Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
We are reshaping or challenging prevailing perspectives on current events. "Change The Narrative" reflects an intention to not only inform but also inspire listeners to engage with current events thoughtfully and proactively.
Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NV studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Dave
Rico White 0:30
and welcome to another show that's going to be happening today. And basically, you know what? I always say, that we're reshaping or challenging prevailing perspectives on current events change the narrative reflects the intention to not only inform but also inspire listeners to engage with current events thoughtfully and proactively. Today, we are joined with a special guest. As you know, I'm with my my host, and her name is Sarah Fernandez, that's right. And we got a special guest today. It's RJ, which is Reginald Johnson, is a multi talented musician who toured with boys to men as the keyboardist and musical director, as well as many other big names in addition to his own band. RJ and the assignment, RJ, go ahead and introduce yourself, baby.
RJ 1:24
Hello, hello. My name is RJ from Chicago originally, yeah. I moved to Vegas in oh eight. I had to get away from the code. It took me a while to settle in in Chicago. I never actually got used to the code. I had to get away from
Rico White 1:41
and when, and when, 2008
RJ 1:44
Yes, I was literally shoveling snow in January, 2008 and I said, I'm leaving this place. June, 2008 I was here. Oh, my God,
Rico White 1:54
cuz, yeah, Chicago ain't no joke. But go ahead. I didn't mean
RJ 1:57
to interrupt you. No, that's and then, you know, just grew up in Chicago, of course, with doing started off with gospel music. So I grew up in the church, yep, and that's where, you know, a lot of musicians got their start. You got to start
Rico White 2:12
earlier than that, though, because, if I'm not mistaken, you had an uncle that you got started with, and you had a piano that you weren't supposed to touch. Yeah, well, and you know you that was kind of tinkered with it.
RJ 2:26
Yes, that was at age 10. I thought it was 13. No, that I started. I started. I got my own keyboard when I was around 13, or started playing at church when I was 13. So when I was 10, my uncle had a piano that he did not allow anyone to touch except for me, because he saw that I had a genuine interest in it, right? The next Christmas, that following Christmas, my father got me a keyboard, a Casio Cael, CT, 363 60. So. And then, you know, about two, two years later, I started playing in my church. Wasn't very good at all, right, right? Because you
Rico White 3:05
played, you memorized one song, if I'm not mistaken, the very first.
RJ 3:08
Go ahead. The very first song was caught up in the rapture. Anita Baker, that was my very first
Rico White 3:15
song, and that's the one you memorized.
RJ 3:17
That's the one I remember. Look at that.
Rico White 3:18
How do I know that? Okay, go ahead. So, no, that was
RJ 3:26
so that was my beginning. And of course, that was, you know, like early 90s, where we had the, you know, that was the age of the CDs. So I had the double cassette player, tape player, and that's how I would learn songs. I would, you know, play it and then rewind it back. Yeah, listen again. So that's that was, you know, it's not like today, you know, like people, a lot of the, you know, the the younger generation, they don't, you know, understand what we had to go through, you know, learning music. It wasn't like, you know, now, everything is instant, right, you know, but back then, you know, it was, you know, tape players, and, you know, I had to fast forward and, you know, rewind, fast forward, wine.
Sarah Fernandez 4:14
So don't let that tape break. You gotta put it together. Put a clear piece of tape.
Rico White 4:22
Do we? Do we get to call you doctor yet?
RJ 4:24
Not yet. Yes, close. So just as of December 27 Oh yes, DMA, yes, alrighty, that's what's up.
Rico White 4:33
Yes, and your true background is in classical.
RJ 4:37
No, my true background actually is gospel, but my first few years of school in Chicago was classical because I wasn't necessarily interested in classical music, but I wanted to know about it, because it was something that was challenging to me. I didn't I had no information about it. I had no knowledge of it, but I wanted to study. Something that would help me grow. So a study classical. I went to a school called St Xavier in Chicago, private Catholic school. So I went there for three years, and then that third year, so I started there in oh five. So that third year is when I was shoveling the snow. And I was literally three years into the program, but I just couldn't take anymore, so I transferred my last year here, contacted Dave Loeb here, and I actually sent out three emails. So I sent one out to UNLV, one to USC, one to UCLA, okay, and Dave Loeb here at UNLV, like immediately responded to me because I put down my background and everything, and that that time I didn't know how to read music. So, yeah, I didn't know how to read music. I was learning how to read music while in school studying classical, but I was taking, like, lessons and everything on the side, so they kind of let me in school with based off of my experience, so it wasn't anything like really formal, like an audition or anything. So okay, that was the classical part. And then when I got here, Dave just took me and embraced me and switched from classical to jazz. So I did the undergrad, finished that up, got my Master's in jazz, and 15 years later, I'm back in school. Doctors okay
Rico White 6:25
to learn that Every Good Boy Deserves.
