Meet Darrelle: Arranger and Hype Man

 I recently had the opportunity to sit down with each of the guys from DMS and talk about their history with music and how that's translated into the music they make today. I asked each of the guys the same set of questions and let them just run away with the conversation. Thank goodness for Zoom and the ability to record, so I could gather it all. It was great to get to know them a little better and see how their different approaches and personalities contribute to their music!

To meet Darrelle is to feel an infectious energy that is both creative and positive. I called him the hype man in the title of this post because he is just that. If you ask him about his Forrest and Kenny, he has nothing but positive praise for both of them. He has this way of making you believe in yourself and what you are capable of because he truly believes in himself and his abilities. He doesn’t want anyone to feel left out. A random, passing conversation with Darrelle about the phenomenon of Hamilton triggered the domino effect that led to me getting to know, working with, and truly appreciating the friendship and creative genius that is Dynamic Media Services. That conversation was the first step to this blog existing and the amazing work that is yet to come! So without further ado, let me introduce you to Darrelle Kennedy.

Darrelle was born into an extremely talented family in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His mother performed and won at The Apollo when she was just 18 years old. His eldest brother, and the one Darrelle describes as the most talented of the family, performed for the Metropolitan Opera. Another brother was a renowned actor best known for his performance in the movie Glory. He shared that his brother Thomas, a former police officer, also has an amazing singing voice that he kept under wraps for years (hopefully, he’ll have some great music to share in the near future). So what does an 8 year old kid who comes from this amazing pool of talent and feels distant from his public school peers do? He grabs an instrument bigger than himself and plays his way into the North Carolina School of the Arts in 7th grade. He wanted to follow in his big brothers footsteps, never mind the fact that they went there for college. He knew that he had to be at least as good as the best musicians coming out of the School of the Arts, so he spent all his free time practicing. He talked about his dad having to pick him up from school and the neck of his bass hanging out the car window, just so he could practice at home. By the time Darrelle was ready to graduate high school at age 16, he had been offered a scholarship to Howard University to play in their elite Jazz Band where he learned from and played with such greats as Michael Bearden, Tim Warfield, and Wynton Marsalis. He speaks fondly of his time at Howard.

At the end of his second year at Howard, Darrelle's father fell ill, and Darrelle came home to Winston-Salem. After his father's passing, he went to his hometown HBCU, Winston-Salem State University, and asked Dr. Tanner for a spot on the Jazz Band, which is how he met the crew: Abdullah Rahman (Drummer), Charles Turner (Trombone), Forrest McFeeters (Trumpet), and Kenny Harris (Trombone). Not only did they play gigs together around town, they also did some touring. Winston-Salem is known as the City of the Arts, and he remembers going downtown to see live shows with his guys, including the YellowJackets. With an air of excitement, he recalled being blown away by how close their live sound was to their recordings. During that time, he said he took a commercial music course and decided that he wanted to branch out from the classical and jazz scenes. He, Forrest, and Kenny formed their group and became known as Art of Progression Productions, Art Pro, for short. They started recording songs at some guy's house. He even talked about a time that he and Forrest traveled to New York to try and get a record deal, but that is such a great story it deserves its own space! When I asked Darrelle what his favorite song of theirs is, he immediately responded with the song that was created on that trip, "Make It Funky for Me." He picked that song, he said, because of its inception and how it encompasses everything they've gone through in trying to make it in the music business. With a smile, he recounted the conversation between him and Forrest talking about they needed to write a song about the city. The song is so much fun and definitely gives the feel of late 80s-early 90s New York dance feel with its dance beat, chord progressions, and strong line. I keep trying to talk them into releasing it, so hopefully everyone will get to hear it soon!

When I asked Darrelle about his musical influences and the DMS creative process, he had a lot to say. Darrelle has an eclectic playlist. His early influences were the Jackson 5, the BeeGees, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Chicago, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gay, and Sly and the Family Stone. His favorite decade of music is still the 1970s, with Disco being one of his favorite genres. He describes Disco as a Soulful Symphony that uses nearly all of the instruments, strings, brass, and electric instruments. And if you're ever lucky enough to be around when he's listening to Disco, you will see him air play all of those instruments at once. Kenny and Forrest both agreed that Darrelle is the one of them who continues to watch the evolution of music, finding useful elements in contemporary pieces the others would not know existed. Darrelle is emphatic that "music is always going to change" and he looks for ways to keep the influence of the music they've always loved and adapt it to what is current. He says his focus is to maintain their core sound and find that commercial spark. He calls himself an ideas guy and states that lyrics need a melodic feel that tells a story without being overly complicated. That's one of the things he loves best about Forrest's lyrics; there is a story he can visualize. 

