Todd Sickafoose Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Todd Sickafoose by © Clara Pereira, 2020

Name: Todd Sickafoose
Instrument: bass
Style: modern creative, avant-garde jazz
Album Highlights: Tiny Resistors (Cryptogramophone, 2008); Bear Proof (Secret Hatch, 2023)

We had the chance to hear the music in your latest album, Bear Proof, at The Zurcher Gallery in New York on the occasion of the Winter JazzFest 2020. Having composed the material, why did it take you so long to release this album? And what were the reasons for a 15-year hiatus as a bandleader (Tiny Resistors came out in 2008)?
Yes, that was a lovely evening and a great venue. Well the truth is – I was making Tiny Resistors-related music most of those years, I just evidently was more interested in making it than releasing it. Bear Proof was recorded in 2014, after a blitz of performances on the West Coast, and even before that, in 2011, I’d recorded another set of music in Brooklyn with a very similar band to Tiny Resistors. But with a young family, a busy touring and producing schedule, and Hadestown becoming a whirlwind of activity, it was easy to put my own recordings on hold. Nice to start rectifying that now.

Musically, Bear Proof was sort of a reaction to Tiny Resistors. Where that record represents a studio-focused way of approaching a jazz aesthetic – layers and collage and overdubs are all part of the sound – Bear Proof seeks to swing the pendulum the other way. This time, the complex textures and transitions are more scripted – they are written carefully into the hour-long piece. So you get a rich, sometimes unpredictable palette with a kaleidoscope of instrumental combinations, but it’s very repeatable from performance to performance. That’s what I was going for anyway! I will probably swing back the other way again because I love studio creativity too.

What is your compositional process? Do you write with specific musicians in mind?

Yes. Very much so. If you’re really inviting a musician’s full creativity into the music, it’s a necessity. These musicians mean so much to me, and our history together is deep. So it’s about assembling personalities – musicians who totally delight me, and each other, and get my mind revving as a composer. You can hear detail in the way they might phrase a melody and you also can have a strong intuition about the kinds of spaces that would be ideal for them to improvise in. I think I veered towards more folky or chamber music instruments for this particular project – instruments with less jazz baggage and the ability to blend in unique acoustic ways. The accordion is a bit of a secret weapon in this context, at least to my ears. It adds something three-dimensional to almost any combination. In a room all together, these eight instruments can sound like a mini- orchestra.

As for the compositional process, I had lots of interrelated sketches that I’d made ruminating on this idea of what Bear Proof could be – the ritual of playing it through like a long, wordless story. I eventually got the sketches mapped out in the right order, with the right emotional arc, and then set about composing the exact arrangements. Something like the end of “Magnetic North” – I knew I wanted to break away from the song to make a slow, anxious descent and get to the right zone for unaccompanied piano interlude, but it wasn’t until actually writing that I figured out what it could be: a smearing of the droning pitches one flat at a time through the circle of fifths until they came out the other side again. The fun was in the detail, in other words, and it all came together pretty quickly.

Your work goes beyond jazz, and your decades-long collaboration with Ani DiFranco shows your openness to other styles. How does it all fit together?
Yes I’m a bit of a musical omnivore, and so are most of the people I hang out with. None of us are purists or stylists, so we’re always using whatever musical building blocks seem most suited to the moment. I think we see the jazz in everything, which is to say the possibility for true group spontaneity and discovery. Once you crack that open, it’s a borderless world.

You’re also known for your work as a producer/arranger. Was this something you’ve always wanted to do or did it just occur without planning?
I’ve always had a deep interest in every part of music-making and the effect it all has on the whole. As a teenager I was “producing” recordings with friends on 4-track tape machines, and getting under the hood of whatever I could. In my twenties, I acquired more skills and producing & mixing music became a bigger part of my work. It’s a blessing and a curse because there are only so many hours in the day, but I love wearing many hats.

Projects for the near future?
Lots of things in the works. First off, I’ve already written the next batch of Tiny Resistors music, so I’m itching to begin recording that. Most of it was written while my family temporarily lived in Oaxaca, Mexico, last year – maybe there will be even more low brass. I’m a few years into making a 24-hour piece of climate-related music that will eventually exist as a recording, a website, and a museum sound installation. I’m collaborating once again with my friend Amy Martin on her environmental podcast “Threshold”, which I think is just so, so moving. And I’m beginning work on another Broadway musical too, which I can’t say much about, but don’t worry: it’s another weird one.

Marc Copland Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Marc Copland, 2023 by © Clara Pereira

Name: Marc Copland
Instrument: piano
Style: contemporary jazz, post-bop
Album Highlights: Second Look (Savoy, 1996), Lunar (Hatology, 2002), Nitghtfall (InnerVoice, 2017)

You’re going to be 75 this month. Any birthday wishes?
Peace and music. I mean that in a very concrete sense. Several years ago, Dave Liebman and I were on tour in Europe playing duo, and one of our stops was Kyiv. The opening act was a big band composed of young Ukranian musicians, men and women who looked to be in their early twenties at most. The band was conducted by a young American and they sounded great. Dave and I were impressed that the audience, like the band, was almost entirely younger people. Not too many years later, after the war in Ukraine had been going on for a little bit, it hit me - a lot of those kids were likely dead, or wounded, or had fled the country. It’s a horrifying thought.



Before definitely stick to the piano, you were an alto saxophonist in your hometown, Philadelphia. Can you tell us what made you return to piano?

Here’s what led me back to the piano, which I’d played a little bit: textures, colors, harmonies, chords, and anything I heard using those elements in a creative way: Joni Mitchell, Debussy, Shostakovich, Berg, the Doobie Brothers. The way Coltrane’s and Miles’ bands relentlessly explored stretching the bounds of harmonic convention was fascinating. That kind of exploration was easier for me to hear and work with on piano. 



Whether playing originals or jazz standards, it's clear that you found your own voice. What’s the secret and what advice do you have for younger players?

Understand that the hardest thing to play well is not a burning up-tempo--it’s a ballad. Play honest music. Play from the heart. Try to be successful at connecting what you really hear and really feel.

Name two persons who influenced you the most as a musician.
Only two? For taste, touch, ears-- Herbie Hancock. For all that, and for complete honesty, John Abercrombie. For prioritizing the love of music and spontaneity, Gary Peacock. And can’t forget early teachers when I was a teen: Lennie Tristano, who tolerated my aesthetic disagreements with him --which were substantial -- and taught me how to hear; and George Rochberg, who, in our one hour together, explained what it means to be an artist. He sent me home with a reading list of four Hermann Hesse novels and Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. I loved music but didn’t know how to open the lock. Rochberg showed me the key.



Name two persons whom you've never collaborated with but you'd like to.

Anybody who wants to play together. I’m up for trying something new. The disappointment when it doesn’t work is easily eclipsed by the joy and discovery when it does.

Tell us a few jazz records that you consider indispensable.
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles; Herbie Hancock - Dedication, Paul Desmond / Gerry Mulligan - Two of a Mind; Bill Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard; Joni Mitchell - Song to a Seagull; Miroslav Vitous - Infinite Search.



How would you define your sound in a few words?
That’s somebody else’s gig! But sound is in fact the most important thing: I can’t begin to play without getting in touch with the feel of the piano, the blend with the other instrument(s), the colors of the notes bouncing around the sound board-- that has to make sense. If that’s all ok, then it’s possible to make music.




What do you like to listen to that’s non jazz?
Anything that catches my ear because it is unusual in some way, whether jazz or something else. First time I heard the Beatles-- I was totally into it. Rock ‘n roll up to then was almost always 1-4-5 chord progressions, 4 and 8 bar phrases. The Beatles had different things going on, and it sounded fresh. Same thing with Joni Mitchell, especially her early work. Same thing with Coltrane’s Impressions and Sonny Rollins’ Now’s the Time - at the age of 16 or 17, I’d heard nothing like that.


If you weren't a musician, what would you have been?
I’d been hoping to major in sociology, and become a sociology teacher. Didn’t make it very far -- came to school in NYC, started hitting the clubs, and was hooked.

Projects for the near future?
The “Someday” quartet with Robin Verheyen, a “string thing” quartet with Mark Feldman, and of course trio. Probably almost time for another solo piano record.

Andrew Rathbun Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Andrew Rathbun, 2017. Photo by © Clara Pereira

Name: Andrew Rathbun
Instrument: saxophone
Style: post-bop, straight-ahead, contemporary
Album Highlights: Sculptures (FSNT, 2002); True Stories (FSNT, 2000); Atwood Suites (Origin, 2018).

You are nominated - and not for the first time - for a JUNO Award with your new quintet (album Semantics). What does this represent to you?
It’s always nice when your work is recognized! I’ve been doing this a long time, and this is my 20th recording as a leader. There are some really great Canadian jazz musicians, and so it’s really encouraging to be included in those circles. I’m just happy to be in the mix, and I know full well that there is just so much subjectivity that goes into these things. 

Tell us about the four other members of your quintet. When did you play with each of them for the first time and what are their musical qualities you like the most?
Rich Perry has been one of my favorite musicians for a really long time. His lyricism, his sound, his patience as an improvisor, has always been a big inspiration for me. I thought it would be interesting to do a project with him and try to act as both a foil and as a compliment to what he brings to the table. Gary Versace is one of the most incredible musicians and piano players I’ve ever worked with. He is always surprising, and he adds so much to my compositions. He has this ability to hone in on the intent, digest the harmony, then put his own spin on everything. Bassist John Hébert is the musician that I’ve known the longest, he is the bassist on my very first record from 1998. I love his sound, his vibe, his pulse, and his freedom. He dances and glides through everything he plays, and like Gary, brings beautiful surprise to everything he touches. Billy Drummond is someone I’ve always wanted to play with, and John suggested him for this date. He has such an engaging feel, that’s loose but feels so fantastic. Some of the pieces had specific “drum parts” and Billy took all of those to the next level, sometimes layering other ideas and rhythms on top of what was there, creating a totally new vibe. He’s a master musician and playing with him couldn’t have been any easier. 

Name your main jazz influences and a favorite record for each of them.
I always struggle with this question. I feel like whenever I answer this, it’s dependent on the day. 
Right now, I am devouring the new Sonny Rollins biography (which is EXCELLENT, go get it RIGHT NOW!) so I’ve been going back thru all of his discography as they appear in the book, and it’s been fascinating. I’ve learned so much from reading it, and it’s been great to revisit all of those classic records. His development as an artist and his commitment to constantly searching for something is inspirational. 
As for some other influences, the only other one that I care to mention at this particular time is Wayne Shorter. He’s had a massive influence on me as a player and as a writer. I have included a Wayne tune on most of my last few records (we played “Etcetera” on Character Study) and it’s hard to quantify just how much I love his music. He had a huge influence on my soprano playing. The philosophy that he had for both his art and his life is also deeply thought provoking. 
It’s really tough to single out just one record form either of their discographies, but I’ll choose Speak No Evil for Wayne, because it was the first record of his I bought and listened to, and The Bridge for Sonny because that’s where I am in the book and the latest one of his that I revisited. 

Do you listen to any non-jazz music style? If yes, any recommendations?
Sure, I listen to lots of different things all the time. One of the many benefits of being a teacher is that the students bring things that they are listening to so I get exposed to things that I might not have come across on my own. I am also part of this group called Jazz Composers Present and each month they do a listening roundtable, and I get to check out records from a really wide variety of idioms, as it’s not just limited to “jazz’ per se. 
One of my favorite non-jazz artists is Sting, and we are headed to hear him in a few weeks. The Police and all his solo records are amazing. 
I’ve been listening to some recordings of Lewis Spratlan, a great composer who I met at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. He recently passed away, and I’ve been going back through some of his recordings. 

Name two persons whom you've never collaborated with but you'd like to.

I’d love to play with Brian Blade, and I’d love to collaborate on a project with the Metropole Orkest in the Netherlands. 

In your perspective, what needs to change in the current jazz scene?
I don’t have anything new to add to this. It’s been said many times over; artists need to be better paid for their “content” (a term I hate because it reduces people’s life’s work to a commodity). The streaming model is here to stay, and we have to figure out how to operate in this sphere, but the compensation for artists by the streaming services is absurd. 
It all comes down to what we all decide we want to place our “value” on, and what that really means. 
Although this is not directly a comment on the jazz scene, I feel that we need to support music education in primary and secondary education, as we've seen many programs being reduced or eliminated. And speaking of value, this type of education should be seen in the same light as any academic pursuit, rather than seen as “extra-curricular.” 

7 - If you weren't a musician, what would you have been?
That’s a really tough one…..I can’t really see myself doing much else, especially at this point in my life! I do enjoy reading about politics and history, so maybe something in public policy? Although I’m not sure I’m patient enough for a gig like that! 

8 - Projects for the near future?
I have a new record coming out in September called The Speed of Time that features John Hébert, Gary Versace and Tom Rainey. I’m involved with a project called NODES that has a heavy electronic component, and we have a project in the can that we are hoping to release in the fall. It’s the follow up to our Incubated Dilemma Machine release that came out last year on Koshkill Records. 
I’m headed to The Vermont Center for the Creative Arts this week, to try and complete a new large ensemble project. I look forward to a few days of uninterrupted writing!

