpet and.

But note that it would fit right for the sax.

So we would switch things, switch our ranges around a little bit and change harmonies up a little bit.

So we would work with what Prince would give us.

A little harder.

They're harder in the.

Excuse me.

A little harder in the.

In the future, I guess when Prince had a bigger band, when he had, you know, had a lot of horns, you really can't do that right on the spot.

Right, right.

You know, it's hard to arrange on the spot with four or five or six horns, you know, but with the two of us, with Eric and the.

And the.

The background that we had and experience we had together, we could do it pretty quickly and keep Prince happy because he wanted to.

He wanted to move along.

You know, his.

He was.

He didn't have time to.

He was already thinking of the next line.

You know, he's saying, you know what?

He's already in another part of the song.

Yeah.

Speaking of moving along, I mean, a tour.

I mean, double cd, double album, Sign of the Times, my all time favorite from Prince.

And you were a big part of that and the tour.

Moving along.

You guys did Europe and then all of a sudden decided, we're gonna make a movie out of it, we're not going to tour the States.

As a member of the band.

Were you disappointed with that?

That you weren't Going to do the tour.

Yeah, it was so cool because working with Prince, we.

I saw a lot of Europe.

You know, I would get on.

We would have a day off or something.

I get on a tour bus.

We ride right around London and ride around Paris or wherever in Germany, even in Japan, and got to see the country and, you know, talk to some of the people.

And I was really looking forward to experiencing that in the.

In the States and maybe doing a tour bus.

We hadn't done a tour bus because over there we flew everywhere.

We flew from city to city in Europe.

So I was looking forward to it.

But, you know, he wanted to do the movie.

I think he was ready to move on, you know, to the Love Sexy era.

Right, right.

And the interesting thing about the Sign of the Times movie was, I guess the.

Something wasn't right.

The video synced up and everything, and you guys redid the scenes at Paisley Park.

Great job of you guys putting the effort and looking.

Looking like it was a real, real live show.

Yeah.

How time frame.

How long did it take to complete the actual performances for that at Paisley?

I think we might have been.

It might have been a couple weeks that we had done, you know, stage shots, you know, close shots that they.

I guess they had.

And when we initially did the.

The live concert.

But yeah, after that, it was.

It was wow.

Yeah.

You still go back and revisit some of.

Some of the movie or every once in a while.

I like on the tag of the end of it with A Beautiful Night, that's.

Yeah, no, that's really the.

Of course, that's what we did with every show that we did, we ended up with Beautiful Night.

And that was.

You never knew what was going to happen with that.

Most of the.

Most of the tour, the show, only about 75% of it was pretty well synced in.

He would always change transitions or maybe even change the song in or out.

But Beautiful Night, that was his time to play a little bit.

And the end.

And he would come.

All his hand signals and.

Yeah.

And audio calls.

And you really had to keep.

Of course, you always kept an eye on Prince.

When you're on stage with him.

Being a musician, you always kept an eye on him because you never knew what he was going to call or, you know, change up, because sometimes in the middle of a song, he would change some things up.

So the Beautiful Night that was.

That was always a challenge to end the show with, but it was a lot of fun.

How difficult is as a horn player jumping up and down of Course Prince required yet pretty much doing everything.

Wallace, you know, rather than standing still.

Is that difficult playing your instrument?

Well, Prince, he never required Eric and I to do a whole lot of jumping up and down and dancing.

Okay.

You know, I'm not the greatest dancer, you know.

Well, you guys had.

You guys had some moves in there.

You guys were shaking a little bit.

A little bit.

But, you know, I didn't even grow up with marching band.

Our band didn't believe in marching band.

And he said, if you want to march, you know, join the army.

That's almost the.

That's almost the scenario that I always came up.

Grew up with, too, that, you know, if you're a musician, you're standing there and you're playing your instrument, and you can't.

And this is with your embouchure right here.

You can't be moving around because your mouthpiece will move around.

And then you start missing notes.

So you either.

You either almost stand still or some.

Bad notes come out.

Yeah.

Did you ever split the lip playing trumpet?

Yeah.

How long does it take to recover for something like that?

Well, I never split it really bad that it was like a week or something.

But sometimes if you play so much.

In fact, that's one of the things in my book that I talk about.

