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SEPTEMBER 2013VOLUME 80/NUMBER 9

President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer

Managing Editor Bobby Reed

News Editor Hilary Brown

Reviews Editor Aaron Cohen

Contributing Editor Ed Enright

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Production Associate Andy Williams

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CONTRIBUTORS

Senior Contributors:Michael Bourne, John McDonough

Atlanta: Jon Ross; Austin: Michael Point, Kevin Whitehead; Boston: FreBouchard, Frank-John Hadley; Chicago:John Corbett, Alain Drouot, MichaJackson, Peter Margasak, Bill Meyer, Mitch Myers, Paul Natkin, Howard ReichDenver: Norman Provizer; Indiana: Mark Sheldon; Iowa: Will Smith; LoAngeles:Earl Gibson, Todd Jenkins, Kirk Silsbee, Chris Walker, Joe WoodardMichigan: John Ephland; Minneapolis: Robin James; Nashville: BoDoerschuk; New Orleans:Erika Goldring, David Kunian, Jennifer Odell; New

York:Alan Bergman, Herb Boyd, Bill Douthart, Ira Gitler, Eugene GologurskyNorm Harris, D.D. Jackson, Jimmy Katz, Jim Macnie, Ken Micallef, Dan OuellettTed Panken, Richard Seidel, Tom Staudter, Jack Vartoogian, Michael WeintroNorth Carolina:Robin Tolleson; Philadelphia: David Adler, Shaun Brady, ErFine; San Francisco:Mars Breslow, Forrest Bryant, Clayton Call, Yoshi KatoSeattle:Paul de Barros; Tampa Bay:Philip Booth; Washington, D.C.:WillarJenkins, John Murph, Michael Wilderman; Belgium:Jos Knaepen; CanadaGreg Buium, James Hale, Diane Moon; Denmark:Jan Persson; France:JeaSzlamowicz;Germany:Detlev Schilke, Hyou Vielz; Great Britain:Brian PriestleJapan:Kiyoshi Koyama; Portugal: Antonio Rubio; Romania: Virgil MihaiRussia:Cyril Moshkow; South Africa:Don Albert.

Jack Maher, President 1970-2003John Maher, President 1950-1969

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION:Send orders and address changes to: DOWNBEATP.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 551110688. Inquiries: U.S.A. and Canada (877) 904-5299Foreign (651) 251-9682.CHANGE OF ADDRESS:Please allow six weeks for your changto become effective. When notifying us of your new address, include current DOWNBEAT label showing old address.

DOWNBEAT (issn 0012-5768) Volume 80, Number 9is published monthly by MahPublications, 102 N. Haven, Elmhurst, IL 60126-2970. Copyright 2013 Maher Publications. All rights reserved. Trademark registered U.S. Patent Office. Great Britain regitered trademark No. 719.407. Periodicals postage paid at Elmhurst, IL and at additionmailing offices. Subscription rates: $34.95 for one year, $59.95 for two years. Foreigsubscriptions rates: $56.95 for one year, $103.95 for two years.

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8 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2013

First Take BY BOBBY REED

Meeting of the

Musical MindsEVERYONE KNOWS THAT MUSICIANS LOVE TO PERFORM. BUT IF THERESone thing they love almost as much as playing music, its hanging out with other musicians and talking aboutmusic.

Over the decades, DownBeat has frequently recruited musicians to inter

view fellow musicians for the pages of this magazine. Marian McPartland craft

ed a classic when she profiled Paul Desmond in our Sept. 15, 1960, issue. Me

Torm interviewed Buddy Rich (Feb. 9, 1978), and Jon Faddis sat down with Mi

Jackson (November 1999).

In our July 2013 issue, the

gifted guitarist-composer-band-

leader Joel Harrison interviewed

Gunther Schuller about his

groundbreaking contributions to

the development of Third Stream

music. DownBeat readers alwaysrespond positively to these artis-

tic meetings of the minds.

In this issue, were proud to

present a conversation between

two extraordinary pianists. For our

cover story, Ethan Iversonthe pi-

anist in the trio The Bad Plussat

down with DownBeat Hall of Fam-

er Keith Jarrett to discuss his new

album of Bach sonatas, as well as

his ongoing, 30-year stint in his

Standards Trio with bassist Gary

Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Fans of Iversons blog Do The Math

are well aware that hes a thoughtful, perceptive musician, and this interview

reflects that. From both an aesthetic and a technical perspective, the legendarJarrett discusses his music in a way that only a musician could have inspired

(Turn to page 24 for the terrific results.)

