An Interview with Baltimore Jazz Musician Warren Wolf

When did you first start playing the vibraphone and who were some of your musical mentors growing up?

I first started playing the vibraphone at the young age of three. My dad, Warren Wolf Sr., was my primary teacher and my main mentor.

Was Jazz always your first passion?
I grew up in a household of music. I have two older sisters so I was definitely into the stuff they were listening to in the 80's such as New Edition, En Vogue, LL Cool J, Run DMC and others. I used to watch the movie Krush Groove a lot back then. My parents would play a lot of Motown around the house too. Being introduced to music, my dad exposed me to Motown, The Beatles, 70's funk, Anita Baker, Spyro Gyra, Yellowjackets and jazz artist such as Milt Jackson, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.

You went to the Peabody Preparatory Institute and the Berklee College of Music. What were those experiences like, and how have you grown as a musician during each chapter of your life?

Being at Peabody Prep was awesome. I was a really good classical musician. I honestly thought I'd have a career in classical music. I remember I was the principal timpanist for this group at Peabody called the "Peabody Sinfonia". Playing with that group for a few years gave me the chance to tour Europe twice. I remember going to London and Amsterdam. What I learned there was to play with control, classical harmony and basic composition. At the Baltimore School for the Arts, I studied with current BSO percussionist John Locke. I also remember I had to sing in the choir. It was required that all students in the BSFA Music Department sing in the choir. But the jazz playing was slowly coming up. The jazz teacher at BSFA at that time was David Stambler. He was great; he'd hire me gigs (on piano/keyboard) during the summers. High school was great.

As a musician, you’ve spent a lot of your life on the road. Do you have any good touring stories or favorite places/venues?
Some of my favorite places that I've been, that I absolutely love going back every time include Tokyo, Paris and London. I could actually live in those cities. I remember when I was last in Paris (2019) I was at the Eiffel Tower. The line was super long for the elevator so I decided to walk up to the top floor. Lol, luckily I work out a lot and I can easily hit 75+ minutes on the stairmaster at the gym so it was pretty easy.

What’s your creative process like? How do you write music and form melodies?

Nowadays, I kinda let songs come to me OR maybe I'll write for a particular story or person. I've composed many songs for my wife. There's a song I heard in this Will Smith movie (Seven Pounds) called "The Crisis". It's composed by Ennio Morricone. The score has a section that sounds like a mistake......but it's not. I remember my wife saying "that sounds horrible". Lol, but it's a beautiful song. So I decided to compose a really pretty ballad but with written in mistakes to confuse the listener.

In your video promo for your new record Reincarnation, you said that you strive to reach the “everyday person” with your sound. Tell us more about this goal and why it’s important to you

Jazz Music is among the hottest styles of music these days. I feel as though lots of jazz musicians are just trying to impress each other instead of the person who's actually coming to the shows. Any record I drop, especially Reincarnation, was aimed to just make people feel good without sitting back thinking and analyzing too much.

Between the two of us, we really like the songs “Sebastian and Zoe”, "Come and Dance with Me”, and “The Struggle” off Reincarnation. What do each of those songs mean to you, and are there specific experiences that inspired their creation?
Sebastian and Zoe, my two youngest children of five......I'm basically just telling the story of some of their first that they've done in life. It's my love story for them and telling them how much I love them. Come and Dance With Me.....this is composed for my wife. My wife is a retired ballerina. Sometimes I'd ask her to dance with me in a program that I have in mind, but she keeps telling me no. So I decided to compose this song hoping that she'll hear the song in concert one day and "Come and Dance With Me" on stage. The Struggle.....it's basically my song for members of my family that have been through very bad situations in life. My ex wife (mother of my older three kids) almost passed away from a tree falling on top of her car, trapping her inside, a cousin who's a Blood member was shot 15x and survived but had his leg amputated, another cousin was murdered after being shot 30x, uncle was murdered because a kid had a bad day, cousin lost his life in a car accident after falling asleep at the wheel; all of those events had affected family members but the song is about hope and recovery; we'll be ok, just take things one day at a time.

Regarding your recent Warren’s Christmas album, can you talk about your relationship to the different instruments - do you consider vibes your "main" instrument?
I consider vibes my main instrument but....I'm very much a drummer and pianist. Typically if someone calls for work, I always have to ask "which instrument am I playing?". It's all percussion for me. I just love to play.