We would play for production rehearsals.

We would practice, like, 14 hours a day.

And that's just ridiculous for a trumpet player because it just.

Oh, I have us right here.

That's how you make the notes.

Right here, Right here.

And towards the end of production rehearsals, I started missing notes.

And I thought maybe my water key and my trumpet was.

Was leaking air or something.

And then after I thought about it.

No, it's not.

That's not a trumpet.

It's me.

And it's me.

Because now this is your embouchure is right here.

But you need all these facial muscles up here.

And this is what I talk about in my book, that you really want the facial muscles here, but not when you practice so much.

This turns into a.

Basically a piece of meat, and it won't vibrate, and you start missing notes.

So what you want is this really flexible and this all strong.

That's how you get all your high notes and your.

And your longevity that you can play.

And that's what I have in my book about a lot of flexibility things isometrics.

There's some things in there with finger isometrics that I do actually end up doing with two hands.

And there's breathing in there.

Things about breathing and about reading Music.

And it's.

It's something that I started about 15 years ago, the book.

And it's really to help trumpet players out.

But Prince fans seem to like it too, because I had Prince things in their pictures and, you know, you can get an autograph.

Yeah, we've got.

Right behind me right there, we got the book Mind Body Trumpet.

And people can order it, give us the places where viewers can purchase it.

At this point, I'm doing.

Doing it myself.

It's Atlanta bliss.com.

Okay.

And you can go on there and order the book there.

And there's.

You get an autograph.

Right.

And you can personally autograph it for you.

Right, right.

Tell.

Tell me about Reverend Fred Shaheen in there.

Yeah, Fred contacted me.

Well, actually several years ago.

He was doing a.

He was a writer and interviewer and he called me up and he was a.

He is an Eastern Orthodox priest.

And he was having a seminar not from where I was, where I am living.

And he said, hey, you know, I'm a Prince fan and I'd like to come over and speak with you.

And so he came out and hung out for a long time and we talked about Prince and everything and turned out great friends.

And it turns out that he.

He ended up interviewing me, I guess maybe a year or so later that.

And it was an interview that was pretty extensive.

And so I asked him after this.

It sort of would be very cool to put into my book.

So we've interspersed the interview in the book with different parts here about my history of how I grew up and with Barrick and.

And then the bands we had played with and went all the way through Prince and Meetin Miles and Winton and all those things.

And so it gives the book a little bit of more than just a trumpet method book.

I think it's a little more.

Adds a little more interest in it because it has some things and stories about working with prints and it's a lot of color.

It's colorful.

I think I've got to ask you this because, you know, I'm not a musician.

I only could play on the piano when the Saints Go Marching and that's it.

And I never had the discipline to keep at it.

How.

How did you get that, you know, focus and staying determined like that and not losing your.

Your focus and giving up for a younger musician.

What do you recommend?

Well, I don't know.

My parents, they never really had to make me practice.

You know, it was just something that I wanted to do.

And at that time, you know, I was I was playing sports and everything like that, but it seemed like this was more easier for me to do, you know, in practice.

It was just something that I would do.

Come home from school and you practice for half an hour, an hour, and then go out and play baseball and football with my friends and things.

And they all knew that, so they didn't call me up and say, hey, let's go out and play.

Let's start a game.

I'll be out when I'm done practicing.

You know, it's just something that I love to do.

And I think it is something that is when you get the.

When you get that something in your heart that says, you know, when you study and it doesn't make you study.

My parents never had to make me study.

And you just something you did.

It's part of you.

And you seems like you had a really supportive parents throughout the years.

Yeah.

Tell us a little bit about your family growing up.

Yeah, well, my mother sang a little bit, and my father played guitar a little bit.

He says that he played the radio.

So AM radio back then, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Really?

Yeah.

So.

And my.

And they really helped me get into music.

And I remember one time that my dad.

We always played around Pittsburgh, the bands with Eric and I, and he was at one of the clubs we were playing with, and I played for many years, and he.

I was standing at the bar with him on a break one time, and he said, is this.

And of course, it was a pretty dumpy dive that we were playing, but he says, this what you really want to do the rest of your life?

He never, never said, no, don't do this.

He says, this is what you want to do.

And I said, no, this isn't what I want to do.

We want to take this to the next level.

