Groove Don't Lie
Groove Don’t Lie the Series is about intimate discussions with musicians, authors, visual artists, athletes, and other luminaries about what groove means to them, how they experience groove in their work and personal lives, and what can be done to find the groove when it is missing. The secret ingredient is the host, Gerry Brown, the OG groove master whose history and legacy as a musician, longevity, personality and demeanor seamlessly connect the guests and the audience. The backstage tales, insider information, and the true stories behind some of the most remarkable concerts, albums, artworks, books, and athletic accomplishments of the last century will appeal to fans, historians, and up-and-comers alike, while inspiring everyone with strategies for tapping into the universal, eternal, and authentic groove.
Groove Don't Lie
Gerry Brown and Gina Kronstadt discuss groove (part 1 of 2)
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Gerry’s guest for this two-part episode is the multifaceted musician, Gina Kronstadt. For 47 years, Gina’s vivacious violin playing colored the recordings and live performances of legends like Nina Simone, Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, George Harrison, Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, James Brown, Nancy Wilson, Elton John, Charlie Haden, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Aerosmith, Dr. John, Beyoncé, Usher, Taylor Swift, and Michael Jackson. As you will hear, Gina’s violin playing ended in 2023, but she continues to perform because the groove don’t lie and the groove don’t die.
Hey everybody, Jerry Brown here on the Groove Don Lie Podcast. On today's show, we have the esteemed Miss Gina Kronstadt, violinist, vocalist, session musician, singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer. That's a lot of thanks, but she's been doing this for 47 years. And whom has she contributed to? High profile recordings by artists, including Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Eric Clapton, Dr. Dre, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Billy Jewell, George Harrison, Elton John, Lianna, Barbara Streisand, Taylor Swift, Live TV performances, encompasses the Academy Awards, The Grammys, the 84 Olympic Ceremonies, MTV Movie Awards, American Music Awards, America's Got Talent, The Tonight Show, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Awards, American Idol, The Voice, The Ellen Show, Live Performances with Beyonce, Blake Shelton, Cher, Donna Summer, Freddie Hubbard, James Brown, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Lenny Kravitz, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Whitney Houston, and I remember something with Diana Ross. How about that? With an intro. So without further ado, Miss Junior Kraut's dead. Unless the line.
SPEAKER_00Hi.
SPEAKER_02Hi.
SPEAKER_00Long time no see.
SPEAKER_02Long time. How are you?
SPEAKER_00I'm good.
SPEAKER_02You uh when we spoke briefly this morning, I was so very happy to hear that your recent event went so well and that you said it was uh SRO. Well, basically close to SRO, standing room only.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, no, it actually was. People were walking and going, where are we supposed to sit? I was like, I don't know. But no, it ended up being really nice to have a bunch of people there I didn't know, and a bunch of my friends came out as well. So that's always amazing. On a Saturday night.
SPEAKER_02On a Saturday night in Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there are so many options.
SPEAKER_02So many options, yeah. So that's that's wonderful. And that you said that you thought that you know you had there have been some issues with your voice, and you had done only maybe 30 minutes, but you actually got two hours.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah, I'm totally surprised and grateful. Well, not totally surprised, but um, I wasn't totally sure that was gonna happen a few minutes before the gig happened. And as soon as I stood up to the mic and the band starts playing, you know, it's like that whole thing when you're on stage, a whole thing takes over, and um adrenaline, I guess, or something, but it it was all good.
SPEAKER_02Amazing, amazing. So just a little intro, if you if you don't mind, and I hope you don't blush. So today on the Groove Don't Light podcast, we're joined by Miss Gina Kronstadt, violinist, vocalist, composer, arranger, musician whose work has quietly traveled through some of the biggest rooms in modern music. If you've heard a lush string line on a major recording or seen a polished live performance on a giant stage, Gina has likely been part of that world. So you started when at 10 years old?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um I had told my parents that I wanted to play violin or flute, and then I I think this is on my bio that my mother walked in late that night with a violin case, and I literally remembered being disappointed because I realized I really wanted to play the flute. Um, which can you, I mean, I really don't see me doing this, you know. But um that moment changed my life. Um and I started playing, you know, in orchestras by the sixth grade, and um I think I think by the time I was three or four, I just knew that music was something that brought me so much joy and happiness and peace and comfort, and still to this day it is that important to me. It's everything.