DownBeat also has a long tradition of presenting moderated conversa

tions, and weve got a superb example of that in this issue. We flew esteemed

journalist Josef Woodard to New Mexico so he could interview longtime collab

orators Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway about their new duo album, Duke A

The Roadhouse: Live In SantaFe (IPO). We chose to interview the clarinetist/ten

or saxophonist and the pianist together because they have now released three

concert albums as a duo. The rapport that these two virtuosos enjoy onstag

clearly translates to their conversations away from the bandstand.

Sometimes these moderated conversations morph into lively dialogs be

tween the musiciansand the journalist essentially becomes a fly on the wall.

Contributing Editor Ed Enright experienced that firsthand when he sat down

with alto saxophonists Hank Crawford and David Sanborn for our October 1994

cover story. Using his own well-known skills as an interviewer, Sanborn asked

Crawford a variety of questions, clearly relishing the opportunity to spend time

with one of his heroes.

The cover story of the January 2003 issue of DownBeat presented one o

the most memorable highlights in our long history of such summits: Saxophon

ist Greg Osby moderated an interview with pianists Jason Moran and Andrew

Hill. In his On The Beat essay in that issue, DownBeat Editor Jason Koransky

wrote, Prominent musicians interviewing other prominent musicians ... elicits

level of musical comprehensionan affinity for a shared causethat makes fo

fascinating reading. Amen.

Visit our website (downbeat.com) to read other Classic Interviews, and

while youre there, be sure to vote in our 78th Annual DownBeat Readers Pol

This is your opportunity to let us know who your favorite artists are. The result

will be published in our December issue. We want to hear from you! D

Our January 2003 cove

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SEPTEMBER 2013 DOWNBEAT 1

News Views From Around The Music World

The

Delmark Keeps Documenting at 60S

cads of newspaper and magazine clippingssomehow make room for piles of books,LPs, 78s and tapes in Bob Koesters office

at Delmark Records in Chicago. Blues singerToronzo Cannon is recording in the nearby stu-dio with producer Steve Wagner, and the soundreverberates throughout this former film ware-house. One could compare the organized chaos tothe early jazz that Koester grew up following, orthe free-jazz he recorded in the mid-1960s. Eitherway, hes kept managing it all as his jazz and blueslabel celebrates its 60th anniversary.

Were lucky that Bobs mode of operatinghasnt changed, said cornetist Josh Berman, whoreleased ere Nowon Delmark in 2012. We go

in and he just trusts whats happening. You cantunderestimate the value of that.is endeavor goes back to Koesters time in

St. Louis during the early 1950s, when he took itupon himself to record the citys traditional play-ers. He released his first record, from e WindyCity Six, in 1953.

Im a documentarian, Koester said of hisrole, then and now. My job is to stay out of theengineers way.

When Koester moved to Chicago five yearslater, he continued documenting traditional jazzmusicians. He also sold 78s on consignment andthen bought the store Seymours Record Mart inthe South Loop in 1959.

I thought I was buying a pretty dead businessand Id have trouble getting $150 a month in rent,Koester recalled.

e store survived and Koester renamed itJazz Record Mart, which is now located at 27 E.Illinois St. Some of its staffhave become Delmarkartists (like Berman). Another former employee,Jazz Showcase owner Joe Segal, turned him on tobebop.

Koester also relied on local jazz critics andtrusted advisors when Delmark started docu-menting artists affiliated with the Association forthe Advancement of Creative Musicians, such asAnthony Braxton, who recorded For Altoin 1969.

e label has continued releasing discs from theorganizations members, such as saxophonistErnest Dawkins and flutist Nicole Mitchell.

Bob Koester was the only man crazy enoughto put out a two-LP set of solo alto saxophonemusic that was guaranteed to sell only three cop-ies, Braxton said. And I would be the guy to buythose three copies. He is a national treasure.

While in the 60s Koester felt most electricblues players sounded over-amplified, he enjoyedHowlin Wolf and Muddy Waters. Aer Watersintroduced Koester to Junior Wells, he record-ed the harmonica players Hoodoo Man Blues in1965. e LP remains Delmarks biggest hit andsells roughly 6,000 copies annually.