Russ Lossing Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Name: Russ Lossing
Instrument: piano
Style: post-bop, modern creative, avant-garde
Album Highlights: As it Grows (hatOlogy, 2004); Motian Music (Sunnyside, 2019); Folks (Sunnyside, 2022)

Your latest release, Folks, was inspired by folk music. When did you become interested in the genre and how do you incorporate it seamlessly with the jazz you play?
I grew up playing classical music in which folkloric melodies were often incorporated and developed. Numerous examples exist in the music of Bach, Beethoven, Bartok and many composers before, in-between and after. Later, when I explored music from all over the world, I came to realize that the raw melodic content of these disparate styles of music were, in their essence, based mostly on analogous melodic components, for instance: the pentatonic scale, a five-note scale. You could think of it as cultures around the world have different traditional apparels but the cloth is made of the same basic materials. Furthermore, folkloric music around the world incorporates improvisation. Improvisation exists in all traditional folk music worldwide. Additionally, as a composer, I have always been interested in writing a good melody: a simple melody that is not clichéd. Not an easy thing to do.


“Country Folk” is one of my favorite pieces on the album. Can you talk a bit more about this one?
I sat down at the piano and just started improvising a simple melody in D minor: a lament. I wrote an A and B section, then decided to add the little Coda section that repeats four times at the end of the melody. After the melody, the trio improvises totally open. We instinctively go back to D minor at the onset of the improvisation and then it evolves from there.


You’ve been playing a lot in trio with different musicians. Is this your favorite format? Have you considered a large ensemble at some point?
I do like the trio format. I’m a big fan of empty spaces in music and three people improvising together seems to help bring about more space. I have been thinking about recording some music for larger improvising ensembles for a while. I have written a book of compositions for septet. Hopefully I will be able to pull that together in the future. Additionally, I have composed pieces for orchestra, string quartet and other classical ensembles.



If you had to pick three albums from your discography that better define your musical identity, which would they be, and why?
Not sure I can answer that. All of my albums are different and reflect my musical identity as a whole. However, I feel pretty strongly about my solo piano disc ‘Eclipse’. This is very personal music and I have about six more hours of solo improvisations that I’m planning to bring out. This is unfiltered improvisation so to speak; music that is not based on compositions but just comes straight from my sub-conscious. I have been improvising in this manner since I was 10.


How enriching was your 12-year collaboration with Paul Motian? Any funny episodes while touring/recording with him?
I learned a lot from Paul over the years. One day he said to me offhandedly: ”you know, my only job is to make everybody sound good.” That statement hit me like a thunderbolt. It was one of those moments in life when everything becomes clear. Things I had been thinking about for years suddenly came into focus.
As for funny episodes: Paul was a very intense person with a quirky sense of humor. His apartment, way up on Central Park West, was filled with interesting things: from his collection of little figurines, hats and sunglasses, to his amazing treasure trove of LPs, CDs and cassettes. One funny thing about him was he used his computer mouse upside down and with his left hand (pull down and the curser goes up). He liked to do things differently! By the way, Paul wrote an autobiography. I hope it gets published someday. It’s an incredibly fascinating document of his life in his own words!

Can you name two persons whom you’ve never collaborated with but you’d like to?
So many great players, so little time! I’m hoping to connect with more European jazz/improvising musicians. For example, I have been listening to the French bassist Bruno Chevillon’s solo recording ‘Gestes Défendus’. Such a wonderful player: heart, hands and mind, all working in perfect unison. Logical, mindful, heartfelt, skillful music is what I’m interested in.



Can you select three records that changed your perspective of jazz? 
No, sorry, I can’t boil it down to three or even 20 jazz albums that influenced me. There are so many different approaches through the decades. I take something from all of them.


How do you see the jazz scene today?

Big and diverse. There are so many different offshoots going in every direction like a big garden. Wonderful!

Projects for the near future?
I have several recordings in the can, so to speak, ready to go. I’m always hopeful about finding ways to bring them out!
In addition to those, I just recorded duo with Gordon Grdina - oud and piano duets. Last spring, I recorded duos and trios with Samuel Blaser and Billy Mintz. That double album is coming out on Jazzdor label in Fall 2023. I have a trio album coming out in Spring’23 on FSNT with Masa Kamaguchi and Billy Mintz, my long-time trio. This one is all tunes; five standards and three of my originals. I will probably bring out a set of solo piano improvisations on my own label, Aqua Piazza , toward the end of this year. I also have a recording finished by a band I had for five years, King Vulture. We recorded just before the pandemic and I’m looking for a label for it. The band is very strong and the music I composed was developed over years with a concept of “no arrangements”. I play piano, Rhodes and Wurli on it all live in the studio with Adam Kolker, Matt Pavolka and Dayeon Seok.
And tenor saxophonist Michael Adkins and I made a duo recording of improvised music at Systems Two, the great recording studio in Brooklyn, just before it closed down. The recording is very unique; Michael and I have a deep musical connection. There are many more things on the horizon as well!

James Brandon Lewis Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

James Brandon Lewis, 2018 by ©Clara Pereira

Name: James Brandon Lewis
Instrument: tenor saxophone
Style: contemporary jazz, modal, avant-garde jazz
Album Highlights: Radiant Imprints (Off, 2018), Code of Being (Intakt, 2021), Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms, 2021)

Many outlets, including JazzTrail, cited you as Musician of the Year 2021 thanks to your compositional and performing skills in two excellent recordings - Jesup Wagon and Code of Being. What does this mean to you? Do you feel any sort of pressure to maintain creativity at its peak in the future?
I am thankful that people enjoyed these records. You never know, and I stay away from trying to find out what people like to interfere with my honesty. I make honest music that I dig .. and if people dig it, then that's a blessing, and if they don't, that's also a blessing. All answers are within art! There is no pressure because I owe it to myself to be 110 percent honest with myself every time, to give my all, to honor the sacrifices made by others and myself for this music... no pressure at all... every moment, album, song, vibe is different. I am never trying to outdo what already has happened; I am only concerned with allowing myself to breathe into the next moment, the next lived experience, and honor that. Pressure would be playing and making music I don't love, and then pretending that I do. That's pressure, and I stay away from things that I am not giving my all to...

What do you think of the world today, and what’s its influence in your music making?
The world is in great turmoil right now , hopefully music can bring some happiness , love and care to those who need it.

You’ve been touring lately in trio with cellist Christopher Hoffman and drummer Max Jaffe. How did you guys start playing together? Any record in mind with this configuration?
This group recorded a brand new record over the summer, and a major announcement is coming soon . I started playing with these gents over the summer. The concept of James Brandon Lewis Trio in general has existed for years now, and the format is about chasing energy, raw emotion, propelling melodies and solos, and everything forward. There is some other stuff in the works for the fall.

When did you decide to become a professional musician?
At 9 years old I knew I wanted to be a musician. I did not know about the word "professional " in relation to the word musician but I knew music was for me.

Can you name two persons who influenced you the most as a saxophonist?
Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane.

Can you name two persons whom you’ve never collaborated with but you’d like to?
I wish I could have collaborated with Geri Allen... Playing with Matthew Shipp would be great , after years of him being a mentor and friend.

3 jazz records that changed your perspective of jazz?
Bill Barron - Motivation; Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come; Frank Lowe - Black Beings.

Your music, besides spiritual, can be very eclectic. Can you list 3 non-jazz records that you have in high consideration?
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides; Mos Def & Talib Kweli - Black Star; Common - Like Water for Chocolate.

What would you have been if you weren’t a musician?
Scientist/inventor.

Projects for the near future?
Look out for the JBL Trio record announcement !!! It’s coming soon. I’m also working on a new Red Lily Quintet record (on Tao Forms label) and Molecular Quartet record (on Intakt Records).

Michael Formanek Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Michael Formanek, 2018 by ©Clara Pereira

Name: Michael Formanek
Instrument: double bass
Style: avant-garde jazz, modern creative
Album Highlights: Low Profile (Enja, 1994), Nature of the Beast (Enja, 1997), The Distance (ECM, 2016)

In mid-March next year, you’re going to release a new album with a recently formed trio - featuring saxophonist Chet Doxas and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza. Can you talk about how this trio came up and what’s behind the music?
The Michael Formanek Drome Trio began as a group that got together on a fairly regular basis during the initial lockdown period in 2020, primarily outside in my backyard. We had all played together in various configurations and were already doing a fair amount together before the pandemic. After a few months of playing a mix of tunes, improvs and a few original pieces, I composed some music for the trio and we began rehearsing it. That eventually led to the recording session that became Were We Where We Were.

With that record, you’re also launching your own label. What led you to take that step?
I’d been thinking of forming a label for some time but kept talking myself out of it. When I decided to release this recording on Vinyl, it seemed like doing it myself might be the way to go. Once I get this one out, I should have a better idea how I want to proceed with it.

Your solo record Imperfect Measures naturally contrasts, both sonically and structurally, with the Ensemble Kolossus. Which format excites you most and which is easier for you to convey your ideas?
They seem radically different but in many ways the process is the same for me. I try to start with an idea and then develop it through whatever medium I’ve decided to use. The Ensemble Kolossus music is very detailed and structured, but it is intended to be interpreted by the group of musicians who are playing it through the lens of improvisation. My solo music does the same thing but drastically minimizes the amount of predetermined information to a simple sketch, or a spontaneous thought, sound, or feeling. They are equally exciting to me but I do enjoy the energy and creativity I get from the musicians I ask to play my music. Solo playing is more introspective for sure.

It’s been more than three decades since you made your debut as a leader with Wide Open Spaces. To you, what are the main differences - positive and negative - between that time and the current days?
For me it doesn’t really seem that different. There are a lot fewer record companies and infrastructure to help sell the music, but I’ve mostly skirted along the edges of the “music industry”, such as it was and is now, and that isn’t so different for me now. I just continue to try and put out examples of the best work I can, and hope that there are a few people out there who make recognize and appreciate it.

How great was touring with Joe Henderson and Tony Williams when still a teenager? How did that happen?
Those things happened for a lot of reasons I guess, not the least being the result of living in a particular place at a specific period of time. That’s really the way most things happen anyway. Tony had moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and wanted to have a band there. He had heard me play on an instrumental rock, find of fusion, and hired me mostly on the basis of that. He wasn’t very interested in whatever jazz abilities I had or didn’t have but wanted someone who could play his music well and hold it down while he played all his amazing ideas. Joe Henderson and I had a few conversations and he invited to his house to play and rehearse with him. He seemed to think I was able to do what he needed and kept calling for a while.

Name two persons who influenced you the most as a musician.
Tough one. Probably Charles Mingus and John Coltrane.

Name two persons whom you’ve never collaborated with but you’d like to.
I would like to have played more with Paul Motian. I did play with him several times but would really call it a collaboration, just some gigs. I was living away from New York for much of the period that he was really staying in New York and playing a lot there. The other would be Jack DeJohnette whom I’ve never played with.

Can you pick three records that changed your perspective of jazz?
The Shape of Jazz to Come (Ornette Coleman), Fractured Fairy Tales (Tim Berne), and then there are just a lot of other records that gave me ideas to investigate and inspiration to try different things. It could be something by Coltrane, Mingus, Ellington, Braxton, Sun Ra, Hendrix (I don’t care what we call his music), Miles Davis, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Julius Hemphill, and on and on!

What would you have been if you weren’t a musician?
A hermit

Are you working on any other projects at the moment?
Always. The Drome Trio has a bunch of gigs lined up, whatever that means geese days, around our new release in March 2022. Thumbscrew has a new recording that will be out in Fall of 2022, which is around our 10 year anniversary as a band, called Multicolored Midnight. Also doing a few solo gigs and hopefully more duo with my son, Peter. I’ll record very soon with Angelica Sanchez, which I’m very excited about. Also will record a new Elusion Quartet record next Fall for a 2023 release.

Andrew D'Angelo Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Name: Andrew D’Angelo
Instrument: alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Style: modern creative, avant-garde jazz
Album Highlights: Skadra Degis (Skirl Records, 2008); DNA Orchestra (Self released, 2020)

We always learn with our experiences, whether they are good or bad. In what ways did this long battle with a brain tumor change you? What did you learn from it?

I think it’s best I say this first: I never thought I was “battling” a brain tumor or cancer. I saw cancer as my teacher and wanted to learn from it, which is why I embarked on a path of natural or alternative healing. Cancer is held anger that turns to resentment. If bottled up for too long it creates illness. For me it was about learning to love myself. Hence the song "I Love You", which I wrote to teach us human souls to love ourselves. Family, friends, and so forth are also included. It’s surprising how many people openly say they do not love themselves.
This was not an easy task for me. I was a fairly angry young man. The cancer taught me to be gentler with myself and my friends. This eventually changed my music in a profound way. At times, some of my fans are surprised to hear me play soft and gentle.  It was a new and ever changing process happening in my heart, affecting my music. I would say that the big band recording – tracked in 2011 – was the beginning of me understanding this. 
As we recorded the DNA Orchestra record in 2011. There was still a chance I could die from brain cancer. In 2008 the doctors gave me six to eight months to live. None of them thought I’d make the three year mark cancer free. Yet there I was making what I think is one of my best records to date. I love you. 