You're also doing a lot with the "Logic Pro" instruments - was that a new experience?
Playing with Logic Pro X is great. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have been importing a lot of my favorite songs into Logic, just to give me different songs to play over; you know......I gotta keep my chops up. When recording "Christmas Vibes", I thought it would be cool to add more sounds on certain tracks. Like Mr. Grinch......I added a timpani sound in there, had to try and copy the original sounds of the cartoon.

You've overdubbed yourself on many of the songs, how did the sessions work - did you record the piano(s) first, then overdub the vibes?

I had a last minute change the night before the session. My pianist was really nervous about being around everyone in the studio so he backed out. So I decided to just play piano myself; my bassist (Jeff Reed) and drummer (CV Dashiell) knocked out 13 tracks in 1 day. We also managed to record all of the vocal tracks on day 1 except for my original song "Wake Up Little Kids, It's Christmas". On day 2, I went back in the studio and recorded all vibe parts, a few piano fixes, put down all Fender Rhodes, percussion and Logic sounds. Whew, I took a nice nap when I got home that night. I'm very satisfied with "Christmas Vibes".

On this album, there’s a cool mix of tunes - some expected, but others like "You're a mean one Mr Grinch" and the arrangement of Tchaikovsky added to the standard Christmas tunes. Can you talk about how you selected the tunes and how the arrangements came about?

I never was to mess with Christmas tunes too much. Just like "Reincarnation", I just wanted people to turn on the record with their families around, sit back and eat dinner/open up gifts etc......another goal was to make sure all tracks stay under 4:30 minutes so they could all get proper radio time. Again, with my wife as a retired ballerina, I used to watch her dance in The Nutcracker Suite during the first few years of our marriage. "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is a very recognizable song. But I wanted to keep the "Reincarnation" feel to that song so instead of performing it in the classical style, I put the smoove (lol, smooth) sound on it. I always like to keep certain elements of the original, in this case it's the solo piano section.

The John Lennon tune, Happy Xmas (War is Over) is a nice, unusual pick - how did that come about?
I absolutely love Happy Xmas (War Is Over). You know, the song really has nothing to do with Christmas. It's actually a protest song against the Vietnam War, which was released in 1971. But it's one of those joyful Christmas songs that you'll always hear every single year. With this song, I decided to make it a bit more "pop-ish". Allison Bordlemay did a wonderful job singing this song. It's my favorite song on the entire record.

You assembled a great team for your Warren’s Christmas album? Who did you work with and what was it like working with that group of people? Any good stories?

Courtesy of the Artist

The man behind the recording board is Jeff Gruber of Blue House Studios. Jeff also recorded "Reincarnation". The album is full of DMV (DC, MD, VA) artists except for Allison, who's from outside of York, PA in a small town called Camp Hill, PA. Jeff Reed, bass, is from Baltimore. CV, drums, is from North Carolina but he's been living in Bowie for many years. His sister Christie Dahiell lives outside of DC & Micah Smith is from Baltimore. There's sooooo many great artist in the world, it's important to keep spreading the love to other people. I've never been that person to use the same musicians that everybody else has on their recordings.

What have your learned during Covid?
Besides wearing your mask, washing your hands and staying safe......I've learned to never take the musicians life for granted. This is a gift from God. So many of my brothers and sisters in the music business are struggling REALLY bad. I've never stopped performing and practicing ever since the first shutdown. "Christmas Vibes" was recorded two weeks after the shutdown (wearing a mask wasn;t even thought of back then, it was more everybody just stay 6ft from each other). We all as musicians miss the stage and traveling. I'm learning that the people need and miss us musicians because we give them a sense of normalcy.

When you’re not playing or listening to music, what other stuff do you like to do?

I'm very much a homebody. I'm pretty much with my two youngest kids everyday. I teach virtually for the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory ofd Music. I'm also an avid runner and weight lifter. Gotta stay healthy during these times.

Who are your favorite musicians?

Some of my favorite musicians include Dennis Chambers, Butcher Brown, D'Angelo, 2Pac, Kiefer and Mint Condition. I also like Marvin Gaye, 90's hiphop and r&b. Jazz wise.....Charlie Parker, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock. Classical music......Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Holst.

What advice would you give to your younger self and younger, up-and-coming musicians (specifically jazz musicians)?
"Practice, listen, practice, listen, practice, listen, practice and listen as much as possible; play with badass musicians who'll kick your ass nightly on the bandstand in order to get better, seek out a mentor who'll guide you on the right path, listen to lots of records both old and current, be humble, don't be a know-it-all person.......and lastly, have fun and play!!!!!!!!"