Gerry Brown and Gina Kronstadt discuss groove (part 2 of 2)

This is part 2 of Gerry Brown's conversation with the multitalented artist and violinist, Gina Kronstadt (Nina Simone, Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, George Harrison, Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé, Usher, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, etc.) Because groove don’t lie and groove don’t die!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hey everyone, Jerry Brown here on the Grooved Online Podcast. Get ready. For episode number two. What a lovely GinoCon stack. Yeah. On the Grooved Online Podcast. Enjoy. If I may say there should there could be. I could envision a documentary about you. Because you were obviously such a badass coming up in school and you may not have thought about it then, but you were grateful and you had your spirituality. And now to come to this point where it's like uh it's there's something that's physical and as you didn't you don't you didn't freak out you but you realize okay I I need to go in another direction and that's you you've done that I I would think that a lot of people would not be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

You know, they they they you know just kind of you know going downhill and things like that, but no, you you you know you uplifted you you you went up it's like okay there's another there there's another opportunity there's a there's another door you didn't you did not close yourself off that absolutely true um and I think the reason that is is because going back to when I was a tiny child I love music I love music huh right right okay but um I just love music and I had a choice to um let this thing um take my joy away or do I use that I almost feel like it's a positive in a way because I feel like I've grown in other ways I think spiritually I've grown I think musically I've grown um you know yeah because I had the choice of being destroyed or like you said going up so I chose to I chose to be I chose the positive route that that has a lot to do with your your spiritual background whatever it is that you're doing if it's meditation or or whatever yeah it's it's obviously very very strong and you've you know you've been on this journey you've seen you know you've these lessons and you're still you're still moving forward yeah and I plan on continuing and I also excuse me I'm also I remain open to like if something wants to another if another little door wants to like open over here that I haven't walked through that one yet you know I'm I'm open to another door if it opens for me oh that was cute but um I'm just open to it all you know life you know come on I mean I know there there are enough things to to try and pull you down but it's like I I I don't want to go I don't want to go that route so with the with the the the new music that you're you're writing you're producing where where does how's that obviously that's feeling mighty good how is what that obviously that's feeling really good might you possibly go you know uh do some touring behind that well if I was asked to tour I would go in a heartbeat the only major tour I was ever on which was not totally comfortable but was I sang background vocals with Philip Bailey in 1985 and um uh that's the only like major tour I was ever on but if something if somebody offered a tour I would go in a heartbeat um but I I I'm just hearing you know because I did download some of some of uh your most recent material it's like she should be Gina should be on like that those you know those uh jazz festivals and that happened you know spring summer wherever yeah you would actually be you would be a great fit I would love love love too and I think one thing that I'm not good at is um the business end of music I think I um I know how to do the creative part and then when it comes to some of the business stuff it's like oh I just can't it's hard to do all of it but if somebody were to offer me that it's like um when when do we leave you know I got my passport yeah I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready oh it's up to date oh oh yeah it's got a few years yeah do you still love touring not as much yeah but you you guys you get have the best of everything with uh Miss Boss Miss Boss Ross Miss Diana Ross right uh I can't you know maybe some things could be better but really there's no really no need to complain yeah however it's there's not when I get on stage you know there there's a thrill but how do you say this it's like maybe the the other twenty hours during the day that maybe when when I was younger you know say oh yeah you know you know and now being older not as much fun but fortunately there are some very good people great people on the tour that uh just you know like minded you know have a good great sense of humor and a spiritual background and that you know particularly with what's going on around us is very precious yeah you know it's like you know uh some crazy times that that that were yeah and and to and when we find our people when we find our people we gotta stay with our people we gotta hang close to our people am I right you are absolutely right you are absolutely right oh and uh considering what you know I'm I'm going a little bit into uh the horoscope of all these planets were lined up in Aries and Aries is like the very first sign and you know this situation hasn't happened in like it's been uh maybe two thousand years or something like that. And anyway yeah we need uh we need a change so anyway uh I I I am pursuing another avenue with uh that's kind of connected with with music um so and I've thought about I've thought about you on on a few of these projects or ideas so whatever it is I'll I'm there that would be that would be wonderful that would be wonderful and I will just you know no one I don't know if anybody will will understand this but when you when you held out that album and you talk about liner notes it's everything I mean that was that was you know that was everything it's like you wanted to know who was on there what studio this was done in how many days did it take that was like a that was like the Bible yeah I have a I have a excuse me still the voice thing but um I have a vinyl collection and um it is so precious to me because every one of them you know I have like 150 200 something like that but I don't know if that's a huge collection but it's my collection and every single time I open one up over however many decades I've had that vinyl I open it up take the sleeve out and read everything again um like with this it was like I had forgotten that you played on it like damn I'm gonna be talking to him soon that's so cool wait you used to live on Moore