The Texas Horns debut CD, Get Here Quick, on Severn Record, is comprised of Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff (tenor sax), John Mills (baritone sax) and Al Gomez (trumpet), The Texas Horns are one of the most in-demand horn sections for both recording sessions and on tour with some of the biggest names in the roots music world. With Get Here Quick they get a chance to strut their collective stuff on their own album of blues, soul and roots music, backed by an all-star group of supporting musicians. Special guests on the CD include singers Curtis Salgado, John Nemeth, Gary Nicholson, Guy Forsyth and Carolyn Wonderland; as well as guitarists Ronnie Earl, Anson Funderburgh, Johnny Moeller, Denny Freeman, Derek O’Brien and Jonn Del Toro Richardson.
“It took us a year to make Get Here Quick,” recalls Mark Kazanoff, who with his horn-mates arranged all the songs and horns on the sessions. “I don’t usually like to do record production projects like that. But this time, we had so many wonderful guest musicians in mind that we knew we would never be able to get everyone together in one place for a week or two; so we did the CD bit-by-bit. That also allowed us to use a couple of different rhythm sections, including both Tommy Taylor and John Bryant on drums. We also were fortunate to get both Chris Maresh and Russell Jackson on bass. No way to get all those great players in one place for very long.
“Same with the guitarists, we were so fortunate to have Denny Freeman, Ronnie Earl, Anson Funderburgh, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Johnny Moeller, and Derek O’Brien with us at different stages of the recording process.
“And, of course with our vocal guests, I have to pinch myself that we have Curtis Salgado singing one of our tunes; same with John Nemeth. We were very happy to be able to get into the studio with Gary Nicholson for a couple of his original songs. We also wanted to do something with Carolyn Wonderland, so we asked her to sing my song, “I’m Doin’ Alright, at Least for Tonight.” We also were so happy to get to work with Guy Forsyth. He did a beautiful job with John Mills’ “Guitar Town.”
“We also got to record with some wonderful keyboard players. One of my biggest musical revelations in the last few years has been getting to work with Red Young, a truly amazing, world-class keyboardist and singer.
“The final and maybe most important part of this whole project was Stuart Sullivan. We recorded everything at Stuart’s Wire Recording Studio here in Austin. At last count, Stuart and I have made 50 recording sessions together since the ‘80s. Stuart made this whole thing WORK. He is a true ‘analog’ guy, who went on to master Pro Tools; but what is so special about Stuart is his musicality and good sense.”
“John Mills and I started The Texas Horns 20 years ago, and we were fortunate to get Al Gomez to join us on trumpet for the last dozen years or so. John is really an amazing musician; he can play just about any instrument (I have heard him on all the saxophones, flute, clarinet, and piano so far!). Plus, he has turned into a wonderful arranger and songwriter. John can write string parts, arrange orchestral pieces, write film scores and front a jazz band. But he loves roots music and blues (as you can tell since he is working with me!). Once Al joined us, the horn section really took off. Al is a very powerful trumpet player, at ease playing everything from blues to jazz to Mexican music. Al is also an excellent arranger, and between the three of us, there isn’t much that would slow us down as a horn section. We love our role as the House Horn section at the Ottawa Bluesfest, where we get to work with so many great artists. We are all excellent readers, but sometimes we have the most fun just jamming and coming up with cool horn parts on the spot! The three of us have developed a wonderful working relationship over the years.”