SPEAKER_01That set the uh that was the foundation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that uh kind of the mistake, a beautiful mistake or something with the violin coming into the house instead of the little flute case. Um changed my world. It changed the direction of my life for sure.
SPEAKER_02So in grade school when you're playing violin and this incredible mistake. What did or what at that time was there anything that came across to you feeling of this experience of leadership or you know, music responsibility?
SPEAKER_00Oh that's a good question. Um I don't know if at that time I could feel that feeling, but I knew that I somehow fit into that role comfortably. It wasn't anything I thought about, but I feel like from that time, you know, for decades, I've always felt like it's kind of something I've been destined to do. And there was kind of a knowing that I was gonna be on this journey. It wasn't like, oh, I this is what I want to do with my life. It was just that was already part of it before I feel like before it even happened. I feel like it was mapped out in a way for me. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02I know what you mean.
SPEAKER_00I know you do.
SPEAKER_02Uh yeah, I I have that story of starting younger and how old were you? Maybe about five.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and okay, if I can ask you, what made you want to play?
SPEAKER_02What made me want to play was okay. So um, this is even beyond five years old. I found out from my mom. My mom and dad love to dance. So they often went before I came about, they often went to the Savoy. So my mother was pregnant with me, so I was an embryo, so I was hearing it from the inside.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, feeling that beat.
SPEAKER_02So when I started banging on you know, pots and pans and tables and stuff like that. They didn't think, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They were very very supportive. So it's again I know other people whose parents may not have been as supportive, but mine were sook me to a place in uh West Philadelphia and he was a drum teacher there, and uh I started he was playing some rudiments, and I started started following him, and he later told me, sis, you know, I'm on the road, but uh however my daughter teaches at Curtis Music Institute. Yeah, so I actually had a woman as my first teacher.
SPEAKER_00That's why you're so sensitive. Yeah, maybe have something to do with it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, not maybe, certainly. All right, certainly, so so but back to you, okay. So you're playing in in the in the orchestra and you were like concert master, is that correct?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, from sixth grade, I was concert master. Like literally the first year I started playing, I was concert master. And I don't even know how that happened, but I was, and I always was all through junior high, high school, and then going into college, I was always concert master. So not that it's I mean, maybe I was just gonna say maybe that it hasn't been easy, but it weirdly has, because I didn't there was just a natural, it was just a natural progression or something. Like a leadership thing where I don't know where I got that from. I literally have no idea where I got that from.
SPEAKER_02But you followed it, you followed through.
SPEAKER_00There was no way I couldn't follow through.
SPEAKER_02So when did you move or how how did Los Angeles come into the yeah?
SPEAKER_00So um when I was in college, um it wasn't known, it wasn't like North Texas State or Berkeley or whatever, but during uh this particular era, we were kind of up there because of um like Bill Fowler. You know who Dr. Bill Fowler was? Okay, so this was at the University of Utah. I took this was when I was 19, I took my first theory class in college from Bill Fowler. Wow, you know what I mean? So um that happened, and then at the same time, I don't know if you know who Ladd Macintosh is. Name sounds very major. Um he was my professor in college. So at 19 years old, I was concert master with the orchestra, but I also uh joined the big band in college um playing amplified violin with a cello player. So we were playing with an amazing band where um some of the greatest musicians from all over the country came to Utah to play in this, excuse me, in this uh um band and be part of this program. And we had visiting faculty members. We were only in University of Utah one year, and then we transferred to Westminster College. Um, but we had uh visiting faculty members like Frank Zappa. I had had a, yeah, you know, I mean I had a you know composition classes from Frank Zappa, you know, Joni Mitchell and LA Express is where I first hung out with Tom Scott when I'm like, you know, that was