Mic Check: Detroit artist Saxappeal honing his craft through prolific music experiences

Saxophonist, educator, producer and multi-instrumentalist LaDarrel Johnson — also known as Saxappeal — has taken his love for music and translated it into a career that continues to positively impact music lovers.

The Detroit native recently joined The Progressive Underground to discuss his musical influences, career highlights and plans for the future.

Listen: Detroit artist Saxappeal honing his craft through prolific music experiences

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

On his early music influences:

Some of my early influences on the saxophone were Yussef Lateef, Grover Washington Jr., Kenny Garrett, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon. I listened to a lot of the OGs and then migrated to more of the contemporary stuff. When I got into Grover Washington, I was dumbfounded at how he could make his instrument sound like a human. I had never heard anything like that before. I was mesmerized by that.

On his co-founding the R&B jazz supergroup Collective Peace and their impact on the music scene:

The Collective Peace era raised the bar. We were just kids when we were making that music. We knew what we wanted our sound to be. We didn’t realize the impact that it would have on the rest of the world. I felt like we threw a net out and we aimed high. We were able to collaborate with many notable artists like Jessica Care Moore, Amp Fiddler, Dwele, and so many others. Our studio sessions were often all-night musical experiences from sun up to sun down.

All the members were like family and we built a great family foundation and we protected each other as such. And that family never broke up, it’s still there. We had a chance to meet great people, rub elbows with some of the who’s who in the industry. The experience was nostalgically and beautifully Detroit. It was an honor to be a part of that chapter.

On his tenure touring and performing with legendary funk/R&B artist Charlie Wilson:

As a music fan first, being able to be on the stage with a living legend, that experience was second to none and I had the pleasure of being able to do that for almost six years. To be able to sit at the foot at of an elder, it helps you to formulate your career musically, develop a better stage presence and understand the music business better.

I learned a lot from Charlie. He has been doing his thing in music for over 40 years and recently celebrated his 71st birthday in grand style with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star. Kanye West and Snoop Dogg came out to support him and he appeared on the Jennifer Hudson Show and Good Morning America to commemorate his accomplishment. I am so proud of him and am still a fan and studying him and taking notes. His achievements continue to motivate me to strive for something similar and gives me hope every time I see him doing great things.

On what it was like putting his most recent album, “Black Gold,” together:

That album came out at the height of the pandemic. I didn’t know what to expect. The pandemic shut everything down, which forced me to sit down and focus on giving people something to listen to while they’re sitting at the house. My team worked so hard. I co-produced the project with Dean Beanz, who is an amazing producer, emcee, and all-around businessman here in Detroit. He wears a lot of hats and is passionate about everything he does. When we put that project out, people just ate that album up. It hit No. 3 on the iTunes Top 100 jazz charts, did close to 700,000 streams on Spotify and stayed atop the charts for quite some time.

On the future, his recordings and his advice to emerging saxophonists:

I am looking to do more touring, more recordings, more collaborations. I don’t want to sit down, nor get comfortable or complacent. I want to keep working. My advice to aspiring saxophonists is that you will get the same amount of time and energy out of the horn based on what you put into it. The saxophone is a very temperamental instrument. If you don’t put the work into it, it will show every single time. You must treat that horn like it’s your most favorite person in the world.

To learn more about the activities, releases and performances of LaDarrel “Saxappeal” Johnson, visit saxappealmusic.com.