Rico White 6:35
So, yeah, okay, and we're not going to make this all about boys to men. We're going to talk about a little bit of everything sounds and then, then we gonna get back into boys demand, Okay, sounds good? Because that's, that's important, yeah? Because that's, that's lots of people want to know, Yeah, about that. I mean, that was a
RJ 6:52
big part of my life. Okay, so what
Rico White 6:55
initially drew you to music, and how did you develop your skills as a pianist and musical director?
RJ 7:00
So I learned at an early age that I had a perfect pitch, really, yes,
Rico White 7:07
I learned at an early age. So What note is this? D major, yes, okay, down a half step. That's just C sharp,
Rico White 7:19
trying to make up stuff. But go ahead. Go ahead. I'm a hot mess all the time.
RJ 7:27
Yeah. So I learned at an early age that perfect pitch, and I had a cold, and I couldn't hear out of one side of my ear for a while, and I had a Nintendo game, and so I was noticing that while I had my cold, the music didn't sound the same because, and that was because I had, you know, it was my ear, and from there on, just realized how sensitive my ear was, and so I knew that I could hear, you know, music inside my head without even, you know, sitting at the piano. Oh, wow, yeah.
Rico White 7:58
So okay, how would you describe your musical style and what influences have shaped your approach to music?
RJ 8:07
Too many to name. So I grew up gospel, so that's just natural. I think that in gospel music, it's such a cluster and hybrid of so many other genres, blues, R, B, jazz, so just everything, you know, it's just like a hybrid of so many different genres. So that's what I never like to say, that I play this way, because think I can adapt to pretty much any style. And then when I play, I don't necessarily consider it a style, you know. People may say, you know. Some people say, Hey, you sound, you know, very churchy. Some people say you sound jazzy, you know. So some people say you have a nice R, B vibe or, you know. So I think it's just like a collab of just all of those different genres and styles, styles mixed into one. Okay, yeah,
Sarah Fernandez 9:03
what is your creative process look like when you're arranging your music for your performances?
RJ 9:08
So it depends on the performance. It depends on if it's like a three piece, a small setting, if it's, you know, like just me and a vocalist, if it's like a rhythm section, which would be, you know, me on keys, a drummer, bass player, guitarist, with the vocalist. Or if it's like a big band, a big ensemble or an orchestra. So it depends on if I have to arrange something, or if I'm just making up a song. So I hear it in my head, you know. So it starts from there. And typically, you know, if I'm writing a song, I know a lot of people, they do words first and then music later, but I always do music first and then words after. Now, you did say that
Sarah Fernandez 9:55
when you have to make up a song in your head, have you had to do that on the spot? A couple times?
RJ 9:58
I've had inch. First, you would not believe I've had to do that ton of times, and it's something that I think a lot a lot of musicians do, where we just, you know, just create a they call it a flow, and we just do that. But even I've been on sets before where, you know, we have, like, maybe five or 10 minutes left and we're like, hey, let's just make something up. Yeah. So that just happens a lot, and a lot of times those turn out to be like some of the real gems, spontaneous, yeah,
Rico White 10:30
go ahead. No, no, no, because I was remembering, if I'm not mistaken, like sometimes when you're doing some gigs, people are asking you to play something that wasn't in your repertoire. Oh, yeah. And that happens quite often, and more often than not, and so you got to kind of, kind of come up with something and, but people don't know if you're hitting the wrong notes or not, you know, yeah, you know,
RJ 10:53
that's something that we joke about because, you know, like messing up. That's just part of, you know, a playing. And you know, if you keep a straight face, nobody will know.
Rico White 11:03
Nobody knows, that's right.
Sarah Fernandez 11:05
So what is one of your most memorable performances?
