A strategy to conquer America became even more of a necessity after another vault song he dusted off, “I Love What We Make Together,” became a key component of a posthumous 2019 Miles Davis project, Rubberband, that also shot up the charts – this time on the jazz side. This is poignant because it was with Davis that Randy first sprang to international attention. First, Randy was a co-writer and player on the 1981 instrumental “Shout,” the first song to reintroduce Davis after 6 years away with a splashy funky flair. Then Randy was the lyricist and vocalist of the album’s mood-drenched title track, The Man with The Horn, a welcome back tribute to the legend that became a jazz and Quiet Storm radio classic. This was a huge honor because Miles almost never featured vocalists on his projects (the one previous exception being working with singer/songwriter Bob Dorough on the holiday novelty “Blue Xmas”). It was also quite an accomplishment because Hall was only 21 when that album was released by corporate giant Columbia Records.
The 2020 success of “I Love What We Make Together” (originally written with the late Al Jarreau as its intended singer), as well as additional Rubberband songs that feature Lalah Hathaway and Ledisi, all bring Randy back full circle to his roots.
Randy Hall was born in the musically rich city of Chicago, Illinois. His first instrument was piano but he switched to the popular rock and jazz-ready electric guitar, initially taking lessons from English guitarist Peter Budd and later African American jazz-rock fusion great Pete Cosey. Intensely passionate about his craft, Randy turned pro at 15 initially working with legends from gospel soul family The Staple Singers in local Chicago venues to the impeccable soul-jazz vocal quintet The Dells in the studio, among others. Randy also played with (and often led) progressive local bands such as Time, Space & Destiny (mentored by Thomas C. Washington, a.k.a. Tom Tom 84 of Earth, Wind & Fire renown), Data and AL7 with other up-and-coming musicians that included bassist Daryl Jones (later a member of Sting’s first all-star band as a solo artist), Richard “Spaceman” Patterson, Robert Irving III and Vince Wilburn Jr. (nephew of Miles Davis and Executor of his estate –Randy’s
friend since kindergarten).
Randy Hall studied the finer points of music in a trilogy of institutions: The Berklee School of Music in Boston, Vanderbilt University in Nashville and The Chicago Conservatory of Music. Honing his abilities not just as a player but also as a singer, composer and arranger of rhythm, strings, horns and vocals made him invaluable in his illustrious career that followed.
Right after his tremendous success with Miles Davis on the aforementioned The Man with The Horn, Randy was briefly a member of the highly respected Seattle-launched funk-jazz band Pleasure for the album Give it Up (RCA – 1982)
featuring the Top 30 single “Sending My Love.” A move to Los Angeles and connecting with equally ubiquitous Ray Parker Jr. resulted in Randy being signed to MCA Records for which he recorded two albums: I Belong To You (1984) which garnered the Top 20 R&B hit “I’ve Been Watching You (Jamie’s Girl)” followed by Love You Like a Stranger (1988) which contained the Top 40 single “Slow Starter.” Randy did some live showcases and was featured on the TV programs “Soul Train” and “Solid Gold” but, ultimately, his taste of the spotlight did not pan out the way he would have liked.