Hoodoo Man Blueswas the first time a work-ing blues band went in the studio to make analbum without trying to do singles, Koester said.Buddy Guys presence doesnt hurt, and its adamn good record.

Sales from the Jazz Record Marts retail space

and website (jazzmart.com) have helped keepnearly all of Delmarks 500 titles in print. Otherevenue streams include licensing tracks for film(including To Live And Die In L.A. in 1985) andcommercials. Koester adds that the recent success of the revivalist group Fat Babies ChicagoHot reaffirms that there is an audience for hiaesthetic.

In recent years, jazz fans have approachedthe music as a whole, Koester said. eyre nobebop fans, or Dixieland fans, or swing fans. elike all of it, and have discriminating taste.

Chicago has celebrated Delmarks anniversary with concerts throughout the year. On Aug. 23Cannon, Lurrie Bell and other blues artists wilperform for the occasion at EvanstonSPACE, innearby Evanston.ese events are not valedictory

If I were to quit, what would I do with althose records? Koester said. Id have to pay storage fees, and that would be stupid. And Im toostingy to let stuffgo in the trash. Aaron Cohen

S T E V E W A G N E R

Trumpeter Josh Berman (left) and Delmarks Bob Koester

Inside

14 / Vision Festival 1815 / ESP-Disk 50thAnniversary

16 / European Scene

18 / Women in JazzFestival

19 / INNTne Festival

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ESP-Disk at 50:Taking the Temperature of the 60s

I

f you live long enough, history will find you.ese days Bernard Stollman, 84, is enjoying therewards of survival and the perspective of age,

which can now bring some shape and definition towhat once seemed nave, chaotic and crazy. Fiyyears ago he founded ESP-Disk, a fiercely indepen-dent record label that came to define itself againstall that was comfortable, popular and acceptable.Its sales were tiny, but for anyone who wishes to takethe cultural temperature of the 60s and early 70savant-garde today, ESP is a vital primary source.

Stollman and ESP are properly celebrated byJason Weiss in his new bookAlways in Trouble: AnOral History of ESP-Disk, the Most Outrageous RecordLabel in America (Wesleyan University Press).

Outrageous it was. But ESP was also an exten-sion of a long tradition in jazz: e independentrecord label nurtured on conviction, not cash.

ink Commodore, Keynote, Dial, Clef, Transition,Prestige and many others. Some grew up, somedidnt. Each was a projection of its founders tastesand personality. But none was as liberated, open andseemingly shapeless as ESP. It began as a public rela-tions gambit for Esperanto, the international lan-guage that gave the label its name. With $103,000 inseed money from his mother and a nebulous busi-ness plan, Stollman and ESP were off.

It reflected my awareness that something washappening, Stollman said from his home inHudson, N.Y. In the 60s, a generation was emerg-ing into adulthood and was ready to be heard. Isaw myself as a mentor. Even though I was grop-ing, I felt I was on to something. e analogy I

would suggest was the south of France when theImpressionists were all shunned by the Paris estab-lishment. I saw what I was recording as an art move-ment, though I couldnt define it. It was not pleasureor entertainment.

Unlike other independents, where men such asMilt Gabler and Norman Granz shaped the con-tent of their catalogs, Stollman ruled with a heliumhand almost never seen in the studio. I didnt wantto be in that control booth, he said, because I didntwant to risk intimidating the artists with my pres-ence. So I didnt even attend sessions. Most of whatESP released was recorded directly by the artist.

Stollmans libertarian style lethe door open foranything. He recordede Fugs, and early anti-warrock band that gave ESP early commercial cred-ibility. But when his taste for pariahs led him torelease Charles Manson Singsin 1971, many retail-ers refused to stock it. If the timing had been betterby a couple of years, I asked him, perhaps you wouldhave considered an Adolph Eichman LP? Stollmanthought a moment. Possibly, he said. I thinkhumankind should be exposed to the fulminationsof these twisted and tormented individuals.

Twisted and tormented were words some criticswere applying to much of the new music of the 60s,including such ESP discoveries as Pharoah Sanders,Burton Greene, Albert Ayler and other artists on theprogressive edge. Along with Ornette Coleman, Sun

Ra, Paul Bley and Charles Tyler, they would defineESPs esoteric profile in the jazz world.

With no one to consult or please but himself,

Stollman embraced it all, not because he liked itItwas not my purpose to criticize or make judgments,he saidbut because it seemed to come from sometruth. When I heard Pharoah Sanders, I simplyheard a melodic and beautiful music. I heard AlbertAyler very naively, but had no reservations at all. Ididnt listen to it politically or contextuallyjust vis-cerally. I heard something Id never heard before.Stollmans contracts were terse one-offaffairs thatprovided only for joint ownership of the masters,song publication rights and no term agreements.

Much of ESP stood in the shadow of JohnColtrane and Bob ieles Impulse! Records. ButStollman didnt see him as a competitor, even

though Sanders and Ayler worked for both labels.iele was very remote from what I was doing,Stollman said. He had a strong view of what musicshould be. I didnt think in terms of what the publicwanted or even what I wanted. Ayler, like all artists,had total authority over what to do and put out onESP. But Ive been told that Bob insisted that Albertsing [on the 1968 LP Love Cry].

Despite some commercial success with eFugs, ESP pressings were being skimmed off.Records were in the stores but ESP wasnt seeing itsmoney. We were out of business by 1968, Stollmansaid, but I continued to make albums until 1974. Iwas out of my mind. European licensing generateda sporadic revenue stream thereaer, he said.

For the next 30 years ESP was in sleep mode. In2005 the label was revived with a combination ofreissues and new releases, which today numbernearly 100 (and are sold at espdisk.com). I have nofinancial security outside of Social Security and apension, Stollman said. Yet I have a string of newESP releases coming out. My distributor pays thepressing costs, but I have no income from it. Youretalking to someone whos profoundly deluded. Ithink Im nuts.

In other words, aer 50 years, the situationremains normal. John McDonough

Albert Ayler

CO

URTESYOFESP-DISK

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European Scene/ BY PETER MARGASAK

Patrik Landolt

Erroll Garner

F.MEIENBERG

Intakts Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-GardeOVER THE LAST THREE DECADES,few European record labels have

chronicled the totality and adven-

turousness of the avant-garde like

Zurich, Switzerlands Intakt. Since thecompany was launched in 1986 by

Patrik Landolt, artists from both sides

of the AtlanticBarry Guy, Oliver

Lake, Alexander von Schlippenbach,

Elliott Sharp, Aki Takase, Cecil Taylor,

Die Enttuschung and othershave

enjoyed fruitful relationships with

the imprint, which sees itself as some-

thing more than a traditional record

company, working with its artists over

the long term to produce carefully

curated editions. Intakts catalog now

boasts more than 220 releases.

Our ideal is the good editor of

books who follows writers and their

work over years and stays in an in-tense discussion about the work,

said Landolt. Im not interested in

running a label which brings out this

and that and collects, more or less,

interesting recordings. I like to follow,

accompany and supervise the artists

over years, and hopefully Im able to

support him or her and their music

and assist them in developing a mu-

sical work and biography.Landolt, a former journalist, be-

came seriously involved in jazz at

the start of the 80s, co-founding the

cultural organization Fabrikjazz with

pianist Irne Schweizer and Remo

Rau and soon thereafter starting the

Taktlos Festival, in January 1984. It

was due to high-quality festival re-

cordings made by Swiss Radio that

Landolt was eventually inspired to

start the label. Irne Schweizer was

internationally known at this time,

but her music wasnt well document-ed, he said. I decided to bring out

the first recordings as LPs, with big

success. In fact, Schweizer appears

on seven of the labels first 10 releas-

es, in duets with drummers like Han

Bennink, Pierre Favre, Andrew Cyrille

and Louis Moholo, and with a group

featuring George Lewis, Maggie

Nicols and Gnter Baby Sommer.

Landolt had modest expectations

from the beginning, but his initial ti-

tle ended up selling 2,000 copies in

just one month, and since then Intakt

has grown steadily, both in terms of

releases and artistic reach. It was

and still is a learning process, search-ing and hard work, he said. I never

made a financial plan for Intakt, but

I worked step by step, led by my love

for this music, my interest, my knowl-

edge and my serious commitment to

the musicians.

Intakt has adjusted to the chang-

ing calculus of the record industry

and made its catalog available as

digital downloads, but Landolt rejects

an all-digital future. Ten years ago

everybody told me, The CD is dead,

but its still living. I like to produce aCD with a booklet, liner notes, beau-

tiful artwork.

