Guitarist and band leader Jimmy Hewitt. Photo by Sander Roscoe Wolff. 

Jimmy Hewitt and the Soul Dogg Band will be performing this Friday, April 15th, at the Seabird Jazz Lounge. Fronting the band will be Lyrica Garrett, whose professional singing career began when she was discovered by Tina Turner. Since then, she’s toured or recorded with Sly Stone, Rick James, Chaka Kahn, Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross and Andre Crouch.

The band is led by Hewitt, a guitarist and teacher who worked at Jordon and Wilson High Schools, running various music programs, and has recorded with a multitude of big-name artists over the years. He also teaches private guitar lessons.

Long Beach Post: How did you first discover music?

Jimmy Hewitt: I discovered music from my older brothers, who were musicians, and a mother who was a dancer. She demanded that all of my brothers and myself be able to play a song on the accordion by the age of five or six. She was a driver, God rest her soul. She was quite the personality, and had music in our house daily.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in this incredibly wealthy town—Neenah, Wisconsin—where the Kimberly Clark corporation is headquartered. We had all these imported executives in this small city nestled along a beautiful lake. My mother sent me, accompanied by an older brother, by train to Milwaukee and Chicago for weekly guitar lessons. One of my brothers was established in Los Angeles and I was in California from the time I was 8, eventually graduating from Wilson High, then Long Beach State and UCLA for a master’s in Music.

When you moved to California, did you continue taking guitar lessons?

Definitely. The beauty of being in Los Angeles/Long Beach was that a majority of the film music was getting done here. There was tons of studio work, so the greatest guitarists and musicians in the world were here to make fantastic livings for themselves and their families. As a result, I had the great fortune of studying with the best in the world: Joe Pass, Laurindo Almeida for Brazilian, Larry Carlton, John Collins (18 years with Nat King Cole), Joe Diorio, Ted Greene. At the Guitar Institute of Technology (before it changed to the Musicians Institute), Eddie Van Halen was the rock teacher. Everyone was here and, at the most, it was $100 a lesson.

You also worked for LBUSD. What did you do?

I was the band and orchestra director at Wilson for three years. Prior to that, the band and orchestra director and department head of music at Jordan High for 10 years, all while be active as a freelance guitarist. I feel that I served a public service stint as a music teacher. It was easily the most demanding job of any type of teacher on a high school campus. Marching Band, Orchestra, Jazz Band, Symphonic Winds, competitions, musicals, Friday night football games, Saturday Parades, Christmas programs, community events, Spring programs, Marching Band camp in the summer… It never stopped, and there is no faking it. You either are in it or you are consumed. There was always great energy from the kids, though. For the most part they all loved music. I left teaching in 2003.

Tell me about Soul Dogg.

Soul Dogg comes together from years of playing, performing, touring, and recording soul, blues, R&B, and jazz music. It is a bit eclectic, not meant to be a cover band per se but, rather, a mix of old school with a contemporary input, which only means I am alive and well and remain committed to the soulful aspect of music.

What is the music scene like, for you, lately?

Live music is in a pitiful state. Compared to the past, it has seriously deteriorated. It was much more prevalent, and I feel bad for younger musicians coming up. I raised a family with 3 kids, for the most part, by playing live music. I highly doubt that can be done in this day and age.

I still do 100-plus recording dates a year, and pick and choose my live playing. I’m fairly selective. The only way to really market your band or your music is to have some kind of air play, whether it be radio or streaming. Bands must have downloads available, social media in high gear, and touring. A musician has to hit the road and develop a broader audience if they are pursuing this as a career, unless they are living off of studio work.

The road is tough. It can be exhilarating, however, it can be exhausting and a burn out, but the live music scene is not good. There is a lot of isolation these days with the internet. There are not as many people getting out, and it’s tough for businesses to survive and justify putting money out for live music. The places that do it right, however, the ones that are consistent with quality music and musicians, and have fair pricing with great service, are still doing well.

Tell me about your session work.

I am asked to play multiple styles of guitar in session work, lately, because I have real-life experience performing with some of the greats of R&B, blues and jazz. I have been asked to play soulfully as much as possible, no matter what the style. I call it adding some Soul Sauce, or Jimmy Soul Sauce to the recordings. It’s practically a niche that I have developed.

What kinds of artists do you work with? Can you drop some names?

I’ve worked with Patti LaBelle, Roberta Flack, the Tower of Power Horns, Brenton Wood, Bobby Blue Bland, Thelma Houston, Ellis Hall, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Chuck Mangione.

What can you tell me about Friday show at the Seabird Jazz Lounge?

We have a ridiculous line up. We have Lyrica Garrett for lead vocals, Robert Kyle and David Patterson playing tenor saxes, Don Littleton on drums, Al Threats playing bass, Stu Pearlman on piano and keys, and yours truly on guitar. I live, eat, and breathe Long Beach, so if I can stay local and not have to drive, I prefer it every time.

We need to keep live music alive and well. Without music, life can be pretty damn grim. We should not take musicians for granted, and remember that the arts are critical to maintaining and expanding the fabric of our society.

The Seabird Jazz Lounge is located at 730 East Broadway, in Long Beach. For tickets and information, call 562.522.8488 or visit SeabirdJazzLoungeLBC.com. To keep track of Hewitt’s professional activities, follow him on facebook.

{FG_GEOMAP [33.7690682,-118.18308150000001] FG_GEOMAP}