The music world has had its fair share of wild mashups – from Frank Sinatra duetting with Bono, to Pat Boone covering Van Halen. Now the Roxy Bar has gotten in on the action, with our own resident pianist Michael Garin guesting on famed rapper A$AP Rocky’s brand new album Don’t Be Dumb. We asked Garin to tell us how this unlikely meeting of the minds came to fruition!
“One particular evening a few years back, there was a group seated near the piano and they seemed to be enjoying my playing,” Garin recalls. “After my finale (a silly mashup of the Looney Tunes ‘Powerhouse’’ theme by Raymond Scott, ‘I Wish’ by Stevie Wonder, and ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley), I was approached by a member of the group.
‘We really enjoyed what you did,’ he said. I’m Dexter, and this is Rocky.’
I introduced myself, and their next question was, ‘What are you doing now?’
‘Going home,’ I replied.
‘Would you like to come to the studio with us?’ they asked.
‘I’d be delighted,’ I said.
‘Meet us outside. We’re going to Electric Lady.”
We soon arrived at Electric Lady Studios, the most famous studio in New York, built by Jimi Hendrix. Moments later, I was then taken to a beautiful concert grand. I was instructed to put on headphones and improvise something to the playback. And I gotta tell you, the second I heard the playback I was absolutely knocked out. ‘This guy is sensational’ I thought. It was Hip-hop meets Abstract Expressionism. Like Willem De Kooning or Mark Rothko got a record deal. I did a series of improvisational piano takes, which everyone seemed to dig. I was trying to meet the moment musically, as I now knew I was playing in the big leagues, albeit blindly. You never know when your A Game will be called upon.
And now, A$AP’s new album Don’t Be Dumb is out. The track I played on is entitled WHISKEY (RELEASE ME).
As I always say about my job at the Roxy, “It’s a blessing to be in the happy business. There’s no place like New York!”And there’s no place like the Roxy Bar!
