Image Courtesy of Drivetime
Today we are proud to announce the start of a new Montco Happening Blog Series – Montgomery County Interviews. We are going to be interviewing local residents and business owners who live/work in and around Montgomery County, PA. We think this interview series will help give readers a great perspective on the people and businesses that make up our great County. We will share their stories with you.
For our first MontCo Interview we talked with Bernie Capodici, the leader of a national Jazz band ‘Drivetime’. Bernie currently resides in Doylestown, PA and plays a lot of shows in the local Bucks County and Montgomery County area. Bernie is a real character and gave us a GREAT first interview. Drivetime has an upcoming show that everyone should check out if you’re looking for something fun to do this week.
MH: Bernie, thanks for taking the time to talk with us at Montgomery Happening. For the readers who might not have heard Drivetime’s music, please describe your sound for us.
BC: Boy, you get right to it don’t you, Drivetime is essentially what we like to call Urban Organic Jazz. It’s a mix of Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Latin & Funk depending on the tune. But for a simpler comparison we fit in the Smooth Jazz Category.
MH: So I hear Drivetime has a new album coming out. What can you tell us about “Ignition”?
BC: This is the best project I’ve ever worked on. It’s a combination of the work we love to do and incredible participation from the entire crew. Just about everyone in the band has contributed tunes or arrangement ideas. I am not rushing anything this time around and getting the best performances from the guys as humanly possible. I think the tunes are progressive for the smooth jazz world and different then the norm. And the icing on the cake is having the opportunity to work with Andrew Neu, Phyllis Chapell and of course my son-in-law Justin Guarini who all make cameo appearances on the album.
MH: What’s your all time favorite Drivetime tune? Why?
BC: That’s not fair, that’s like asking a father which kid he loves most. Ok it would have to be “Getin Witit” for a couple of reasons:
- It was a milestone between my writing partner Jeff Bichaylo and myself because it was our first attempt at a legitimate SMOOTH JAZZ tune
- That we passed it by Bob Baldwin who liked it so much he recorded and produced the first phase of the project
MH: When is your next live show? Please provide any event details.
BC: We’re appearing at Warmdaddy’s on the corner of Columbus Ave & Reed St in South Philadelphia on July 21 from 6 to 7:30 for the ijazzglobal.com “Groove Series” hosted by former WJJZ Station Manager Michal Tozzi. We will also be finishing up the summer at Mom’s Maxwell’s in Doylestown as soon as they finish renovations upstairs; this is going to be an awesome place to see Drivetime.
MH: Thanks for talking with us today Bernie. One last question, what’s your favorite thing about Montgomery County?
BC: I have some great memories of Montgomery County, I once worked at the Plymouth Meeting Mall many years ago at King’s Men Shop and to this day people still remember that store. Oh and as a side note, if anyone remembers the fire that burned out 27 stores back in the 60’s, well I started it! But I’ll save that story for another interview.
WOW. I guess Drivetime never covers “We didn’t start the fire”, huh Bernie?! 😉 Great interview. Drivetime is a really fun jazz band and we HIGHLY recommend you check out a show sometime soon. If you want to keep updated on all of the latest Drivetime happenings please connect with Drivetime on Facebook.
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