In these difficult times, how are you coping with the covid-19 crisis?

Recording A LOT of music!  Honestly, even before covid, I would stay home listening, composing, recording, and playing music constantly. The pandemic has simply allowed this to blossom with a massive harvest of creativity. I can’t wait to release and share all of the music I have been working on during this crisis.  

Your new album - with the DNA Orchestra - doesn’t include new songs, but they are completely remodeled and adapted to the format and infused with a new energy. When and how did the idea of arranging to and playing with this orchestra come up?

It does include new songs actually. "I Love You" is one of them. Even though folks have heard other versions online, this is the first official studio recording of that song.  The melody is actually something I wrote for my piano recital when I was eight years of age. My teacher was so angry that I wanted to play my own song. Lol.
After the two brain surgeries the doctors told me not to play saxophone for about six weeks, thinking that the back pressure on my brain could possibly be harmful. So I began playing a lot of piano and this melody somehow came back to me. I sat and composed straight for the Orchestra. This recording is the first time I ever sang on a record and the first time "I Love You" was heard by many people.
I grew up playing in big bands. In my teens I was in a kind of child-star big band. We played weddings, parties, and other gatherings. Man, we worked pretty much every weekend during my teens, so the inspiration for the Orchestra came from my desire to revive my joy of the big band sound. 
When I was in Boston hanging out at Berklee and New England Conservatory,  I started my own big band called Standard Deviation.  We’d play jazz standards and would improvise arrangements on the gig. Those were fun days and the band was full of incredible musicians! Cuong Vu, Chris Cheek, and many other eventual jazz super stars.

One can tell that each piece is very personal, and, in a way, they represent your own journey. Can you tell our readers more about “Egna Ot Waog”, “Meg Nem Sa” and “Norman” (three favorites of mine) and the meaning of their titles?

I wrote three songs for my trio with drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Ben Street. This was in the late nineties – early two thousands. The three songs all sounded the same to me. So I named them same song one, same song two, and same song three. As a child I invented my own language and would swap letters around to say the words I invented. My parents thought I was nuts. Perhaps they are correct (laughs). The third song is named "Ree Oss" but never made the cut. 

The "Meg Nem Sa" arrangement is special to my heart.  It was the first composing I did after brain surgery one. If you ever wanted to know what was going on in a brain that was just snipped, listen to this composition. It’s a very clear sonic image of how I felt at that time, back in February of 2008. It was intense!!! 

The introduction to "Egna Ot Waog" is a proud moment for me. I simply distilled the entire piece into an intro. 

My middle name comes from my grandfather Norman. Bill McHenry wrote “Norman” for me when I was in the hospital having brain surgery.  It’s a healing song that Bill sent my way.  It worked!  Love playing that piece and also love how Bill arranged it for the big band. I would say he nailed my musical personality!!! 

Name two persons who influenced you the most as a saxophone player.

It’s an indirect influence but I’d have to say my high school jazz band director Waldo King. This man loved jazz and big band with a great passion.  Eventually he gave me the keys to the band room. Then he asked the school to give me a key to the front door. I’d arrive at about 6:30 AM to practice until school started. Waldo passed away a few years ago.  Wrote him a letter and he wrote back saying: “Andrew, I remember coming to school every day and hearing you practicing and working on your excellence”! Amazing that at ninety one he still remembered that. Before a school band festival competition, he would write the word “L O V E” on the chalkboard.  Saying, it’s all love of the music and not about competition.

I’ve known tenor saxophonist Chris Speed since we were teenagers.  Chris is easily one of the most influential people in my saxophone lifetime.  He’d come to my house or I’d go to his, and we would practice together. This continued well into our twenties. Always inspiring me to compose often and to compose on a high level. As we like to say in Human Feel “there’s no room for sleeping with Speed”.

Name two persons whom you’ve never collaborated with but you’d like to in the future.

Bill Burr! In what capacity I’m uncertain. Perhaps we share an evening of music and comedy. I find his comedy to be extremely compositional. My manager thinks it would be a great combination with my music. I agree. Absolutely adore Bill’s MM podcast as well.
Tenor saxophonist JD Allen and I have been discussing a collaboration. I feel his and my playing would fit well together. As soon as this pandemic is over, we’re going to start playing some shows together. 

Three jazz records that really blew your mind and made you want to play better.

I always shy away from those social media “post ten of your favorite records” types of situations. It’s difficult to narrow it down since we’ve all listened to so much music.  I also managed a huge jazz department at Tower Records in my early twenties.  Listened to music for at least eight hours a day, five days a week for several years. Picking only three of the plethora of records I listened to, that is difficult. If I were forced into a corner I’d say the cassette tapes my private teacher in my teenage years gave me. They were technically bootleg tapes of live performances. He had me listening to a lot of saxophonist Lee Konitz. Specifically transcribing Subconscious-Lee from live shows. Those are amazing performances from a brilliant saxophonist and composer. 
Another jazz record that changed my life was And His Mother Called Him Bill.  Hearing how Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn composed and arranged music was mind blowing. It was the first time I understood that jazz composition could be so profound and elaborate – I was probably seventeen or so when I heard it for the first time. Amazing writing and arranging!! It has continued to inspire my own composing and arranging for large ensembles. 
The last one is challenging as I would like to pick just one Bird record.  There are so many great recordings of him that it’s tough to choose.  A lot of Bird’s records were a huge influence on my playing.  So I’ll pick something that is a bit more obscure. I’ll never forget the moment I was driving home from school.  The jazz station in Seattle played a cut from that Eric Dolphy recording where he improvises on “Mack the Knife”. I literally said out loud WHO IS THAT ALTO PLAYER!?!?!  And how the hell is he playing the way he is playing?!?! That solo is still one of my all time favorites.  Mostly because it was the first time I heard Dolphy. I fell immediately in love with his music. He’s also the inspiration for me playing bass clarinet.

Can you briefly describe the hardest and the happiest moments of your career?

Hardest?  That’s easy – BRAIN CANCER!!!  Looking back on it though, it really wasn’t so bad.  Plus it gave me more reason to live.  Sometimes our hardest or most difficult times can transform our lives into something positive, which is what I hope is happening with this covid situation but on a global scale.
 Happiest? Man, that’s a tough choice because I’ve had so many.  The first tour I did of Europe was in 1985, just after I graduated high school.  It was also the first time in my life I had ever been in Europe. That two-week tour was outstanding. When I got back home, I remember telling my friends that I wanted to keep going to Europe to play music and make the hang. Absolutely life changing and FUN AF!!!!! 

What would you be if you weren’t a musician?

I’d own a restaurant that is also a music venue. Always wanted to curate my own place. It actually may still come to fruition since I ain’t dead yet. Also, my nephew Storm is a budding chef. My Italian grandparents owned a club called the Red Rooster. It runs in the family.  

Projects for the near future?

During covid my nephew Maximilian started collaborating on a project. He makes these really engaging beats. We layered me improvising on top of his beats. Shit sounds super nice!!! We call the project Almost 23. 

There’s definitely another DNA Orchestra recording in the future.  I have a ton of new material, new arrangements and compositions.  Look forward to the day we get to perform live and tour again.

I’ve also been working on an electronic duo project with Bad Plus bassist Reid Anderson. We’ve got a couple of songs completed and are sussing out more to record and perform. 

For the past year and half, a film company called Seven House Media has been working on a documentary. It’s the story of my Brain experience. I look forward to it being released at some point soon. 

The DNA Orchestra record is also up for a Grammy nomination. It’s going to be interesting to see how that turns out, with a nomination that could mean a lot of exposure for the band.

Sara Serpa Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Name: Sara Serpa
Instrument: vocals
Style: contemporary jazz, avant-garde jazz, modern creative
Album Highlights: All the Dreams (Sunnyside, 2016), Close Up (Clean Feed, 2018), Recognition (Biophilia, 2020)

This pandemic is affecting the musicians in a hard way. What do you envision for the future of jazz music and jazz musicians in particular? 
It’s quite hard to predict, since no one knows exactly when will the pandemic end. Musicians are struggling right now, in particular those who are not affiliated with institutions and who depend on touring/ gigs/ teaching to make a living. The pandemic will make more visible the inequities in our field too -  I worry about the small clubs that can’t open and won’t be able to pay rent, I worry about live music being the last thing people will consume because we will have a huge economic recession . A career takes so much time to develop, to create connections, networks, understanding how the business works… so, I feel musicians who didn’t have their career established or who are just starting will struggle much more .

The music on Recognition, composed for a silent film related to the Portuguese colonialism in Angola during the 60s, draws strong emotions from concerns like segregation, oppression, violence and racism. How do you see the movements for civil rights, racial justice, and social change that are inundating America and the world today?
Nothing of what is happening right now is new.  White supremacy has existed in the US and around the world for a long time, actually with roots in the Portuguese (and other European nations) slave trade.  I embarked on this project because I always felt there was a huge silence in Portugal and Europe about colonialism, and how this silence and denial affect the present moment - Black people in Europe are harassed by the police and suffer discrimination all the time, and right now there are Black people dying everyday trying to cross the Mediterranean. Europeans always think that the atrocities happen on the other side of the ocean, but don’t really look at their own societies. I don’t have the ambition of being a savior, however,  I feel it’s important that all of us, specially those who are non-Black, to learn more about our own history, with a critical approach, and recognize the atrocities done, so we can together process the loss and hopeful create a more just and equitable society.  I am hopeful about protest and global mobilization, but there’s a lot of work to be done in our corner of the world.

I felt that the choices for the ensemble that backs you up in this record were very appropriate. Why this instrumentation? Did you compose with any of these members in mind or were they picked after the music has been composed? 
Initially, I invited Mark Turner and Zeena Parkins and wrote the music specifically for them. We performed this piece as trio a few times. I have always loved Mark and Zeena’s playing - they come from different backgrounds but are that kind of artists that have a distinct sonic personality: you hear one note and recognize them immediately. It was a new challenge for me in many ways to write for this combination of instruments, to write music meant to accompany a silent film, to write music that did not interfere with the message conveyed by the film. The music was written along with the film, scene by scene, but things evolved with performances. David Virelles replaced Zeena in one performance once, and then it made sense for me to add the piano - its sound and presence provided a solid foundation for the music to grow. I love these musicians very much and I always hope I can be as good as they are.

As a singer, composer, and bandleader living in the Big Apple, what are the main difficulties and rewards of being part of the New York jazz scene?
I love New York because I interact with so many different people, artists and thinkers. It is a place unique in the world, where things happen really fast. And it is a place where I have opportunities to collaborate artistically in all kinds of settings. I am grateful for all I have been able to do in New York. Difficulties: it is an expensive city, and it’s hard to pause once you enter the work vortex. During the pandemic it was really challenging to be confined in an apartment, hearing ambulances the whole day for a month, and noticing my neighborhood struggling.

Two persons who have influenced you the most in your career?
My parents for their integrity, values and sacrifices. They always supported me, and without them I would not be who I am.

Two persons whom you’ve never collaborated with but you’d like to?
I would love to collaborate with Matana Roberts and Sophia Jenberg.

Three records that changed your perspective of jazz?
Ran Blake and Jeanne Lee - The Newest Sound Around;
Abbey Lincoln - Abbey Is Blue;
Maria João e Mário Laginha - Chorinho Feliz.

What other musical styles do you listen to? 
Whatever is good music!

What would you have been if you weren’t a musician?
I never thought I would be a professional musician… If I had continued what I studied for, I would be a Social Worker. Literally, studying at the Hot Clube Jazz School changed my life, in the year I was graduating from college.

Projects for the near future?
I hope I can record the next section of what I see as a trilogy, initiated with Recognition. This is a collaboration with Nigerian writer Emmanuel Iduma, entitled Intimate Strangers, that features Emmanuel, Sofia Rei, Aubrey Johnson, Matt Mitchell and Qasim Naqvi.

Edward Gavitt Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Edward Gavitt by Gaya Feldheim Schorr

Name: Edward Gavitt
Instrument: guitar
Style: contemporary jazz, fusion
Album Highlights: Secret Mall - System32 

How did the Covid-19 pandemic affected you as a musician and what are you doing to fight the current adversities?
Mostly it's the same as everyone, lost literally all my gigs for the unforeseeable future. Particularly, I was looking forward to a recording session with Secret Mall and a tour with friend and colleague Colin Hinton and his band Simulacra. I'm one of the lucky ones to have a job aside from just performing, although a good percentage of my income is totally gone. 
Teaching is one thing keeping me busy. I'm doing some engineering work and the free time is allowing me to experiment a bit more with projects I'm working with, just seeing what happens when I do this or that, and I also get to practice and write more. I think my main personal focus right now is that I'm working on an educational Youtube channel. A few months before the quarantine I had actually bought some nice lighting equipment, and I already had a nice camera from some time ago. I find that many of the successful Youtube channels are run by people who are not the greatest musicians. There are some exceptions, for example, I really like Adam Neely's channel as well as David Bruce Composer and Nahre Sol. But for the most part, a lot of it is bad information and clickbait. Mostly all the NYC musicians I know could make some amazing content, but from conversations, many have a hard time adapting to that format. I know some NYC musicians that have taken the platform seriously, such as Brian Krock, or Glenn Zaleski and Dan Weiss who have been doing for it a bit longer. But I think it can be a great source of income and what better time is there to build an online following in a time when literally everyone is stuck online?

