Creative Awakening
Times Union
July 26, 2007
By Greg Haymes
Josh Groban takes personal, eclectic route to new album sounds
Think you know Josh Groban?
Think he's just a curly headed classical-crossover crooner?
Think you know what's on his iPod?
"Mostly I listen to rock music," Groban says, matter of factly. "I downloaded the new Bjork album, which is really, really interesting stuff. I've been listening to the new Muse album as well.
"And I just downloaded the new Smashing Pumpkins album. It's good. It's mixed very interestingly -- very much in favor of Billy's (Corgan) vocals -- but it's a strong album. I'm really looking forward to the new Velvet Revolver, and I've been listening to the new Tony Bennett 'Duets' album, too."
Probably not what you expected, eh? (Well, except for the Tony Bennett thing, anyway.)
Yes, Josh Groban has made quite a name for himself as an adult contemporary crooner with such crossover hits as "You Raise Me Up," which have become staples for karaoke bars and "American Idol" hopefuls. He's been featured in two PBS concert specials and sold millions of albums since his debut album was released in 2001.
But his newest album, "Awake," isn't just more of the same.
"It's the most personal and most eclectic album that I've done," says Groban, who makes a tour stop at the Times Union Center on Saturday night. "I knew that there wasn't a 'You Raise Me Up' on this album, but I didn't necessarily want there to be. This album was such a great mountain for me to climb, as far as working with a lot of different people that I wanted to collaborate with, doing a lot of songwriting and producing, and using my voice in different ways. It's been one of the most fun and most rewarding experiences of my life."
The album is, indeed, something of a curveball. Two tracks feature Groban singing with African musicians, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Vusi Mahlasela. On "February Song," Groban shares songwriting credits with Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik, while Dave Matthews co-authored "Lullabye" with him.
Jazz piano great Herbie Hancock dropped by to funk up the album's closer, "Machine," while alt-pop/electronica diva Imogen Heap, co-wrote and recorded "Now or Never" with Groban.
So how did these eclectic collaborations come about?
"Usually, it all happens pretty naturally," he says. "Sometimes you ask someone, or they ask you.
"With Herbie Hancock, I had met him backstage at a Grammy Foundation fundraiser, and I complimented him on the duet CD (2005's "Possibilities") that he had out. And he said something, 'Oh yeah, you and I will have to do something next.' And I'm thinking, 'Are you sure?' And he says, 'It'll be something different for you, different for me. Let's just go in and explore.' Later on, I was working on 'Machine.' I think I'd written about half of the song, and it was unexpectedly taking a turn into a kind of jazzy, funk feel. Rather than waiting for the phone to ring, we sent it to Herbie. He really dug it, and he came into the studio and just knocked it out of the park.
"With Imogen, I saw her play at a little club in Los Angeles, and then I saw her again at Coachella. And I just said to her, 'Hey, I know that I'm not at all what you do, but I'm such a great fan of your musicality. Would you like to spend a week coming up with a song?' She said, 'Sure.' So I went over to London and spent a week in a steaming hot studio, and we came up with 'Now or Never.'
"To me, those kinds of situations are the most fun, because you walk in absolutely scared to death. And when you've dug a hole for yourself before you even walk through the door, the only way out of that hole is to write something great. So that's what you do. It's good to have a little bit of fear when you're being creative because it keeps you from getting stale or from going on autopilot."
In the spotlight
Josh Groban
With Angelique Kidjo
8 p.m. Saturday
The Times Union Center
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