While recording Swiss artists is

important for Landoltand a recent

state grant to support four annual

releases by Swiss musicians will help

ensure titles from lesser-known musi-

cians like pianist Gabriela Friedli and

reedist Christoph Irnigerhe sees de-

fining the imprint by its nationality as

a negative practice. I love the state-

ment of Nobel-winning writer Derek

Walcott: My nation is imagination,

he said. Intakts future releases per-

fectly reflect this borderless thinking:

a third recording by Trio 3 (ReggieWorkman, Oliver Lake and Andrew

Cyrille) with a guest pianist (Jason

Moran), a solo recording from Som-

mer, a Takase quartet outing with

French players including Louis Sclavis

and Vincent Courtois, and the first

orchestral recording by saxophonist

Ingrid Laubrock. DB

Documentary-Maker Seeks

Wider Audience for Erroll GarnerH

oping to bring a wider audience to pianistErroll Garners works,filmmaker AtticusBrady has released the independent doc-

umentary Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear YouRead. e movie, released in April by First RunFeatures, has earned awards from the Ojai FilmFestival, the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival,the Northampton International Film Festival and anumber of other events. It is now available on DVD.

Brady said he embarked upon the documentaryto unearth more information about Garners life andworks. He also wanted to create a film where jazzfans interested in Garner could learn about the manand hear his music all in one place.

Nobody knows about Garner anymoreitsreally a shame, he said. I dont know why certainjazzfigures in history never seem to be in danger offading. But other musicians are in danger of that, andGarner is one of them.

Brady came to Garner through the pianists 1954recording of Misty. Until hearing that tune, whichhe described as the sexiest music I had ever heard inmy life, he was a 17-year-old film student who stud-ied classical piano on the side.

I heard that version of Misty, and I freakedout, he said. At that point, all my classical train-ing went right out the window, and I started playing

jazz standards and trying to play them in the boun-cy, high-spirited Garner style.

He soon ran into an utter lack of informationabout the pianist, who died of a heart attack in 1977at age 53. Looking to break into documentary film-making as a college student in 1996,he contacted Garners family, fellowmusicians and admirers, put themin front of the camera and got themto start talking.

He tracked down two of Garnerssiblings and spoke to them about homelife and growing up in Pittsburgh, andhe talked with a number of musi-cians about what exactly Garner wasdoing harmonically and melodical-ly. Finally, he secured an interview withKim Garner, Errolls daughter, who hadnever before talked on camera about the pianist.She speaks very touchingly and movingly abouthaving a father who had to disappear from her lifebecause his career was so frantic, he said.

Brady completed a number of interviews in 1996and started editing his tape. But he ran out of fund-ing, so the project was put on the shelf for 14 years.

In 2010, Brady conducted a number of inter-views with Ahmad Jamal and other musicians,

looking for more explanation abouGarners style and what made him important. time around, buoyed by technological advances ifilm editing, Brady finished the piece.

Plans are in place to get the documentary intschools, screened at jazz institutes and possibly evebroadcast on television. If he can get it to a wideaudience, Brady knows the legacy of Garner wonbe forgotten. e music is very much in danger obeing completely hidden, Brady said. People armissing out. Jon Ros

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Ccile McLorin Salvant embodied all the virtues of the

Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival. On May 18,just shy of two weeks before the release of her major-label

debut, WomanChild(Mack Avenue), the singer fronted a trio inthe Kennedy Centers Terrenceeater and investigated a set ofintriguing, sometimes long-forgotten, tunes.

Aer an 18-year run, this marks the last year that the festival will carry the Womenin Jazz taglinea change that riled this years host, Dee Dee Bridgewater, who had tobite her tongue to mask her consternation.

According to the Kennedy Center, the festival will continue as the Mary LouWilliams Festival but will start incorporating male leading jazz artists.at said, the fes-tival ended its singular focus on female jazz musicians fabulously, amounting to the mostadventurous edition in its history.e three-day event (May 1618) featured two AACM

Regina Carter(left) and bassistChris Lightcapat the Mary Lou

Williams Womenin Jazz Festival

MARGOTSCHULMAN

members, pianist/vocalist Amina Claudine Myers and flutisNicole Mitchell; legendary vocal experimentalists Sheila Jordanand Jay Clayton; and violinist and 2006 MacArthur geniusgrant recipient Regina Carter, among others.