RJ 11:08
Ooh, one of my most memorable performances? I have a few of them, but I know one would be performing at the Hollywood Bowl with Boys to Men, okay? And there's a young man named Julian Tanaka. He was part of my band. He's a saxophonist, and he helped me arrange parts for an orchestra, because that performance was with 52 piece orchestra share rhythm section, so we collabed on it together, you know, laid down a foundation, and he took it and ran with it, and, you know, did his arrangements on it. And that to me, it was just, you know, that was just good to see all of that come to fruition. Yeah, okay,
Rico White 11:55
what else we got going on? Because I heard you mentioned Boys to Men. Can you share your experience working with boys and men and and what you find most rewarding about being your
RJ 12:06
musical director? Yeah, so, so that started, I want to say 2012 or something, all the way up until I resigned last March. March 2025, I didn't start off as the music director. I kind of came in I had two weeks to learn the whole show, and learned it, and from there on, progressed and graduated to them, trusting me with the music and being the music director. But it was a good experience. It to me, because I play with a lot of people, and I grew up in church. I've been put on the spot a lot, so it's like a natural thing to me, you know. But their setting was a little more relaxed to me, because the music was already, you know, it's a show. It's not like, you know, when I do a gig with my band where it's all in, you know, a lot of it's impromptu, and we're going to make this up, we're going to make that up, and we're going to read the crowd to see what we're going to do. They have a show where every show it's we're going to do the same thing. So it's a little more relaxed, not a lot of pressure. But it did, no, go ahead. Go ahead. Yes, but it did. There were a lot of opportunities. I did get to travel around. A lot traveled six of the seven continents. You know, with them, there were times where, because we do a lot of electronic things, as far as programming in the background, a lot of people don't see a lot of times things went wrong. And we have these, what we call talkback mics, where I get to talk to the band, and, you know, sometimes things go wrong and have to say, hey, let's do this, let's do that, or we may be doing a show, and we were like, Hey, we have five more minutes. We have to stretch the song. And they're doing their farewell, you know, goodbyes and, you know, so we have to, you know, develop like an, what we call an outro. So I'll give them notes, and I'm like, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that, you know, hit this, hit this, this note. And so I've done that right on the spot. And the guys that are on that, you know, gig, they're very capable and very professional musicians, so they can just adapt to like that, you know. So, but so it's been fun. It was a fun ride.
Rico White 14:21
Were you before you became the director? You were working with big dog, Chris, Chris Davis, who was the musical director prior to you? No, no.
RJ 14:33
So the music director before I was there was a guy named Rex, and he was in LA, so them coming here, moving here to doing the show. Okay, yeah. So they did the show here in at mirage. So they didn't have a music director then, so that's how I became, okay, direct.
Rico White 14:55
Oh, when, oh, when they made the move, yeah.
RJ 14:57
So they will, they, they got their residency here. So. They were just touring, kind of touring around. They weren't at a, you know, one place all the time, so they didn't have a residency before that. Okay, yeah, all right.
Rico White 15:09
What else? What's, what's, what's your creative process look like when you're arranging music for performances?
RJ 15:18
So kind of depends. But again, I hear the music in my head so and I kind of, I try to get an idea of who's performing. Because when I do arrange, when I do write, I like to write according to the musicians that I'm
Rico White 15:36
playing with. You ever have to read the room? Because, you know, sometimes, even though you come up with the plan, the room ain't responding to what you're doing.
RJ 15:44
Yes, and it's the players that I usually, that I normally pick to play with me are usually guys who can adjust on the fly. Oh, okay, so if there's a change that needs to be made, we can just do it on the fly like that. So, but, you know, just arranging, I kind of try to have an idea of the crowd that we're performing for, or the audience that we're, you know, trying to reach. And so that's how that goes into play. So a lot of, one thing I struggle with is I always, I, at one point, when I first started, I was just playing and arranging things the way that I wanted to hear that, but I had to. So I had to be mindful of who I was trying to reach. So and then I became a little more free, because I know that, you know, you're not going to please everybody you know, every you know. So I my process now is to do a little bit of everything. So some you know, even if it's only one song you may like, you'll find something that I do that you'll like. Okay, so yeah,
Rico White 16:46
let me ask this question too real quick. This is all in your earlier days. Didn't you go to Japan or something?
RJ 16:53
Yeah, I want to, yeah, yeah. I've been to Japan, actually several times, right, right? Yeah, yeah. I've been there. And there was a the funny thing about that, there was a young lady who she won the well, she now she didn't win. She was a finalist on American Idol, and she had a residency over in Tokyo. And while we were on tour, she was over that performance. So I took the band over there, we met up with her, and we saw her show and performed while we were over there. So ah, yeah, that was pretty fun, because I hadn't seen she was over there for like, a little over a year. Caught up with her over there, so it was nice to see her. Name was Amanda, okay,
Sarah Fernandez 17:37
so what are some of the challenges you faced in your career, particularly in your role as a music director. And you know, just in dealing with everybody, like you said earlier, you have different personalities. You got people that like it, don't like it. So you try to adapt in the middle. What are your biggest challenges?