like 19 or 20. And you know, Robin Ford and you know, all those guys, and um Clark Terry, Jean Luponty. So I did I played with Jean Luponty when I was in college. He came as a visiting faculty member. Um it was really amazing time, and also Pat Williams, who was a major um TV and film composer, um, he was there and he inspired me to come to LA. And this was, he had had this record named Threshold come out where this violinist named Jerry Vinci was playing all this amazing violin work um on a very jazz kind of big band record. And um I knew that I was gonna somehow work with Jerry Vinci. And this is in college, so this is a couple of years before that actually happened, but um the day after I graduated from college, I moved to LA with my then Fugelhorn playing boyfriend, Jazzer. Um and um so my maybe I think my first or second year in LA, and I had I had a band together my very first year in LA. Um, we but let me get back to um this trumpet player, boyfriend I had, introduced me to Gary Foster, um, one of the top you know readmen in LA at the time. And um I took improvisation from Gary Foster, and Gary had me um sight read a Bill Evans transcribed solo, Waltz for Debbie. And he was impressed by how I sight read it, and so he said to me, This is going back to Jerry Vinci, who played on this Pat Williams record. He said, I'm working with this concert master named Jerry Vinci tomorrow, and I want to tell him about you. So that's Jerry Vinci, Pat Williams were reasons why I moved to LA, and here I am being told that Gary Foster was going to tell Jerry Vinci about me. It's crazy. And so um Jerry came, and this is weird, but it happened. Um Jerry came over to my apartment in Pasadena to listen to me play on his way back from whatever studio it was. So I played a little bit for him, and he said, Yeah, he said, number one, I would just like to work with you for a little while. But yeah, I I think you need to, I think you should be in the studios. So that happened, and it was Jerry Vinci who got me on my first major motion picture call with Lalo Schiffrin. So I was sitting, you know, my very first motion picture was Lalo Schiffrin. I'm sitting, we were at uh Universal. There that studio doesn't exist anymore, the scoring stage. But um there I was like at 22, 23 or something, um, with the heavies. My first motion picture, Lalo Schiffrin. It was crazy. So it's just been it's just been this thread of from person to person to person and these doors open.
SPEAKER_02Serendipity, synchronicity.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's oh I'll say it. The ancestors had had you had you had my back. Leader this way, leader this way.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh.
SPEAKER_00And when when doors open up, you better walk through.
SPEAKER_02You better walk through.
SPEAKER_00You better walk through. And and that's um that's a thing that I've always done is just walk walk through it. You know, without any kind of a a net to catch me or anything, I'll just walk through it and we'll see what happens. Right?
SPEAKER_02Yes, it's it's I mean you're you're you're saying the same things that in some ways that that happened to me, and those doors opened, and you you better walk through.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, because uh they're meant to open for a reason. I have to tell you something. I have to show you something that you you played on a recording that changed my life.
SPEAKER_02Uh oh.
SPEAKER_00And it's this one.
SPEAKER_02Oh damn music magic.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. This is one of the life changers for me.
SPEAKER_02So I'm honored.
SPEAKER_00I mean, how can I mean, but it's awesome. I mean, it's it's so um it was so unique and creative, and everything about it to me is like it catches your ears because it's um and still to this day, I think is just extraordinary. I actually listened to it um a couple of weeks ago, and I I don't think I realized you were, I mean, I'm looking at the credits because that's why I love vinyl, is because you get to read absolutely everything and turn it into an experience. I was going, oh man, Jerry Brown is on this thing, and you sound awesome, and the whole band is amazing, and Stanley and Gail singing together. It's just good times, right?
SPEAKER_02Great times, yeah. Great times. Uh kind of unfortunate that the the those times have in some ways kind of anyway.
SPEAKER_00But uh changed my life. This definitely changed my musical ears, it opened up my ears. Um, almost like to hear what's possible. So thank you.
SPEAKER_02Now you got me blushing.
SPEAKER_00Okay, good.
SPEAKER_02You got me blushing. So so you deserve to blush. Thank you, thank you. That's that's uh I got no words for that. I'm I'm stun. I'm stunned. Oh. First session, Lalo Schiffer. Okay, so that's leading.
