How I met David Garfield

It’s more than 10 years ago since I played with David Garfield for the first time – and I still remember clearly how it felt like “home” when he started playing the intro to the very first tune we played together. 

This is the story about how I met David Garfield and Henrik Enqvist

Garfield and I were hired by the Danish drummer Henrik Engqvist for a tour playing a mix of Engqvist’s repetoire and Garfield’s songs. I hadn’t met neither Henrik nor David before and I felt very honored to be asked to play this tour since Henrik had used Robben Ford and Frank Gambale for earlier tours with his band. And to play with David Garfield, who had the bands Los Lobotomys, Karizma and worked as M.D. for George Benson and Natalie Cole, would be awesome. Henrik knew Garfield from L.A. where they had met a couple of years earlier. Henrik often is in L.A. to work with a lot of A-listers over there.

David Garfield, Soren Reiff together with Henrik Engqvist orc, Kenneth Bremer and Niels Estrup
David Garfield, Soren Reiff together with Henrik Engqvist orc, Kenneth Bremer and Niels Estrup

The first time we all met was around noon to rehearse for the first show the same night. Henrik had just picked David up at the airport. David handled out his music sheets, sat down at the piano and started to play the song “Donna”. I instantly felt like I’ve known David and that song for years. The way David voiced the chords and his groove made me feel so good – I felt like returning back home after a long trip abroad.

That tour ended up being very important to me – I got so inspired from the shows we did. I had so much fun since I was allowed to stretch out during a lot of long solos, and we never played a song the same way twice. David really knows how to inspire.

David Garfield & Soren Reiff during sound check with Henrik Engqvist and bass player Kim in the back
David Garfield & Soren Reiff during sound check with Henrik Engqvist and bass player Kim in the back

During the final concert we played on that tour, I felt so sad about “this was it”. I knew I had to do something about it. So it was actually that night I decided to make an album with my own music. That let me to do the “Funky Flavas” album – and after that the “Miss You” and “Gratitude” album.

Since we met for the first time I have had the pleasure to play with Henrik again several times. We did an episode of “Studiojams” together in Copenhagen some years ago and I’ve also played together with Henrik and Jimmy Haslip, Jeff Richman and Russell Ferrante, when they have been in Scandinavia – always a pleasure and great fun! And I’ve played with Garfield in many different constellations both live and in the studio – always fantastic and very very inspiring.

So – thank you Henrik for asking me back then, I’m very thankful for that!! Henrik has recently released a new album “Engqvisition”- check it out here! And thank you David for your friendship and for always being so inspiring – it’s a blast knowing you and playing with you.

All the very best

Soren

Jimmy Haslip is digging deep on Gratitude

Earlier I’ve written about my workflow when developing an idea into a tune or how I work when I’m arranging a song by making demos. This is about recording bass and about the recording session with the awesome Jimmy Haslip for my Gratitude album.

I have had the pleasure to work with many outstanding bass players – Will Lee, John Peña and Mark King, all unique players. Here I’ll tell you about some of my work with Jimmy Haslip – a living legend.

Many years ago I saw Jimmy Haslip’s name for the first time on the album “Mirage a trois” by the band Yellow Jackets. Continue reading “Jimmy Haslip is digging deep on Gratitude”

My first “Studio Jams”

The other day I shared a link on my Facebook profile to a track I did for the american tv-show “Studio Jams”. I’ve played in two full episodes of Studio Jams. This is the story about the first international version of the show I did – recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Several years ago I was contacted by TV-producer Tom Emmi – he was planning a trip to Europe and Scandinavia. Tom had heard about me through keyboard player David Garfield, and Tom wanted to invite me to participate in the first international version of the program Studio Jams.

He described the formular. I saw some samples from earlier Studio Jams and I was totally blown away – it’s some really great shows Tom is doing. Basically it’s a documentary about how musicians work and comunicate when they meet and jam without anything planed in advance. The episodes are shot in a recording studio, so you get the original sound from the instruments thru samples from the rehearsals, but also the recorded and mixed version of the final take of the jammed tune.

Soren Reiff in Studiojams #34

Continue reading “My first “Studio Jams””