RJ 17:55
The biggest challenges are when people are indecisive. So a lot of times
Rico White 18:01
when you say people who we talk about the band,
RJ 18:03
are you talking about? Not the band, the band, the band is the my band, the band is great, like, I've been fortunate and blessed to really work with some amazing cats. It's not them. It's the people that a lot of times hire us, or the people that we're our clients. As we like to say, We don't like to say bosses, and we like to say our clients. So whether they're celebrities, you know, they, you know, a lot of them, you know, we there have been issues
Sarah Fernandez 18:34
creative differences or just issue issue,
RJ 18:38
well, a lot of people because they're famous, or because they have certain status that place, they feel that, they feel that it places them at a level where they know a lot of things, where they may not be as educated in a certain areas. They think that they are Gotcha. So, you know, it'll be like me, you know, if you know, I'm playing a doctor on TV, and then I go to a real doctor and I say, you know, you know, tell him what he's doing wrong, you know, on the table. So it's kind of like that. I mean, it's like, you know, I'm not saying I know everything, but there's some things that I'm pretty certain about, you know, with music, and if I'm being told something different, you know,
Sarah Fernandez 19:24
okay, do you have any upcoming projects or collaborations?
RJ 19:29
The Oh, no, not at this time, because I'm looking forward to finishing school. So once I finish school, then yes, as soon as I finish school, then yes,
Rico White 19:40
if I'm not mistaken, one of your your things you don't like, if I, if I say it like this, maybe this the business of music, like the actual music business itself. That's not like a great friend of yours, you know? I mean, I'm not. Say that it's a bad thing,
RJ 20:01
yeah, but I don't, and I think that's the thing with most musicians. We definitely think that it should, you know, the business of music should be handled a different way. I mean, just to give you an example, just here in Vegas alone, like you can talk to some musicians who've been around for 3040, years, and a lot of the rates that people attempt to pay musicians are still what they were paying 2030, years ago. That's not everywhere, but that's a majority of places. Okay? So you have people who are asking for, you know, a lot of work, but only willing to pay
Rico White 20:39
a little bit of money, yeah, a little bit,
Rico White 20:41
so keep the 100
Rico White 20:42
Yeah, they ain't paying you. Yeah, so,
RJ 20:45
and that's not to say that's everybody, but that's majority, sadly, yeah.
Sarah Fernandez 20:51
All right, I got a quick question for you. What advice would you give to young musicians expired to work in the music industries, particularly music directors or pianist?
RJ 21:01
I would say, know your Avenue. Know where you want to go, because the spectrum of music is so broad. So it you know, you could be doing jazz, you could be doing R, B, you could be doing pop, you could be doing classical. So I would say, whatever role that they're trying to take, you know, do your research and see what the you know, the median income is, or what places would be available, you know, for them to work at, or if they have connections. Because in this business, it's all about who you know and connections. It's not about how good you are. You know. Most people that I know that are on tours right now, it's not because they went and auditioned and the artist said, wow, you're great, you're higher. It's because somebody said, Hey, this is my guy. This is my girl. I want to pull them in, you know, and they just show up. And so it's about knowing people. So I would say, develop relationships. You know, always good to meet people. I'm gonna ask that because you said,
Sarah Fernandez 22:03
your clients, they require a lot of work, but they don't require paying you as much as you're worth. And some kids or young adults might think that going into this, it's going to automatically make them rich new.
RJ 22:15
No, you can say that again. Well, a lot of people, you know, they when I was, you know, I play with, you know, with boys to boys to man for over a decade. And they kind of try to equate playing with boys to men to being rich. And it's like no number one. They're like, these guys. I mean, they're amazing, you know, but this is, they're from the 90s, so it doesn't add up to today. Like working with a, you know, Drake, or, you know, Bruno Mars or something, and even them, you know, like the artists are who get the money, you know, like the band is hired help, you know. So that's true, you know. So it looks good, you know, but sounds good too. It looks good, sounds good, but the pay all the time is not, you know, like, you know, you don't necessarily, a lot of times see musicians driving what they drive, or living in the type of houses that the artists live in, you know. So, and that's with anything. It's like, you know, with any franchises, if you know, if it's an owner, you know, of McDonald's or Burger King or something, the workers aren't going to get what they get, you know. So it's the same way we're working with the hardest we don't get what they get.