SPEAKER_00So after I had already I had already started doing some records prior to that. And should I tell you a little bit about all that? As you like, because you know that's kind of major, but um I think the first year I was in LA. Um uh I was in uh a community orchestra. Um, and uh I was also a head hostess at a Mexican restaurant when I'm like 21 or whatever. Um and in the community orchestra, I was sitting with this violinist named Ron Clark, who was um, I guess you know, a couple of years older than me, maybe. And he was already in the studios a little bit, um, working with Janice Gower and uh violinist Bill Henderson, who they were the main string contractors for all the disco stuff, all the RB stuff. And from me sitting with Ron and Ron liking the way I played, he told them about me. And then that door opened, and then boom, like everything just everything just opened up for me uh during that time, during that era. Like it was like it was the best. So that's how I got to play on all that stuff, and also Jerry Vinci was concertmaster on uh like off the wall that I played on. And so it was like the whole like the history with Jerry Vinci moves on, but then most of the um sessions I was doing at that time were either Bill Henderson or Janice Gower contracting and being concert master.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, uh so gotta ask a you know, a question, and that is when you're walking in those rooms. For these artists. Or you know that, you know, for whom s you know, whom the session is. Is there anything that you notice as something that you know with with the musicians there or or what or even if the artist is there? Is there something that that may catch your eye or that you may be okay, you you're aware that you're gonna walk into this room, something I I may need to notice.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I'm gonna back up just a sec. Good question, but I'm gonna back up to something that is has to do with how everything led to another thing. Because we're into that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So, and because I did a lot of work with Earth, Wind and Fire. I played on three of Earth, Wind and Fire records. But let me tell you what happened prior to that. So this is back in Salt Lake, and I had driven home from college that day, and I had a radio station on in the car. I had driven into the garage, and there was a song on the radio. I didn't know who it was, but literally in my head, it was like I'm gonna play with these with this band. I didn't know who it was until after the song. It was like Earth Wind and Fire. Um it was um, let me think, uh nine, maybe five or maybe four years later. I I moved to LA after that. Four years later, three or four years later, I played on my first Earth, One and Fire record and proceeded to play on. I played on The Best Of, that's September's on. And then I played on uh I Am and Faces. But it was just like it was one of those things where I knew I'm sitting, I'm in Salt Lake sitting in a car, and it was like I'm gonna be playing with them. So um back to your question. Again, for me, it wasn't ever a thing at the time. I would I was just going to work. You know what I mean? I was like walking to the studio, what the artists are there, the greatest producers are there, everything I have my place to sit, the music's in front of me. And um, I never overthought anything. I was there to do a job. And I also know that the whole time I was so lucky and grateful to be in the studios, especially when I was younger, I realized that they didn't put an extra chair there for me. I realized that somebody else used to be there, and that person wasn't called, and that I was replacing someone. And I think I was aware of that by the time I was 23 or so. That and so I feel like noticing that you become more grateful instead of taking it so for granted, it's like, well, I'm supposed, I mean, I knew that I deserved to be there, but I didn't want to kick anybody out. You know what I mean? It was just like so. I think I always remained grateful for being there and didn't, I don't think I've ever taken a session for granted or a show or anything. You dig.
SPEAKER_02Whoever's will listen to this. Those words are priceless.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's funny because looking back at everything now, I see everything more clearly. I mean, there are things that I realized in the moment, being very young, and you know, I didn't know any other life. It was it was just like that was my life, so I was just there doing it. And I was always aware of certain things, uh how like grateful and how lucky I was. Um, but looking back on all of it, it just sort of magnifies um the whole scene for decades and decades of um being able to be in this industry for so long. And, you know, even towards the end of my career, you know, because I had to quit because of shoulder stuff. But um, so I haven't been playing for three years. But um uh towards the end of my career, you know, on the reality TV shows, because I did like, you know, The Voice and American Idol and all that stuff. And do you know who Ernie Fields was?
SPEAKER_02Yes, okay.
SPEAKER_00The late great peace. Yes, the cool man, the cool, coolest of cool men. And um he sent me an email one night that showed that he'd gotten from the producers on Idol, um, because there was a quartet that that that was gonna be playing for, oh man, I don't know if I can remember the band that they were gonna um premiere a single that night on Idle. But the email said, um, we want attractive 30 somethings, you know, and I I wasn't a 30-something, I was, you know, probably in my fit, I don't know, I was, you know, I was 20 years older than they're talking about. But um, Ernie showed me that, just emailed me and he said, But I I want you on this. So I was very lucky to do a ton of TV work, um, you know, past most people's expiration date, you know. Um, so just I'm grateful for it all. I'm just so um, I'm kind of in awe of everything looking back on that part of my journey, you know. Um, but it's all been so beautiful and amazing and everything.
SPEAKER_02You know what you've just said is for me one of the reasons why I'm doing this this podcast. It's like I'm not making any money out of it. But there's there are other things that are really priceless in that speaking to peers and those who've been in this arena and you know realizing that longevity is you know that's everything in this business. If you've been in there for a while, the fact that you have you've seen you've been there, you've been in that arena. It doesn't happen very often, you know. Especially for women, especially for women, especially for women.