You’re also the house manager of The Jazz Gallery, a distinguished New York jazz venue. What has been the reaction of the venue to the cancellation of the shows?
Yeah, this has been a very interesting time for The Jazz Gallery. Our last concerts were the Tyshawn Sorey residency shows which ended on March 7th. I can't think of a better last concert before closing up that we could have had. I think we called a staff meeting the next day because we needed to figure out what to do. Unfortunate things happened such as our house staff losing their work and musicians losing their gigs. But in a few short days we figured out some things we could do to keep the community going and get some musicians paid.
The first things we came up with were the Happy Hour Hangs and the archive releases. The Happy Hour Hangs are small virtual gatherings we do a few times a week via Zoom. We cap the attendance at 15 people so everyone can participate and the crowd is manageable. Some people don't know how to use Zoom yet so you have people not muting themselves, audio trouble, camera trouble. The small capacity helps keep everything under control and gets everyone participating. The hangs feature a different musician each time but we also try to bring in special guests and let musicians bring in their friends as well. 

I'm handling the archive project. I'm just going through our archives and curating the release of videos or recordings we've done at the Gallery. We've released three so far: the Tribute to Roy Hargrove Big Band from Dec 2019, John Ellis' The Ice Siren from their album release concert this past February, and Shai Maestro's piece "Time" which was a Jazz Gallery commission from 2018 (feat. Phillip Dizack and Joel Ross). I'm also mixing these recordings to get them to sound better (or enhancing the bootleg style recordings from our handheld recorder). We release these on Wednesdays, although we have a special one coming up on Sunday 5/3. We are hosting a tribute to our dear friend Lee Konitz who unfortunately passed away recently. Lee played his last performance at The Jazz Gallery for a concert put together by Ohad Talmor, who is an incredible composer and saxophonist and a good friend. We celebrated Lee's 92nd birthday this past October with a special quartet/nonet performance, so we are going to stream some of that footage as well as gather some of people close to him to pay him tribute.

We also started a weekly dance party on Tuesdays with a special guest DJ every week. We've had so far Ben Williams, Miguel Zenon, and Rio be DJs, and we have some more very special guests coming up soon. We've also kept up with our blog and have continued interviewing musicians that were supposed to play at the space before the quarantine.

Lastly we have the Lockdown Sessions, which is a great series Rio came up with that came from recognizing how bad live streaming can be. The audio quality usually isn't good or the video can get lost. Our Happy Hour Hangs aren't exactly focused on the music but just about talking and keeping each other company, and the reason for this is we don't want to showcase a musician in a setting they are not comfortable with (solo, poor quality, etc). During the Lockdown Sessions we ask musicians to pre-record a 15 minute set which they can produce as much or as little as possible, and they present it via Zoom's screen share feature. It fills the gap between live streaming and a gig, where musicians can control what they present while it being on an online platform. It basically becomes a semi-live performance but also has been dubbed a "jazz variety show" or "jazz MTV" by some of the musicians, it's actually really fun seeing the amazing things musicians come up with. Each week we have four acts. And for some shameless self-promotion, Rio asked my group Secret Mall to perform on May 9th, so we're going to do something fun for that.
The full schedule of all our activities is on our website, www.jazzgallery.org for anyone that wants to take a look at what's going on.

What do you envision for the future of The Jazz Gallery?
We really believe that gatherings will not immediately return to normal. Right now, we're under the impression that quarantine will be lifted on May 15th (probably not, but let's say it does). There is no way any venue is going to be packed that same night. People are still going to feel unsafe about going out, and if they do go out, are they really going to want to be packed like sardines in some venue? We think the most practical thing is to gradually open until things are safe. One of my ideas has been to do live streamed concerts from our space with no audience. I'd go and set the musicians up, put up a camera, mic everything up, and it would just be us, so I hope we can make that happen. Eventually we will open up again although we don't have a set date but its looking to be at the earliest late summer, most likely at a capped attendance, and gradually increase that. But through our online endeavors we've kept people happy. We have actually gotten new members, some donations, and gotten some sort of income for musicians. Things aren't great, but it's not exactly terrible yet.

The latest album from your group Secret Mall is called System32 and it was self-released in 2019. Who had the idea to form the band?
So Alfredo Colon and I went to school together at the City College of New York. It's a small program, and Alfredo is one of two people I regularly play with that I went to school with. When he started the undergraduate program I was just finishing mine, but we really started hanging out when I started grad school and he was maybe a sophomore or junior. He was just a funny guy to hang out with. He started working at the Gallery around that time. I didn't know Steve Williams at that time, but he had emailed me to do an internship at the Gallery via The New School. Alfredo knew Andres Valbuena a bit from some program they did in High School. Andres had asked Alfredo about working at the Gallery and it worked out. So basically the four of us were working at The Jazz Gallery, it was really fun to just hang out with those guys. A gig came up for Alfredo and I where we were going to play at Madison Square Park one afternoon for some event, and we needed to call some people. Alfredo and I wanted to start a band and he drunkenly Snapchatted Steve asking if he wanted to - not play, but join the band, which is a big committment as we had never even heard him play before. We just called him because he was fun to hang with. We lucked out because as it turns out, Steve is a good bass player! Andres we already knew was amazing, so we rounded it up with him, and played this gig at Madison Square Park which went pretty well.

We were all also very much into internet humor and internet culture. For example, Vaporwave was a strange music genre that had its thing in like 2014-2016. We were really into the visual element of that, though, so we use that aesthetic in a lot of our visuals and incorporate some of the sounds into our music. We also love internet memes. Our first EP is entirely based on a meme called Yee (which can be found on Youtube). Our full length System32 sort of follows the same idea, but we also enlisted some friends to bring in some funny moments such as Chris Morrissey's voice mail or Joel Ross' synth solo. 
The band was a quartet since the beginning, but on System32 we decided to add more sounds to the record with electronics, and decided it would be a good idea to add a keyboard player, we called our good friend Theo Walentiny who is one of the most incredible pianists from our scene, and while we have yet to play with him, we're really looking forward to seeing how much fuller the band sounds with him.
We were actually going to record our next album around this time, we had two days at a studio booked but things happened, so whenever things loosen up, we're getting back on it.

 Who influenced you the most as a guitarist?
I can mention a couple of people: Michel Camilo is probably the first one. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, I didn't exactly have access to a lot of music education. I played in rock and metal groups but had never really heard a jazz album until I was 17. Interestingly enough, I heard Michel Camilo on the radio one night. It was a piece of his called “Suite Sandrine”, and I just remember my jaw on the floor, having never heard anything like this but I just thought ‘I want to do this’, and especially finding out that Michel is Dominican played a huge part. He's the reason I went to school for music.

Jim Hall was another big influence. There was something about Jim's playing. Everything he played was just perfect. I remember learning about him and listening to him on The Bridge, or on Live! and just thinking how different this was from everything I'd been hearing before, he didn't sound like any other guitarist at the time. And then learning he was still alive (at the time)! I got to see him a few times before he passed and actually got to talk to him once, I was being such a fanboy at the time. Same thing with Lee Konitz. He was also one of those guys that didn't sound like anyone else, he even talked about it a lot. And I had the same reaction learning he was also still alive. I got to meet Lee a bunch of times through the Gallery. He was truly a funny guy and one of the most unique voices in music. Both Jim and Lee's playing, which avoided cliches and generic jazz vocabulary appealed to my approach so much. Following the Jim Hall lineage, I also love Peter Bernstein. His vocabulary is just so unique and everything he plays is so tasteful. He's also one of the nicest guys.

Miles Okazaki is also a huge influence, I studied with him for quite some time and got a lot from him. I had been wanting to study with Miles for years before moving to New York, but I remember hearing Generations and just trying to figure out what was happening. His approach to rhythm and time and his scholarly nature are things I really admire about him. He has a really great Instagram account where he is methodically going through every pitch set combination and demonstrating them. I recommend strongly recommend checking that out.

Allan Holdsworth is probably my biggest influence right now, though. I've been digging really deep into his music for the last year or two. The things he plays are absolutely unreal, a lot of things sound like he's literally opening up a portal to a new dimension. I got into him late unfortunately, just shortly before he passed so I never got to see him live, but his music has really influenced more than probably anyone else. In that tradition I'm also following Tim Miller, who has a sort of Holdsworthian quality to his playing, but he doesn't sound like Holdsworth. He has his own thing going on which I'm also very much into.

Can you tell me two persons whom you’ve never collaborated with but you’d like to?
So many! I think in a realistic sense, my friend Lex Korten who is an amazing pianist. You can hear him in many settings, most recently on the latest Tyshawn Sorey record Unfiltered. Despite knowing him for a while now we have yet to play together, but we've talked about it. He's gonna be huge so I know I have to get to it soon! I'd also really love to play with Evan Marien. He's an amazing bass player and actually played a bit with Holdsworth. He writes some really great music, shreds, and everything he plays feel so good.

Name your top 3 jazz albums.
I don't think I can say top 3, because I love so many records, but here are 3 that I can think of off the top of my head.
Jim Hall Live! Don't make me choose a volume, I'm just going with the box set! This stuff is just incredible. I remember listening to this record when it was just Vol. 1 out, and then finding out there were 3 more volumes! I was over the moon. Jim sounds great here but his rhythm section (Don Thompson and Terry Clarke) is ridiculous. Terry in particular has some of the most amazing dynamics.
I'm going to put a blanket over Allan Holdsworth, whatever album of his I'm listening to at the moment is my favorite Allan Holdsworth album. But some particular mentions are Sixteen Men of Tain, Secrets, Atavachron, and Then! I'm also super excited for a live DVD/CD that's coming out from a 1986 gig in Frankfurt with Gary Husband, Jimmy Johnson, and Key Akagi.
And for number three... Kate Gentile's Mannequins. Kate is just amazing. She can play just about anything, and writes some really unique music. She's definitely one of my favorites. Ah, so many more I want to talk about!

Name your top 3 non-jazz albums.
Right now, Chon's self-titled album. Chon is this progressive rock band from San Diego. They're all fantastic musicians. I learned about them around 2008 when they were like 14 (the drummer was like 10 around that time) but they were shredding! Their music has matured so much throughout the years, and this more recent record is really great.
There's a lot of classical stuff I check out. One record I really like is this album Shrouded Mirrors by guitarist Diego Castro Magas. He's a Chilean classical guitarist who focuses on performing music by contemporary composers. This album actually led me to discover Bryn Harrison who is now one of my favorite composers.
Lastly, the Animals as Leaders self-titled album is probably going to be one of my all time greatest influences. This album completely redefined modern metal. While this comes straight from the Meshuggah lineage, it was a very different sound that really just had not been heard. It's probably not my favorite Animals as Leaders record from their discography, but definitely the one that really changed the game. I find it awesome that Tosin Abasi (one of the guitar players) is really into jazz too. He's cited people like Kurt Rosenwinkel and Adam Rogers as influences.

What would you have been if you weren’t a musician?
I was set on going to school for psychology before that Michel Camilo story, so probably that. I'm not sure though. I obviously would have had to do something if it wasn't music, but I tend to not think about it too much.

Despite the situation we’re living in, life goes on. Plans for the future?
Yeah, I'm very lucky and privileged that my mental health is well right now. I know many people having a hard time and I really feel for them. I've been working like normal, just from home. Despite being home all day, things seem busier though. There's a lot more Jazz Gallery work, but I also have more time to practice, write, produce.
Probably the most immediate thing is building the Youtube channel I mentioned. I already uploaded a video last month that I sort of used as a "beta test" to get some criticism and see how I can improve that. So right now I'm scripting a bunch of topics for videos to start releasing them in May.

William Parker Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

William Parker, 2019 ©Clara Pereira

Name: William Parker
Instrument: bass
Style: free jazz, avant-garde jazz
Album Highlights: O’Neals Porch (AUM Fidelity, 2000), Sound Unity (AUM Fidelity, 2005), Double Sunrise Over Neptune (AUM Fidelity, 2008)

When did you decide to become a professional musician and what led you to that decision?
I was introduced to the music of Duke Ellington when I was seven years old through my father, who played the recording Ellington Live at Newport 1956. There was a track, “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” that was a favorite, the one where the tenor player Paul Gonsalves played chorus after chorus taking the music to a holy ghost feeling, like in the black church. Great music every night played in the house and every day and all day on Saturday - Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Willis Gator Tails Jackson, Don Byas, Gene Ammons. All of this music led me to the music of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Yusef Lateef, and just about everybody who was making music in the 50s and 60s. When I was about 9 years old, my father got me a trumpet and sent me for lessons. Later, I switched to trombone and cello. But through listening to bass players like Percy Heath, Jimmy Garrison, Charlie Haden, John Lamb and David Izenzon, I decided that the bass was for me. That coincided with me realizing the purpose of music was to heal people. When I was 17, I jumped into the arena and attempted to see if I could make a contribution to the world of music.

