South African born DAVID ALDO is set to release his solo album ‘David Aldo’ and it will include such memorable songs as Dance In The Rain, When You love Someone So Much, Grace and the classy single Just You. Aldo has enjoyed a stint as lead singer of the accomplished and horn-heavy Blood Sweat & Tears and so has plenty of road experience with top musicians. It seemed a good idea to ask whether he would like to feature in one of our ( customised) Twenty Questions items and happily we can now present his responses…..

 

 

  • It’s Christmas, what album would you have been pleased to receive ? and why ?

Christmas is the best time of the year for me and my family. Any Christmas music would be good. This year I think we enjoyed the Rod Stewart album.best

 

  • It’s Christmas, what album would you have quickly passed on to someone else / and why ?

I’ve never actually had to pass on a gifted album – even if it’s in a genre that I am not wild about. I keep it and listen to it .

 

  • Your single has touch of the Curtis Stigers about it – that’s a compliment – so what were you aiming at besides a cool song and arrangement ?

I write music that is true to me as an artist and songs that I am going to love….. and hopefully others too

 

  • When you write material do you reach for a guitar or head to the keyboard ?

I play guitar so I write mainly with the guitar. Sometimes I create a groove in the studio and work around that. I’ve written some songs on the piano, too

 

  • Name an instrumental sound that you find relaxes you ?

I’ve always loved the sound of the cello. I never put on music to relax me. Music is a form of work for me. If I hear music I’m dissecting the production !

 

  • Gene Page or Gene Vincent ?

Gene Page. I started off my career as a horn player and played in orchestras and can appreciate his contribution on the records he worked on

 

  • When with Blood Sweat & Tears, did you re-key any of the numbers ?

Yes, I re-keyed “And When I Die” down to the key of G and we also dropped “You Make Me so Very Happy’ down. I found I had more to offer the song when it was in a more comfortable key for me to sing. When we played with symphonies, I kept the songs in the original keys however

 

  • The song ‘Lucretia McEvil’ has a great relish to it, on delivery of the lines – how did you approach the performance of that ?

It was indeed a really fun song to sing and I performed that song very close to the original. In style

 

  • Likewise the insistent anguish of the fine ’I Can’t Quit Her’?

‘I Can’t Quit Her’ was probably one of the easier songs in the set for me to perform. I consider myself a soul singer and find it easy to convey emotion vocally. That was a popular song in the live shows when I sang it

 

  • What is your favourite film soundtrack? either custom written or a clutch of songs like ‘Pretty Woman’, say ?

‘Beverly Hills Cop’. I was hooked on the soundtrack as a kid growing up.

A more recent soundtrack would be, ‘Transformers’. I’m a Linkin Park fan

  • What is an ace guitar solo that we haven’t heard to death ?

Guitar solos are a dying trend in modern day music. However I really love listening to the way Steve Lukather plays his solos in ‘Toto’. He chooses amazing melodies

 

 

  • Do you ever sing duets with female vocalists ?

I sang one with Gammy winning artist Rebecca Lynn-Howard on this record.  The song is “You’re my Yesterday.”

 

  • Have you an favourite venue, anywhere ?

I like some of the older Theatre style venues, with cool architecture. We played at many such venues with Blood Sweat and Tears

 

14  Name your choice of a Temptations song

‘ My Girl’. Such a classic number…..

 

  • Do you record live with the instrumentation ? in the studio, that is

Yes. Most of what you hear is live. Some songs are recorded as a band playing from start to finish and some are layered. Layering is far harder and very time consuming. It’s easy to get stuck in this process and find yourself with weeks of time invested in a recording

  • What international influences have steeped in to your music, beside S African ? why would that be ?

Growing up in South Africa we were exposed mostly to music coming out of the UK . I used to love Bob Marley, Tears for Fears, Journey, Talking Heads and U2.

 

  • Which jazz performer has most impressed you and why ? where and when did you see them ?

I enjoyed seeing Al Jarreau. I saw him in the 90’s when he toured South Africa. I enjoyed his command of the stage and all aspects of his performance. I remember him stopping the show and telling the sound engineer to cut a certain frequency on his mic. This impressed me !

 

  • If you sang with Billy Joel, which song of his would you suggest ?

‘She’s Got A Way About Her.’

 

  • What guitar tunings do you favour ?

I only play with regular tuning

 

  • What is the best sequenced album in your collection ? any comments ?

Journey’s Greatest Hits. Steve Perry had a big influence on me vocally

 

For more artist info, head to www.davidaldo.com

 

 

Pete Sargeant

www.justistentothis.co.uk

 

Footnote : David Aldo has also let us have a Top Ten Blues choices run-through and we will be running this at later date. As for Steve Lukather…watch this space, we have spoken to Steve !