Drummer/producer Alan Evans (Soulive, Alan Evans Trio) and Rob Fleming (Crowd Company) recently linked up with Live For Live Music staff writer/photographer Tom Shackleford via Zoom to discuss the Vintage League Music Family Album Vol 1 compilation, which arrives via Evans and Fleming’s Vintage League Music imprint today, Thursday, December 17th.

The 10-track album, which was produced and mixed by Evans, features a mix of exclusive recordings from various artists on the Vintage League Music roster including guitarist Matt Schofield, jazz pianist John Medeski, BT ALC Big Band, Crowd Company, On The Spot Trio, Alan Evans Trio (and solo), Neal Evans, Crushed Velvet and the Velveteers, Johnny Trama, Jesse Dee, Kris Yunker, and more.

Throughout the 30-minute interview, Evans and Fleming discuss the slightly arduous process of piecing together the tracks and songs featured on Vintage League Music’s final release of the year, Evans’ singing on the track “Here With Me”, future compilations, and much more.

“For me, [the album] was just about putting together some really great songs that best represent the label and what we’re doing and I guess hope for the best,” Evans says with a laugh when attempting to sum up the mostly-virtual project, which features a myriad of moving parts and contributions. “A lot of it, for both Rob and I, was just time management. We’re dealing with a lot of different artists and saying ‘We have to hit this deadline to get this thing out on time.’ I wouldn’t say it was challenging, but it was definitely a lot on my plate with the whole production of this.”

“We were fairly hands-off,” Fleming adds when discussing the process of curating the mixing process after receiving the individual recordings from each participating artist. “Like Al said, we had to be pretty clear upfront on the [track submission] deadlines just to get everything together and when we needed everything done by, so we had to manage that a little bit hands-on. Mostly, it wasn’t too much of a hassle, was it? I mean, people were pretty good about getting stuff to [Alan] who had a lot to do with pulling mixes together.”

Watch the entire Zoom interview between Alan Evans, Rob Fleming, and L4LM’s Tom Shackleford below and click here to pre-order Vintage League Music Family Album Vol 1.

Alan Evans, Rob Fleming Discuss Vintage League Music Family Album Vol. 1

[Video: Live For Live Music]

Stay up-to-date with all future Vintage League Music releases here. The Vintage League Music Family Album Vol. 1 compilation arrives today, Thursday, December 17th. Stream the full album below:

Vintage League Music Family Album Vol. 1 – Full Album