Prince sax player – artist would be ‘honoured’ by conference
Friday 12 May 2017
ONE of Prince’s long-standing musical collaborators has said the artist would have been ‘honoured’ by a conference being held to investigate his legacy.
Saxophonist Eric Leeds, who played on 11 Prince albums including the classic Sign o’ the Times, has spoken ahead of Purple Reign: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Life and Legacy of Prince, held at The Lowry arts centre and the University of Salford’s MediaCityUK campus on May 24-26.
Giving an exclusive interview to conference organisers, the musician said he suspected Prince‘would feel honoured, and perhaps humbled by such a conference about his music and his place in the legacy of pop music’.
In the interview, Leeds also speaks about his time playing and touring with Prince, the musical lessons he learned working the Minneapolis legend, and why audiences still connect with the artist more than one year on from his death.
The conference, co-hosted by the University of Salford’s US partners Middle Tennessee State University, will also feature a Q&A session with Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson, a panel discussion featuring Manchester based guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, and talks by academics from institutions such as New York University, Harvard University and the Smithsonian museum complex.
There will also be a rare screening of Prince’s directorial debut Under The Cherry Moon at HOME Manchester, while buildings across Manchester and Salford will be lit up purple to mark the occasion.
Meanwhile, Prince’s former dancer Cat Glover has also given an exclusive interview about her time with the artist, ahead of the conference.
Read the interview with Eric Leeds in full below.
We’ve recently seen events around the world marking the anniversary of Prince’s death. Why do you think his fans seem to have had such a personal connection with him?
Prince, very early in his career, created a ‘back story’ for himself and his music. As a young black artist he was determined to not be type-cast as ‘merely’ an R&B musician. His music and band would be inclusive: black, white, women, gay, straight; rock, funk, jazz, etc. In the early ‘80s, when Prince arrived on the pop music scene, this was enormously appealing to people with a growing awareness of the strength of a more diverse society, both culturally and politically.
And he had the ability to appear to be ‘speaking’ thru his music to individuals, rather than just crowds. And the very personal nature of much of his musical ‘stories’ made many people feel that they could know him through his music. And as he was defining himself, there were young musicians from various backgrounds who saw in him an affirmation of their own musical quest. For many he made it allowable to throw anything against the wall, and then to see what sticks.
What are your thoughts about an academic conference dedicated to Prince? What do you think he would have made of this?
When I was young and listening to Ray Charles, James Brown etc it never occurred to me that one day universities would consider their place in music worthy subjects for academic analysis. But clearly, our culture has been influenced and defined by the contributions of many pop artists. And I think of all the pop icons that ‘came of age’ in the ‘80s, no one influenced the direction of pop music more than Prince and for so many reasons.
I suspect Prince would feel honoured, and perhaps humbled by such a conference about his music and his place in the legacy of pop music.
As a musician, what was the most important lesson Prince taught you musically?
By the time I began working with Prince, I had already been playing professionally for almost 15 years, so I was pretty much defined by the musical influences I grew up with. I had already worked with extremely talented musicians. And because I played an instrument that he couldn't play, it gave me an opportunity to partially create my role in his music that I wouldn't otherwise have had.
So being a part of Prince's musical ‘process’ re-affirmed my own sense of my ability to realise my own musical goals once I had the opportunity to do that. And it was Prince who generously provided those opportunities, first as a member of his band, and then later when he signed me to his record company Paisley Park and I began making my own albums.
Do you have a favourite album you made with him, and why?
Strange as it may sound, I was never a huge fan of Prince's music. I was a fan of Prince the musician. So, while there isn't one ‘go-to’ album for me, I enjoyed certain songs on several albums. But if someone NOT familiar with his music would ask me where to start in getting into his music, I would say to them to listen to Sign O' The Times first. It may, more than any of his albums, embody the diversity and eclecticism of his music.
What was the experience of touring with Prince like?
By the time we would hit the road for a tour, it felt like we had the wind at our back. The REAL work was done in the months of rehearsals before we played the first gig. Obviously, being part of a major music tour could be a heady experience. But I also loved traveling through Europe, particularly. We had many off days in which I could go to museums, etc or just take long walks through the cities we were in. Those experiences are as much a part of what I remember as the music itself.
How do you think his influence is felt on artists working today? Is there still room within the music industry for the kind of experimentation associated with Prince?
Prince had a lot going for him. He might have been known just for the guitar player that he was. Or for the entertainer that he was. But add to that the depth and diversity of his music, and the songwriter that he was. I've always felt that by the early ‘80s the vocabulary of pop music (and jazz) had been essentially completed.
So Prince came along when there wasn't much to add to the ‘bricks and mortar’ of music. But he clearly distinguished himself in how he used this established vocabulary to present a musical persona that would not only stand the test of time, but would provide a template for others to follow. I don't really know what's left to experiment with, but I suspect there will continue to be young artists that have enough of a ‘fresh’ voice to at least make it seem as if they’re doing something new.
And of course, for younger generations, everything is ‘new’ until you've heard it a few times. Part of what I enjoyed about Prince was that as he was defining himself and boldly proclaiming to everyone who HE was. He also had a deeply held knowledge and respect for the music that preceded him, and why it was so important to never forget the value and significance of the musicians who created that legacy.
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