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| TUCK & PATTI | ||||||||||||||
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With 29 years of performing together, and 26 years of marriage, the devotion forged by this extraordinary couple shows no sign of dimming from the pressure of familiarity. For them, this pressure creates more diamond than dust. Their instinct for refining their music, their technique and their career—their home studio makeover—their house and garden renovation—never wavers from their credo: It’s not done if it’s not from the heart. And what comes from the heart demands excellence. Onstage and off, guitarist Tuck Andress and vocalist/arranger Patti Cathcart might, at first impression, strike you as an odd couple. The obvious difference in skin color is quickly overshadowed by the contrast of their personalities. Patti exudes the soft, centered yet powerful graciousness of a gospel singer; Tuck almost wears his brain on his skin, anticipating the thousands of musical decisions he’ll have to send to his ten fingers during the course of a performance. Seeing the virtuosity and complexity of Tuck's guitar work, most are surprised to learn that Patti is the actual writer, arranger, and producer. Without even blinking, Tuck-the-problem-solver brags, “Patti writes and arranges; I am just the orchestra.” Patti seemed to be born singing. "As a little girl," she recalls, "instead of talking, I'd sing a running, stream-of-consciousness commentary on life. Many people in my family sang; I started singing in church, was leading youth choirs at age 10, and directing the adult choirs before I was 16.” Patti also studied classical violin for 11 years, and in school was involved with school choirs, musicals, and various bands. She performed with many rock and jazz groups during the historic San Francisco sixties musical scene, and saw countless key performances by rock, blues, gospel and jazz greats of the day. While Patti was pretty “out there” from the beginning, a shy boy in Tulsa, inspired by hearing The Beatles and Rolling Stones, spent days his room, “ruthlessly and systematically” learning everything he could about guitar playing, including working his way through all 400 of the orchestral chords, complex jazz chords in the appendix of the Mel Bay chord book. Tuck, too, was influenced by Jimi Hendrix, but the rocker’s sonic textures were so explosive, that Hendrix actually drove Tuck deeper into jazz. It was two years before he felt confident enough to figure out Hendrix’s songs and style. The sixties scene brought Tuck to the West Coast, and in 1970, he enrolled as a music major at Stanford University. For years, Tuck and Patti played in various Bay Area bands without meeting. Tuck, introspective and unambitious, contrasted with Patti’s persona of bandleader, one who would and did jam with every hot musician in the area. In 1978, Tuck was already guitarist for a cover band when Patti walked in to audition. “Within a few seconds of hearing her sing,” recalls Tuck, “I knew I had found my lifetime musical partner.” ”It was that immediate for me too,” says Patti. “I immediately knew that the band ‘wasn't happening,’ but that I was going to steal the guy playing guitar in the corner!” The two both explain that musicians always have this radar going, sweeping for their musical soulmate, that special someone that they can communicate and collaborate with. They stayed with the band for a few months, but really got to know each other as they shared a ride to rehearsals. They became best friends. They plotted another course. Jammed with other musicians. They realized they both had such extensive musical backgrounds that they knew hundreds of songs in common. They formed a duo, guitar and vocalist. Though Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald were an inspiration and model, landing live gigs with this sparse instrumentation took a little persuasion. Once booked, however, the rooms quickly filled with repeat fans. ‘We had never had so much fun, nor been so challenged,” says Tuck. “We went to play at a venue and forgot to take breaks.” For this duo, from then on, there has not been a break. Friendship and collaboration grew to love, and the two were married in 1981. Their recording career took off when Windham Hill Jazz signed them for 1988’s groundbreaking Tears of Joy. This and several other Windham Hill albums put them on the map, and they’ve been solidifying their career, their musical conversation, their technique, and their love together ever since. Tuck and Patti now have their own recording studio, as well as their own record label, T&P Records, which licenses their CDs to major labels for distribution around the world. They tour Asia and Europe so much that they know that home is with each other, regardless of location. They are looking forward to, at long last, taking occasional time off from touring to teach at their Bay Area home, as well as doing workshops while on tour. A concert DVD, Tuck & Patti Live in Holland, with a behind-the-scenes documentary, As We Travel Round this Circle, was released in 2005. Their new album, I Remember You, to be released through Universal Music October 10, 2007 in Asia, will have worldwide release in early 2008. What's on the album? Love songs of course, from the Great American Songbook, inspired by Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. “They are gorgeous tunes, with grand lyrics,” shares Patti. “And they sing unabashedly, unapologetically, about love.” ”To have every song feel like it’s a dream to play,” says Tuck. “It doesn't happen for every performer, but for us, it happens.” Smiling, Patti adds, “You know, I think this conversation is going to last a lifetime.” |
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