Your big band project Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield will be presented on March 4th at The Town Hall. What can people expect from this multimedia presentation?
I will present new arrangements and a new original piece. This is a different time and setting, and the work is even more relevant. This will be the first performance of the project since Amiri Bararka passed away in 2012. I have added three backup singers as well as Leena Conquest, plus a larger horn section. I have invited the poet Thomas Sayers Ellis to read some of Amiri’s text plus asked him to add his own words on the material. There will also be new interludes and extensions to the songs.

In addition to be a distinguished bassist/composer, you’re also a poet. In your opinion, which of these artistic forms more easily convey the ideas you want to express?
All forms of creativity are equal and they complement each other. It is the poetry in music that makes it work and the music inside poetry that makes it work. Music is not just sound, it is anything that is beautiful.

Your career spans 50 years. What are the aspects from the current free jazz scene that most upset you when compared to the old times? And what are the ones that you think are positive?
Music is Music. Many of the great progenitors from the 1960s are gone and the fire of the civil rights movement has burnt out so that today the kind of cathartic music and the aesthetic is different. But music is strong and it keeps revealing itself in new ways. So there are others who are coming or will come to be music, because the world needs music. But the situation around our lives are also making things harder. Musicians are spread out across the city, so gathering is much more of a conscious effort. The cost of living keeps going up and the pay for artists doesn’t come close to what is needed to survive.

Can you name two persons who influenced you the most as a musician?
Cecil Taylor, Milford Graves, Ornette Coleman, but there are many people who have inspired me.

Can you name two persons whom you’ve never collaborated with but you would like to?
There is no one I can think of. Maybe the Mexican singer Lila Downs.

Besides being a prolific bandleader you have always been an in-demand sideman. How do you manage your time? Did you ever decline to participate in a recording project that you were interested due to lack of time?
Right now I do the things that I am most interested in. Things known and many things unknown.

Can you tell me 3 jazz records that completely blew your mind?
Clark Terry - Electric Mumbles; Don Byas Meets Ben Webster; Bill Dixon - Intents and Purposes. But If you ask me tomorrow I will probably say three different records.

In which projects are you working at the moment?
The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield, Southern Satellites, String Quartet, Trail of Tears

Avram Fefer Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Avram Fefer, 2018 ©Clara Pereira

Name: Avam Fefer
Instrument: saxophones, bass clarinet
Style: modern creative, avant-garde
Album Highlights: Calling All Spirits (Cadence, 2001); Eliyahu (Not Two Records, 2011); Testament (Clean Feed, 2019)

Can you tell us about your influences?
I always found it interesting to compare musical backgrounds with other musicians when I play jazz. Some jazz people have a more classical background, some people more rock n’ roll, church, or punk. For me, it was a combination of light jazz, funk, and musical theater. Although I was a Jewish American kid, I always felt a little on the edge of American culture because of my father’s immigrant background (he was born in a labor camp in Siberia). R’n’B was what really touched me in my teen years - Earth, Wind And Fire, Stevie Wonder, Harry Nilsson, and the Ohio Players… while my first jazz influences were Stanley Turrentine and Grover Washington Jr., followed later by Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. Thus, I had this kind of funky side in me early on, more than say bebop or ‘heavy’ jazz. And then, when I was in Paris in the 1990’s, I met the cornet player Graham Haynes, who introduced me to Moroccan music. I also started to play with musicians from the other French colonies such as Senegal, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast, and became influenced by their sounds. In Paris I had the opportunity to listen to a lot of music from Ghana and kora music from Guinea and Mali, and when I arrived in New York, I started to work with the West African musicians Francis M’Bappe, Famoro Diabate, Yacouba Sissoko and Mamady Djibate. That influenced me a lot in my feeling of jazz. You know, the definition of jazz for me is European and African music meeting in America. I guess I would say that I have deeper influences from the African music side than the European.

What are your first musical memories?
Apparently there is a photo of me on my 3rd birthday walking thru a park in Stockholm, Sweden with my parents while Duke Ellington’s Band is performing in the background, but I don’t have an actual memory of this. I do remember that my father played the acoustic guitar and I would play the bongos with him at an early age. I’m sure I was terrible, but we played the music of Bob Dylan; Peter, Paul and Mary; and a lot of liberation music, including Jewish and Negro spirituals. And then, the most influential recorded music I heard was the music from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein. Both the movie and the music were so powerful in triggering my young imagination…romance, rhythm, race, sex, dance, immigration, New York—it was all there!! I also listened to my parents’ Herb Alpert Records a lot and started to play along on clarinet when I was 10 or 11...

What led you to make the decision of being a professional jazz musician?
I started playing in the elementary school band when I was nine years old. In high school, I started playing the saxophone in the jazz big band, and I loved the experience. It was a life-changing experience to be one of the soloists and section leaders in a swinging big band, to be part of that power! Then I went to Harvard, intending perhaps to be a doctor, but I changed my mind pretty quickly… After some wonderful musical exposure thru Tom Everett, the jazz teacher there, and a number of brilliant and creative friends who turned me on to all sorts of poetry, literature, drugs, and philosophy, I was becoming much more myself, and more aware of my creative side. By the time I graduated, I was around 20 years old and getting more serious about music as a pursuit. I started to feel very strongly about the importance of music for me personally, and for the world at large. I thought it would be a noble challenge for me as a human being to dedicate myself to jazz and to try to touch people deeply thru music. By the time I was 21 or 22, Sonny Rollins trio recordings had made a huge impression on me and reinforced my desire to improve and express myself as a saxophone player.
I had my first overseas tour in the late 80’s in a band that featured drummer Mike Sarin and pianist John Medeski. We had a great time and I received some pretty good press which helped me weather the hard times that came in those early years… Soon afterwards, I moved to Europe and began playing in the streets of Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Paris…making my money day-to-day and getting arrested on numerous occasions… Eventually I was offered enough steady club work that I found that I had transitioned from playing in the street to being what you might call a “professional Musician”.
After that, it’s just a question of continuing to pursue Music until Music tells me to stop…

Being in the New York scene for so long, what are the main differences from back then and nowadays?
For me, personally, there was a much stronger sense of community when I first came to New York, although I probably appreciate that fact more in hindsight. I lived in the Lower East Side, and it was the drummer Denis Charles, whom I met in Paris, that said that I should move to New York and he helped find an apartment for me here in 1996. The music in New York at that time was really beautiful and there were a lot of places to play. I was working three or four nights a week and actually being paid for the gigs. I was based in downtown Manhattan and although I was part of the downtown scene, in a way I was never really a “downtown” player because of my African influences. But there was always room to play at the Knitting Factory and Tonic, which was my favorite club of all time. Tonic was only a couple blocks from my apartment, with a great social vibe and where you had a lot of different kinds of high-quality music and people happening in the same venue from one day to the next. I really liked that the music could be part of people's lives while integrated into the fabric of the city, but we’re losing that a little bit. Today there are more small venues with a bunch of chairs and a small but obsessed group of people listening to music.
Obviously, the music business has changed completely over the past couple decades. When I was in Paris, I was on a major label with an ‘acid-jazz’ band and we could make money from recordings, but that started to change over the last 25 years. So, I would say that now there are so many great musicians that it is a great time for Music, but not necessarily Music Business. Also, many musicians come out of the academic environment, but maybe not knowing a lot of other things about life. When I started out, people still lived the jazz lifestyle -- late nights, drinking, doing drugs, partying... Now, I feel the connections are a bit colder and a bit more distant than before, but perhaps healthier.

Guitarist Marc Ribot plays on your new quartet album, Testament. This was the first time you guys recorded together. How did that happen?
Two years ago I left the Lower East Side, where I'd lived for 20 years, and moved to Brooklyn. The first year, when I moved, it was kind of a hard time. I was going through some personal problems and it was a very hard year for me. So, I said: ‘I need to put out a new album with Eric [Revis] and Chad [Taylor]’. Meanwhile, I played a few times with Marc Ribot and another guitar player, Marco Cappelli, at Nublu, but this was all improvised, not my music. While I was planning the trio recording, I had these gigs at Bar Lunatico, where I was presenting quartet versions of my songs with different musicians. So one day I sent a message to Marc, asking him if he would like to join us. He said he was busy but would love to record my music if I ever wanted to do it. So I said: ‘I was planning to record in trio. However, instead of playing a lot of new music, you could play guitar on some of my older tunes.’ We put it together to see how it sounded, and it was just a beautiful feeling. Marc is a very generous player and he could feel my music right away. I think we have a similar approach to music: strong and a little bit rough, but also incorporating a sort of spiritual side.

Can you tell me three of your favorite jazz records?
Wayne Shorter - Schizophrenia; Charles Mingus - Mingus at Antibes; Miles Davis - Live at Plugged Nickel.

Can you name two persons who influenced you the most as a saxophonist?
I have to say a few more than two: Stanley Turrentine, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Jimmy Giuffre, Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp.

Can you name two persons whom you’ve never collaborated with but you’d like to?
Afel Bocoum and Jamaaladeen Tacuma. One artist I’ve worked with but would love to work with again is Archie Shepp.

What would you have been if you weren’t a musician?
Probably a school teacher. I love kids and I love teaching. I would teach them ways to improvise and to think critically about a variety of different subjects.

In which projects are you working at the moment?
I have a couple projects in the works related to abstract interpretations of literature and the release of a duo or a trio album with a West African kora player. I also want to put together a large group project where I’ll do some conductions and controlled improvisations. And, of course, I’d love to do a follow-up recording with Marc, Eric, and Chad as soon as possible!!

Dan Weiss Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Dan Weiss, 2015 ©Clara Pereira

Name: Dan Weiss
Instrument: drums
Style: modern creative, avant-garde
Album Highlights: Fourteen (Pi, 2014); Sixteen: Drummers Suite (Pi, 2002); Utica Box (Sunnyside, 2019)

When did your interest in percussion come up?
It happened when I first heard Led Zeppelin’s IV. I was two or three years old and, from that point on, it was always drums.

Besides studying and practicing the instrument, what other things can help you being a better musician?
Listen to all kinds of music, be an open-minded person, willingness and eagerness to learn and make mistakes, and put yourself in situations that are not comfortable. Learning about different arts and disciplines, and traveling.

Your new album, Utica Box, features two bassists, sometimes at the same time. Can you explain a bit about the concept behind it?
The concept was simple. Thomas [Morgan] was busy a lot and I wanted to have a different bass player to know the music. So, Eivind [Opsvik] has brought off a cool sense of the music with the arco textural thing as well as melodic. So, I thought it would be nice to have them playing in the record, splitting the album up. That way, if one of them is busy, the other one could do the tours, do the gigs, and also have a chance to play together. This was how the idea came up. A very practical approach.

You’re very familiar with large ensembles, a fact demonstrated on the albums Fourteen and Sixteen: Drummers Suite. In which of the two contexts do you have more fun? Large ensembles or small groups?
I have more fun playing in small groups because there’s less pressure, less stress, and less responsibility. The smaller the ensemble, usually the more fun it is. It’s a completely different mindset composing for large ensemble, which you have to be very specific with the arrangement and orchestration, and for smaller ensembles, where there’s a little more freedom since it doesn’t necessarily need to be so arranged.

Can you name two persons who influenced you the most as a drummer?
John Coltrane and the Indian sitar player Nikhil Banerjee because of their spiritual approach and never-ending search for something. Also their never-ending practice and constant evolution.

Can you name two persons whom you’ve never collaborated before but you’d like to?
Hmmm… I don’t have an answer right now. Maybe 20 years ago it would have been Keith Jarrett, but the guys who are playing these days are unbelievable musicians.

As an in-demand drummer, do you have any advice for younger musicians and their path in music?
Be true to yourself. Find out what you really like. Work hard, have a good attitude, and listen to a lot of music. Be patient and don’t rush things - don’t put your record out if you’re not ready.

What would you have been if weren’t a musician?
Nothing. There were no questions ever regarding being a musician.

In which projects are you working right now?
I have a tour with the trio in November. Starebaby 2 is on its way - we’ll have a new record coming out next spring, so we’ll have some gigs and tours. The duo with Miles Okazaki is releasing a new record next year. Also, me, Matt Mitchell and Miguel Zenon are talking about recording a trio album. That should be in the future since everyone is too busy this year. I’m also planning to release a duo album with Ari Hoenig, which was recorded in 2009 and it’s already finished. Now, I’m trying to write a piece for five drummers that should be ready soon.

