Randy Napoleon played guitar with the Bublé band from November, 2004 to May, 2007. Since the summer of 2007, Randy has been touring worldwide with Freddy Cole, brother of the legendary Nat 'King' Cole.
Never on stage without a smile, Randy's guitar-playing was particularly outstanding with Michael in the "It's Time" tour arrangements of "Home", "You Don't Know Me", "How Sweet It is", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Song For You".
Born on 30th May, 1977, in Brooklyn, New York, Randy grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he learned to play jazz guitar at Ann Arbor Community High. Whilst at the University of Michigan School of Music, Jeff Hamilton, who co-founded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (CHJO) together with bassist John Clayton and saxophonist Jeff Clayton in 1985, heard Randy perform with the University of Michigan Big Band and was so impressed he invited Randy to come and play with the CHJO.
Randy has since toured Europe and Japan with the CHJO, performing with major jazz artists including George Benson, Michael Brecker, Frank Foster, Kenny Garrett, Shirley Horn, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Joe Lovano, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, Nicholas Payton, John Pizzarelli, Dianne Reeves, Frank Wess, Nancy Wilson, and Snooky Young. Since moving to New York, Randy had also achieved international exposure touring with pianist, Benny Green's trio.
Now one of the most sought after guitarists in New York, Randy is the leader of his own Trio with Jared Gold on organ and Quincy Davis on drums. Randy has also performed with vocalist, Sachal Vasandani and in the Quartet led by fellow Bublé band member, trombonist Josh Brown.
Randy's second album, "Between Friends" is released by Azica Records. It features Benny Green (piano), David Wong (bass), Quincy Davis (drums) and Jared Gold (Hammond B3 organ).
The UK was treated to a 4-night tour by Randy and his Trio in January, 2007. The group was also invited to perform on Radio 2's prestigious 'Friday Night Is Music Night'.
As well as touring with Freddy Cole, Randy has recently played on Jared Gold's debut album, "Solids and Stripes" and on Melissa Morgan's "Until I Met You".
* dates in brackets are UK release dates CDs CDs Track listing: CDs "Bock To Bock" (arranged by Randy Napoleon)
"These Foolish Things" (arranged by Randy Napoleon)
What is your date of birth? Where were you born? Where do you currently reside? What is a typical day in the life of Randy Napoleon like on tour with Michael? And a typical day when you're not touring with Michael? At what age did you start learning to play the guitar? And what type of guitar was that? On stage you have three guitars with you … What's the difference between the three of them and on which songs do you play which guitar? Is that the blue guitar? So how is all the equipment transported from venue to venue? So, for example, for the European tour? So the other two are from the States? You've recorded your debut album, "Enjoy The Moment". Are you in the process of recording your second album? You recorded a CD with Josh [Brown] recently? Has that actually been released yet? Whose idea or whose decision was it to create "The Boathouse All-
Stars"? So are you planning any more of The Boathouse All-Star gigs? Technically, which is the most difficult song of Michael's to play? What is your academic training and professional background? Hard work? An undergraduate degree and then a Masters? or … That's the sort of thing that's really interesting because some of the guys [in the band] they do have Masters degrees … But if you balance out experience … When did you join the Bublé band and how did that come about? Did you have to audition at all? I met this nice kid, a young piano player, who was still in college and he kind of showed us around town. He gave us a lift a couple times and I actually forgot meeting him because I didn't hear him play … but it turned out that he was Alan Chang. He called me for a gig a couple years later. Was that after Brian Green had left? So you knew Alan before but how about any of the other guys? What's your favourite part during one of Michael's concerts? I remember seeing you at the first Las Vegas show [at the Las Vegas Hilton on Feburary 10th, 2006] – you did the catwalk modeling section because Rob Wilkerson was ill? Did you enjoy that experience? Have you written any of the arrangements for the concert? Do you speak any other languages? Your surname, Napoleon – what is your family origin? Apart from the guitar, do you play any other instruments? Would you be able to do that professionally as well? Which is your favourite place that you've played in?
Michael Bublé Recordings featuring Randy Napoleon
CD + DVDs
Michael Bublé ~ Caught In The Act (2006)*
With Love, Michael Bublé (2006) (Hallmark)
Recordings by Randy Napoleon
Randy Napoleon ~ Between Friends (2006)
The Randy Napoleon Trio ~ Enjoy The Moment
Track listing:
Other Artists' Recordings featuring Randy Napoleon
Melissa Morgan ~ Until I Met You (2009)
Jared Gold ~ Solids & Stripes (2008)
Live at MCG ~ The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
Michael Camacho ~ Just For You
Articles featuring Randy Napoleon
Video clips featuring Randy Napoleon
Randy Napoleon Trio (Randy Napoleon, Elias Bailey (bass) and Josh Brown (trombone))
Randy Napoleon Trio (Randy Napoleon, Jared Gold (Hammond B3 Organ) and Mark Taylor (drums) performing on BBC Radio 2's "Friday Night Is Music Night" in January, 2007).