Salvant began her set with the self-penned titled track of henew CD, an apt choice considering the festivals mission. Shestretched her expressive vocals across a mid-tempo groove powered by drummer Rodney Green, bassist Paul Sikivie and pianist Aaron Diehl. Salvant allotted plenty of room for band mateto shine, particularly Diehl, whose sleek yet orchestral pianismcomplemented her voice perfectly. e 23-year-old singer exud

ed an old soul who favors the canon of early 20th century jazzyet she brought a modern vitality to the fore without desecrating the material.

Salvant, winner of the 2010elonious Monk InternationaVocals Competition, has chops to spare and an expansive vocarange, but she never let her dexterity get the best of her. Not oncdid she scat her way through a song to reap applause. Insteadwith crisp enunciation, keen control of dynamics and sterling displays of tension-and-release, she zeroed in on the melodies, lyrics and emotional intent of the songs. She uncoiled althe sensual sadness of Gordon Jenkins Goodbye and the dramatic daffiness of Sam Coslows You Bring Out e Savage InMe, a tune recorded in 1935 by female trumpeter Valaida SnowEven more impressive was Salvants treatment of Bessie SmithHaunted House Blues, on which she startled the audience

with a holler worthy of Screamin Jay Hawkins before singingabout unfaithful lovers and possible domestic violence. Anotheobscure blues Salvant delivered was Blanche Calloways (CabCalloways sister) randy Growlin Dan.

A day before Salvants performance, the 2004 Monk VocalCompetition winner, Gretchen Parlato, performed in a trio setting with fellow singers Becca Stevens and Rebecca Martinbilled as Tillery. Maximizing spatial awareness as well as bracingthree-part harmonies, Tillery accompanied themselves with guitar, ukulele and the charango, giving the music a folky airinessTillery opened with two eyebrow-raising covers: Princes TakMe With U, from his 1984 landmark LP, Purple Rain, and thJacksons Push Me Away, a bossa nova from the groups 197LP, Destiny.e latter song was an ideal vehicle for Parlato, whodemonstrated a strong affinity for Brazilian music and whos

billowy soprano accentuated the unrequited longing associated with the late King of Pop. From there, the group traded leadvocals and explored a repertoire of epigrammatic originals, suchas the tranquil No More, the questing e Space In A Song Toink and the lamenting To Up And Go.

Mitchells delightful set, which opened the festivals finaevening, was a performance that would usually prove too jarringfor those Kennedy Center season-ticket buyers who prefer theiartists, particularly women, to be even-keeled. NeverthelessMitchell transfixed the audience, which repaid her with rousing applause. She focused on works from her new disc,Aquariu(Delmark), as she and her Ice Crystal quartet ventured into asonic realm that recalled Eric Dolphys iconic 1964 LP, Out TLunch. Mitchells full-bodied flute tone meshed superbly withvibraphonist Jason Adasiewiczs restive accompaniment andcounterpoints, notably on the capricious Aqua Blue and thstomping blues romp Sunday Aernoon. e two createdjolting timbres and intertwining melodies, propelled by FrankRosalys loping, sometimes multi-directional drumming andJoshua Abrams assured, groove-laden bass lines. Mitchells husband, Calvin Gantt, even came out to give a spoken-word performance on the anthemic Fred Anderson, Mitchells touchingtribute to the late saxophonist and AACM patron saint.

Other highlights included Carters evocative Reversereadensemble, which explored traditional Malian music, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santanas Explorations, which closed thfestival. Both women have become regulars of the festival, andone hopes that they will return when the annual event begins topresent headlining artists of both genders. John Murp

Mary Lou WilliamsFest Drops Gender-Specific Mission

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Homegrown INNtne FestivalPresents Handpicked PlayersCOULD YOU IMAGINE HAVING TWO ORthree thousand people over for a long weekend?Well, thats pretty much what Austrian trom-bone player Paul Zauner has been doing since2002 when he had to find a new place to host theINNtne Festival, an event he launched in 1986.

From May 1719, fans got to hear a wide rangeof jazz on Zauners organic pig farm in the hillyconfines of Diersbach, Austria. As usual, the trom-bonist handpicked the musicians, and this yearsstunt was Pharoah Sanders presence. Following

a soulful tone poem and an epic version of Jituwhere the legendary saxophonists quartet gotto stretch out, tuba player Howard Johnson andvocalist Dwight Trible joined in. If one might havebeen chagrined about Sanders taking a back seat,watching the saxophonist work the crowd andbeat his chest was nothing short of upliing.