Ben Allison Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Ben Allison, 2016 ©Clara Pereira

Name: Ben Allison
Instrument: double bass
Style: post-bop, modern creative
Album Highlights: Peace Pipe (Palmetto, 2002), Buzz (Palmetto, 2004), Layers of the City (Sonic Camera, 2017)

How did you decide to become a musician?
I don’t recall ever deciding to become a musician, it just kind of happened. But as I think back to experiences and people who inspired me to pursue a life in music, there are a few that stick. When I was 9 years old, I listened to a lot of records, pop music like The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, etc. That year, two musicians came to my school: bassist Willie Ruff and pianist Dwike Mitchell. Their music was so different from anything I had heard before. They were playing jazz, but I didn’t know what that was. At one point, they look at each other and smiled and started laughing. I couldn’t understand what made them laugh. Then it happened again. After a few minutes I realized that they were surprising each other. There was something about the way they were communicating, where one of them would play something and the other one would react to it spontaneously. At that moment, I had a glimpse into what it means to improvise. Until that point, I had thought that musicians always knew what was coming next. The idea that musicians could surprise each other was a revelation. I became fascinated with the idea. In fact, I’ve dedicated my life to learning how to have a musical conversation in the moment.

How do you see your music now as compared when you first started?
The more you play, the more you begin to find yourself as an artist. You start to develop ways to express your personality through your music. At the beginning, I had a lot of ideas but I didn’t have the necessary skills to realize them. Now that I’m older, it’s easier for me to express myself. The challenge for me now, is to choose which ideas I want to pursue. If I’m not careful, I can get overwhelmed with possibilities. Focusing one’s creativity is important. It takes a lot of energy to stay focused.

How would you describe your sound as a bass player in three words?
Melodic, rhythmic, soulful.

You’ve been representing music professionals at the Recording Academy for many years. What do you think it needs urgently to be changed in the music industry?
The Recording Academy is a trade organization, which means that it’s membership-based. The Recording Academy members are all music creators — instrumentalists, songwriters, engineers, singers, conductors, producers — in short, the people who make the music. Our goal is to draw attention to the music industry and support music creators. A big part of that is advocacy, which means working together to promote each other and our industry, and to fight for changes that benefit our community. For example, my role is Chair of the Advocacy Committee for the NY chapter. We speak with members of Congress about issues that affect musicians. We push for, and sometimes help draft legislation that’s positive for our industry. The idea is to show that music has value, that it’s important both to our culture and to our economy. A recent example of a big win for us was the passage of the Music Modernization Act, which will create new royalty streams for music creators and fix some longstanding issues in copyright law. This affects musician’s directly and positively.

What was in the base of your decision to create the Jazz Composers Collective in the early 90’s?
At that time, there was a strong neo-conservative movement happening in jazz. Some people wanted to codify the music, to define it and say, “this is what jazz is.” I’ve always resisted attempts to define the music because I see jazz as an evolutionary art form. Throughout its history, jazz as always changed to reflect the times in which it was created and the viewpoints of the people who created it. That’s not to say that there aren’t defining characteristics of the music or that there aren’t musicians who clearly set the wheels in motion. But, it’s tempting and too simplistic to say that any particular musician or city marks the definite beginning. Music is a continuum. Every style or genre is based on what came before it. Our concern is that jazz was being described as “America’s classical music,” which to our ears implied that it was a dead artform — that it would be relegated to a repertory-based music, much as classical music had become in the eyes of the public.
Our idea was to bring attention on some of the new music that was happening on the NYC scene at that time. The goal of the Collective was to support, foster and present new music in the jazz idiom and to build an audience for jazz. During our 13 years, the Collective presented over 100 concerts, featuring the works of over 50 composers, and most importantly the premier of over 300 new compositions. The Collective also presented an annual festival, financed multiple recordings and tours, commissioned new works, published a newsletter and was one of the first arts organizations to have a website (1994). It was a tremendous creative outpouring, and I am extremely proud to have been involved.

How do you see technology in modern music?
Technology changes things. When the phonograph was invented and recordings became commercially available around the turn of the twentieth century, some feared that the public would lose interest in live performances. But it turned out that people liked both live and recorded music. For nearly a century, the means of production were controlled by a few record executives and production studios. But now the computer and the Internet have allowed anybody to produce, distribute and market a record. So, technology is a double-edged sword. It cuts for good and for bad.
A big question for consumers today is, how do you find music that’s good? I think there’s a role to be played by music curators. Radio hosts and programmers, as well as people who curate playlists on the streaming services are still important and can help us find the good stuff. People like you at JazzTrail are another example. Smart, well-informed curators can help audiences cut through the noise and find the best music. It’s also important for music lovers to make an effort. Don’t just trust Alexa or Siri to tell you what’s good! If you really love music, spend some time searching. In fact, there’s a kind of joy in searching for music and stumbling upon something amazing.

Can you name two persons who influenced you the most as a musician?
My most important early influence is my mother, who is an amateur singer of choral music. The first time I’ve ever heard an orchestra and a choral ensemble was when I was very young and I heard her perform. I’m happy to report that, at the age of 85, she has resumed her ‘career’ as an amateur choral singer and is part of some incredible choirs in New Haven, CT. She has always been very encouraging and supportive of my interest in music.
Another important person to me is one of my mentors, Joe Lovano. When I was at NYU, he taught the improvisation ensemble. He was very encouraging and said some things I will never forget. He emphasized how important it is to find your voice as an artist, to carve out a niche for yourself on the scene. I appreciated that. The day I graduated college I remember feeling very nervous about the future. I asked Joe what I should do, now that school was over. He said, “be consistent and persistent. Work on your craft. Knock on doors but don’t try to knock them down.” In other words, let people know what you’re doing but don’t try to force things. He instilled in me the idea that it takes time to figure your place in the music world. It’s a process. I found a lot of meaning in those comments.

Can you name two persons with whom you have not collaborated with but wold like to?
I wish I had had the chance to collaborate with Andrew Hill. I think he is one of the greatest jazz composers and pianists of all time. I’ve always appreciated his genius. Many of my friends collaborated and performed with him in the later years of his career, but unfortunately, I never got that chance. He was another musician who changed the way I look at my career. One of the things he said to me was ‘never sell your music.” I took that to mean that I should not relinquish the publishing rights to my music and should try to retain ownership of my masters. I took that lesson to heart. I currently own all the albums I made for the various labels I recorded for over the years.
And then another person… hmmm, so many people… I would like to work with John Scofield. Aside from being a great guitar player, he has a natural musicality, and I feel like the music we would do together would be very good (laughs). I would love to work with him some day!

What would you have been if you weren’t a musician?
I’m a science buff. I read a lot about it and it’s my hobby when I’m not creating music. Almost every branch of science is interesting to me. I’m fascinated by the natural world and marvel at the people who dedicate their lives to trying to figure out how it works.

In which projects are you working right now?
I recently played bass on a new record by my friend Steve Cardenas, with whom I’ve collaborated many times over the years. The album also features Jon Cowherd on piano and Brian Blade on drums. Steve wrote a bunch of new compositions for it and we’re all very excited about how it came out. There was tremendous chemistry among the musicians. I am co-producer of the record, and have been putting it together with Steve for the past few weeks. It will be released in the first quarter of next year. I’ve also been collaborating a lot lately with pianist/composer Michael Wolff. We just recorded the second album with his new trio, the follow-up to last year’s #1 album Swirl. I’m also in the process of remixing and remastering the 10 albums I did for Palmetto. The rights to those albums reverted to me in 2018 (thank you Andrew Hill) and I’ve been busy working on a plan to re-release them over the coming year. I also continue to write new music for my various projects, tour with my bands and other groups, and teach in the New School’s Jazz & Contemporary Music program.

Matt Mitchell Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Name: Matt Mitchell
Instrument: piano, keyboards
Style: contemporary jazz, avant-garde jazz, modern creative
Album Highlights: Vista Accumulation (Pi Recordings, 2015), A Pouting Grimace (Pi Recordings, 2017), Phalanx Ambassadors (Pi Recordings, 2019)

At what point in your life did you realize you wanted to be a professional musician?
There wasn’t a single moment of recognition. Around age 14-15 I probably realized that I spent all my available free time working on music and that it would dominate my consciousness regardless of whatever else I was doing. I didn’t fully commit to being a full-time professional musician until I was almost 34, though.

Your style is impossible to copy. What's the secret for making intricate polyrhythmic lines sound so organic?
This is a gigantic question, and answering is going to leave other gaping unanswered holes, but ok... A short answer is that polyrhythms are actually inherently “organic”. If we’re taking “organic” to mean “somehow naturally occurring or naturally felt”, I could make a case that even the most complex polyrhythms that human musicians play aren’t even organic enough.
Semantics aside, my solution for incorporating any sort of new musical elements has usually been just picking small areas on which to work and just going for it, making the practice and absorption process itself creative. And while I do, of course, use that type of rhythmic material, it’s just a part of a continuum, really. I give polyrhythms a lot of attention because they’re very difficult to really master all the potential implications - and really working on them also helps “on-the-3s and 4s grid” sort of playing/phrasing/writing as well.
In other words, no secret, just a slow building up from a cellular level as with other aspects of music.
As for the notion of my style being impossible to copy, I actually doubt that’s true. Every subsequent generation takes for granted what older musicians struggled to achieve. They don’t see it as hard. I’m turning 44 this week - I can tell you from experience that musicians 10 years younger than me have internalized things in a way my generation hasn’t, and people 20 years younger even more so. It’s the way it is.

Can you briefly describe your gear (I know you've been fascinated by the sonic offerings of the Prophet 6) and tells us in which musical contexts do you like to use them?
I’ve always messed around with synthesizers in various forms since I was a teenager. I’m fascinated with electronic sounds in general and love them in almost every conceivable context. I somehow learned early on that it was best for me to never use presets and learn to program my own sounds. Yes, I like the Prophet because it sounds great and also allows me to bridge the gap between the more “functional” aspects of the music I’m playing - notes/rhythms etc - and the more abstract realms of sound and color. I have a bunch of other instruments including some Eurorack format modular synths, as well as several harder-to-describe devices, all of which I’m doing my best to learn. Plus there’s the whole realm of doing it all on the computer. It all is great and it’s so much to get a grip on, especially while maintaining some sort of control of the piano and also composing! But it’s a golden era for electronic sound, in my opinion.

What are your top 3 jazz albums?
Another vast question. As far as albums that have unending emotional resonance for me, let’s say...
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch; Miles Davis - Nefertiti; Andrew Hill - Point of Departure.
Haa, just realized that’s a Tony Williams trifecta. So be it.

Tells us two persons who have influenced you the most as a musician.
Gonna say my Mom and Dad, who gave me the freedom to even get to the point that I could decide to be a musician in any way.

Tells us two persons whom you've never collaborated with but you'd like to.
I’m loathe to come across as angling or schmoozing but ok: Bill Frisell is someone whose music I’ve loved since I was 13. Jack DeJohnette.
Aside from that, there are many many musicians with whom I’ve played a little and would love to play with more: Ambrose Akinmusire, Marcus Gilmore, Justin Brown, Mark Shim. Immanuel Wilkins and Joel Ross are two young dudes who are pretty dang formidable too.
There are way way way more musicians out there than there is time in which to play with them. And that doesn’t count developing existing things, which is a pretty big chunk of what I do. And this is just the jazz world. I’d love to make disgusting electronic sounds with a metal band, or do weird studio doodles on art-pop songs, or make weird beats with folks, etc.

Apart from jazz, what other styles do you listen to? Name a couple of favorites for each style.
Vast potential answer. I’m attracted to all sort of types of music and sound. Again, too much out there. I return to metal, electronic music, songwriters, all sorts of in-the-cracks artists, “modern classical”, etc etc.
Bob Drake - The Skull Mailbox; Residents - The Commercial Album; Morton Feldman - For Philip Guston; Autechre - Exai; Kate Bush - The Dreaming; Frank Black - Teenager of the Year; Portal - any album; Gnaw Their Tongues - anything; Madlib - all the Beat Konduckta and Medicine Show stuff; Bernard Parmegiani - everything; Guided By Voices - anything; Chris Weisman - Everybody’s Old and Valence With Tassels; Ryan Power - Identity Picks and They Sell Doomsday.

In your perspective, what needs to change in the current jazz scene?
I’m not sure I’d change anything. If someone can play authoritatively, then there is a space for them. And really the role of taste is still way under-considered overall. Everyone has a cutoff beyond which they think something isn’t worthy, and that line is different for literally everyone.
I’m a firm believer into saying it with the music, with your playing, your composing, etc. This becomes more of a challenge as one learns to love lots of music. But the musical choices one makes convey certain things, I tend to think.
I’ve decided it’s important for me to strike a balance between creative fluidity and strength of purpose. That said, I create my music based solely on what I want to hear, and worrying about selling it later. Most of what I love does this in some way. Anything I don’t like I do my best to ignore - life is too short.

If you weren't a musician, what would you have been?
The subject I had the most interest in was outer space, cosmology, the universe etc., but that’s a big if as there was no chance I was seriously doing anything else. If I was forced to give up music now, I’d almost for sure write, as in words, probably creatively somehow. Just become a reader of books and writers of words. This is aside from any real world considerations, basically, since I’m probably too old to really switch anyway.

