"Recapturing a moment": Musicians sing praise to the Wheedle's Groove project

Overton Berry

"I'm impressed with Matt [Sullivan] and the whole Light in the Attic crew. They had gone about it in the most immaculate way possible, getting all these guys together and encouraging the project, but allowing it to take its own shape through the musicians. It was done with a great deal of respect. I remember when Miles Davis got into his cosmic range of stuff. And Quincy Jones put together a show at the Montreux Jazz Festival and asked Miles if he would play some of the old standards he had done that got him over as a jazz artist. And Miles agreed to do it. It was the essential part of what he had done before. It was recapturing a moment as opposed to mimicking a moment, and I think that's what this is."

Berry, 73, Lake City, jazz pianist who plays Friday nights at the Sorrento Hotel (www.overtonberry.com).

Pat Wright

"I was shocked when they presented me with Soundgarden's 'Jesus Christ Pose.' I thought, I don't know about that. I had to think about how it fit in with my chosen path of religion. I had to think about it long and hard, asking, are they making fun of religion or are they really telling us we need to stop being hypocrites? I chose the latter, because it really hits it right at the top. In this day and age, so many of our so-called religious leaders are such hypocrites and that song speaks to that. I listened to it again — I hadn't listened to it for years — and I said, 'I can do this.' "

Wright, 65, Madrona, leads the Total Experience Gospel Choir. (www.totalexperiencegospelchoir.org).

Ron Buford

"Usually if I go into the studio with a project, and it's recorded, I don't ever listen to it again. I wasn't so much excited, but we did capture that era and that's what Matthew wanted to do, right? It basically corresponds with what he had discovered and the music we had done at that time. Forty years ago! I'm always concerned with what's happening right now. That's just the way it is for me, man. And because of that I guess I'm always gonna be a frustrated musician."

Buford, 63, First Hill, organist.

Robbie Hill

"[Most people] didn't even know this kind of music existed. Back in the '70s, that was the thing — being on KYAC radio station, we played all the black clubs. It was very hard to break into the white clubs. Us being older, [Wheedle's Groove] gives us a chance to see what we can do, if we still have it. It was just like we were all young again, like for the first time. But instead of everybody for themselves or within their own group, it was all of us together, all these groups together. It was just amazing. It felt like a family."

Hill, 60, Capitol Hill, Black on White Affair drummer.

Tony Gable

"Every soul band in Seattle had their distinct vibe and sound. And that character is a real plus, because we didn't all sound the same even though we're all living in the same city. Most of us were living in the same area, the Central Area, out on Rainier, Empire at the time, a little Beacon Hill, a little Capitol Hill. So [we had] all of this culture and sound. And also we were coming out of the hippie movement of the late '60s and heading into the era of black awareness, black is beautiful. You got politics, you got Vietnam, all those things are happening at the same time. Now I look at it in retrospect and think maybe that's why we did that. We're making comments, we're jamming."

Gable, 57, West Seattle, Cold, Bold & Together percussionist.

Kearney Barton

"I was not that happy with the mix on the newest thing with Light in the Attic, 'Kearney Barton.' They had a DJ mix it, and to me it's overly compressed instead of having the dynamics and the warmth. But people like it, and that's the important thing. It's not what I like. I felt it doesn't represent me as much as, for instance, the first 'Wheedles,' which was things from my archives. But Matt is happy with it and they seem to be getting a good response. I did an interview [recently] with a DJ from New Zealand and he loves it. That's the main thing."

Barton, 87, University District, Kearney Barton's Audio Recording.