Tribles own set consisted of a duo with pianistBobby West. His impressive operatic rangehecan move from a whisper to a deep bellow at thedrop of a dimealso means that his style can attimes seem over-the-top or too mannered. ButTribles command of the stage, great control andliterate lyrics clearly made up for any excesses.

Chicago guitarist Bobby Broom and his triodelivered one of the most focused and convincingsets of the festival. Broom wont barnstormitsjust not his stylebut, behind a deceptive noncha-lance, he displayed a rare melodic sense that shoneduring a refreshing version of e Surrey Withe Fringe On Top as well as his own Ds Blues.

Texas-based Brad Leali clearly struck a chord.e bright-toned alto saxophonist has a knackfor details and nuances. Lealis and pianist ClausRaibles compositions belong to a different era,but the pieces were rendered with a rare hones-ty thanks to a terrifically engaged rhythm sec-tion.e same could not be said of the passionlessItalian players who backed tenor saxophonist Scott

Hamilton and detracted from his warm, unctuoustone and careful delivery.

Since his association with Zauner, vocalist/percussionist Mansur Scott has become a festivalfixture. His quartet was joined by Johnson, whosetwo tubas and baritone sax supplied different hues.Scott appeared to be so taken by the lyrics that onewould have believed he had actually witnessedwhat he narrated.

Jerry Gonzalez Y El Comando De La Claveblended standards with Afro-Cuban music and

other Latin rhythms. In pianist Javier Mass, elec-tric bassist Alain Prez and drummer Kiki Ferrer,Gonzalez has found the perfect ensemble to givelife to his concept.

European acts were symptomatic of a newproblem for musicians of the Continent.Emancipated from their American models, theyhave created a new tradition that they cant easi-ly break away from. e all-star band of bassistGnter Lenz, pianist Patrick Babelaar, drummerWolfgang Reisinger andflugelhornist Herbert Jooswas oen steeped in German romanticism, andJoos cloudy tone ended up being the main attrac-tion. Drummer Uli Soykas sextet Lila Lotus oweda debt to the ECM aesthetic and roster.e atmo-spheric compositions, with their free and disso-nant interludes, however, sounded too formulaic.

More successful was German trumpeterMatthias Schriefl. His sextet/septet loosened upto explore the connections between alpine musicand other genres: waltz, polka, circus music andBalkan folk. One highlight occurred when Schriefland tuba player Johannes Br picked up a couple ofalpenhorns.

e festival program extended beyond jazzwith the avant-folk of local hero Peter Mayer, therock-tinged blues of Otis Taylor, Brazilian accor-dionist Renato Borghetti and Ghanaian singerRocky Dawuni. Alain Drouot

Pharoah Sanders

ERICHHABESOHN

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Players

Aer submitting final grades for his stu-dents at Michigan State University,Michael Deasenot wanting to miss a

breakfast appointment the following morningin Astoria, Queenspacked his car and drovethrough the night f rom East Lansing.

Ensconced in his favorite bagel shop a half-hour aer parking, Dease discussed his recipe forwakefulness. I listened to a bunch of my friendsalbums, he says. Sometimes I forgot I was lis-tening to jazz. eres a trend where people, to beinnovative or get some spotlight, push away theelements that make jazz so special. I dont like toeschew the traditions. I like to carry them forwardand make something of them.

e 30-year-old trombonist fulfills that man-date on Coming Home, his fih leader CD. Its

Deases debut on his imprint, D Clef, which hasisssued nine Dease-produced albums by gener-ational peers. Here, Dease prods alto saxophon-ist Steve Wilson, pianist Renee Rosnes, bassistChristian McBride and drummer Ulysses Owensto unleash their creative powers on five originalsand six elegantly reharmonized covers. Harmonicvibrations evoking Freddie Hubbard, McCoyTyner, Woody Shaw and Jimmy Heath are palpa-ble, and the leader rises to the challenge. On OscarPetersons Blues Etude and Hubbards TakeIt To e Ozone he articulates the warp-speedchanges with precision and logic, illuminatingthe lines with a luminous, smeary tone that alsoentextures his slipping-and-sliding declamationon the ferocious, original 5/4 blues Solid Gold.