The last thing we talked about was his thoughts on the music business and the trajectory for DMS. He stated that where he is now in life, in his 50s, he understands that the business has changed and that they need to branch out into other musical ventures. He is all in and believes they can take the music all the way. He says the struggle they are having is adapting, but if they can bridge the gap between their core sounds and musical prowess with what is popular now and finding additional ventures, they'll be unstoppable. He also told me that he truly believes the forthcoming musical, Storyville: A BlueBook Chronicle, will be the best showcase for their music because all of the songs are original and a demonstration of their full catalog. I can't wait for him to be proven right because what I've heard thus far is amazing!

Meet Forrest: The Man, The Machine

 I recently had the opportunity to sit down with each of the guys from DMS and talk about their history with music and how that's translated into the music they make today. I asked each of the guys the same set of questions and let them just run away with the conversation. Thank goodness for Zoom and the ability to record, so I could gather it all. It was great to get to know them a little better and see how their different approaches and personalities contribute to their music!

Before I start talking about Forrest's musical beginnings, I have to say that I laughed when they called him the machine, as if you provide the input and data and all these bells and whistles happen. In the last week or so, though, as we've discussed the score for the forthcoming musical, Storyville: A BlueBook Chronicle, I've gotten to see that machine first hand. Whether it was a vocal arrangement or a smooth transition, Forrest churns out brilliance. During our interview, he told me that he loves the technical aspect of music and how technology has evolved to support the development of music, and it is clear that The Machine is the perfect moniker.

Forrest McFeeters was born in the Bronx and grew up in the same projects where Afrika Bambaataa and Zulu Nation got their start. During the interview, Forrest talked about growing up through the birth of  Hip Hop and how the community building that happened within that process influenced him musically. When he moved to North Carolina in 1982, he brought a love for the genre with him. He stated that at that point, Hip Hop was his favorite genre and it was in meeting Kenny and Darrelle that he was introduced to, and grew to love, Jazz Fusion, Funk, and R&B. 

Forrest does not consider himself a musician, saying that he simply dabbled in trumpet in high school and college, enough to get him into the Marching Band where he first met Kenny in 1986. Music majors at WSSU had to be in one of the bands, so he played his role, but his real love and focus was on musical production for the technical side. Looking at his home setup, I'd say that love hasn't changed much.

After his first year, he moved into sound production with dreams of starting his own music label. Forrest said that he had so many ideas floating around in his head, so he started writing lyrics. It was shortly after that time he, Kenny, and Darrelle started creating music together and working on their sound. At that time, they were known as Art of Progressions Productions, though that was not the first name they were known under. Their first name was Lan O Prestor John Productions, though it didn't last very long. As you can tell, the guys of Dynamic Media Services enjoy a long, descriptive name.

Forrest gives much credit to his preferred style of musical sound to Luther Vandross. He loves the simplicity of his music and how it highlights and allows the lyrics to breathe. Forrest talked about dissecting the music he loves and looking at the decomposed parts for their individual brilliance and how they work together. He shared that working with Darrelle helped him create an ear for what was "good" musically, and so he has developed this database of what he would consider good (what works together) and bad (what doesn't). When it comes to creating music, Forrest says that he takes what Kenny composes and "cooks the ingredients." He starts by recording himself humming or scatting over the music, which then lays the natural foundation for lyrics. Once he has those two pieces, he adds beats that fit and other elements. 

I asked Forrest to tell my his favorite tune from their entire catalog, and he couldn't give me just one. Instead, he gave me a reason for his two favorites--Everything just fits! One of the two, What Is Your Name? is on the recently released EP DMS Presents Rise of the Next Afro Future Renaissance. The other, Waiting For You will be featured in the musical Storyville: A BlueBook Chronicle. The idea of fit doesn't only apply to his favorite songs; it's also how he describes the working and creative relationship he, Darrelle, and Kenny have. Forrest talks in analogies, so it was no surprise for him to compare their creative process to the development of visual art. He said that Kenny brings abstract art with lots of chords and inspired instrumentation. Forrest, The Machine, then takes that composition and mixes it into pop art, much like Andy Warhol pieces. Then Darrelle molds it into something that is refined and yet consumable. They depend on, and genuinely appreciate, each other.

