Little Big Man

If the Parliament-Funkadelic’s
Mothership flew over “The Big Pink” and hit the boys in The Band with
the Bop Gun and funky-fied their vibe, you’d get an idea of what to
expect when you tune your ears to Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. That
comes as no surprise, as during a recent phone interview with The New Times,
Denson cited The Band as his favorite rock institution. And like Robbie
Robertson’s famed group, Denson’s collective can jump from boogaloo to
jazz to funk to gospel in a beat and there’s no one word or genre that
can exactly pin down their sound, which will fill the air on Tuesday,
Oct. 27, during a stop at the Westcott Theater.

In the album liner notes for Brother’s Keeper (Shanachie),
released in September, Denson states: “We who live in a free society
often forget about the concept of being free. . . Alongside the comfort
that freedom provides is the ability/tendency to isolate and
disconnect. It is my desire that this record be a reminder to all of us
that there are people with whom we share needs all around us.”

One thing’s for certain: When it comes
to listening to Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, it’ll be nearly impossible
to refrain from shaking your groove thing along with the person or
crowd you might be sharing that experience with as the music gyrates
inside your head and down through your arms and legs, which is exactly
how Denson intended it to be. “I’m very committed to dance music in
general and trying to get to the root of where it comes from,” he said.
“So that aspect is always there for me as a writer to make it somewhat
funky, if not purely funky.”

While the foundation of his
compositions are formed out of funk, there are textures between layers
of musical elements that have been dancing inside his head from
everything he’s heard since the 53-year-old first picked up the
saxophone in the seventh grade. When the time calls for it, Denson also
plays flute and sings. Citing diverse influences from the Rolling
Stones to Bjork to Sly and the Family Stone, he remarked that all the
music he’s absorbed is aesthetically released when playing. He’s also
composed the majority of his catalog and noted that the musical
arrangements of Wayne Shorter and Horace Silver have shaped his style
the most.

Although his music is tighter and more
structured than most bands associated with the jam-band scene, the
diverse grooves that resonate out of Denson’s music has caused that
particular crowd to welcome him with open arms. And while he believes
that categorizing Tiny Universe as a jam band may be a bit inaccurate,
he also said that his music might not be heard at all if it wasn’t for
that rap. 

“I think it maybe changes their
perception of what they hear a little bit and I think it can hurt in
some ways,” said Denson about such music labeling. “But as far as me
being affiliated with the jam-band scene, I think it was necessary
because I think this kind of music wouldn’t flourish otherwise. Without
those people who have become the ‘jam-ily,’ as we call them, this music
would probably be relegated to a much smaller corner in the world.” 

Denson first came on the scene in 1989
when he was asked by Lenny Kravitz to join his band. He was featured on
the flamboyant rocker’s LP debut Let Love Rule and also Kravitz’s 1991 platinum-selling breakthrough album Mama Said.
Then Denson branched off on his own and signed with German jazz label
Minor Music, which resulted in a four-album collaboration from 1992 to
1994 with legendary jazz bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack
DeJohnette, both ex-members of Miles Davis’ electric alumni that played
on the iconic trumpeter’s seminal 1969 effort Bitches Brew.

“When my record company at the time
asked me who I’d want to play with as a trio, those were the first guys
that came to mind,” Denson recalled. “And I was very doubtful that they
were going to pull it off and it was one of those situations where
you’re thinking, ‘I’m in a dream but I’m really here.’ Playing with
Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland was just a straight-ass whooping.
{Laughs.} I was definitely out of my league, but my compositions held
up and the record got very good reviews. But I came out of those
sessions feeling like, ‘Man, I just got beat up really bad.’”  

During that same time, Denson and DJ
Greyboy formed The Greyboy Allstars and recorded two albums with that
unit that would become the prototype for the acid jazz movement that
followed. The dance floor anthems and West Coast grooves sparked by the
band quickly earned them a devoted fan base. They toured with and
opened for eclectic rockers Ben Harper and Sublime, before Denson got
another itch to try something new again.

In 1999, Denson formed the Tiny
Universe, releasing their first album and embarking on a cross-country
tour. The 2002 sophomore album, The Bridge, featured renowned
guest musicians including trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Spearhead frontman
Michael Franti and Hammond B3 organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, and received
rave reviews from critics and fans alike.

The new Brother’s Keeper also
features a who’s-who of guest musicians, including Meshell Ndegeocello
on bass guitar, former Black Crowes lead guitarist Marc Ford and
Denson’s former Kravitz bandmate Kenneth Crouch on keyboard. The
personnel on the album differs slightly from Denson’s touring band,
which features bassists Ron Johnson and Chris Stillwell, Chris
Littlefield on trumpet, guitarist Brian Jordan, David Veith on
keyboards, and Chris Stillwell and John Staten on drums. Denson claimed
that he approaches studio recordings as stand-alone works without
thinking about how they will translate live, but is impressed with what
he has heard on the current tour. 

“I brought in the bigger names to fill
certain shoes {on the album} and then I went back to my normal band for
the tour,” said Denson. “With the record I did a lot of extra stuff
with strings and big horns and the record was really written so that
the vocals would stand out and the songs would work well. But I wasn’t
really thinking about what to do with it live when I made the record,
but it has translated well back over into the live setting.”

Before recording Brother’s Keeper,
Denson spent last summer in a reunion of sorts with Kravitz, joining
him for a summer-long tour across Europe. Before that, it had been
several years since Denson last worked with the “Are You Gonna Go My
Way” rocker, and there really wasn’t much contact between the two.
“He’s a hard guy to catch up with,” said Denson. “Lenny catches up with
you when he wants to talk to you. {Laughs.}.”

Denson said that being on the big stage
is gainful in the sense that he gets to visit a lot of places he might
not be able to otherwise. Yet he prefers being in his Tiny Universe,
doing his own thing. “For me, what I do with the Tiny Universe is much
more rewarding because it’s my musical statement,” Denson elaborated.
“Just trying to get people to get the same enjoyment that I get out of
playing the music when they’re hearing the music.”