Of course, we were looking for record contracts back then and expected that we would take it to the level that Eric and I eventually got to.

And I said, that's really, really, really where we want to go.

And I guess they understood that because he never said, hey, you know, I'll get you a job being an accountant or something like that.

Right?

Yeah, well, actually, you know, go from musicians.

You did go into the business world, correct?

After the.

Yeah.

What kind of business a company was GBU Financial Life.

It was a life insurance company.

And I was there for one.

Now I just retired a couple years ago, but I was there for 20 years.

Congratulations.

Yeah, thanks.

We started out or what we started when I joined the company.

We're at our assets worth $300 million.

And I was vice president of the whole company.

And so $300 million.

We ended up that $3.4 billion 20 years later.

The growth was just incredible that we had with it and had a lot of fun with it.

And I never brought the Prince thing into it.

I tried.

Oh, really?

They just knew if they found out, it was on their own volition, right?

Yeah, they sort of did find out.

And my retirement party, I sort of came clean.

I said, okay, well, I'm going to come clean now.

And I brought out my records, my gold, you know, platinum records and all that.

My Grammys.

Wow.

You kept it closer to the vest for that long.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

There was a few people that knew, but, yeah, I brought it out, my retirement party, and we had a lot of fun with it then and.

Right.

Yeah, it was a different world, of course, the business world and the music world, but I thought it should be kept.

Kept separate when it was.

It was.

And having such success in the corporate world like that, it's tough to give that up to go back into kind of the music business.

I'm sure, you know.

Well, that it's a little unsteady at times, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, even now, you know, my friends are saying, hey, and they're.

They're still playing around Pittsburgh.

They still have some great gigs around Pittsburgh, and they're the.

The number one musicians in Pittsburgh, and they're the.

Almost the grandfathers, you know, and they have the jazz gigs and.

Well, you know, I.

I can't do it anymore.

You know, I live about 50 miles from Pittsburgh, and I did it for a while when I came back and played a lot of the gigs with my friends and things, but it just got to be too tough.

You know, I'm driving and trying to miss the deer on the way home.

You know, on Saturday, I retired right before the pandemic as.

As a mobile dj.

And I know exactly what you're talking about.

You know, you're loading up your stuff and you're driving back at like 2, 3 in the morning, and.

Exactly.

You're looking out for.

Especially out where you are, you're looking for the deer.

Yeah.

So.

And of course, when we went back in the 70s, you know, if you have a couple beers or something while you're playing and, you know, you don't worry about it too much.

But then nowadays, you know, and, you know, back in the.

Well, a few.

Even a few years ago, you have a couple beers or something and get pulled over, well, then your whole life is Changing.

So.

Yeah, yeah, need that either.

So I said, I'll pass on the club.

You got, you got wiser and, you know, it seems like you got a really happy life.

So.

Yeah, yeah, it's been a blast.

Now world class musician, author, educator.

And let's get back into something which I know is a huge, huge event for you.

And you know, I sometimes record in the other room at our home.

And the biggest, it's a huge print is Miles Davis, a frame print, kind of blue, right in our living room.

So, yeah, Miles Davis.

Tell us about growing up, listening to him and then finally getting the chance to meet and perform with him.

Yeah, well, of course, Miles is a mentor of mine, always has been since college and even before then grew up with the Kind of Blue album.

And as I say, you know, I, I can play all that stuff inside and out, every note, you know, just about the.

Well, basically what Miles played and.

But Miles had so many different concepts and music, you know, with the Kind of Blue and he played the, you know, the bebop stuff with Charlie Parker all the way back to the Japanese Ag Carta and Pangea Electric Miles and this quintet that he had with Wayne and Herbie and you know, Eric and I have followed him and known all about his music and listened to his music inside and out.

And he ended up being a Prince fan.

And when we were in the warehouse, when I joined the band, I heard that Miles was coming in to hang out with Prince for a minute and he was going to come into the warehouse.

So I made a point of being in the warehouse that day.

Prince did, or Miles did, come in to the warehouse and a door right beside me.

I was sitting on a bar stool.

He came up right beside me.

He walked up to Prince.

Prince was playing drums at the time.

He was recording a drum track and he walked up and shook his hand and Prince said, hang out for a minute.