Sarah Fernandez 23:25
It's hard work, right? It's not easy. I'm gonna
RJ 23:29
go, you know? The thing is, you know, and I like, I like to tell a lot of you know musicians, and even you know, young and up and coming musicians like playing the music. That's the easy part, you know. That's the part we can all do in our sleep. It's you know, time management. It's you know, learning. You know personalities and you know, knowing when they're having a good day, when they're having a bad day, you know, being on time, you know. So not being you know, missing flights, you know, because that happens, you know. And it's happened, you know. It's happened to all of us. I've done it before, you know. But in the you know, I would say in the decade, the 12 years that I've been with them, this probably happened, maybe twice, maybe, you know, that
Rico White 24:13
doesn't delay the show, though.
RJ 24:14
No, the show must go on. I've never been late to a point where I've delayed a show, anything like that. That would not have been good,
Rico White 24:22
not at all. All right, here's a here's a question, because I think I heard you talk about this before, but how has, or how do you think technology has changed the landscape of music, production and performance, because now you just push a button. You don't even gotta play drums anymore. Yeah, just hit the button.
RJ 24:41
I think it's, it's a blessing and a curse at the same time, because it's definitely something that's useful, but it's something that is abused. And when I say useful, it's useful in a sense, where things are a lot easier now, where we don't have to do at. As much, or we can have access to, you know, if I'm looking for keyboard sounds on, you know, on my computer, you know, I can find them easily. And I have, like, you know, if I want to, you know, I don't have, you know, they may not have a budget for string players. And they say I have to play strings or something, so I want to get something that's, you know, sounds just like real string players. So they have all this technology now where can do that, but at the same time, you know you have the, you know, AI. And I think AI is great, but again, if you don't abuse it, you know you have AI, who, you know that who you know is literally AI is literally replacing, you know, bodies. You know it's literally replacing musicians. And it's taking work out of there, you know, you know, their hands. And it kind of reminds me, you know, of the scene in The Wedding Singer, when John Levis was like, well, see if your DJ can move like this, or she said something, but it's like, I'm trying to say like, you know, see if your AI can do this, you know. So it's like, you know, but yeah, it is. And you know, it's, I think it's great to use as an assistant, or just, you know, but not to totally rely on it. Some people are just pressing buttons, not doing anything, and just letting that do everything for them. Who don't have a clue about music. You know music at all, you know.
Sarah Fernandez 26:24
So, okay, do you have a favorite piece of music?
RJ 26:28
That's a tough question I have, you know. So, Prince is my favorite artist, all right? Mine too. Yeah, definitely one of them, yeah, but, but I would say, and it's not because I know all of his music. He has so much music, I think it's just impossible to know all of it, but just the way that he approaches performances, he commands the stage. And when Prince takes a solo, even if it's not the greatest, just how he commands and how you know his his confidence it, you know, even when I was, you know, young growing up, my I remember, you know, my brother took me to see purple rain, and we had the album before the movie, so I kind of knew what was happening. But just to see him on stage, I was, man, this dude is amazing, you know. So that's, he's definitely one of my tops. But, you know, like jazz, I have, you know, a lot of different pianists that I love Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick career, those are probably my top three favorites. Okay, yeah.
Sarah Fernandez 27:26
Well, what's your favorite one to perform? Because you got to have one.
RJ 27:29
Yeah, you know. So I think it's hard. So I love, because I grew up in church, I love, I love doing church, and I love having that every Sunday or coming and I do church, you know, just like, you know, paying homage, because that's where I come from. Do you have
Rico White 27:49
a favorite gospel group?
RJ 27:52
I don't know, you know, I mean, it could be older group. I tell you my favorite era of gospel and R and B, the 90s. So I was
Rico White 28:01
in the 90s from gospel.
RJ 28:02
So you have, that was late Winans, late commission. Commission, they were kind of old. Commission, they were kind of like late 80s. And then you had John P key, had Hezekiah Walker. Walker had the Tommy's. You had Ricky Dillard, yep. And he had this guy from Chicago that I play with Lonnie Hunter, you know. So all of those. And just like in the 90s, growing up, you know, Chicago, like every Sunday, you know, it was just like a concert, you know. And I missed that, you know,
Sarah Fernandez 28:35
I still didn't get my answer.
RJ 28:37
So my favorite, my favorite to play, I would say, is probably a cross between when I have to do R, B and jazz. So yeah, those are my favorites.
Rico White 28:47
Okay, well, it looks like we've come to the end of another wonderful, wonderful show. We would love to have you back. I would love to and because we got a lot more to talk about and but again, this is I'm Rico white, your host with the most that was corny, but anyway, and and I'm here with my co host, Sarah Fernandez, and with our special guest, RJ, all Right, thank you. And have a wonderful, wonderful morning. You. You.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai