Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Rushion Interviews How Grammy - Nominated Jazz duo Marcus & Jean Baylor kept their family together while succeeding in the music industry!

Transcript

Rushion Interviews How Grammy - Nominated Jazz duo Marcus & Jean Baylor kept their family together while succeeding in the music industry! · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: They're here. I've they We're gonna talk about a couple
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of my favorite that cuts on their single on their project.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: My guests on Money Making Conversations. Masterclass of Grammy nominated
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: jazz dual Marcus and Gene Baylor for the new album
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: The Bailor Project Generations. The Baila Project a husband and wife,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: an astounding duo built on love, faith, family, culture, and community.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: As the children of pastors Marcus and Jeans, musical roots
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: were planted deeply within the church and it was there
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: that the role was paid for the influence of jazz, gospel,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: blues and soul to make his mark. Please work on
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the Money Making Conversations, Masterclass, Marcus and Jane Baylor. How
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: are you doing? Hello? Hello? Well, I hope I I
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: hope I did did you justice? Buya that intro? Because
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the music is uh, I'm telling you man, y'all, y'all,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: y'all are doing something. You know jazz, It's it's jazz.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: This is a mix of something else And am I
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: missing something when I say that? Marcus and Gene, No,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: you're not this and anything. I mean, first of all,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: thank you for the amazing introduction. Um. The other thing
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: is that it's music that's born out of our community.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: So jazz, you know, the blues is there, you know,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: gospel is there, you know, R and B. All those
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: things are the roots of our music that makes up
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: who we are and the people before I get into
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: your background. And like I said, I may be late
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: to the party, but I'm at the party. And that
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: with the Baylor Project, okay, you want to let you know,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: and there's two songs that really their own mind that
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: there are two songs that really stand out for me
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: that I listened to and uh and that that really
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: I thought, really talk what I'm talking about, how diverse
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: the sound is. It's called Only Believe featuring the Jamison
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Ross and then black Boy. You know black Boy got
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: the trumpet sliding through that, the piano, strings, that drum,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: you know, they all it is. And then the beat
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: it's just a slow melodic tune that builds up to
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the vocals are just are just slid in at different moments.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Those two songs Only Believe in black Boy. Can we
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: talk about the evolution and the process of creating those
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: really really different songs on the same project, which is
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: the the Baila Project. Yes, oh wow, you picked um
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: two very diverse songs. I love it, um those two.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: You know, when we approach an album in general, we
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: really approach it as a body of work, and we
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: really take our time to kind of basically live and
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: allow the songs and ideas to come to us and
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: then we're able to develop them. UM. So only believe.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: I think that actually kind of came early on and
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: I didn't think it was gonna work on the album,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: And Marcus was like, yes, shame on you, shame on you.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: That is my favorite. That is the I can't say
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: that that that's I love a song I love. I'm
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: an NPR, I can't endorse it. I apologize. I slipped
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: over the curve, I slipped over the light. But only
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: believe is uh is a song that stood out on
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the album. That's all the music stands out. But they're
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: like anybody who listens to music, you always have a
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: favorite song that just that just grabs you and his
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: holes onto you emotionally takes you on the journey. Because
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: what I've taken from listening to the music, you guys,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: When I say you, guys, Marcus and Gene Taylor great storytellers. Wow,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. That's really kind of what we
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: aim to do is tell stories through our songs. But
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: there we aim to tell stories that are true and authentic,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: not only to us but to other people. And Um,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: a good friend of ours, Andre guests he um he
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: described this. So he wrote a line of notes and
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: he described the album as a soulful sonic story quilt
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: I believe. And you know just how it was all
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: we've together with the different songs, and how it was like, Um,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: you had specific ideas and concepts and themes, but then
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: it's still had. Um, it was like about the universality
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: of the human conditions. So even though it's very particular,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: a lot of the chills very particular to the black community. Um,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: the concepts and things are those that really anybody can
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: relate to yea that God. And also I mean this
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: has truly been a journey for us. I mean before
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: we were married, Um, I was a drummer. Well well
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: while while we were married as well, but I was
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: the drummer in the yellow Jacket and Gene come out
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: of an R and B duo across jan Nick. It's
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: and so there's a whole history of our you know
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: where we have come from in terms of what we've
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: been doing in the music business, but at the same
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: time been blessed to just be mentored by some of
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: the you know, the legends and just people that inspire us,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: you know daily, And we started on our shoulders, you know.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: One of the reasons I created and blessed to be
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: to have a show like Money Made, Conversation, Masterclass. I
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: get people to talk about their dreams, with their overcoming
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: their fears, you know, walking through unknown dog. Faith plays
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a major role in that because you already said both
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: of you, both of you came from groups, and groups
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: can allow you to you know, standing back and lean
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: on somebody for support and or sometimes they don't give
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: you the support that you want, but it's still somebody
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: you can talk to to step out as individuals and
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: do what you do. Talk about that journey, well, it's
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, I know Gene can definitely add to this,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: but I guess for us, I mean, we started our
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: own label, be Alike be Alike, and it started at
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the beginning just for our stepping out as the bill
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: of project and starting from the first gig of just
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: playing for a set of fifty people and so to
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: see how this journey has moved forward and now we
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: we're blessed to be greatly nominated this year for our
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: album Generations, and actually this is our fourth Grammy nomination
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: within what past four years. And so you could add
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: more to it, you know, Yeah, you can talk Marc
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: just now we gotta go just not a five minute interview.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Now you can talk now. Know he just gonna throw
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: it off, like I'm gonna cut him off. You know,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: you know they only got about three more minutes. You know,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: this show is built to tell your story. This just
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: shows built to talk about your journey because I want
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: people to understand a lot of people want to be you.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: There are a lot of people who have dreams cut
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: off because somewhere alongline, somebody said, go get a job
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: that's not you know, you're too old, or your or
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: you're you know, you're the wrong size, the wrong color.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: You know, you can't sing, nobody wants you to because
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: I know because those things were said to me. I
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: remember as my career as a stand up comedian, I
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: remember early on this guy contu his name Paul Menzo.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: He was the owner of this comedy club in Houston,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: and I came off the stage and if to a
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: standing ovation, he said, um, he said, you know, you
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: could be a little bit funnier if people could understand you.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: I go, huh, he said, you know, you're you're you're
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: not really clear when you talk. I go, but they
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: but they're laughing, he said, he said, just a note,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: just a note, you know, you know, but you it's
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: a business. You're not gonna make it in you know,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: because nobody won't ever understand you. So I know that
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: happened to me. And that's why I can just say
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: this to people that when people questioning, well, you know
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: my success and well, you know, how did you make it?
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: I had to overcome people telling me to quit, that
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: this wasn't for you. And so I know along the way,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: you know, I said earlier your pastor kids, and so
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: sometimes when your pastor kids, people start work your favorite
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: you know, you didn't work hard and things of those things.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: And uh. And so that's why I wanted to make
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: sure markets you tell us your story, because I'm gonna
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: get to Gene. I'm gonna get you probably on the
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: other side of the break, depending on how hard you talk.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: So continue Mark. So I mean, so basically the journey.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, So the thing about it is is that
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: I think it's you know, one thing that I tell
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: people is that when you have a dream and a go,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: it starts with a dream, but you have to be
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: consistent and persistent. And so in saying that, it's it's
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: almost like the thing about it is is that you
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: tweak your you tweak whatever your business or whatever you're
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: doing alone the way, but stay consistent at it. Like
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: because a lot of times is that I meet people,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: we meet people in the in the industry or just
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: in business in general that they're one thing they're doing
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: this today tomorrow Like well, man, I'm selling insurance, you know.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: So it's like nothing wrong with that. But my thing
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: is that your dream really borrows down to your purpose,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and if you understand your purpose, that's what keeps you going.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Because one thing I will tell you this is that
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: I learned that motivation and inspiration on the journey comes
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: and go, but what keeps me going daily is the purpose.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: I want. I understand what my purpose is. Then it's
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: like okay, whether I'm tired, whether um, you know, it's
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: like okay, man, now you gotta keep going. You almost there.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: I mean the Bella project. I mean it started with
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: you know, now we're blessed the tour and and you
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: know have a fucking age in and and and but
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: everything started with us doing everything ourselves. We booked ourselves.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: We uh, we did all the I mean you, I
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: mean you, you know how it is you you name it,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: brought drums again, you know, the whole nine. So what's
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: that being said. I think it's really understanding the journey
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: because it doesn't happen overnight. As much as we would
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: like it too, it doesn't happen overnight. It's a process.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more money making Conversations Masterclass
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: with Rushan McDonald. Can I have your attention for aim
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: and friend, how would you like to earn an extra
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars a month if your homeowners possible when you
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: call our sponsor, American Financing American's Home for home loans
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: with the process starts with a free mortgage review. Yes,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: so you're not paying up front of hidden fees, you're
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: not getting pressured, You're just learning about custom home loans
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: that can save you up to a thousand dollars a
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: month plus tens of thousand's long term, because there's more
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: to a refinance than just a lower rate. It's also
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: a strategic way to pay off debt faster, or funding
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: home improvement, whatever you need, because it's your investment and
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: your money, So why not learn more? If you start soon,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: you can skip to payment and you may close in
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: as fast as ten days called eight six six zero
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: three forty four. That's eight six six zero three forty four.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Or visit American Financing dot net. Be sure to mention
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: you heard about them on Money Making Conversations in m
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: LS one A, two three three four in m LS
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Consumer Access dot org. Now let's return to Money Making
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Conversations Masterclass with Rashan McDonald. Well, the thing that I
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: love about this story is so relatable to you know,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: nothing's easy, nothing journey. They're they're hungry nights. He's he'll
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: tell you that they're hungry days. Their days when you
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: sit on the other side of the bed and you
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: and you you your feet on the floor, but your
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: body don't want to get up. Their days where you
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: you actually just cry. You cry not so much out
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: of fear, just frustration. It's fear or because you know,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: fear drives that frustration and I should say that because
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: that fear the unknown, haven't made the right decision. But
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: what what what keeps you going is faith, but also
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: a plan. You gotta have that plan, everybody. You cannot
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: just walk out that door and not have an objective
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: because talent would only get you so far. In the
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: bottom line, you got us around yourself with people who
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: believe in the same journey you're trying to make. Let
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: me repeat that one more time. You got us around
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: yourself with people who want to make the same journey
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: with you. And I would tell you back at nightty two,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: I didn't get that. I didn't get what people saw
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: in me, Marcus and Gene. And so that is why
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: this this interviewed that we're doing now is so important
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: because of the fact that I want people to hear
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: your story when we when we talk all about the journey,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: you know, we all I know, I'll tell people I
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: grew up in the hood and I always see things
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: on TV. And I always felt that what I saw
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: TV I could actually be a part of I guess
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: that was that That's what helped me out. Always I
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: was a dreamer that really believed that, you know, if
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I worked hard and I stayed focused, the dream of
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: me being something other than where I was living could
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: actually happen. So when I when I say that, Marcus
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: and Gene, what was your driving force for you? See
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: your parents was seeing the culture that you grew up in.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: What was your driving force that inspired you to this point?
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: And guess what, the journey isn't over, it's just another
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: starting point. Because both of you are goal oriented. I
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: tell people that all the time, a goal and what
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: drives that? What is the drive for the journey? I
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: would say starting out for me, it was just the
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: love of music. UM, anywhere that I could sing, whether
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: it was the choiring church or acquiring school league club,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: cons a quire magical talent shows, wherever I could sing,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: because I just love doing it so much. It wasn't
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: didn't represent work at that point, UM, I just did it.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: And UM, you know that's still part of the drive.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: But of course it's developed over years. UM. And as
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Marcus mentioned, purpose that's like hugely important to me, UM
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: and both of us and also UM in business of
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: course business finances that kind of thing, that's the drive
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: as well. UM. But you know it kind of grows
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: and develops and changes a bit old as you as
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: you get older. And um, but it's it's definitely the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: drive and love for music, but um, the purpose and
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: the passion for it and um and you mentioned something,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Um what was it? Oh, excuse me? UM, just kind
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: of seeing yourself in different spaces, like growing up. I
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: grew up in a little small town in South Jersey,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: so I didn't I wasn't connected to the music industry whatsoever.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: So I didn't even have a concept that you know,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: if I saw a music video you know, on MTV
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: back then, soul training it, I love the thing, but
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I never thought, oh yeah, I could go and do
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: that because I was not anywhere in any proximity too
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: close to it, as I didn't even know, you know,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: their arts high schools were for real, I was watching
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Fame like man, that ship was not the game. It
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: just kind of I found it and it found me.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Marcus has a little bit of a different story because
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: he definitely had to have a lot of drive to
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: break through some barriers. Well well offer well the thing
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: about like like you said before, both the Jane and
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: are both uh preachers kids, pastors kids. So Jean grew
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: up her dad was a pastor of a Baptist church.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: I grew up where my dad was a pastor of
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: a Pentecostal Apostolic church. So what that means is back
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: then there was no other music allowed. Well, your mom
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: wasn't play in either, Jeane, but there was no other
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: music allowed in our house other than gospel music. And
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: so with that being said, but this is the other side.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: My mom my dad only had like maybe a seventh
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: grade or six or seventh or eighth grade education, and
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: he came from Mississippi, and you know, for better life
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: for the family. And so with that being said, I
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: mean later on in life he gave his life to
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: the Lord and and and and he ended up pastoring.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: But they started my dad's church before I was born.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I'm the youngest of nine children. His church literally started
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: in my parents house where they had a baptismal pool
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: in the basement. So that's the beginning of me hearing
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: those stories, was at the beginning of me understanding what
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: drive is. And then while I was a kid, my
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: mom had been forty two, So I hung out with
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: my dad a lot. So he would pick up all
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: the members for church. Um he would be setting up
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: tents I mean, my father was only about five ft
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: three five four, about the same height, and he would
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: say to get out the way I do it. And
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: so you're talking about when you watch him, you're talking
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: about drives and somebody just working and just really serving
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: the people and just working hard. I think that's what
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the beginning of me understanding what it takes to have
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: the drives and the passion and the work at it.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: But market, you gotta tell us, how did you start
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: making that music shift? And when did you introduce that
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: music shift to the family? Who wow, that's a great
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: now that I'm gonna bringing in. So I started playing,
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: so I became I started playing drums at the age
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: of two, and I became the church drummer at the
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: age of five. So when I got to home, you
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: all in, you all in back there, two years old,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: back down? Yeah, yeah, it was, you know, yeah it was.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: So once I got to high school, I think I
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: had a buddy take me to my first uh introduced
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: me to the Yellow Jackets when I was in middle school.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: And actually he's a pastor now, and a buddy by
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: the name of Chris Kayer introduced me to the music.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: He introduced you to the music and then it ran
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: back to the church. That what he did basically obviously no,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: but yeah, I mean it was like and then later
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: on I had a buddy. This changed my life. He
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: took me to my first jazz club and it was over.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: I snuck out and from there. I don't know why
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: my parents, why my mom has this, because my dad
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: passed away when I was nine, and so I don't
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: know why my mother had this. But I had a bed,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: I had a door in my bedroom, so I would
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: literally sneak out to go here jazz music. And by
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: high school I I had older mentors that said, hey man,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: you need to start doing some gigs, and so they
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: will call me while I was in high school to
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: go play some gigs. And that's where that's when the
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: bug bait me. And the thing about it is, I'm
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: trying to really figure this out, is that a lot
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: of times is that when you have resistance in terms
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: of I remember my family even at that time they said,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: hey man, drummers come a dime a dozen. But in
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: my mind I'm thinking, like, well, I'm gonna be that
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: dime in a dozen. So I think parents not just
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: handing everything to you sometimes, you know, it's kind of
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: it's kind of weird. It's almost like it makes you
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: want it more and it makes you go after. Like
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: I had a conversation with a family member to day
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: and and he talked about you know, we we talked
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: about how having a plan B. I'm gonna be honest
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: with you. I mean, I told him this because I
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: always flattered them because I love basketball. I said, actually,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: my plan A was to make it to the NBA.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: But at the agent probably nine about the leaven my
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: brother told me I was wasn't going to make it
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: to the NBA. Show Killer, dream Killer. Yeah he Drinkiller
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: and Dreamkiller or truth Tellers, Muggsy bowls. He making it.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: He made it to the NBA five ft three, Now
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: come on see him? And so well was about old.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: That was okay, But I'm just saying, I mean, what
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: is the percentage have been a musician? Okay? While liar
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I would say this so so to bring it all in,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: I just I feel like this, like I'm thinking about
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: people that have a plan B. And I'm not saying
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: I believe you should have a plan B and C.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: But for me, in my mind, most people that I
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: know that has a plan A that means their resistance
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: and their drive A lot of times it's not gonna
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: quit when they know. And if I don't believe then
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: I mean I told my family. They were like, hey,
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: you go to school for music in New York. I
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: went to music school in New York, and so they
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: were like, you know. I told my mom, ye, I'm
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: going there. You know I can teach, you know, that's
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: the plan be to them. When I in my mind,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: I was like, man, I'm going to New York to
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: play with the great and I want to tour and
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: do music for a living. That's what my mind was
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: saying to me the whole time. We'll be right back
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: with more Money Making Conversations master Class with Rashan McDonald.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Now let's return to Money Making Conversations master Class with
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Rashan McDonald. I remember when I um but my degrees
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: in mathematics. I worked for IBM, and I left IBM
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: to be a stand up comedian and so I so
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: in my mind, I always I could always go back.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: That was my plan. B was sitting in the back
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: of my mind, this jokey joke things. I'm not gonna
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: be the next Andie Murphy, next Richard Pryor. Then I
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: could always go back, you know I was. I didn't
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: leave with no, with no discard. You know they were crying.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I walked out the door. But it was when I
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: decided you no, going back was not an option. That
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: commitment you have to one time in your life. If
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: you say you're gonna go to college, if you say
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: you're gonna get married, you say you're gonna be in
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: a relationship, you're saying you're gonna have a children. That's
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: about commitment. And when you make that commitment. That's why
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: always trying to shape these stories that really they can.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: They can line up in anything that you do, whether
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: it's losing weight or getting in shape, or getting married,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: a dating, or having children, or job or starting their business.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: All this these variables really align themselves to the same conversation.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: It's commitment. And if you're gonna have a committed effort,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: it has to be tied to goals. And when you
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: tie things to goals, then your dreams can become a reality.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: And that's what people make the mistake all the time.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: They have all these dreams, no commitment. They have all
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: these dreams, no goals, and guess what happens. Frustration sets in.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: The nay says become the kings of your conversation, and
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: next thing you know, you're sitting back depressed, not and
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: next thing you know, you're forty years old saying I
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: wish you I should have done this. Fifty years old,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: I could have done this six years old. You're mad,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: you mad, and just all your stories about what you
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: could have done. When I tell people, do not use
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: age as an excuse. If you have a dream, you
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: can still do that for you and you still got
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: talents associated with it, do it. I'll tell you this.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: I gotta say this. So you just mentioned something. You
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: just talked about age, So here you go. In in
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: our twenties, I was in the Yellow Jackets. In Jean's twenties,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: she was in john So when we started this independent
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: grind started all the way back in two thousand five.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Jean left, uh left the group Johnny, I think in
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: two thousand or something like that. So I'm saying all
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: that to say this. Two thousand five, all way up
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: to two thousand seventeen was nothing, was building and starting
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: our independent journey. Now we went to labels. We did
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: all that, nothing happened. We put out some independents, spent money. Uh,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: we lost money, made bad decisions and you know, just
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: in terms of that, it was like the education process,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: like getting a master's degree. So yes, so so basically
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: I was saying that, you know, we made decisions. And
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: and the fast forward from two thousand five now comes
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: two thousand around fourteen, and I took a long shower
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: and it hit me and said, hey, we should start
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: this band called the Build a Project where you know,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: at the time when I left the Yellow Jackets, I
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: wasn't doing as much touring. I was doing more production
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: and producing in the studio Gene and I and I
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: just said, I want to get back to playing Gene
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: and you know you can you know where it features
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: me on drums and you're singing. You know, we have
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: a full band and everything. And so I said, man,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: that would really be cool, and she said that is
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: the dumbest IDEA said, okay, don't worry about it. We're
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: gonna write some music and making you said, don't make
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: no sense. Okay, So this is two thousand, fourteen, fifteen.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: So we end up doing our first gig at three
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: shows at this place called Smoke Jazz Club. The first
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: step was okay. It's the thought of okay, crowd, no
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: no offen the frind to bring it in. I'm gonna
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: bring it all in. So we did our first show.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: It was okay. The first two sets was rocking and
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: it was packed, and it was packed. And out of
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: that started a residency for like eight to nine months.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: So that was the birthding of the Bila project. We're
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: going to studio every card and we released this album. Now,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: the industry tells you, well, the industry, the way it's
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: been shaped for years is that it's a youngest person's
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: industry where your game twenties, your best years, or in
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: your thirties. Check this out. We're over our forties. Our
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: first album drops and comes out right. This album gets
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: nominated for two Grammys, Best Jazz Vocal Album and a
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Song laughs and move on, it's for Best Traditional R
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: and B Performance. Why I'm on famous, Marcus, You're saying
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: is because the thing about it is is that it
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: is never too late to go after your goals and
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: your dreams right now. And I'm gonna put it out
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: there because a lot of times is that the industry
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: says that, hey man, you're you know, age is what's
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: in your mind. It's what's So there's a new book
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: that's being written, and the book is this. I'm Marcus Baylor.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: I'm forty six years old. My wife Jeane, can I
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: tell me your age? Baby? I'm not thinking for you
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: this year. How I'm on forty sixty five? Okay, y'all,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: I'll forget my age. I'll let you know that. You
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: say young because you stopped counting, so that'd be okay.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: I stopped counting, boy, so just started to forget that
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: five years old. And my wife Jean, it's fifty one.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: So check it out. We are two thousand and twenty two.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Last year we had a song that was Grammy nominated
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Cars Sit On Down for Best Traditional R and P. Performance.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: This year, our album Generations is nominated for UH Best
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Jazz Vocal Album, and we just was was blessed to
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: win an n Double A CP Award this year for
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Best Jazz Album Vocals. Now, it ain't about the accolade
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: of this and that, But what I'm trying to tell
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: you is this is that age and you starting your
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: goals and your dreams. And we literally started over when
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: we started to build a project. So I'm saying that
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: all to say this is that no matter what your
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: age is, if you have the if you have the
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: the breath, and I'm gonna call it rest to dream,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: then once you dream, you gotta go after that thing
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: and put a plan together like you said, and pursue
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: that and pursue those goals. And this is the thing.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Everything that we've done so far, I mean, we don't
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: say this too many times, but I would say this
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: is that everything were small goals that we put into place.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: We didn't wake up one day and just say, hey man,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: we want to play in front of in a theater.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Oh we want to be Grammy nominated. No, let's be
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: consistent and persistent when we're playing in front of fifty
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: people or when we then only sold ten tickets. Let's
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: play as if the place is packed in full. And
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: so with that being said, that's where they persisted and
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: consist and see comes in that and you understanding your purpose.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: So hopefully this you know, will help somebody. Well, it
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: helped me because that's what I talked about all the time,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: and that's what I'm known for telling people. Ages don't
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: let age be an excuse to your dreams being achieved
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: and gene. You know when you talk about that only
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: ten people in the audience you're got in front now
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: or that sold that audience? You're out in front and
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: you get to see those faces, You get to see
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: what the music and what you're doing and people reacting
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: to it. How do how does that affect how you
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: perform you know at being an entertainer or does it
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: take you to another level emotionally? Does that? Does that?
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Does that give you a little more used to give
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: one hundred one thousand, ten thousand percent talk about that
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: experience as a performer. So yes and no, Like when
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: you know you draw from the audience for sure, Um,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know if audiences really know that. But you
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: know when you can feel of the energy from an
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: audience that you know, it inspires us as artists on stage.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Like yeah, you know, um, Now, one thing you know,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: especially in jazz, you're gonna be in front of different audiences. Um.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: And so you know, sometimes I'll talk to my um
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: when I teach, and sometimes I'm tough telling my students
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: and like listen, you gotta be able to really you know,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: a song is a song, but when you come before people,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: it's really a selfless act. When you go before people
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: to perform and sing and do what you do. Um,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: if you're doing it, you know, and the right frame
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: of mind, but it's important to kind of just just
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: kind of sense the room and um. So it'll be
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: a song where I may sing, I don't always sing
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: it the thing that way every night. For instance, the
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: there's a song called Praise Songs, Hollylujah song, and there's
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: a whole story behind that. But know when we did
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: it in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and it was like all black audience,
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: you know how we do. We talked back to it.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Come on now, hey, all right now, I mean, you know,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: we had a good buddy, Shedrick Mitchell on the organ
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: and he asked a fool when he gets on the organ,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: and and it was just a whole thing. And then
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: you know, when we were in I believe it was
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: brought Oslava, Europe, it's completely different vibe. They do not
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: talk to you like, hey, say, it's just not part
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: of the air culture, you know, and they could be
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: enjoying it and you're kind of one and well I think,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: but they're listening, so you understanding that they're they're really listened.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: But the spirit of the room was completely different, and
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: the lady sung it completely differently we performed it that
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: it was just it was just a different vibe all together. UM,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: And it's just responding to that space in the moment,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: and and they definitely enjoyed it. The you know, one
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: of the ladies embrace me after afterwards, and she didn't
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: speak English and I didn't speak her language. So anyway, Yeah,
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: it does affect in a way, I think what you
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: do because you're you almost can't help it. You know,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: if they're vibing with you, you're gonna be vibing right back.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, it's not people. If you're
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: in Japan, they're going to kind of express themselves differently
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: and depending on the age of the audience and that
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: sort of thing. So at the end of the day,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: you have to kind of have an idea of what
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: it is that you are trying to um give to
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: the audience. When you go out there. Sometimes you may
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: have very discouraging situations UM and it's important to kind
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: of learn how to handle those. Well. I did it
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: really badly one time. I gotta I gotta figure it out.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: You know, being a bit a performer is amazing because
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: you're right. Sometimes I been a performing on stage, some
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: people give your standing ovations and some people were standing
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: and walk out. That's me talking. That's a standard, and
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: it gives you a different reactions. I have some people
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: I've had quiet audience and say, man, you're the funniest
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: person ever saw. I said, wish you told your faith. Okay,
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: because I didn't see any laughter come out of your face. Okay.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Will Will helped me out there, but I just want
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: to take the time. This was a journey. That's what
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: I do. On Money Making Conversation Masterclass and allowing me
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: to speak to the Grammar nominated jazz duo Marcus and
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Gene Baylor for their new album The Bailor Project. Generations
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: appreciated a husband, a wife and astounding duo built on love, family, faith,
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: culture and community. I wish you luck and uh on
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: that fantastic night, and again, thank you for coming on
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Master Thank you so much. Thank you
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: so much for having us, and we hope to come
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: down to your area soone and what we do, we're
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: gonna let you know, be blessed, and stay safe.