Foreigner’s Gimbel reflects on career

LYNN – Musician Thom Gimbel has come a long way since his days as a student at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.The multi-instrumentalist played the Boston circuit after graduation and got his break when he joined the acclaimed Jon Butcher Axis Band, with whom he toured and recorded for two years. He went on to perform with two of history’s most prominent and established rock bands, Aerosmith and Foreigner, respectively, and has been a member of the latter for nearly 20 years.Foreigner played Lynn Auditorium in May 2009, and the ’70s-’80s band returns to the Auditorium on Sept. 20.Gimbel, who teaches music and golf at his home on the West Coast when he’s not on tour with the band, shared anecdotes about his career, the evolution of Foreigner and advice for young musicians.”When I came up in the early ’80s you made a name for yourself playing the local (Boston) circuit – The Rat, The Channel ? I had my own little band and that’s what we did, we played a lot of clubs,” the New Jersey native said in a telephone interview with The Item on Wednesday. “That’s how Jon Butcher knew about me, and the same thing happened with Aerosmith.”Gimbel played keyboard and saxophone with Aerosmith on two world tours and in numerous film and television appearances, including “Woodstock 2,” “Wayne’s World 2,” “Saturday Night Live” and “MTV Unplugged.”Asked about his early days with the legendary Boston band, he said, “I remember one day Steven Tyler sat down at the keyboard to show me how he plays parts of ‘Dream On.’ I had it down but he was showing me how he played it, and that was a real mind-melter, definitely a pinch-me moment.”But Gimbel said he’s always been comfortable in his own skin as a performer and when he was invited to join Foreigner he wasn’t even asked to audition. “They didn’t have to hear me play, they just wanted to have dinner,” he said, laughing. And it’s been a wild ride with Foreigner since, he said.Today, the second most senior member of Foreigner, Gimbel said he remains in awe of the band’s British co-founder and sole original member, Mick Jones (lead guitar, keyboard, bass, vocals).”I’ve been lucky to have worked with him for so many years ? just watching his hands (work the guitar) and listening to him, gives you great insight,” Gimbel said. “Part of the genius of Mick Jones, and the guys in Aerosmith, is that they want you to be yourself, and that’s something I wasn’t expecting when I started working with people on that level.”But it is something he said was instilled in him during his senior year at Berklee.”The first three years (at Berklee) students are taught every note and every scale,” he said. “And it’s grueling. Some students leave after a year or two. But then in the fourth year they tell you to forget everything you’ve learned and start to think (in the abstract) about shapes and colors.”And he urges young musicians today to do the same, learn the basics before setting out to find themselves as an artist.He said musicians coming up today have an advantage in the digital age since there are more ways for them to reach a mass audience, but the key to success is the same as it always has been.”It still has to be good music,” he said. “The cream still rises to the top and in order to be super successful you have to have something special.”Gimbel said he doesn’t have a favorite among Foreigner’s many top hits, which include “Urgent,” “Hot Blooded,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Double Vision” and “Waiting For a Girl Like You.” Each, he said, “has something special about it.”Gimbel said as a child he loved listening to Elvis and Johnny Cash, The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones. But it was the sound of big band trumpet player Maynard Ferguson that greatly influenced his life. He is quoted in his official Foreigner biography, “When I started playing sax I tried to sound like (Ferguson), learning to nail the high notes. This was good training to play the solo on “Urgent” years later!”He said he feels the same