Offical Website & MySpace URL:
Exclusive Interview for www.bubléband.com
Part 1 - Zenith du Paris, Paris, France - Monday, 22nd May, 2006
May 30th, 1977.
Brooklyn, New York.
Manhattan[, New York].
Oh boy! There are two kinds of days. There are show days and days off. Days off are very popular with the band. Most cities we go we just try to find some good food to eat and see the sights
and stuff. You know, a lot of times we'll wake up at the venue so I
just practice pretty much all day. I practice and I'll do some
business on my computer and then we'll do a soundcheck and do
the show and that's it.
I practice and work on my own music. And I play a lot of little gigs
around New York. Play video games with my roommates. Hang out.
When I was 13.
My first guitar was an electric guitar. I really loved Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and stuff like that but then I got more interested in jazz.
Right.
OK. Great question. There are three guitars – one is my D'Angelico which is – that's the guitar I play on most of my own gigs. That's the traditional jazz guitar. It's called an F-hole archtop guitar.
That's the blue guitar, yeah. Those kinds of guitars have a relatively darker sound than the flat top acoustic guitar I use for "Save The Last Dance". That makes it ideal for playing jazz and also a little bit easier
to amplify than a roundhole acoustic guitar. And then there's the Stratocaster just for rocking out.
I carry my D'Angelico with me because I own that one and the other two are rentals so they travel with the crew and the rest of the gear.
Well, they shipped it over on a boat. All our speakers …
Yes.
Yeah, I'm hoping to have something out in September and I'm still … need to finish some stuff, still cleaning up some final business-type
stuff. I'm really hoping that I will have something soon.
I'm excited about that one too.
No. Same sort of thing, you'll have to check with Josh on that one. Hopefully we'll get that out soon too.
I guess we all wanted to do it. I mean we all play together in a lot of different situations informally and we just we like to play music as our
actual job and our hobby … so that's another thing we like to do on our days off - we'll find a local jazz club and crash it and try and sit in with the local musicians and play. So it's good that we like to play and the show is wonderful but it's nice to play other stuff to keep ourselves strong, and creatively fresh.
Well, yeah … small combinations of the group. I think we'll do more playing.
Oh wow … on guitar? I guess everything has its challenge. I don't
think any of the material is super hard but to play anything right is hard, to play it perfectly. A lot of what I think about in this band is
really nailing tempos and just an overall evenness of touch on the instrument. It's not like I'm playing anything super fast or a lot of guitar hero stuff in the show. It's about getting the details right.
I went to Music School – University of Michigan, for 4 years.
It was fun … not like school.
I didn't do any of that, no. I just got an undergrad … actually, I had some gigs right before I finished college so I didn't technically graduate. I'm shy of one credit.
Yeah, that's true …
Yeah, I mean … no one really cares in terms of playing. People hire you for how you play and paper doesn't matter. So school is really just about what you can take from it. I got a lot out of school. I learnt a lot,
I had good teachers and it was great for me but the piece of paper is not what helped me. It's more just the experience of learning. And then I was really excited to get to New York, jump into the mix and play with musicians much better than myself. So that was really the best
graduate school for me – going to New York.
Part 2 - GIANT Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA - Sunday, 2nd July, 2006
No, the guys just recommended me. In 1999, the first touring gig I did was with Benny Green and one of the first gigs we did was in Los Angeles.
Right.
I did. I knew Nick [Vayenas] and Mark [Small] from New York and from playing around town and the old drummer, Pete Van Nostrand, so I think they actually might have been the ones who brought up my name and, you know, ultimately it was Alan's decision, but luckily it worked out but I didn't have to audition or anything. They kind of knew how I played.
I really enjoy watching people enjoy it, because we play this music a lot and that's kind of the only thing that keeps it fresh – that it's really exciting for people.
Oh, he was ill, yeah …
It made me a little nervous and I'm not a great actor so I'd do it if I had to.
Nothing in Michael's band, no.
Unforunately, no.
Italian. I think it used to be "Napoletano" and it got changed.
I play a little bit of piano.
I could probably hack my way through a gig but I'm not great. I use it to help me arrange and stuff.
I love Italy – the whole country. And I love … I went to Japan with a different band and I really enjoyed that … and I like Australia … I mean we've been to so many different places now.