He said, I'm going to finish this drum track and then we'll go hang somewhere.

And Miles said, yeah, cool came down.

He sat on the bar stool right next to me.

Miles Davis sat next to me.

Wow, this is, yeah, very cool.

And then Miles put out his hand to me and he said, of course, I have to do my dumb Miles Davis impression, right?

He said, my name's Miles Davis.

Good.

Like I didn't know.

Yeah, yeah.

I thought it was somebody else.

Yeah.

I said, I'm, I'm, I'm Atlanta Bliss.

I'm turning Princess trumpet player.

And Miles said, I like what you played in that last record.

And Miles like what I played.

Miles doesn't like what anybody plays.

Right.

Like that.

So I said, well, you know, what was it?

And we, you know, talked about it and talked a lot about what was.

Prince back then had always.

We had all the gear for.

I guess it was a parade tour.

And he had a fair, like, keyboard back there and, of course, all the drum machines and a set of drums he was playing and amplifiers and everything.

He said, what's that up there?

I said, well, that's a fairlight keyboard.

That was one of the first samplers that.

That was out back then, and that was $30,000.

Prince had two of them, of course, one.

One.

You had to have a backup for everything.

Yeah, right.

You know, we're talking about that and the drum machines and all sorts of things.

And then he had dinner, I think, with Prince later.

I think Eric had dinner.

Him and Alan had dinner with him, too, you know, several years later, right before the.

We did a.

I'm sure, you know, the benefit concert at Paisley Park, New Year's Eve.

Right, right.

Yeah.

And I heard that Miles was going to be there.

I was on stage and just warming up, and this is a date during that day.

And a guy came up to me and it turned out to be a road.

One of the roadies that Miles had.

And he said, hey, could you play Miles rig, like, for his trumpet?

He had a clip on to his belt for his trumpet with a microphone and, you know, his wireless setup.

I said, now this is very cool.

I can play Miles's rig.

So, yeah, I did try it out and actually ended up that mine was much better equipment than Mog's head.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, some Sennheiser equipment.

And he had some native equipment.

Nadia stuff is what.

Wireless stuff is what guitar player, live guitar players back then had.

And he had adapted it for the trumpet.

And mine was the Sennheiser stuff.

And Sennheiser actually came out when I was in Germany and they helped me tweak it out.

And it was one of the wireless.

And now everybody has a wireless systems.

But that was very cool back then.

Well, that's what I told Miles.

I said, I said, you're going to get some better equipment.

He said, I'm a man about that.

So I did.

I don't know if anything ever happened about that, but, yeah, that was my experience with Miles.

And, yeah, that was a.

That was a great show.

And hopefully there's.

I, I.

It's been released.

Was it released with the deluxe edition?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think it was.

Yeah.

What was it like?

Jamming?

I mean, it was, you know, a little improv there with Miles, but.

And yeah, and he decided to walk off stage whenever he decided.

Right.

And to walk up and walk off.

Yeah, right, right, right.

Yeah, he came.

Eric, of course we were playing a beautiful night at the time.

And he came walking up on stage and Eric and I just looked at each other and said, oh, this is just gonna be amazing.

Because it was like a Dre true playing with Miles on stage.

We did the record with him, I think it was with Chaka, but he wasn't with us at that time.

We did at different times, so we never did it together.

But yeah, he came walking up on stage and Eric and I were just in heaven.

That was something.

A dream we hadn't even thought of was playing with Miles on stage.

Did you ever meet his former bass player, Foley?

I had, yeah, I met with Foley, yeah.

Talk with him lots of times and.

Yeah, yeah, we're friends with him.

I tell you a quick story with.

With Foley.

He.

He lives out in Columbus, Ohio, and he drove like eight or nine hours to WVOF where I did my show.

He had a 12 string acoustic guitar.

His drummer just played on a wooden chair and he had a female vocalist for four hours in.

In the studio and.

And spun like live Miles Davis recordings just like.

And he drove back the same night.

Yeah.

So, yeah, he's quite a cat.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, I talked to him recently.

Yeah, I guess he's working on some stuff.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Tell him I said hello.

Yeah, I will.

You.

You probably talked to him before.

I do, but yeah, whoever gets there first.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

So.

So let's move along to Love Sexy.