Projects for the near future?
The next album to be recorded will be Snark Horse, which is a project Kate Gentile and I co-lead in which we play one bar compositions with varied subgroups of a set pool of 8 musicians joining us. Later on, there will be follow up recordings for my duo with Ches Smith, my quartet with Speed/Tordini/Weiss, and Phalanx Ambassadors. I plan to do another solo piano album sometime. I’m gradually working on a body of chamber music for strings and piano as well. And other ideas brewing as well...

Miguel Zenon Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Miguel Zenon, 2018, ©Clara Pereira

Name: Miguel Zenón
Instrument: alto saxophone
Style: Post-bop, Latin jazz
Album Highlights: Looking Forward (Fresh Sound, 2002), Tipico (Miel Music, 2017), Yo Soy La Tradición (Miel Music, 2018)

Filipe Freitas had a phone conversation with Puerto Rican saxophonist Miguel Zenón, a multiple Grammy award-nominee and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and McArthur Fellowship. In October, he is heading to Angra do Heroísmo in the Azores, Portugal, to play at the 21st AngraJazz Fest.

You are the headliner of this year’s AngraJazz, a festival that occurs from October 3 to 5. I know you’ve been in Portugal on many occasions and even recorded there not long ago with saxophonist Cesar Cardoso, but have you been to the Azores before?
No, I’ve never been there but have many friends who have been. As a matter of fact, we’ve been trying to go to Angra for a few years now, but it never worked out with my schedule; it always coincided with a time when I was busy doing something else, and I’m really happy that it will finally happen.

What does the audience at AngraJazz can expect from you and your quartet?
Hopefully, we'll do music they will enjoy (laughs). A lot of music that we do is strongly connected to my roots and, of course, we incorporate a lot of jazz elements and other things. We’re going to play music from a whole new project focused on music that is coming more from the salsa genre. This new record is coming out in the fall. It’s a kind of look at this very popular dance music from the ’70s from a jazz perspective.

Can we say the performance will work as a sort of a test for this new batch of music?
Yes, in a way. The record comes out in early September and we’re gonna be playing this music in the States before we go to Europe. So, by the time we get there, it’s going to be feeling pretty good.

You’ve been doing a lot for Puerto Rico in many different ways. How often do you play there? Is your program Caravana Cultural still active?
I’m actually in Puerto Rico right now. Caravana Cultural is still active, but we had to put it on hold for a little bit because of the hurricane Maria. After that incident, a lot of things had to stop because the towns are sort of rebuilding, but we hope to do another concert this year. I’ve been spending a lot of time in Puerto Rico this past year as an artist in residence at San Juan Music Conservatory. But the reason I’m here now it’s because I’m playing a concert regarding Yo Soy La Tradición, a project of mine that I recorded recently with a string quartet.

If you had the power, what would you change in the current jazz scene?
I see the current jazz scene as something really great, but one of its problems is connected to jazz education in general. I teach in a couple of schools, so I’m pretty involved in it. Something that’s happening and becoming problematic is that a lot of students are coming out of these schools and there aren’t so many opportunities for them to perform. This situation is making competition among these young musicians kind of impossible because they graduate school and then don’t know what to do. I mean, I don’t really know the solution for this, but if I could change something, I would set up some kind of platform to make the transition easier for these young musicians. Maybe 30 or 40 years ago, if you’re at school or you move to New York or elsewhere, there were working bands with gigs to help you pay your rent, but that’s hard now.

Who influenced you the most as a musician?
As a jazz musician, Charlie Parker was my biggest influence. He sort of opened my eyes to jazz and until today I still see him as the epitome of excellence.

On your website, you point out movies and books as other personal interests. From what you’ve been watching and reading recently, what do you recommend?
I saw a great movie called Generation Wealth. I don’t really watch a lot of documentaries but this one was really impressive, focusing on the way people look at prosperity in the modern world. In terms of books, one of my favorite writers is this guy from Chile, Roberto Bolaño, who became legendary after he passed away. I read a lot of his things, but the most recent was a book of his complete short stories.

If not a musician, what would you have been?
When I was younger, attending school in Puerto Rico, I was really interested in natural sciences. Math and physics really attracted me. As a matter of fact, when I decided to pursue a career of music I was already enrolled in the engineering school in Puerto Rico. That was definitely the road I was following at that point.

Tells us a bit more about this new album you’re releasing soon and any other project you are involved in at the moment.
This new album that we’ve just finished is called Sonero and, as I said, it’s a tribute to salsa music, specifically to this Puerto Rican musician called Ismael Rivera. A lot of his music will be featured on the record. But I’m also working on a couple of commissions for next year and a couple of other things for smaller groups. On top of that, I’m just trying to get out there! (laughs)

Stephanie Richards Interview, NYC

Stephanie Richards, 2018, ©Clara Pereira

Name: Stephanie Richards
Instrument: trumpet, flugelhorn
Style: modern creative, avant-garde jazz
Album Highlights: Fullmoon (Relative Pitch, 2018), Take The Neon Lights (Fresh Sound, 2019)

Tell us a bit more about your forthcoming album, Take the Neon Lights.
This next record is my second record. Unlike the first [Fullmoon], with solo trumpet and a very experimental concept, this one goes more into my roots as a jazz musician. Compositionally, the music is still really complex and rhythmic. It’s a quartet and a lot of the compositions are in song form, so we have cycles over which we improvise. There’s also some open improvisation in there, I mean, it’s still experimental but definitely much more of a jazz record. The music itself is about New York City. I’ve been living here for 10 years now, so I wrote it for certain places in Brooklyn and New York. There is also poetry that was written for NYC and I kind of linked to it by giving each tune the title of a poem.

Why the option for a jazz quartet?
Well, it’s interesting that the instrumentation determines a little bit if it’s jazz or not. It’s a lot easier to call it jazz when you have a quartet and it’s really hard to call it jazz if I’m playing my trumpet against a timpani or a snare drum. But, at the same time, I see it as the same. When improvising, I’m responding to the same information.

What music genres outside of jazz influence you?
I listen to a lot of music. James Brown is a huge influence. I like funk music a lot and for a period of time that was all I did. I’m also really excited about what’s going on in the indie rock scene. I think there’s so much crossover between indie rock musicians and jazz improvisers, especially in a place like New York.

I know you’ve collaborated with the Pixies, which is a band I grew up listening to. How did that happen?
I played in a group called Asphalt Orchestra, formed ten years ago in New York, and the idea behind it was: we’re going to play new music but we’re going to be choreographed. We had this idea for our second album while on tour, and at one point we all agreed we wanted to listen to Pixies record Surfer Rosa. Everyone in the band was digging the record so much and we just had this conversation: ‘man, what if we did a cover record? This is kind of a new music ensemble.’ That was awesome, it was so much fun. We toured that project and opened for Pixies several times.

What made you choose the trumpet?
I wish I had a romantic answer for you (laughs). I was lucky to go to a school that had a band program and I liked the trumpet because, at that time, I had the idea to move between the orchestra and the jazz band. That flexibility was a nice reason when I look at the music I play now. I’m always moving between different genres and different communities.

You played at Winter JazzFest. How was the experience?
At Winter JazzFest you’re playing for people who really love jazz. It’s not like in those clubs where half of the people are there for dinner. There are so many musicians, there’s such a good hang, and the audience is a mix of musicians, writers, lovers of music and people coming from all over the world. I felt especially honored because it was the last set of the last day of the festival and it meant a lot every single person that waited to see us.

Can you tell me two persons who have influenced you the most as a musician?
The first one and most clear is Butch Morris. He influenced me so much. I had the fortune of meeting Butch through a mutual friend. I was playing at my friend’s wedding and Butch pulled me aside, saying: ‘I got the good whiskey.’ (laughs). And then he looked at me and said: ‘you’re not really a trumpet player’. It took me a moment to realize he meant that as the biggest compliment he could give because what I take from his words is that I wasn't playing the instrument in a traditional way. After that moment, he kind of took me under his wing and he showed me around New York. He introduced me to Henry Threadgill and kind of hooked us up together. I also learned so much from working with Henry, listening to him and watching him.

Is there someone who you would like to collaborate with?
There’s so many and I can go so many different directions, but if I could… in my dreams, it would be Wayne Shorter.

If not a musician, what would you be?
Maybe a dancer or an athlete. Trumpet is a very athletic instrument and I actually love that aspect. I think my body has more music inside of it than my brain does, so when I’m playing I usually let my body take over.

What was the first jazz album you fell in love with?
My first jazz record was Kind of Blue but I didn’t fall in love with it. It took me a long time. I didn’t understand the context or what that music meant. I got the record, I listened to it because teachers were telling me to check it out, I transcribed solos, and then a few years later I picked it up again and could hear the colors inside of it. I could hear the sophistication and the class and the taste that Bill Evans had, and what Miles Davis was doing, which was totally pioneering. My second record was just a collection of all the Verve recordings. A four CD-set of kind of old jazz that took me through decades of jazz, starting in the 20s. I remember being super into J.J. Johnson and Duke Ellington.

Are you working on any other project?
After this record [Take the Neon Lights], I’ve got another record where I worked with a scent artist, someone who creates smells. I wrote music with smells. I’m interested in the idea of the ability to sense music not just with our ears but also with our bodies. The new record is done - it’s with Jason Moran (piano), Stomu Takeishi (bass) and Kelly Wollesen (drums). It’s a great band and it was a wacko project! The other part of it is that, as musicians, we’re trying to figure out how to survive in a digital age. And one part of this project is that you can’t buy smells on iTunes. I was really trying to think about how could we make the physical manifestation of our music meaningful. If the record comes with stickers that you have to smell, then it adds another sort of level to the listening experience. It will probably come out next year and we’ll see how it goes.

Andy Sheppard Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Andy Sheppard, photo by ©Sara da Costa

Name: Andy Sheppard
Instrument: tenor and soprano saxophones
Style: contemporary jazz
Album Highlights: Soft On The Inside (Antilles, 1991), Surrounded By Sea (ECM, 2015), Romaria (ECM, 2018)

// While touring in Europe, British saxophonist Andy Sheppard took some time to do this brief, funny interview with us.//

In October you're going to perform at AngraJazz Festival in the Azores, Portugal. Will you be playing music from Romaria, exclusively?
We will be playing mainly music from Romaria but also some tunes from the preceding album, Surrounded by Sea, and some new music...

Is it your first time on the island?
It's my second visit. I played a few years ago with Carla Bley and Steve Swallow.

Renato Teixeira's "Romaria" was part of my childhood. How did you come across the song?
My wife played me a version by Elis Regina; she has beautiful ears (well they both do...) She knew the melody would inspire me. I introduced it to the band as an encore on a gig and it stuck in our repertoire...

Besides jazz, what other styles do you listen to? Who are your favorites for each style?
I try and keep my ears open to all musics. Some days I don't get beyond the birds and cicadas in my garden - they can sound so good... Chet Baker’s singing always hits as does Coltrane’s sound, and I love just about all the music pouring out of Norway right now.

Who influenced you the most in jazz?
I guess the people who've influenced me the most are all the amazing musicians I've been lucky to work with - I'm 61, so it's a very long list - but of course Gil Evans, George Russell, Carla Bley and Rita Marcotulli stick out.

Can you name two persons whom you've never collaborated with but you'd like to?
I'd love to do something with Jan Bang and also in a different dimension John Scofield…

When did you realize you wanted to be a professional musician?
I decided to become a professional musician the moment I heard John Coltrane. It was an instant decision - I was 18 years old ...

Besides touring in Europe, are you currently working on some other project?
Fixing my garden ... it seems an unending task. I'm also writing new music for the quartet and thinking of starting a new project in New York ... Or at least something with that kind of edge to it.

Darcy James Argue Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Darcy James Argue ©Lindsay Beyerstein

Name: Darcy James Argue
Instrument: composer/conductor/arranger
Style: contemporary jazz
Album Highlights: Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam, 2009), Brooklyn Babylon (New Amsterdam, 2013), Real Enemies (New Amsterdam, 2016)

How excited are you with the Azores and AngraJazz Festival?
I’m very excited about this performance in the Azores. This is a part of the world that I’ve never seen. Some of the musicians of Secret Society have never even heard about it — it’s such a remote location! I’ll be sticking around one day after the performance to explore Terceira Island — I’m very excited.

I know you are sort of connected to Portugal since you’ve been working with Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos.
Yes, I worked with Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos a few years ago and we performed also last year at the Guimarães Jazz Festival. Those were tremendous experiences. I love Portugal and I love the audiences there. Taking Secret Society to AngraJazz, it will mark the third time I’m involved in a project in Portugal.

What should the audience expect from Secret Society at AngraJazz? Are you guys drawing exclusively from the latest album Real Enemies?
No. When we played in Guimarães, we actually performed all 13 chapters of Real Enemies, from beginning to end, a concert version of that project. I realized that anyone who went to see us last year at Guimarães might go see us again at AngraJazz, so I thought it would be better to present a different program. I understand this is a different kind of festival, so we’re playing a different kind of program. It will be music drawn from all three of our previous recordings: Real Enemies, Brooklyn Babylon and Infernal Machines, and some unrecorded work, including a piece that was recently commissioned by the New England Conservatory for its 150th anniversary. They asked me to write a piece honoring my compositional mentor, Bob Brookmeyer. The piece, called “Wingèd Beasts”, was premiered with the New England Conservatory Jazz Orchestra, and Secret Society has also performed it a couple of times since then. AngraJazz will be next.

