A Chat with Mike Abbott on 2B3 Trio's Upcoming Album

Sam: Hi everybody, I’m Sam. I’m CJRO’s intern, and I’m here with both our guitarist and 2B3’s electric guitarist, Mike Abbott! So, Mike, 2B3: What genre would you describe it as?

Mike: 2B3 is really a fusion of jazz, funk, rock, R&B… You know most of what we started with is this new album with Jimi Hendrix tunes, which obviously is rock, but we kind of turned it upside down a little bit and made some of the arrangements more jazz like in chord structure and in the solo sections. But there's a lot of funk in there. I mean, there's a lot of funk in Jimi Hendrix's music. And R&B— those are his his roots. And absolutely blues, so yeah, you know, it's instrumental rock-blues-jazz-funk, you know just hopefully good music.

Sam : Awesome! Yeah, good music its the only descriptor you need. So the band is made up of you on guitar, Mike Marlier on drums, and then Jeff Jenkins on the Hammond B3 organ, correct?

Mike: Correct.

Sam: Awesome, so you've said that you guys have known each other for over 20 years, but just in this past year you guys have come together, become 2B3, and made this album. What inspired you guys to make 2B3?

Mike: Well, we were doing…  Jeff was doing a project with Mike and I played on that, and it was actually where we recorded Foxy Lady, Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady. We did that back around this time in the summer, and it just went really well. And we we played a couple of gigs doing some Hendrix covers and arrangements, and Prince as well, and so that just, you know, got us thinking, because we were having so much fun doing it.

Sam: So who composed or arranged all of these tunes for the new album. Was it a collaboration, or the inspiration of one person?

Mike: Yes, Jeff, kind of half Jeff half me with the arrangements, and then Mike’s doing some arranging on the new R&B album. We're doing a 2B3 R&B album that will hopefully be be around, you know, be out. We haven't gotten all the arrangements done, but we have a couple down that we're going to play at our gig on our August 13, just to sort of preview what we want to do after the Hendrix, you know.

Sam: Wow, that’s exciting!

Mike: It is and it's really fun! We’re doing Respect, that Aretha made famous, and tune by Chicago that was not as well known, but super super funky. But yeah, I guess the arrangements are kind of split between me and Jeff on the 2B3 Jimi Hendrix stuff.

Sam: When is this next album in the works? Is it already planned out?

Mike: Well yeah, we're working on these arrangements, you know, so once we get eight, nine songs arranged, then we'll go in the studio and do it again and get that done by maybe you know, maybe summer of next year. These things take time.

Sam: Yeah, but you guys really hit the ground running with the band, it sounds like you guys are totally revving.

Mike: Yeah, well, you know, we kind of stalled out in the pandemic, like so many. But we were, you know, before the pandemic we started recording at the end of December of 2019, and we were really excited about getting the album done for the summer. We wanted to do a European tour in 2020 and then everything shut down, obviously, but that's still in the works. And we want to do a little touring in in the Midwest and we’ve got some places in Nashville and Atlanta that we want to go and play, so yeah, it's been a long process, but you know, we love the result of what we got on the album, and we're getting some good reviews. Really good reviews from Jazziz Magazine and many other outlets. We have a feature coming up in the fall issue— the print issue— of Jazziz Magazine so that's really nice, you know. That's always a good thing.

Sam: That's wonderful. So your last gig was July 2, correct?

Mike: Yeah, I think that's correct. I don't remember the day.

Sam: Yep, was that your first one since the shutdown?

Mike: That was… No. we had we had played this little festival at a church actually called Platt Park Church, and there were three or four other bands on it that performed, and that was Halloween night 2020. So that was a lot of fun. But yeah, it's exciting to just think about playing a lot, now that things are opening up.

Sam: Yeah, how did that July 2 show feel to be back on stage and like, not quite normal, but the closest to normal it's been in a long time.

Mike: yeah it felt really good. You know, the music was great. That was up in in Lafayette, near Boulder, and it was kind of July 4th weekend. We didn't have as many people as we would have liked, but it was still a really fun gig and just good to get out there. And we're doing a lot of promo for this next gig at the Mercury on August 13th. Friday the 13th! So hoping to see a lot of people there.

Sam: Yeah, that's exciting!

Mike: We will have CDs available. We're not selling CDs, other than at gigs. We're just going to sell them a gigs. Otherwise, all the songs from the album will be streaming. The whole album streams on August 5 on all the platforms.

Sam: Awesome. Apple Music, Spotify, all that good stuff?

Mike: Yeah, yeah. All those platforms and I’m going to get it on Band Camp as well.

Sam: Oh great! Yeah everybody loves Band Camp now.

Mike: Yeah, it seems to be the place to go. And you can upload higher quality music files to for a better listening experience.

Sam: Yeah, which I think everyone's gonna want the best quality they can get for this album.

Mike: Yes, yes.

Sam: Okay, so I have to ask since you’re the guitarist: Jimi Hendrix was famous for all of his distortions and pedals and for really digging into that gritty sound. What was that like in the studio? Were you trying to replicate that or doing something different?

