Talk about a résumé! It’s far easier to list the artists that keyboardist/music director/arranger/songwriter Greg Phillinganes hasn’t worked with than those he has — but any list of his credits has to include Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Quincy Jones, David Gilmour, and Aretha Franklin. I sat down with Greg during this year’s GearFest, where he was giving workshops and performing live onstage. See video below to check out our full interview.
You started with Stevie Wonder at age 18, as he was working on Songs in the Key of Life. How were you so prepared at an early age?
Greg Phillinganes: [Laughs] I don’t want to say I was completely prepared. I was certainly ready to take on the challenge. It was an incredible learning experience being with Stevie — it’s like Wonder University. What I learned musically, I still implement to this day — just understanding the mechanics of different genres of music, what gives them their essence, the characteristics that make them sound the way they sound.
You’ve said that the key to understanding different styles is understanding their groove.
Picking out, for example, the elements or characteristics of reggae. What are the fundamentals that make it sound that way? You have a certain bass movement that goes along with a drum pattern with a heavy emphasis on two and four. Once you have those fundamental elements, then you’re able to place yourself in that mind-set. It’s like characters; they’re different characters, and you adapt to each character. You’re able to take on the authenticity of each genre in that way.
Among the musicians you’ve worked with, there are three major keyboard players: Stevie Wonder, Donald Fagen, and Herbie Hancock. What’s your role, as a keyboard player, when you work with them?
It’s not just another keyboard player; it’s with any artist. The goal is to fit inside their particular groove and adapt to their unique characteristics musically. That looks fairly easy on paper, but it’s not, because you’re talking about adapting to their sense of musicality. Stevie plays and sounds a certain way. Donald — obviously studying the music of Steely Dan, which is definitely different, but it’s heavily jazz influenced. And of course, there’s Herbie — and that’s like getting in the ring with Mike Tyson!
I love them all dearly, and it’s just amazing to be able to call them buddies.
You had a 30-year relationship with the Jacksons and Michael Jackson.
Yes, 30 years, off and on. It was just incredible for me. I did the rhythm arrangements for “Blame It on the Boogie” and then later did the Triumph album. Before Triumph, Quincy [Jones] was working on Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, so he called me in for that, and then Thriller, and Bad, and Dangerous. When we were doing Bad, Michael asked me to do his tour; I was his music director for the Bad and Dangerous tours.
What can I tell you that you don’t already know? The feeling of standing maybe ten feet behind him watching him do “Billie Jean” or “Man in the Mirror” with a stadium full of lit torches — you haven’t lived until you’ve seen that view!
What does the job of music director entail?
To keep sanity. A lot of it is psychology. The “technical description” is to be the musical liaison between the artist and the band, to convey the artist’s ideas to the band. So you’re kind of like the translator. You’re the facilitator and hopefully the expediter of it. When the artist has some kind of idea that they may not be able to articulate in a way that the musicians expect to hear, then the music director can say, “Well, we’ll do this and this.” That facilitates and expedites the ideas to the artist’s satisfaction, and hopefully you walk away with another satisfied customer.