And if I recall, Eric in the rehearsals, you know, they were really arduous for Love Sexy.

Did you.

They were at Paisley park for the tour.

Yeah, yeah.

You mean the studio recording the.

The tour.

Tour rehearsals.

Oh, tour production rehearsals, yes.

Right.

Yeah, yeah, they were.

They were at Pays the Park and the sign of the times.

We did production rehearsals over in England, I think we did in Birmingham.

But Love Sexy.

Yeah, we did that in Paisley Park.

And you know, I don't know if you.

I'm sure you've been there, but the backstage, you know, you could park a 747 back there and that's what it was designed for, that you could fly your sound, you could fly the lights and put in a giant stage.

And that was just an amazing facility.

Now, Erica.

Well, I was getting to the point where he said during the actual concert tour.

There was a point at one night, I guess Prince had the bed come up and he didn't realize that was part of the show because he was so focused and the stage was so elaborate and big that, wow, there was a bed there all along.

Did he ever say that?

I don't remember that.

I don't know.

Yeah, you have to ask him.

He gets pretty off the wall sometimes.

Yeah, or.

Or I get off the wall, but yeah, I mean, you, you did a lot of recordings with Prince and were you ever surprised something that you recorded with with him in the studio, you had no clue what it was for.

And then you, you heard the final product and you were like, wow, that's what that was for any.

Well, that's like 99 of the time.

Oh, wow.

That you didn't know what it was for, what album it was for, if it was for an album.

Or it was just almost recreational recording for him because he would just record every day.

And anything would go there if we were learning a new song or an old song or whatever.

But that would be our normal gig.

And after that, Prince would go in the studio for the rest of the day.

And a lot of times Prince would call us back and call Eric and I back and say, hey, I got some horn parts that I want you guys to play.

So that was how a normal day would run without being on tour or anything like that.

We rehearse during the day and then record at night.

So when was the last performance you did with Prince?

I guess in Japan.

Love Sexy.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, other than, you know, the graffiti bridge things a little bit for the, for the movie.

And I think that was the last performance that we did together as a band, other than, you know, after that.

We record a lot in the studio.

Right.

As a band, you know, it was Love Sexy.

How was it the comparison recording at Paisley park as compared to the warehouse?

Must have been a lot nicer, right?

Yeah, it was.

It was the real deal in Paisley Park.

You know, it was the.

You know, Prince had several drum rooms set up in this Studio A, and Studio A, there was several drum rooms set up, meaning that there was a live room.

You know, this is stuff like Phil Collins.

Phil Collins had several different drum rooms.

Also.

There was a live room that was like, had a stone on the wall.

And then there was another room that had.

Was More compressed that had, you know, like carpeting and soundproofing on the wall.

And then there was an acoustic piano also.

They had its own area.

And of course, Eric and I were in the.

But there was a.

In studio A.

There was a giant room.

There is the recording room that you could, you know, put a choir in or something.

That's how Eric and I would record with headphones.

And Prince would be behind.

He's behind the glass in the control room, which is much different than we were in when we played and when we recorded.

And in the warehouse, because that was, you know, Princes in the Back with Susan Rogers and singing us parts way in the back of the warehouse.

And there wasn't glass and it was just headphones to microphone to headphones.

You know, he was singing parts to us.

So completely different.

But yeah, somehow Susan again, I don't know how she did it, but she made it work.

Yeah.

I think I remember this.

Before you were.

You were in the fold.

That there was.

I think.

I forget.

I think it was Computer Blue.

When he redid computer blue with 24 tracks on.

On the machine and he wanted to add more.

And Susan said something like, I only have 24.

He says, we'll find a way to get other tracks.

And she had to get a whole different.

Another 24 track console and patch them together.

And.

Yeah, that was Dwayne Toodle.

He's got all the information in there.

So, yeah, he.

He talks to everybody.

Great guy.

Yeah, you can.

Back then, you could lock the machines together, but it wasn't done that often.

Right, right.

So he's ahead of his time.

Yeah.

I'll tell you a quick thing.

Prince one time, a couple times, he requested copies.

Back then, it was CDs of my radio show.

We did a print special.

I FedEx him to paisley Park.

Cool.

I get an email from Prince one of the times.

He said, I noticed on Erotic City the.

The speed was just a tad off.