Park right in Woodman yes near Moore Park in Woodman yes you were on Moore Park okay do you remember I I mean I've been wanting to talk to you about those probably the early 90s you were there then right yes okay so do you remember who I used to be married to wait a minute oh good this is okay this is a test oh this is so funny because you guys were gonna work together and so he and I came over to your place on Moore Park because he was gonna give you a a book of music and you were gonna give him one and we hung out at your place for a bit okay okay so Brandon Fields yes I drive past there all the time I mean like literally for because I live just a little bit west of there every time I drive by I'm like Jerry Brown and then Jerry Brown Jerry Brown and this is you know 35 or something years ago oh my god oh and isn't that crazy that's crazy and the and I'm I'm thinking of when you mentioned that what came up is playing at the baked potato probably yeah and God rest his soul the gentleman who was there during the day Joe Brown I don't know if you remember him he would be there sometimes in the evening and kind of like a door man or whatever. Okay anyway magic times yeah so you guys worked together quite a bit you and Brandon I think you did definitely did some things together did you play in his band kind of played in his band and and uh who else was um David Garfield okay creechy creechy who was playing bass was it um was it jimmy johnson or john pena john pena yeah let's see who else did walt fowler play just a couple times okay just a couple of times but the uh again that that Fowler family oh so okay and this is going back to earlier when my parents went out and got my violin when I was 10 years old it was from the Fowlers my first violin was uh Tom Fowler bass player right and he passed away a few years ago unfortunately but um he had played violin for a bit and we knew we lived pretty close to the Fowlers I grew up with those guys um plus studying theory with Bill but um that's where my parents got my first violin was from the Fowlers so check out that's quite a connection isn't that amazing um was there anybody else there in in Salt Lake at that time well oh when I was 10 or or what college at at any time before you came to LA yeah you came to LA um well some of the people that came from other places um I don't know if you know who Tim May is he was a major session guitarist I heard the name I think yeah so he came from I think Cleveland I crazy if I'm right of and remember that Tim May a great guitar player um oh man there was a guy named George Sousa uh oh man there were so many people and I'm like spacing on those guys so I hope they forgive me um but the Fowlers were like kind of the cornerstone in the city of like the the jazz geniuses starting with Bill at the top and the mom bee Fowler was so cool and then from Bruce you know I since I'm you know they were Bruce Tom and Walt all played with Zappa like Walt was playing with Zappa when he was like 18 or 19 years old um yeah incredible and um and then there's Steve Fowler and Ed Fowler. So I grew up with like this the geniuses they were like you know and I think that family has you know I just have such deep feelings for them and um yeah and my first band I had when I moved to LA when I before I was making a living in the business so I was like I was had just turned 21 and I put this band together and it was both Walt Fowler and Tom Fowler were in my band along with Mike Miller. Did you ever yes I did yes okay he's no longer with us right and Mike was in my band Mike Mike was in Salt Lake as well for a while he came to Salt Lake um so those guys were in my band drummer was Sinclair Lott I don't know if he was yeah yeah so it was really a great band that I was singing and playing violin and we were doing all my music and we had just we were um rehearsing in my little apartment in Pasadena and um we had just gotten a gig um in uh what is that Woodland Hills or something? I don't remember what what the the venue was at the time because again it was a long time ago. So I had taken it but then I got I think maybe it was the Lalo Schiffrin call from the service and I and I started feeling like you know I had already started doing I think records were going to start soon or something and I just started feeling like I needed to choose between the singer songwriter version of me or the violin session player. And um I didn't feel like I could do both of them on the level that they needed to be done. And so by the time I was 22 I made the choice to be the the session player. Even though I continued writing I started writing like when I was you know 19 but um but I decided to be a session player and let kind of let the band thing go until kind of you know like 13 years ago I started doing some gigs every now and then that was a wise decision. Yeah I mean I well sometimes I wonder though I mean I sometimes I wonder yes that was has been an amazing violin career but sometimes I wonder what would have happened had I kept the band together when I was 21 and kept doing that that could have maybe worked out too but but no regrets as long as there's no regrets that's no regrets you know that song right yes yes somebody knew no regret yeah by the way you know just thinking of you know that people say oh yeah I mean you know New York and Detroit and Chicago and Memphis and Nashville and you know but you don't hear too many people talk about Salt Lake City but I'll say like in Philadelphia y'all had it going on we did we did and when during the college years we um we went on we played the Monterey Jazz Festival we which as a college band we did some little tours and we played the Monterey Jazz Festival one year um we came out to LA and played um do you remember Dante's the jazz club on Linkersham? We played Dante's that was a cool place yes it was we played um McCormick Place in Chicago and I was Oliver Nelson's concertmaster when I was like 19 no I was probably 20 when I was 20 years old at the Kennedy Center it was we were playing a piece by Oliver called the Kennedy Dream I think I think that's what it was called and it was like a you know a little orchestra and I was put in the concert master chair and there were all these great players from DC right that and I'm just this College kid. And um they were so welcoming to me. And and I did, I did, you know, I I thought it was weird that I was being put in the first chair a little bit, but it went well, and everybody was really cool to me. So that's another thing that it's like, how did that even happen? And to have like Oliver Nelson literally like right there and working with him so closely.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

That has everything to do with your vibration and frequency.

unknown 22:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

That does.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

I recognize that.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Thank you. I know you do.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

It takes one to know one. That's vibration and frequency. You were, you know, people, you know, people saying now, you know, oh yeah, yeah, you have to get in alignment. You have to get in alignment. Well, your story is that, yeah, you've been aligned for a long time.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

I think since the beginning.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

You know, from the beginning. You were in alignment.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

And you were surrounded by people who were in alignment. And you were just You were being led. Being led. You didn't you didn't make you didn't recognize it, but now looking back, it's like, man. I was walking, you were walking a path that uh very few people. But but but it's because you're in alignment.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Yeah, and I don't take any like I said, I don't take any of it for granted. Um and and I want to stay in alignment too, regardless of everything that's going on around us.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

And as far as that's concerned, uh we can't control what happens around us, but we can control how we respond to it. Yeah. There you go. Gina. This has been this has been incredible. I know this will be two episodes. I I I I know this, and I will let you know when it comes out so that you can, you know, let your numerous contacts and it's like coming out. But anyway, uh truly, truly.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Back at you, man. It's so it's like it's good to see you after 35 years on Moore Park. I mean, I that doesn't surprise me, but that's where we that's where we met was through you guys, you and Brandon working together.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

It's been a it's been quite quite a ride, but we're still going.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

We are still going, and we will continue.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

We will continue. Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Gina Kronstadt. Gina, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Thank you so much, Jerry. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Jerry Brown here, and we want to thank Miss Gina Grandstad for appearing on the podcast. Incredible journey, impactful, compelling. Gina, you always have an invitation. Invitation is open for you at any time on the Groove Online Podcast. Everyone, hope to see you all soon. Bye.