On your album Real Enemies you addressed a set of conspiracy theories, alerting the world for deceit, mistrust, and fear. Two years have passed since the album's release and some things have changed. How do you see the world today?
You know, it’s interesting. The project premiered as a multimedia work in November of 2015 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. So at that time that we wrote it, my co-creators and I were skeptical: Is this going to be relevant? Is anyone going to be interested in conspiracy theories and political paranoia used as a weapon? Is anyone going to be interested in how people in power exploit conspiratorial thinking to divide the people? Unfortunately, it has turned out that those questions have become very, very salient right now. I guess it was predictive in certain ways about the direction our politics would take. So, it obviously feels very different to perform that music today. I hope that we can push back these disturbing global trends, the rise of far-right, anti-immigration, paranoid politics all over the world.

What about the music business? Are you happy with it?
I don’t think anyone is! It’s very hard, you know. There have been an enormous number of changes all over. I don’t know if you heard that the Danish broadcasting radio just canceled their jazz station, which also affects the Danish Radio Big Band. It has been such a cultural institution, both the band and the radio station, and to have the current right-wing government cut jazz broadcasts entirely is just a real blow to that nation. And we’re seeing similar dynamics all over. In the US, jazz radio and other cultural institutions are really struggling. Some people feel it doesn’t matter, because instead of radio, nowadays people listen to Spotify and other streaming options. I’m a sort of an old-school person, and I think that radio, word of mouth, and live concerts are still the best ways to build your audience. Especially in a live performance, this can be really transformative. Secret Society just made our debut at the Chicago Jazz Festival a couple of weeks ago, and we had such an incredibly responsive audience! So many people came to me after the gig saying: “I had no idea who you were but that was amazing! It was such a tremendous concert!” Being able to connect with people, live, who had never heard the band before is an amazing opportunity for us. We hope it continues happening!

What are the main challenges of conducting an 18-piece big band?
Beyond the economic challenges of getting that many people on the road, the musical challenges are… well, you know, you have 18 very different personalities, and as a composer and as a conductor, you’ve got to find ways to include everyone’s individual skills, but in a way that creates a collective purpose, in a way where everyone is able to contribute toward the whole. But when things go wrong? (laughs) Well, as a conductor it is your job to try to keep things flowing in the right direction as best as you can. That’s the excitement of conducting the band.

What do you first seek in a musician before you hire them?
If one of my regular co-conspirators in Secret Society is unavailable for a rehearsal or performance, it gives me the opportunity to ask someone from the New York jazz community to join us for a rehearsal and see how they do. It’s not an easy thing because the music is very challenging. Often, the musicians are working extremely hard, but that work is invisible! If all goes well, it just sounds very natural, and even the most difficult passages sound easy and effortless. So, it requires a very selfless type of musician to be involved in something like that. It’s not for everyone! There are a lot of great musicians who are more interested in projects that give them a lot more liberty and room for improvisation, where the structure of the piece might be variable and moving in different directions. I love that music, it’s great, but that’s not what I really do with Secret Society, which is much more compositional. So I look for musicians well adapted to reading and interpreting notated music and who are willing to come on board to help deliver the kind of compositional narrative that I’m trying to construct. Not every musician wants that! But I’ve been very fortunate in having great musicians respond to that, who are very engaged and excited to be part of it. María Grand is a wonderful young tenor saxophone player who has just released a brilliant debut album, Magdalena. She will be joining us for the first time at AngraJazz - we have inducted her as a co-conspirator!

Which are your 3 favorite big band records?
You realize that this is an impossible question? (laughs) But... I’m going to say Duke Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder. I’m going to cheat a bit and use a box-set of five CDs, The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. The last one… it’s really hard... but I would say Kenny Wheeler’s Music For Large & Small Ensembles.

Who influenced you the most in your career?
Certainly, Bob Brookmeyer was the biggest influence on me. I wouldn’t be the composer I am today if it weren’t for Bob.

Any new project at the moment?
Before leaving for AngraJazz, literally a week before, I’ll be premiering this big new collaboration with the amazing singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. She has written an original song cycle called Ogresse, which is really a tremendous piece of music. I’ve orchestrated this song cycle for a chamber ensemble with two winds, two brass, mallet percussion, rhythm section, and string quartet. It’s been a real pleasure to work with Cécile on this and to work with a different group of musicians, most of whom I haven’t worked with before. It’s a whole new, almost symphonic palate, and a whole new set of personalities. With an arranging project like this, I’m really trying to serve Cécile’s songs and guarantee her intentions. I tried to be as true as possible to her vision by bringing out what each individual song in the cycle wants to be. It’s a rewarding experience for me as an arranger because it forces me to think about the music from the perspective of another composer. Cécile is such an incredible musician and thinker who has a complete, mature vision for this project. I think it will have a very big impact!

Could you be anything else rather than a musician?
I wish I could, because then life would be a lot easier (laughs). But I don’t think so.

Jane Ira Bloom Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Jane Ira Bloom, 2017 ©Clara Pereira

Name: Jane Ira Bloom
Instrument: soprano saxophone
Style: avant-garde jazz, post-bop
Album Highlights: Like Silver, Like Song (Artistshare, 2005), Early Americans (Outline, 2016), Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson (Outline, 2017)

Your latest album, Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson, was inspired by the 19th-Century American poet Emily Dickinson. Which aspects of her work most attract you?
The abstract quality of her word choice, the alternation of rhythmic and legato phrasing,
the way she creates imaginative metaphors by linking up words from different universes….it all feels very musical to me and similar to improvisers’ thought processes.

On April 13th, you will perform at the Baruch Performance Arts Center in NY with the same members that recorded the album. What are the qualities you most admire in your bandmates and what can people expect from this performance?
They are all mature composer/ performers with years of experience as bandleaders. That brings an enormous amount of maturity to the choices that they make when they’re improvising. And the accumulated time that we have spent playing together brings a depth to what we can achieve as a group. It’s really special to play and develop a repertoire of music with improvisers who know each other that well. Each performance is like an opportunity to surprise our ears. 

Being a multi-awarded saxophonist and prominent female figure in the current jazz scene, what do you have to say about sexism in jazz?
Being a musician is a life-long journey and it’s always good to keep your eye on the larger arc of things. Thinking like that can help you both hold to your vision and keep perspective on the times that challenge you.

Your style attains a perfect integration of avant-jazz and traditional elements. Who inspires you in both currents?
I gravitate towards exploration, curiosity, and imagination wherever I see it…whether it’s in the poetry of Emily Dickinson, the expressionist paintings of Jackson Pollock, the figure skating of Torvill & Dean, or the solo improvisations of Sonny Rollins.

When did you realize you wanted to become a professional musician?
I always knew I was a musician but it wasn’t until the end of my senior year in college that I knew that I couldn’t do anything but music as a profession. It chose me.

What was the first jazz album you fell in love with? 
Hard to remember….

Which other styles do you listen to?
I like listening to all kinds of music where I can sense an authentic voice. I often hear new things that my students bring into class. I’ve been full-time faculty at the New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music in NYC for twenty years and hearing music that interests them helps keep my ears fresh.

What would you change in the current music business? 
I think more women in positions of power in the recording and jazz festival/ arts presentation sector could make a big difference toward gender equity in the jazz world.

If not a musician, what would you have been?
Have always been fascinated with theatrical lighting design. 

Projects for the future?
I look forward to some upcoming performances with my quartet at the Iowa City Jazz Festival in June and The Monterey Jazz Festival in September. WBGO FM is also going to record a live performance of Wild Lines for later broadcast. I’ll be playing with composer Sarah Weaver’s Ensemble at the DiMenna Center (NYC) on June 8th performing in real time with bassist Mark Dresser’s group in San Diego and a Korean ensemble in Seoul.
Have been thinking about musical ideas that would work well recorded in surround sound. Since receiving the 2018 Grammy for Early Americans for Best Surround Sound Album I’ve been interested in composing music that has possibilities in that direction. Not really sure what the next project is going to be yet but that’s the whole fun of it.

Rudresh Mahanthappa Interview, NYC

By Filipe Freitas

Rudresh Mahanthappa, 2015 ©Clara Pereira

Name: Rudresh Mahanthappa
Instrument: alto saxophone
Style: contemporary jazz
Album Highlights: Black Water (Red Giant Records, 2002), Bird Calls (ACT, 2015), Agrima (self produced, 2017)

Your playing is so powerful. Where does that energy come from? What inspires you?
I don’t know. Many players have this energy, they just manifest it differently. I think Charlie Parker and Coltrane had that same energy. Also Michael Brecker, Steve Grossman, Bunky Green, these other people I really like, they also have that sort of energy you say. I think it’s where it comes from.

What do you picture in your mind while improvising?
I don’t think I picture anything, I’m just trying to react to what’s happening around me. Trying to be in the moment and listen the best I can, not only to the people around me but also to myself, and then try to build something as an improviser that has compositional weight, fortitude, strength, and cohesion.

Agrima, Indo-Pak Colatition's second album, was self produced and is only available as a digital download and vinyl. Why did you produce it yourself and why the option of not including CD?
Not many people are listening to CDs, I mean, there’s an older crowd that enjoys having a CD but… you know, I’ve been teaching at Princeton, I direct the jazz program there, and I don’t think any of my students has a CD player. The only time I seemed to get a CD is when somebody sends me one. Even the latest models of cars don’t have CD players, so, you know, I don’t want to say it’s a dated model but it didn’t really seem worthwhile. 
As far as self producing goes, the vinyl is just a beautiful package, it’s a double LP with a gatefold, and a lot of thought went into it. It’s a nice thing that you would want to have in your home. I would rather have those in my garage than two thousand CDs. And we’re selling download cards also. I have these two skinny boxes, each with about sixteen inches long, that hold two thousand download cards. Besides that, it was a kind of an experiment too. What happens if you don’t release a CD? Are people still going to buy it?

Your usage of electronic effects to manipulate the sound of your saxophone is a novelty here. How do you feel about it? 
It’s funny because a lot of people think this was my first time with electronics, but I did an album called Samdhi, back in 2011, that was actually really heavy with the electronics and audio processing. So, this is definitely not my first time with electronics, but it’s something I really want to get back to. In this particular setting and instrumentation with Indo-Pak Coalition, it really helps feel the sound, and because we go for a more rock aesthetic with this project, I think it has come to that as well, sonically.

What are the qualities you most admire in your trio mates, Rez Abbasi and Dan Weiss?
I don’t even know where to start… They are both incredibly versatile and very well listened. They have unique personalities, both virtuosic musicians with great flexibility. We have a certain share of knowledge but we approach that knowledge differently. We can talk about this music as jazz musicians or we can talk about it as people who know a good bit of classical music at the same time. We can see the music from very different perspectives at once, which it’s very unique and I’m very grateful for that.

What would you change in the current jazz scene if you had the power to do it?
What I would change, and it would solve a lot of problems, is… I would hope that musicians value what they do a lot more and respect themselves a lot more. I think there’s a certain amount of desperation and we end up selling ourselves very cheaply. We don’t approach what we do as a business or as a product, so we’re willing to bend over backwards for a little compensation, and that’s not only bad for us, as individuals, but it’s bad for the whole scene. If everybody says: I’m not going to do a gig for less than $500, the minute that someone chooses to do a gig for less than $500 they’re ruining the business for everybody.
There’s a lack of unity and a lack of self-respect.

Your blend of contemporary jazz and Indian music is very unique. Who are your main influences in both currents?
My influences kind of span the world. There’s an Indian singer called Parveen Sultana who has been very influential for me; of course, Kadri Gopalnath, the saxophonist, has been an important figure for me, and there’s a great percussionist called Trichy Sankaran. There’s a bunch of folks that are incredibly inspiring, but those three in particular have been really moving. Besides, there’s other non-Western music. There’s West African music I really like, Ugandan, some Albanian folk music, there’s some Korean drumming that I think it’s very fascinating.
And then jazz-wise, it’s really the masters! You know… Charlie Parker, Coltrane…  Contemporarily, Dan (Weiss) and Rez (Abbasi) are really inspiring to me, Steve Coleman was a very early influence, and Steve Lehman, who’s one of my best friends.

What was the first jazz record you fell in love with?
Grover Washington Jr.’s Winelight.

Can you name two persons whom you've never collaborated with but you'd like to?
Let me think… I feel like it changes over the years, but I would love to play with Herbie Hancock for sure. Maybe spend a week with him. And I’ve always hoped that I would play with John McLaughlin, and it never happened. I would love to do that.

If not a musician, what would you have been?
A mathematician, or probably a number theorist or a topologist.

What can we expect in 2018? Any new project in mind?
I’m hoping that Indo-Pak Coalition does a bunch of touring since we haven’t done anything since the album came out. So, that’s kind of my main focus. And then there’s talk of doing a live trio record with bass and drums, but I’m still trying to figure out who that’s gonna to be. That will probably be my next project. I never actually did a live album, so that’s something I’m really looking forward to.