Mike: Yeah, that's a good question, Sam. Yeah, it was there was some of that, some fuzz. Hendrix, you know, he used have a lot of very high gain Marshall amps. That was his sound, but he used this Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, which was, back then, in the late 60s, there were not that many pedals around, and just a couple of pedal makers. Now you have hundreds and hundreds of boutique companies that make pedals, see. So we have the gamut, and we can get anything we want, just about. And then, you know, although they're not the same, good replicas of the Fuzz Face which he used, and Wah Wah pedals, and things like that. So I used a little bit of fuzz on a couple of the tunes and then just another pedal that I like. It's not really Hendrix, it's more like a smoother type of distortion that I like in a pedal. So I use some of that, and then we had some fun in the studio when we mixed and had some cool effects that we used during mixing, and that's something Hendrix loved to do. So that’s something we enjoy doing as well. Just try to make it as, as you know, make the tunes really come off as unique as possible. You know, you don't want to do these Hendrix songs— you can't do them— like he did, obviously, because, you know, he was the master.

Sam: Right.

Mike: He was so brilliant, so you just try to make it your own, you know. Kind of what we do in jazz, right? Yeah, we take these tunes that so many masters of the art form have played and try to make them our own, and that's what has always attracted me to music.

Sam: Yeah, that's awesome. and with the organ trio… I’m sure just that in itself makes it completely unique.

Mike: Absolutely! That's a great point, and that's why I like the simplicity of a trio. But the great thing for me is, you know, playing a guitar trio with bass and drums, there's a lot of responsibility, you know. You’re playing, you don't have any kind of chordal instrument behind you, you know, and to have Jeff— someone as fantastic as Jeff— on 2B3 and filling things up and playing both left hand bass and pedal base with his feet… It's great, and it's a more open sound. I love the the organ trio format. that's a lot of my heroes like John Abercrombie and Wes Anderson. Those are the the big influences.

Sam: Yeah, all those fun textures, and l'm sure the organ adds a lot of space for you to expand out, right?

Mike: Absolutely, yeah. The organ is such a perfect instrument for, as you know, people who are jazz lovers know, with Joey DeFrancesco and, you know, relatively newer people— Pat Bianchi, but then Jimmy Smith and Larry Young. You know, they showed us what a powerful jazz instrument it was, but it's been used on so many classic rock recordings. And Hendrix I don't think really used it. I think maybe he had a little bit on here and there, but I don't remember any. But 2B3 is a unique animal. It's unlike anything else, and so the range is really limitless, and that's what I love about it! I mean, just guitar and guitar tone, you know. The range of guitar tones that you can get with a particular guitar, particular amp, pedals; it’s really limitless. So the combination is just what I wanted to do and what Jeff and Mike wanted to do too.

Sam: Yeah, and you three are some of the most prolific and sought-after musicians in Denver, So I’m really excited to hear the album.

Mike: Yeah, well, August 5th, Sam! Don't miss it.

Sam: I’ll mark my calendar! Do you have a favorite tune that I should specifically listen for?

Mike: A favorite? Not really, but I think one that people will kind of gravitate towards, just because it's got this really kind of a, what you call it? Sort of a undeniable sort of a sudden, that makes you want to dance is Foxy Lady. It's a shuffle, and so people, I think, will like that. But all the other tunes, man, I love them too. I don't really have a favorite song.

Sam: Well we're excited for it! So August 5th, everything goes to streaming; August 13th, you have your release concert, where you'll be able to buy CD’s at Mercury Cafe; and then the R&B album is in the works. I’m sure you have a lot of gigs coming up in late summer, fall, winter! Where can fans reach you online or through a newsletter to keep up with all that?

Mike: Yeah, yeah, so 2B3trio.com, you can sign up for our newsletter there. Please do, and we'll let you know about upcoming gigs. We're working on booking more stuff after the Mercury, so keep abreast of what we're doing.

Sam: Awesome, and we will link your website in the caption of this video. Is there anything else you'd like to let viewers know?

Mike: Well, I just want to say what a great job Sam Gucwa has done for CJRO, and look— Sam no, come on! The CJRO and 2B3, because Sam is works tirelessly to get us all of the fans that are at concerts and she's just a whiz bang as they call it, you know, she's got all of it going on. All the intricate social media she packs into all kinds of accounts.

Sam: Oh, gosh!

Mike: Yeah, but that's it and Mike and Jeff and I really appreciate everything that you do.

Sam: Of course! Yeah, we're so excited to see all this stuff come out. It's really exciting to— especially after so long of just being in this musical limbo— to see the best musicians in Denver getting right back into the scene.

Mike: Yeah, It's finally popping and it's great. Let's just keep on our toes.

Sam: Yeah, where’s some wood I can knock on?

Mike: Yeah, but we're good, I think.

Sam: Great! Well Mike, thank you so much for your time. Obviously, I will be there at the concert, and I’ll be streaming your music. But good luck, and I hope everything goes super well! I’m sure it will. But we'll be listening for all the stuff!

Mike: Yeah, thanks. And we'll see you soon!