www.VanRomaine.com
Adam Holzman
Overdrive
Lipstick, 1994
This is one of my favorite CD’s. The band’s name started out as Mona Lisa
Overdrive and the CD was called ”The Laws of Physics” but we lost the name
in a lawsuit after the CD was recorded. There was a lot going on for me at this
time. I had just got the Steve Morse gig, was still doing tours with Blood Sweat
and Tears, and was very busy with studio work in NYC. Adam Holzman had just left
Miles Davis to pursue a solo career and was doing some gigs in New York with his
new band Mona Lisa Overdrive featuring Steve Logan on bass (David Sanborn, John
Scofield) Kenwood Dennard on drums and a variety of guitar players like Hirom
Bullock, Drew Zingg and Dave Phelps. Adam and I were both hired to play a
showcase for an artist in New York and started jamming at sound check. Both Adam
and I had been experimenting heavily with funk grooves spiked with trippy
electronic sounds and he instantly asked me to be in his band. What I loved
about this band was the combination of funk, musicality and most of all, humor.
I can remember many occasions when a stuffy jazz club would turn into an MTV
dance party. The CD was recorded at the Power Station, now known as Avatar, and
captures Mona Lisa Overdrive in its top form.