When asked about the music business, and how it feels to have finally released a set of songs to be heard by the general public, Forrest had mixed feelings. He shared another analogy: "Music is like dating a woman who doesn't care about you, but you hold out for the one time she does reciprocate." Music is a brutal business, and times have changed since they first started their creative journey over 30 years ago. The passion for it hasn't waned, though, and he simply hopes the next 10 years are more reciprocating than the past 30.

Meet Kenny, The Artist: Primary Composer

 I recently had the opportunity to sit down with each of the guys from DMS and talk about their history with music and how that's translated into the music they make today. I asked each of the guys the same set of questions and let them just run away with the conversation. Thank goodness for Zoom and the ability to record, so I could gather it all. It was great to get to know them a little better and see how their different approaches and personalities contribute to their music!

I first got to chat with Kenny Harris, who is the primary composer for nearly all of DMS' 30 years of music. Kenny, an Iredell County, NC native, creates the foundation of DMS's music on the keyboard, which was his first love. He told me that his dad had a student who taught piano lessons and started Kenny on the instrument at 8 years old. Kenny laughingly stated that during his very first lesson, when the teacher told him to count his fingers, his father began to question the value of those lesson but was then pleasantly surprised at Kenny's first recital three months later. He said that by 8th grade, he was invited to participate in the high school band and spent five years playing and performing with them. Kenny doesn't just play piano though; he also plays all the brass instruments, both guitar and bass guitar, and drums. He said he once took a strings class and had minimal success with the cello, but he wouldn't consider that an instrument he's mastered. Interestingly enough, it was his trombone playing in the Jazz band that led him to meet Forrest and Darrelle at Winston-Salem State University.

When I asked about the early days of the friendship, he fondly described the traveling and touring they did with the Jazz band, including gigs they played in New York and New Jersey. Kenny shared that he also played live shows with other friends from the band, but that he, Forrest, and Darrelle continued writing songs together, in the hopes of one day releasing an album and having their own production company. While they had come together playing Jazz, their influences expanded over time, and the music they were writing was more of a fusion of those influences more firmly set in the R&B of the day. In fact, Kenny attributed his early influences to great artists, such as Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Michael Jackson. He even told about his father's love of Motown and how he believed that his father was a member of The Temptations for the longest time because his dad would go around the house singing and dancing with their music. Although his early favorites were steeped in R&B, the Jazz artists he learned of in college became an even stronger influence on his music and his preferred method of composition.

Kenny calls himself a chord guy, and his friends agree. Nearly all of his original compositions, even those that harken to other genres, are characterized by a plethora of chord changes, which they all describe as distinctively Jazz. He claims that he often wakes up with a melody of chords and immediately has to get up and play them on his keyboard. According to Kenny, he is able to listen to a piece, whether improvised or fully composed, and hear every note to the point he is able to replay the piece by practicing it in his mind. He also stated that he has perfect pitch, which made practicing on the older practice pianos at WSSU difficult because every piano had a different key out of tune except for one, and he could never get to the piano room early enough to get the perfectly tuned instrument. 

When I asked Kenny how he felt his musical style has changed over the past 30+ years, he said he didn't think it had changed much at all. To demonstrate the point, he shared that his favorite tune he's composed is one he began developing in high school that he had taught to some of his other friends he'd play live gigs with. He said the tune, now called "Holding Up the Wall, has evolved over the years, but it still maintains the essence of his artistry. I use the word artistry here because during his later interview, Forrest called Kenny the abstract artist of the crew because he throws together so many different sounds and yet creates something beautiful in its own right that can also be used to build something more. Kenny admits that at times his abstract compositions have had to be tamed significantly to meet the needs of the group to produce fully arranged tunes. He has had to work to break down what initially develops in his mind as multiple chords to the harmonic simplicity of R&B that can accommodate Forrest's lyrics and Darrelle's arrangements. That is how that DMS team works together.

Kenny has a lovely family with his wife and sons and happily balances his time between them, composing music, and teaching band and chorus to middle schoolers. He stated that for him, Darrelle and Forrest are also members of his family, as if bonded by blood. While he admits that getting older and chronic illness have slowed him down some, his love of music and making music as part of DMS is as strong as ever. I was able to get a glimpse of that joy during our conversation, and appreciate him sharing that with me, so I could share it with you.