And I asked a friend who co hosted part of the show, did you notice any difference?

He said, no, but who are we gonna question?

The guy who wrote the song?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You keep in contact with a lot of other people you were in the band with during the Paisley park days?

Yeah, we had.

Actually, we just had a little reunion in Minneapolis about, I guess, three or four weeks ago now.

And flew up there and it was a.

We had the.

It was at a bar up there and we had the whole back area and, you know, had drinks and food and met with a lot of guys that I haven't seen in, you know, many years and gals too, because it was.

It was the office crew, it was a lot of the staff, it was a lot of the techs, it was a lot of the band members.

And it was, you know, we do try to stay in touch.

Not as much as you might think, but, you know, it's good to hang out every once in a while.

And for the old.

Talking about the old times, it really was like a family.

Yeah.

With Purple Rain, they really did start a family that really gelled from there, you know, grew from there.

And the road crew hung together and, you know, it wasn't like the.

It wasn't like the road crew was here and the band was here.

We all did mesh together and had a great time on the road.

You know, you really are a family.

I think there's.

On the road, we had maybe 100 people to support, you know, 10 in the band.

And so everybody, not everybody knew everybody and families and things like that.

But we really did get along and had a lot of.

Had a lot of fun together.

How many outfits did you have for the Love Sexy tour?

You mean dress outfits?

Yeah, dress outfits, yeah.

Love Sexy.

Probably about four or five.

You get to keep any of them?

Yeah.

Oh, you did okay.

At the end of the tour, they said, do you want these?

You know, what are they gonna do them and.

Oh, princess stuff in the Cleveland rock and roll.

They don't want my stuff in Cleveland Rock and Roll hall of Fame.

But they took princess stuff, of course.

Right?

Yeah, I have some of it.

Yeah.

Well, back then, like, it was like a factory.

You had the clothing on, was on the second floor making clothing and everything.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

They made.

They made all the clothes.

They first.

When I first joined the band, of course, I hadn't been in a band like that before and been many, many, many bands, but never in a band that was really to that extent that had a wardrobe, that was actually a wardrobe person.

She came to me and she said, well, how do you like your pants?

Do you like them pleated or you like them straight?

And she said, what.

What kind of clothes do you wear?

And I said, can I just wear a pair of jeans, obviously?

She said, of course you cannot.

Right, right.

A pair of jeans and station.

I was in the jeans crew back then.

No.

Now I.

One of the songs, you and Eric.

One of my all time favorite Prince songs, Jill Jones, Violet Blue.

You and Eric performed on that weren't credited, but you think it was just an oversight.

So much going on that Prince didn't.

Have you on there, I would suppose.

I don't know.

We never.

We never really looked at all the albums we were on and probably don't even know a lot of the albums we're on.

But yeah, I guess that's part of the.

Part of the business.

Sometimes you get an acknowledgment, sometimes you don't.

Yeah, Jill.

Jill was nice enough.

This had to be like 15 years ago.

Came to the studio and performed for a couple hours with.

With the project she was working on.

It was just really nice.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Did you work in.

Did you work in the studio with her or was it just tracking with Prince?

Yeah, she was in the studio on and off when we were working.

Yeah.

Okay.

Now I got a question.

I've seen another picture of some gold records, some platinum records, a nice parade picture of Prince.

Is that to your home?

Right.

Let me give me.

I think I know the picture you're talking about.

I have.

That's one of my book here that has the.

Is that my pool table?

That's in there too.

Is that this picture you're talking about?

Yeah, exactly.

That's it.

Yeah, yeah, that's my.

Yeah, that's how I have my.

In fact, that's my Rock and Roll Atlanta there.

There you go.

Yes.

So, yeah, that was.

That's my.

My basement or my trophy room.

Right.

I'll put my.

My Grammy and, you know, the records and stuff in there.

How about getting those gold records sent?

Who.

How.

What's the process of a musician who worked on a record getting sent that?

Or was it usually a surprise?

Something was coming.

It was a surprise one time.

Every, every time like that, they would come to us in rehearsal or something and walk in with all these records and present them to us.

Yeah, yeah.

No one can take that away from you.

Right?

Yeah, my kids will like them for many years when I'm gone.

That's right.

How about your kids?

Oh, go ahead.

