Luther S. Allison Performs Live from 'I Owe It All To You'

Summary

All Of It (WNYC) – Luther S. Allison Performs Live from 'I Owe It All To You'

Host: Koosha Navadar (in for Alison Stewart)
Guest: Luther S. Allison, with band: Imani Roussel (vocals), Ryan Sands (drums), Zwelake Duma Beleper (bass)
Date: August 15, 2024

---

Episode Overview

WNYC’s All Of It dedicates this episode to rising jazz pianist, composer, and Grammy-winner Luther S. Allison. Fresh off his debut as a bandleader with the album I Owe It All To You, Allison performs tracks live in-studio, reflects on his influences, and discusses the spirit behind his music. The conversation explores creative process, musical influences, and the cultural roots embedded in Allison’s artistry, culminating in a conversation about gratitude, honesty in composition, and the journey of making music.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The New Album: I Owe It All To You

• [00:33] Host highlights Luther’s blend of original compositions, jazz standards, and a Stevie Wonder cover in his new album.
• Allison shares that the spirit of the record is gratitude—dedicated to mentors, family, and musicians who shaped his journey.

2. Live Performances

• “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was”

  • [01:39] Luther introduces the song as a Donald Brown-inspired arrangement:

    “I expanded this from his solo piano arrangement… a reimagined version inspired by Donald Brown.”

• [02:41-04:49] The band delivers an emotive, expressive performance.

• “Until I See You Again”

  • [14:27] Allison shares:

    “This song is rooted in longing. That's kind of where this came from. A newfound relationship that I had just entered into about five years ago now…”

  • Inspired by his now-fiancée.

• [18:09-18:32] Host describes the performance as full of hope, resolve, and mystery.

• “I Owe It All To You” (Title Track)

  • [28:47] Allison intros the closing song and the band.
  • [29:13] Vocal delivery laden with affection and gratitude, echoing the theme of the episode.

3. Influences & Upbringing in Charlotte

• [07:37-11:04] Luther details the Charlotte music scene’s impact; from local jazz venues to church and familial roots.
• Fond memories of attending jam sessions incognito:

  “There was a hookah lounge... Anthony Hamilton's band... I would go there, play some pool, but I would always try to hang with the cats and listen to the music.” ([10:31])

4. Musical Development and Learning Multiple Instruments

• [11:13-12:51] Early exposure to drums and saxophone, adapting techniques and styles across instruments.

  "I feel like even when I got to saxophone, I would think about the piano... Or when I'm playing the piano, I kind of tend to think about the drums." ([12:20])

• Recognizes the interconnectedness of musical language:

  “They are both percussion instruments.” – Koosha Navadar ([12:51])

5. Recording the Album in a Single Day

• [06:11-07:25] The energy and “sinew” captured by recording all songs together:

  “I feel like there's something that happens... from hour to hour, throughout the progression of the recording, there's just a different feeling and a different energy that you develop with the band.” ([06:26])

  • Discussion about the merits and risks of “raw” recordings:

    “Raw is good. Sometimes raw cannot be too good... Sometimes the chicken needs to bake.” ([07:33-07:38]) “I'm vegan. But, you know, so they could probably go to mushroom.” ([07:41])

6. Composing with Honesty

• [20:16-22:52] Approaching composition with honesty instead of overthinking:

  “For me, honesty and composing is just being true to myself and not limiting myself... But I feel honesty also has a sense of deference... in that honesty, you have to be inviting and welcoming.” ([20:22])

7. Theme of Gratitude

• [22:02] Album title reflects Allison's intent to say “thank you” to mentors, family, and friends:

  “Thank you is what it needs to is what it's intended to say... It's just kind of my way of saying thank you to all of them for what you've done.” ([22:02])

• Sees himself as just beginning, always learning.

8. Grammy Experience & Advice to Young Musicians

• [23:12] On playing with Samara Joy at the Grammys:

  “Everybody's just so young. The whole band is young and everybody's just so excited…” “Afterwards… like, when I got home, I'm like, man, I just played at the Grammys. That's kind of crazy.” ([24:24])

• Dealing with nerves and self-belief:

  “Those nerves came from some ounce of lack of belief in myself… It's just kind of being able to be comfortable with where I am and who I am and what I've done to get to this point.” ([24:33])

• Advice to others:

  “My biggest piece of advice is probably number one, to realize that we're always students… Always be working and always be progressing and grow and trying to grow. Ask questions, have mentors…” ([27:32])

9. Personal Life & Music’s Role

• [18:34] Allison discusses composing music for his wedding:

  “I'm recording something for her to walk down the aisle to… I have a couple other surprises to come maybe shortly after the wedding.” ([18:42])

• Keeps the wedding traditional with music, dance, and a DJ.

10. Generosity & Joy

• [26:05] Host quotes Samara Joy applauding Luther’s “openness and generosity.”
• Luther roots his generosity in his faith, family, and community:

  “I have to give it up to the Lord, to God, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior... It's also to my parents and my community, my tribe back home in Charlotte...” ([26:05])

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Honesty in Music
  “It's not really allowing my mind to get in the way of what needs to be said... For me, there's a sense of openness to that as well.” – Luther S. Allison ([20:22])
• On Standing on Shoulders of Giants
  “Even if I'm not playing their music, even if I'm writing music that's of my own, that's Coming from my own inspiration. It's still coming from them, from the people who came before me.” ([22:55])
• On Recording Raw in Studio
  “When something's raw, I feel like it's always good when everybody is sensitive, when everybody's checking out what's going on... when people are attentive and sensitive, then raw is always going to be happening.” ([07:46])
• On the Grammy Experience
  “We were all still clowning, we were all having a good time, we played the show... it just kind of felt like the continuation of the hang with the band.” ([23:25]) “Afterwards... when I got home, I'm like, man, I just played at the Grammys. That's kind of crazy.” ([24:24])
• Advice to Young Musicians
  “Everybody is a student of the music. None of us are bigger than it. None of us are bigger than each other. Regardless of how far everybody is along their journey musically, don't let the glitz and the glam fool you. Always be working and always be progressing and grow and trying to grow.” ([27:32])
• Reflections on Joy
  “There is joy at the center of what you're doing, which is beautiful. It's so hard to hold onto that, too, you know, especially as a professional musician.” – Koosha Navadar ([27:04])

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:33] Introduction of guest and album themes
• [01:39] "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" performance
• [04:49] Reaction to live performance, discussion of arranging and inspiration
• [06:11] Making the album in a single day—discussing energy and process
• [09:00] Charlotte jazz scene and venues that shaped Luther
• [12:20] How playing sax and drums inform his piano style
• [14:27] Introduction and performance of "Until I See You Again"
• [18:42] On integrating music into wedding plans
• [20:22] Honesty in composition and creative process
• [22:02] The album as "thank you" to mentors and peers
• [23:12] Memories of the Grammy performance with Samara Joy
• [24:33] Overcoming nerves with self-belief
• [26:05] Sources of generosity and joy—faith, family, and mentors
• [27:32] Advice to young and emerging musicians
• [28:47] Introduction and performance of “I Owe It All To You”

---

Episode Tone and Style

The episode is warm, conversational, and reflective, with an undercurrent of gratitude, humility, and musical camaraderie. Both host Koosha Navadar and Luther S. Allison maintain an open, supportive dialogue, with Luther frequently crediting his upbringing and his collaborators for his success. Allison's humility and commitment to growth stand out, as does his faith and desire to give back to the communities and mentors who have helped him.

---

For Listeners New and Old

Whether you’re discovering Luther S. Allison for the first time or following his journey from sideman to bandleader, this episode paints an intimate portrait of an artist deeply rooted in both tradition and personal evolution. With heartfelt performances and behind-the-scenes insights, it’s an inspiring listen about artistry, gratitude, and finding one’s place in the lineage of jazz.

---

Recommended tracks to revisit:

• [01:39] "I Didn't Know What Time It Was"
• [14:27] "Until I See You Again"
• [28:47] "I Owe It All To You"

To see Luther S. Allison live:
August 29, 7:00 PM – Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center

---

Transcript

[Uncle]

I' ma put you on, nephew.

[McDonald's Employee]

All right, unc. Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

[Uncle]

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What's a snack wrap? It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back. Listener supported WNYC Studios.

[Koosha Navadar]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Koosha Navadar in for Alison Stewart. Today, musician and composer Luther S. Allison knows how to play all kinds of venues, from intimate New York jazz clubs to the Grammy stage. Allison won a Grammy this year for his work as a pianist backing Samara Joy. And this summer he released his debut LP as a bandleader. The album is called I Owe it all to youo, and it features original compositions, his renditions of jazz standards, and even an interpretation of a classic Stevie Wonder song, which I gotta say, is one of my favorite parts of the album. Lucky for us, Luther S. Allison is with me now to perform live from the album along with a band he's put together today. Luther, hi, welcome to wnyc.

[Luther S. Allison]

Hey, how's it going? Thank you for having me.

[Koosha Navadar]

It's going great that you and your band are here and I'm so excited to hear the music. And as a heads up for listeners, if you like what you hear, Luther is performing at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln center on August 29, September, starting at 7:00pm all right, let's get right into the music you are going to play. I Didn't Know what Time It Was. You want to set it up? Let's hear it.

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah, sure. So this is an arrangement that was inspired by one of my heroes, the great Donald Brown. And I expanded this from his solo piano arrangement that he did some years ago. And so this is another kind of reimagined version inspired by Donald Brown of I Didn't Know what Time It Was, featuring Zwilake Duma Beleper on bass, Ryan Sands on the drums, Imani Roussel on vocals.

[Imani Roussel]

I didn't know what time it was then I met you. Oh, what a lovely time it was. How sublime it was.

[Ryan Sands]

I.

[Imani Roussel]

Didn'T know what day it was. You held my hand warm like the month of May it was and I'll say it was grand.

[McDonald's Employee]

It was grand to be alive, to.

[Imani Roussel]

Be young, to be mad, to be.

[McDonald's Employee]

Yours alone Gray end To see your.

[Imani Roussel]

Face, feel your touch, hear your voice say I'm all your.

[Ryan Sands]

I.

[McDonald's Employee]

Didn'T know what year it was.

[Imani Roussel]

Life was no prize. I wanted love.

[McDonald's Employee]

Love and There it.

[Imani Roussel]

Was shining out of your ey.

[McDonald's Employee]

And.

[Imani Roussel]

I know what time it is now I know what time it is I'm.

[McDonald's Employee]

Wise and I know what time it.

[Ryan Sands]

Is I know it.

[Koosha Navadar]

Wow. That was Luther S. Allison performing I Didn't Know what Time It Was from his new album, I Owe it all to you. It's out Now. We were all there, just nodding our heads together with the same beat. Luther's playing at Disney's Club on August 29th at 7pm Luther, that song was your rendition of a classic tune inspired by. By Donald Brown. What inspired you enough about that composition to make you want to put your own spin on it?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah, sure. So I went to University of Tennessee for my undergrad, and while I was there, a lot of really good friends of mine, we would sit around and listen to records, listen to CDs, and we would always listen to our teachers as well. We tried to find all the records that we could with Mark Bowling on guitar, or Keith Brown on drums, or John Hamer. Rusty Holloway were teaching bass there. And especially when it came to Donald, we tried to find as many records we could. And from his solo piano record, one of them, I think it was Piano Short Stories. He did this on. We just had this on repeat over and over. And it was kind of a rite of passage where when you got to ut, you had to have checked out his solo piano records and you had to have at least been familiar with just the weight of that recording and the power of that recording. So, yeah, we just listened to it so much, to the point where I said, I have to do something with this. Like, I have to expand this for my own group.

[Koosha Navadar]

So kind of like I owe it all to you in a certain sense.

[Luther S. Allison]

Absolutely. Absolutely.

[Koosha Navadar]

You know, I heard that you banged out the recordings for all these songs in a single day at the studio. Is that true?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah, it was a long day. It was a long two days, but, yeah, one day in the studio, one day rehearsing before, but yes, yes.

[Koosha Navadar]

How do you think that helps an album in terms of how it's taken in? Is there, like, sinew and connection between all the songs they could hear because they're in such close proximity to each other?

[Luther S. Allison]

I feel like there's something that happens when you record everything in one day that's different than if you record over a few days. And this is something I would love to experiment with. This is just my first record. I'd love to experiment with maybe doing more days in the studio, but I feel like throughout each hour, from hour to hour, throughout the progression of the recording, there's just a different feeling and a different energy that you develop with the band. And so I feel like whenever I listen to records, at least the ones that I've been on, where I know we recorded everything within one day, you can hear certain things develop over time. You can hear when it's really raw and you just met the cats and you're just kind of figuring everything out. And then you can hear where, okay, we kind of know each other and we figured some things out throughout the duration of our time in the studio. So it develops over time. But I feel like even when I hear it, I can tell, even though we didn't place the songs in order of how we recorded them, interesting. I can still hear certain things with each song of, you know, our development and our connection in the studio over that day.

[Koosha Navadar]

So is raw not as good as when you hit the groove, or is it just different? Because I'm thinking raw might be good sometimes.

[Luther S. Allison]

You tapped in. Raw is good. Sometimes raw cannot be too good. Sure, sometimes.

[Koosha Navadar]

Sometimes the chicken needs to bake.

[Luther S. Allison]

Hey, exactly. Sometimes you need to let that thing thaw. Hey, I'm vegan. But, you know, so they could probably go to mushroom.

[Koosha Navadar]

Needs to ferment wherever you go.

[Luther S. Allison]

But yes. I mean, sometimes. Sometimes I think it is good. I think a lot of times it's really good. I feel like when something's raw, I feel like it's always good when everybody is sensitive, when everybody's checking out what's going on, when everybody's in tune with what's happening on the bandstand, but also what's happening in the room and what's happening within yourself. So I feel like when people are attentive and sensitive to all those things, then raw is always going to be happening, you know, I feel like raw is dangerous when, you know, when nobody's paying attention and nobody's being considerate and nobody's being mindful as human beings, as people, because that's going to translate to how we address one another on the bandstand. So. But, yeah, I'm definitely blessed to have everybody in the bandstand. I see Ryan's over there still rocking to the music.

[Koosha Navadar]

The Drummer who's like 10ft away, he.

[Luther S. Allison]

Still tapped into the feeling.

[Koosha Navadar]

I am still swiveling in my chair to that feeling, so I feel that, too.

[Luther S. Allison]

Exactly.

[Koosha Navadar]

You're from Charlotte, North Carolina, right?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yes, indeed.

[Koosha Navadar]

Okay, so I went City, baby. I went 704. I went to school in Durham. Know some about Charlotte Used to visit.

[Luther S. Allison]

Nice.

[Koosha Navadar]

I think that one thing that connects a lot of performing artists, whether you're a musician, actor, stand up comic, is that when you're just starting out, there's always a dream venue in your hometown where you'd love to perform.

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah.

[Koosha Navadar]

When you were growing up in Charlotte, were there any jazz clubs like Middle C or like Petra's club where you were really, really wanted to play?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah. You did some research. Okay. Yeah. So Charlotte growing up, I would always hear people at. Well, there were a few spots. There weren't a whole lot of jazz clubs necessarily when I was growing up. But there's an organization that started doing a lot of incredible things in Charlotte called. It was Jazz Arts Initiative when I joined and now they're called Jazz Arts Charlotte. They've expanded and so they have something called the Jazz Room. So when I was in high school, I would see every once in a while some bigger acts come through town. Christian Scott came through. Donald Harrison would come through every once in a while and they would just. I think they would rent out maybe. Was it Blumenthal? I can't remember. It was somewhere downtown actually, or uptown as we say. But that was one of the spots that I would see pretty often when I was maybe 16, 17, kind of later high school. But when I was younger, there was just there. There weren't a whole lot of clubs. Petra's always had music. Middle C is kind of a newer spot. There was a really cool jam session that happened at a place, I think it was called the Bistro maybe. But honestly, I would just see Cats playing around town. And it was just. And it wasn't even like I had a specific venue I always wanted to play for in my hometown. But I just saw incredible musicians. Whether it was gospel musicians, funk musicians, people from John P. Key's band, Fantasia's band, Anthony Hamilton, who's from Charlotte, a lot of people from his group. I would just see them play. Man, there's this one spot. Sorry, I'm talking long, but what's new?

[Koosha Navadar]

That's all good.

[Luther S. Allison]

There's this one spot. It was a hookah lounge. I don't know if my parents noticed, but. Sorry Mom. Sorry, dad. They're probably listening right now. But there was a hookah lounge and in the back they had Anthony Hamilton's band. But it would be all the Cats from John P. Key's group, Fantasia's band, all these cats. And they'd be in there playing their tails off. And I would go there and I wouldn't smoke hookah I would just hustle the pool table, and I got pretty nice at pool there. But that was kind of my way was. You know, I would go there, play some pool, but I would always kind of try to hang with the cats and listen to the music. So that was another very, very inspirational place for me to be around. Yeah.

[Koosha Navadar]

And, you know, you don't just play the piano. You don't just play pool. Really well. You play the saxophone and the drums, which you asked for on your fifth birthday, right?

[Luther S. Allison]

The drums. Yes, that's right.

[McDonald's Employee]

Yeah.

[Koosha Navadar]

How do you think playing those two instruments, the sax and the drums, informs what you do on the piano?

[Luther S. Allison]

That's really good. You know, I feel like it informs me in ways that I don't even know because I've done all those. I've played all those instruments for so long. I know when I picked up saxophone, that was. I actually didn't even want to play saxophone. But when I first got into my middle school at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina, I was there middle and high school. And your sixth grade year, you couldn't play drums in the band. You had to start on a wind instrument. So I said, well, my sister always said she wanted to play saxophone because it looked cool. And I was like, well, it looks cool to me, too. Let me just try the saxophone. And it's funny, because I couldn't even get a sound out the instrument. And there's a guy named Nick Kuzar, Nicholas Kuzar, and I think he was in high school at the time, and he grabbed the horn and he said, man, you just gotta blow that thing. And then he grabbed the saxophone and made this huge honking sound. And then I was amazed. I thought he was the best saxophonist in the world, and he played drums. But I feel like back home there was a lot of people who played multiple instruments, and I feel like it was just a thing where we would just kind of jump on whatever instrument was there. And I feel like even when I got to saxophone, I would think about the piano. When I was playing saxophone, like, I would look at the notes in my head, and I feel like that helped me maneuver the instrument better. I knew the technique. I feel like I picked up the technique pretty quickly. But as far as the musicality, I just kind of thought about the piano. Or when I'm playing the piano, I kind of tend to think about the drums. I don't even. It's not even that I think about it, but I feel like it just kind of. I'm just naturally inclined to just feel the drums on this instrument.

[Koosha Navadar]

They are both percussion instruments.

[Luther S. Allison]

They are, they are. So I feel like on each instrument, unintentionally, I'm thinking of another instrument. And even as I've been talking with a lot of. A lot of some of my heroes in the music, I was talking with Sullivan Fortner about it and Bill Charlotte, just a couple days about it. And thinking about the piano as. Not even the piano, but thinking about the piano as an orchestra. So now I'm like, man, I want to learn how to play violin and cello and all these other instruments. I definitely don't have time for that. But yeah, I always kind of tend to think of another instrument.

[Koosha Navadar]

It's baked into the language of music. It is how you approach just the idea of performance and composition.

[Luther S. Allison]

Absolutely.

[Koosha Navadar]

We gotta take a quick break. We'll be back right after it. We'll hear some more music from Luther S. Allison and his fantastic band. Luther is the creator of the new album I Owe it all to youo. It's out now. Also is gonna be performing at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln center on August 29th. Beginning at 7pm we are gonna take a quick break. When we come back, we're gonna start off with another song. So stick with us. This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Kusha Navadar. We're here talking with Luther S Grammy award winning musician and composer. New album is I Owe it all to youo. It's out now. Luther's gonna be performing with his quartet today and also will be performing at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln center on August 29th. That's starting at 7pm all right, let's hear another song. Until I see you again. Luther set us up. What should people listen for in the song?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah, this song is rooted in longing. That's kind of where this came from. A newfound relationship that I had just entered into about five years ago now. I moved to New York City shortly after meeting her in Michigan and I wrote this song Shortly after, I joined a band with the great drummer Ulysses Owens. And he asked me to write a piece for the. For the group. And I wrote this one. So that's kind of where my heart was. And actually we'll be getting married in about six weeks now.

[Uncle]

Oh, wow.

[Luther S. Allison]

Yes, indeed, it.

[Koosha Navadar]

Until I see you again Luther S. Allison. That was really beautiful hearing where it came from in your life. I heard when I was listening, sense of hope, of resolve, of excitement, maybe like mystery.

[Luther S. Allison]

Completely. Right.

[Koosha Navadar]

You're getting married in six weeks and something like that.

[Luther S. Allison]

September 28th. So it's right around the corner. However many weeks it is, it's coming up.

[Koosha Navadar]

I got married two months ago.

[Luther S. Allison]

Oh, congratulations.

[Koosha Navadar]

Thank you. Congrats to you too.

[Luther S. Allison]

Thank you.

[Koosha Navadar]

How big a role is music gonna play in your wedding?

[Luther S. Allison]

I am recording a few songs. I'm recording something for her to walk down the aisle to. And I have a couple other surprises to come maybe shortly after the wedding. I have some stuff I'm working on.

[Koosha Navadar]

Which you are not gonna share that.

[Luther S. Allison]

I'm not gonna share. She may be listening and she doesn't even know this. So I have some surprises that I'm. That are kind of wedding related. But there's a few things I'm doing just recording wise for the. For the wedding. But we're keeping it pretty traditional. You know, we just want to dance and have fun and we're gonna have a dj. Sorry all the musicians. Everybody's getting on my head about it. It's not really a whole lot of musicians that are gonna be there anyways, but it's gonna be a good time and we're excited for it.

[Koosha Navadar]

That's wonderful. So congrats again about it. You know, listening to that song. You composed it. How would you describe your evolution as a composer so far in your career?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah, I feel like when I first started composing, I don't know. I don't really know about my evolution, to be honest with you. I feel like I've just learned a lot about music. I've listened to a lot of music, and as I've lived and listened and learned and asked questions, all of those things have influenced my compositions. I don't think there's any things that I've intentionally changed or done that I can really track that have changed in my writing outside of just learning more about music and trying to always be a student of the music and take that into everything that I do. But I try to be as honest in all of my writing and composing as I can possibly be and even in my arrangements. But, yeah, I don't know if it's really changed to be honest.

[Koosha Navadar]

That's interesting. What does honest mean to you? What does honest composing look like that sound like?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah, for me, it's not really allowing my mind to get in the way of what needs to be said. So I feel like for me, honesty and composing is just being true to myself and not limiting myself. You know, if I want something to sound a certain way, but not thinking that, well, I learned in school or I learned from this, that this should be the. Well, this is my time to say what I want to say. So I can be selfish in this moment, compositionally, you know, But I feel honesty also has a sense of deference. And I feel like in that honesty, you have to be inviting and welcoming. And whoever it is that I'm inviting into that vision, compositionally or artistically, that I'm also allowing them those same liberties. You know, there's so many times when maybe Zwei or Ryan or Imani will do something, and I'm like, actually, let's just do that instead. They're like, no, what did you want? I'm like, nah, that was actually better, you know? So I feel, you know, for me, there's a sense of openness to that as well. You know, it's ever evolving. Even Zwei made a joke earlier. He was like, I learned the other version, but now we're doing this version, you know, because even the next tune that we're gonna be playing after this, I made some other changes, and we have vocals now, and I wrote some lyrics, and she also helps with writing some lyrics to this, too, so. So, yeah, that's really what it means to me.

[Koosha Navadar]

I love what you said about allowing not getting in the way of what needs to be said, which I think is really powerful. If you think about this album, its title is I Owe it all to you. Looking back on it, what do you feel like it says that needed to be said for you?

[Luther S. Allison]

Thank you is what it needs to is what it's intended to say. So to all my mentors, to, first of all, my family, my mother, my father, Carolyn Allison, and Luther Marvin Allison. My sister, Christina Allison. All my good friends who have poured into me and mentored me back home in Charlotte. Tim Scott, Harvey Cummings, Elizar Schaefer, O.C. davis, Lonnie Davis, everybody. My good friends that I grew up with. I mean, everyone. Donald Brown, Michael Dees, another good mentor of mine, Rodney Whitaker, countless people. You know, it's really just kind of me saying thank you. Ulysses Owens. Their names are endless. It's just kind of my way of saying thank you to all of them for what you've done. And it's also a way of telling myself, this is the beginning. We're just getting started.

[Koosha Navadar]

So acknowledging that you kind of stand on the shoulders of giants.

[Luther S. Allison]

Absolutely. That's the only way to do this, the right way, I believe. Even if I'm not playing their music, even if I'm writing music that's of my own, that's Coming from my own inspiration. It's still coming from them, from the people who came before me, you know?

[Koosha Navadar]

Is Samara Joy somebody else that.

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah, absolutely. She's another person who's profoundly impacted my.

[Koosha Navadar]

Life, you know, you gigged with her for a bit. It even won you a Grammy and led you to perform live at the Grammys playing piano for her. What do you remember most about that Grammys performance?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yes. You know what the funny thing was? I feel like we were all. Everybody's just so young. The whole band is young and everybody's just so excited. So I remember getting to LA and I was just geeked to just be in la and I had other good friends I was seeing. And it's just the entire experience was just so fun that I feel like even when we were at the Grammys, it just kind of felt like the continuation of the hang with the band. Like we were all still clowning, we were all having a good time, we played the show. You see all these crazy stars. But it's like something about it, it wasn't as, you know, it was just different than what I expected, I guess. You know, I feel like when I was younger and you grew up watching the Grammys, I felt like, man, when I get there, I'm not gonna know what to say and I'm gonna freeze. But it's like I feel like it was just so relaxed and so calm and all of us kind of come from similar backgrounds and we were kind of there for each other and we just have fun, you know? And I feel like it sunk in afterwards. Like, when I got home, I'm like, man, I just played at the Grammys. That's kind of crazy.

[Koosha Navadar]

Do you feel like that comes natural to you, putting fun as a part of the center, or is it something active? Because I im you go to the Grammys, there's a lot of nerves involved. Can you talk about that a little bit?

[Luther S. Allison]

Oh, it's definitely nerve wracking. You look in the crowd and like, I remember seeing Jeffrey Keezer and Sullivan Fortner and Cecile McLaren Salvine and Wiz Khalifa and Glorilla and Sam Smith, and you just casually see them walking by you or so, I mean, that's definitely nerve wracking. But I feel like one of the biggest things I feel like I learned from that time is just to believe in myself. Because I noticed for me personally, those nerves came from some. Some ounce of lack of belief in myself and my ability and what I can do and what I've already done. And so without having a, you know, without having any sense of ego or, you know, pride about it. It's just kind of being able to be comfortable with where I am and who I am and what I've done to get to this point. And that helps me to understand that what I've said before, this has earned me, this place to be here.

[Koosha Navadar]

Not getting in the way of what needs to be said.

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah. Not getting in the way of my. Getting out of my own way.

[Koosha Navadar]

Getting out of your own way.

[Luther S. Allison]

That's really what it comes down to.

[Koosha Navadar]

A lot of people can relate to that or the challenge associated with it. Absolutely. You know, the New York Times just wrote a piece about you, and they quote Samara saying. And this is a quote. What sets Luther apart for me is the fact that his openness and generosity as a person translates to how he interacts with everyone in the band on his instrument. The passion that he plays with uplifts those around him and inspires everyone to play at their best. Those are really kind words.

[Luther S. Allison]

Absolutely.

[Koosha Navadar]

Thinking about this album, a way of saying thanks. Thinking about that quote, who developed that generosity in you, I have to say.

[Luther S. Allison]

You know, my faith is a big part of my life, so I have to give it up to the Lord, to God, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, who I declare to be my Lord and Savior of my life. So I feel like that's truly where it comes from. That is definitely the center of my life and my personhood, my humanity, my being. It's also to my parents and my community, my tribe back home in Charlotte, you know, everybody who I grew up around within the household, in school, my teachers, my educators, I feel like it's all of them. But I also feel. I feel like it's something that God just put inside of me, you know, I feel like there is a sense of joy that I'm able to carry with me throughout whatever the circumstance is. Not that I'm always joyful, because there's definitely things that happen and. And it can be difficult to deal with those times and to deal with what's happening in your own mind and your own heart. But, yeah, I have to give it up to my faith and my family.

[Koosha Navadar]

And those influences and carrying it with you. And that sense of joy permeates, I gotta say, just like sitting in here, hearing you warm up, there is joy at the center of what you're doing, which is beautiful. It's so hard to hold onto that, too, you know, especially as a professional musician. Got about a minute left before I want to get to the next song. So the last question I want to offer you is what advice would you, you give musicians who are in the kind of place where you were a few years ago, either in school or just starting out?

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah, sure. I would say my biggest piece of advice is probably number one, to realize that we're always students, regardless of what stage of development we're in. Everybody is a student of the music. None of us are bigger than it. None of us are bigger than each other. Regardless of how far everybody is along their journey musically, don't let the glitz and the glam fool you. Always be working and always be progressing and grow and trying to grow. Ask questions, have mentors, have people that you can call on and learn from. None of us will ever make it. It's a lifelong journey.

[Koosha Navadar]

Making it is the journey.

[Luther S. Allison]

Yeah. So I always do that.

[Koosha Navadar]

We've made it to the last beat of the conversation. Not to make a musical pun, but I just want to say thanks to. You're very generous. You are very generous. Luther S. Allison, the Grammy Award winning musician and composer. His new album is called I Owe it all to youo. Luther will be performing at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln center on August 29th. That's beginning at 7pm do you want to tell us the name of the last song, reintroduce your band and take us out?

[Luther S. Allison]

Absolutely. This last song is the title track of the record. This is I Owe It all to youo and once again featuring Imani Russell on vocals, Ryan Sands on the drums and Zwelake Duma Beleper on the bass.

[Koosha Navadar]

Wonderful. Here's the song and thank you all so much for joining us.

[McDonald's Employee]

I owe it all to you youu love is ever true Sweetness I never knew Beauty that changed my view. You have seen all of my victory and pain, sorrow and shame Forever I will hold a debt to you I'll never be the same you've held me up and never let me go astray I know I'm safe in your arms and I have no worry no matter how far away here I will be Never leave nor escape me I know I can always trust hope and dream Long as you're with me always be.

[Luther S. Allison]

Close to you.

[Ryan Sands]

Be close to you.

[McDonald's Employee]

Be close to you be close to.

[Ryan Sands]

You be close to you be close to you.

[McDonald's Employee]

Be close to you.

[Ryan Sands]

I owe it all.

[McDonald's Employee]

Your love is ever.

[Ryan Sands]

True.

[McDonald's Employee]

Sweetness I never knew oh beauty that change my future A love is never never true Sweetness I never knew Beauty that change my view.

[Uncle]

I' ma put you on nephew.

[McDonald's Employee]

All right, unc. Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

[Uncle]

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What's a snack wrap? It's the return of something great. Snack Wrap is back.

[WNYC Announcer]

NYC now delivers breaking news, top headlines, and in depth coverage from WNYC and Gothamist every morning, midday and evening. By sponsoring our programming, you'll reach a community of passionate listeners in an uncluttered audio experience. Visit sponsorship.wnyc.org to learn more.