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Toronto musician playing with his heroes

TORONTO -- Toronto native Jimmy Lee Hook recalls as a youth listening to albums by Billy Joel, Elton John and other favorites and taking note of the musicians who performed on them.

"I used to lay in bed and listen to albums like 'The Stranger' and read the liner notes," said Hook, looking back on the days before he became a singer, songwriter and keyboardist.

He didn't know then he would one day meet and play with Richie Cannata, who played saxophone with Joel on that album and others; drummer Liberty DeVitto who, in addition to Joel, has performed with singers ranging from Karen Carpenter to Meat Loaf; and Julio Fernandez, longtime guitarist for Spyro Gyro, who has played with B.B. King and other jazz greats.

With his best friend and longtime musical partner, Sam Hudnell, Hook teamed with the three to record a two-volume collection of Hook's songs.

Dubbed "Jimmy Lee Hook and the Long Island Sound," the collaboration alludes to Cove City Sound Studios of Long Island, where they recorded, and to the East Coast roots of three of his collaborators.

Asked to describe his music, he called it theatrical rock.

"Take Elton John, Billy Joel, Steven Schwartz (composer and lyricist of the musical "Wicked") and (rock band) Chicago and stir them in a pot," he said.

Release of the album comes just a day before Hook's next return to his hometown for the latest installment of the Toronto Coalition for Revitalization's free summer concert series.

Hook will deliver his favorite songs of Billy Joel, Elton John and others as well as his own music from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Gazebo Commons near Market and Third streets. In the event of rain, the concert will be moved into the adjacent First Presbyterian Church of Toronto.

Hook, who divides his time between Cincinnati and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said he always enjoys returning home and entertaining his fellow Torontonians, which he does at no charge to the coalition.

"I try to do something for the city because I should have been a better kid growing up," he joked.

Hook said as a youth, he wouldn't have been described as a serious student, and it may have been chance that led him to pursuing his music.

He noted he had failed music in sixth grade.

"I was nobody you'd ever expect this was coming from," he said.

But in his sophomore year in high school, the choir director approached him in the cafeteria about appearing in the school's production of "Carousel." He believes she was seeking any male students to fill the cast.

Hook said through that, he met Vance Andrews, a choir student who became a friend and role model.

"I learned to sing by standing next to him and trying to imitate him," he said.

But Hook admits music had always been on his mind.

"I always had melodies running through my head. I always had lyrics running through my head," he said.

While his older brother, Joseph "Pokey" Hook, had played in a local band, music didn't come to him easily.

Hook said he struggled for at least 10 years to learn the piano and initially would chase more people away with his playing.

But he believes having to work so long at it benefited him because through that, he learned perseverance.

"You either give up or it makes you tougher and more resilient," said Hook.

Years later he has met and performed not only with musicians on the albums he loved as a youth but also received encouragement from other musical talents.

A friend on a theater board connected him to Steven Schwartz, composer and lyricist for the musical, "Wicked," who offered advice and constructive criticism.

Hook also befriended Jim Peterik, guitarist of Survivor and co-writer of "Eye of the Tiger" and hit songs for others as well, after he was inspired to write a song about his life.

Hook said meeting Sam Hudnell through a music producer was the best thing that has happened to him musically, and he considers him a musical genius as well as a close friend.

He said the two had a lot of fun performing with Cannata, DeVitto and Fernandez and believes many others will enjoy hearing them because of the natural approach they took to recording the music.

"Today so many of the musicians are recording their parts separately. No one is in the same room," Hook said, adding often drumbeats are computer-driven and vocals are altered through auto-tuning.

"There's a certain symbiosis in playing and singing at the same time," he said, adding, "You can't predict when it's going to go boom."

Each volume of the album will be available separately as a vinyl record, compact disc or download, through the group's website.

Hook is particularly excited about sharing some of the many songs he's written through the years.

Asked how he comes up with ideas for them, he said, "Sometimes the idea will come from something someone said."

For example, the titles of two songs, "Dangerous Prayer" and "The View's Not Worth the Climb," were phrases he heard someone use and had filed away.

Once, as he was driving across Parkersburg Memorial Bridge, it occurred to him that if he were given the choice of spending a day with any historical figure, he couldn't limit it to just one.

He scrawled the names of many figures on the back of a set of toll bridge tickets and a song, "A Day with the Dead," was born.

"It sounds very morbid, but it's actually an upbeat song," said Hook.

He said sometimes a melody comes to him first and he will attempt to match it with one of the potential titles he has collected.

Asked if he's ever set out to write a hit song, Hook said, "I'm a terrible judge of what people like. I write for me. I sometimes have written for a woman I'm involved with."

He said in the case of "The Long Island Sound," he sometimes wrote with the band in mind, but mostly, he writes music that he enjoys.

"At that moment, I'm writing for the pure joy of expression," said Hook.