SPEAKER_00So that's another reason why my heart just is because um I know a lot of women who are being, you know, they aren't being called, you know, when they have a good couple more decades to be playing. Um and I think, I think especially when especially American Idol started, I think how they contract the people on camera started changing. Um, and it was always about make sure they're young, make sure they're pretty, make sure, but it didn't matter about the men. They could be all whatever, but it was the women that had to be representing in the looks department and also be able to play their butts off. Um and I really noticed that the switch over. So this that's probably like early 2000s, that I noticed this kind of switch. And then it kind of I started seeing it in the studios as well, even when there wasn't a camera on us, it started accelerated. Yeah, yeah. So, but luckily, most of these pretty women can play. I think I would have an issue with it if they um if they're if they couldn't play at a certain level, but the ones that I'm thinking of, uh they're great. So that's all good.
SPEAKER_02It's they are deserve it to be there. Yeah, they've done the work.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yep.
SPEAKER_02Which is that's great.
SPEAKER_00When when you see those who haven't done the work, it's like yeah, it's all it's all really hard work, and I think there are so many different levels of having um a career, a career with longevity. I it's like it's also um being personable, it's showing up on time, it's being ready to go, it's you know, saying hello to people, it's you know, it's it's everything. It's being able to play, it's being able to do everything. And it's not just it's not just being able to play, it's everything. Am I right?
SPEAKER_02You are so right in in saying that. Um I I've spoken to I don't speak to many drummers because I I think the younger drummers, you know, they they they don't want to hear from oh maybe they do. I I don't know.
SPEAKER_00What I don't know speaking of somebody that has longevity, I mean they should be listening to you.
SPEAKER_02You know, it's it's more than just you know your chops, it's how you get along with people. You have to be a people person. Um you we are in the communications business, whether performing or just working with other people. Yeah, yeah, you have to be a people person.
SPEAKER_00It's a team, it's a team sport. And that's especially, I think, um there's it's there's a real difference for me between um being in the violin section and then being out front as the singer, songwriter of my own music and performing in clubs and stuff, being in the studios as one of many or one of a few, you better be a team player because if your phrasing is off, if your vibrato is too fast or too wobbly, or you know, just or you're playing too loud, if you're not aware of what's going on in the rest of the group or orchestra, whatever the size is. I mean, I think that's the job. That's that is such maybe the number one job when you're in the studios is to be a team player and use your ears and blend and be part of a group, not to stick out and show off.
SPEAKER_02No, it's not about stick, you know, about showing off. No, no, it's not about that.
SPEAKER_00But being but leading my own band, I can do all that.
SPEAKER_02So leading your own band. It's okay. So uh, you know, I I just want to bring, you know, just to bring it up. You know, people need to know that the you was was it an accident or was it just just from wear and wear and tear?
SPEAKER_00I think it was just from doing this so much for so many years, and my bicep tendon detached from my shoulder, and um it should have been able to be fixed, but the surgeon attached my tendon too high, um, and it caused nerve damage down my arm and through my elbow, down into my wrist and into these two fingers. And um another surgeon wanted to do, oh, I did do a have a second surgery, which was only him pulling my like I was under, but he was pulling my arm as hard as he could to try to bring it down. And of course, that didn't work. And doctors wanted to redo the surgery, and I refused. So the reason it's an issue for these two fingers because it was what happened was there were two sessions in a row, and this is like maybe the first part of 2023, something like that. But two sessions in a row, there was a lot of spicato, which is the bow bouncing off of the string and going, it was like on all four strings, and it was this kind of a thing, and you need the balance of all four fingers and your thumb to be able to do that. And I didn't have this going, so um, needless to say, I didn't nail it, and both of those sections were very small. Oh, just I mean, I'm feeling it, just thinking back on it. But you know, we never saw in the studios, you see it more in classical music, spicato, but um I could have maybe gone another several years before seeing spicato again in the studios. I didn't know, but I also didn't, I also knew I didn't want to be the person like who stays at the party too long. Because the feeling I had those two sessions, uh, it was like that's not who I am to not be able to do that. And so the only job I did after those two sessions that I feel like I kind of made a fool of myself, although people were going, oh, it was just a hard session. It was like, no, but I just I know they were just being kind. But the only session I the only thing I did after that was the Oscars of 2023. I played. And after that was when I decided to just wrap it up because I didn't want to have to go through that again for myself or for the music as well. I think about the music too.
SPEAKER_02We thank Gina Cronstadt for this first episode, but she's got so much more to say because that career is incredible. So, stay tuned, everybody, for episode number two from Gina Cronstad on Groove Don't Lie.