I.

I cut you off.

No, they'll be battling over them, I'm sure.

Yeah, that's right.

You haven't put them in the will yet.

Who gets what?

I have to do that.

Yeah, yeah, right, right.

So.

So speaking about your kids growing up, were they into Prince after listening to them or just enjoy your own music?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Especially.

Well, especially my daughter.

She knows.

And she's kept up with all the Prince things for.

For many years and she keeps me, you know, somewhat up with things.

And she was a singer for a while, just.

Just around town.

And then my son Played trumpet and I think he had more talent in playing trumpet than I ever did.

But he got.

I didn't want him to get into the music industry.

You know, he's an accountant, has his own business here in Pittsburgh and doing very well.

My daughter ended up being an attorney for here in Pittsburgh also.

So.

Okay.

But they're both very much into music and.

And they help me on.

They say, hey, you should put this on your website.

And this is a good video and wanted to try track this.

There's on my website I have a Spotify playlist on there with things that, you know, I play with with Prince and other artists on there and they suggest things and I want to put this on and put this video on and yeah, they're very much into.

Into the.

The Prince thing.

Especially since, you know, when Prince died.

I don't know if you got another minute yet.

Oh, we got time.

Yeah, sure.

Yeah.

I was working for GB Financial Life and we were out at lunchtime and we were just at a diner and my phone rings and it was my daughter and she said, I gotta tell you this, Prince just died.

I said, you're kidding.

And everyone.

The guys I was with, my face must turn white or something.

They said, what's wrong?

What's wrong?

I said, well, just hang on a second.

So she.

We talked for a minute.

We talked a minute with her and then I hung up and then I started researching on the Internet and you know, obviously it did happen.

And so she is the one that stayed on top and she got me to do the Facebook now my Facebook page, Atlanta Bliss.

Facebook and also my list in Facebook.

And they're really the ones that they enjoyed know and introducing me to.

Hey, this is Prince's trumpet player.

And you know, I don't do that even to her.

We go to a restaurant and something somehow comes up.

And she said, well, you know, my dad played with Prince that.

Yeah, big Prince.

Prince.

Really?

Yeah.

Especially at a bar, you know, that's a great place to introduce your dad at a bar and.

Yeah, right.

So, yeah, it's just amazing that know Prince and the Minneapolis Sun.

I mean, you were a huge part of that that, you know, when.

When we're both long gone, it'll be like you're going to be reading Prince, Minneapolis Sound Motown, you know, the.

Oh, you know, you guys ladies, major mark and continue to make your mark.

I mean, it's incredible being a.

For you to be a part of that.

Yeah, well, this is.

This is what, 30, 35 years later, more than that.

Now I don't know.

And people still are friending me, you know, friend requests for my Facebook page and, you know, being this interview right.

30, 40 years later and people still interested in what we did at that time.

And that says Prince, you know, that.

That says a lot for his stay power, you know.

Yeah, I think I, I mean, I could say that the, the interest from the Prince community definitely is really building for you and people appreciate you going shows.

I mean, you've been on several shows, some friends of ours, and always really interesting stuff, you know, the background and what, what's been going on with your whole life.

So I've enjoyed watching other shows and this has been great talking, of course.

Yeah, yeah, well, yeah, definitely.

And, and obviously thanks for having me on because that's.

It's.

After all these years and people are still interested and what we had done with Prince and as rightly it should, Prince was an amazing, amazing musician.

I've never worked with another musician like him ever.

And that he worked so fast in the studio and so diligently and so just constant work and talk about.

People ask how you get things done, how you get to be.

How you get to be like a Prince.

Well, you don't get beat like a Prince just thinking about it.

Right?

You work your ass.

That's what he did constantly.

I mean, you sacrifice your family, your friends for him, his body and everything.

I mean, yeah, you know, I guess that's the negative part, but what a life he lived.

Yeah, yeah.

And he well deserved for all the recognition that he got.

And yeah, one the.

And the director of the Montreal Jazz Festival, they asked him, what's the best show you ever witnessed during +25, 30 years, however long the festival on?

He said that year when Prince performed there, it was the show I was at.

Me and my wife were in the second row with our friend Jyt and he started the concert.

The first half, it could have been for like an hour.

Barely any light on stage.

Back turn Allah.

Miles Davis.

Sometimes he was singing and wasn't even close to the mic.

We heard what he was singing and it, it was just totally.

He did something innovative there and.

And it's.

And also funny a guy in the crowd, I guess he was expecting the, the glamour of the hits of Prince yelled out like 30 minutes into the show, wake up.

And you could hear it all through.

Yeah, yeah.

But yeah, it was a great show.

And they took an Intermission and came back with the, the typical Prince lights, camera, action show.

But yeah, yeah, I, I, There was an audio version of it on YouTube, but it wasn't that great quality.

But, yeah, definitely a great show.

Well, I'll tell you what a lot of my friends that are jazz musicians really do appreciate, especially since, you know, Eric and I were on there and they, we sort of pulled them into Prince because they didn't know from Prince.

In fact, Eric and I didn't know from Prince when we joined them.

But because we did that, they really appreciate the musicianship that Prince has because, you know, what we told about him and how he works and his creativity.

You know, Prince, in all the recording that I did with him, he never, well, you and all the fans already know this.

You know, he never duplicated himself with the songs.

You know, he never repeated himself.

He never did another Purple Rain because he wanted to have another big hit like Purple Rain.

He went on and he did, you know, symphonic things and he did jazz sort of things.

And, you know, he really experimented like Miles did.

Miles went through, as we talked about in the beginning of this, all the way from bebop to electronics.

And, you know, he wanted to get.

And he did some of the hit things too.

So, you know, it's really developing musicianship.

And that's what I think a lot of the jazz, Jazz cats like the bottom too.

You know, you don't stand still.

You always grow.

We got to remind our viewers one time before we head on off the book Mind Body Trumpet.

Where can people pick it up?

What can they expect in this book?

I mean, some great stuff you can learn playing the instrument without playing it.

Right.

Yeah, that's really the focus of the book is I wanted to inform trumpet players that you don't have to sit in that practice room and blow your brains for ten hours a day.

You can do half of that in the university library doing isometrics, doing a finger isometrics, doing breathing, doing reading music without, you know, having your instrument in front of you.

And, you know, it's Atlanta bliss.com is where it's at.

And, you know, you can pick it up there and, you know, even autograph it.

Let me know who to autograph it to and be glad to do it.

Christmas is coming too.

It's a great Christmas gift.

Yeah, there you go.

And you ship it out.

I gotta, I gotta give you compliments because you are truly professional as far as communication, as far as once we connected back and forth, as far as, you know, answer here.

You Even gave me a little bit of a bio, which.

Which I knew pretty much everything in your bio, but it was great that you did it because, you know, I'm sure, you know, in the music business, things are said and things aren't followed up and stuff like that.

So, yeah, you're the guy.

Musicians need to learn from someone like you.

I'm being on the case.

Well, I'm.

I'm glad to pass it on.

You know, that's my.

My duty as being an educator.

That's where I grew up, being a trumpet teacher.

And I like doing it and how I can help other people.

Hopefully this book will help some trumpet players out there.

All right, one final question.

Are you a Steelers fan?

Of course.

Of course.

Not a bad season so far.

Yeah, doing well.

Course, back in the 70s is when we're really big Prince fans, when we get together and every Saturday, you know, you're getting together with your family and who's bringing what, then get the beer cold because we're having a party.

And now it's not as much because we're spread out more, but yes, Dealers.

Yep.

Still ghost dealers.

Steel Curtain back then, right?

That's right.

Yeah.

I like Mike Thomas home.

Glad they didn't get rid of him or all the talk.

They were.

Couple lean years.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's been hanging around a lot of years.

Yeah.

Good job.

Yeah.

The Steelers, they, they.

They're pretty consistent.

They don't have too many coaches in their history, which is.

Right.

Yeah.

I'm a New York Giants fan, so this is.

This has been awful.

So.

But anyways, I gotta thank you, Matt.

Matt Atlanta, Bliss Bliston.

And hopefully one of many times you can come back on the show whenever you want, anytime.

Be glad to.

Enjoyed it.

And everybody get the book Mind Body Trumpet, Matt Liston.

And thank you, Matt.

Yeah.

Atlanta.com.

there you go.

Yeah, thanks, Matt.

Thanks, Joe.

Appreciate it, man.