Initially a saxophonist, Dease, out of Augusta,

Ga., developed his capacious ears and deep groovas a teenager, absorbing the Charlie Parker andSonny Rollins lexicons and playing horn linewith Augusta resident James Browns band members at local clubs. His conversion experienceoccurred at 17, when a friend played him JohnColtranes 1957 album Blue Trane.

I couldnt believe a trombone could sound sopretty, Dease recalls of Curtis Fullers contributions to the classic Blue Note LP. I didnt play sax

ophone again until I was about 26.Having taught himself the slide positions and

much trombone language, the teenage Deasentered Florida State University on scholarshipLooking for a more jazz-centric curriculum, htransferred aer one semester to the brand-newJazz Arts program ate Juilliard School of Music

Trombonist Wycliffe Gordona fellowAugusta nativeencountered Dease as a 13-yearold aspirant with an off-the-charts work ethic ahis local music school, and facilitated his movenorth. Gordon said that Dease has a personality that can take in a lot right away. At JuilliardDease would deploy that attribute in constructing a style that refracts voices from a broad influ

ence treeuniversal building blocks like FullerJ.J. Johnson and Frank Rosolino, modern masters like Steve Turre and Steve Davis (both direcmentors), 50s swing-to-boppers Jimmy Clevelandand Bennie Green, suave prebop growlers ViDickenson and Dicky Wells, and Ellington plunger masters Booty Wood and Tyree Glenn.

Once I identified this connection with trombone, I became as well-versed in the lineage as could, Dease explains. I learned solos by earsince I couldnt write music then, I wrote letters inthe shapes of the lines. Transcribing was the gateway to playing like my favorites.

is process accelerated aer Dease joined thIllinois Jacquet Big Band at the end of 2002. I

kicked my ass because Illinois operated at sucha high level of mastery, and I wanted to be thamuch better every time I played, Dease recallsJ.J. Johnson was his first trombone playerand I was his last. I wanted to have that level ocommunication.

In 2006, Dease overnight-FedExed his secondCD, Clarity (Blues Back), to Slide Hamptonwho phoned the next day with an offer to join Trombone All-Stars week at the Village VanguardFaced with Hamptons super-hard, extremely high parts in the lead chair, Dease recalls, was able to dig down and play things that I mighnot have played since. In the audience were JohnLeewho recruited Dease for the Dizzy GillespiAll-Star Big Band and to Lees JLP label as a leadersideman and producerand Roy Hargrove, whoinvited him to join his big band. e trombonissubsequently landed engagements with McBrideCharles Tolliver, Nicholas Payton, the HeathBrothers and Claudio Roditis quintet, in whichDease doubled on tenor saxophone.

People who know me well tell me to relax,Dease says, noting that sleep deprivation wouldnot interfere with aernoon preparations for Brazil-oriented recording session the next day anda weekend engagement with his big band. I get itbut I always kick my own ass. ats what keepme improving. Ted Panken

MICHAEL

DEASEWell-Versedin theLineage

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Players

Alook of mild shock blends into a wide grinwhen Shuggie Otis is handed a long-for-gotten article from the early days of his

career. Its a two-part Blindfold Test from the May27 and June 10, 1971, issues of DownBeat that fea-tured the singer-songwriter (then age 17) along-side his father, the late r&b legend Johnny Otis.en hes asked about what that teenager thoughtabout himself.

He was on top of the world, Otis said justbefore his April 17 concert at Chicagos LincolnHall. It was a very happy time for me back then.Its very similar to the way I feel nowas odd asthat may sound.

Otis refuses to play into the image of a neglect-ed and reclusive artist who stages a comebackaer years in seclusion. at description wouldbe too easy. In 1974, Otis released InspirationInformation, a multilayered blend of ethereal r&bwith electronic flourishes and classical influencesthat foreshadowed much of todays soul. Despitethat workand writing e Brothers Johnsonshit Strawberry Letter 23he just had a devotedniche audience. e album was reissued in 2001(on Luaka Bop) but its creator did not capitalizeon that release. Now its included in InspirationInformation/Wings Of Love(Epic/Legacy), a two-disc set that includes previously unreleased trackshe had recorded mostly during the 1970s and 80s.

is time, Otis wont let anyopportunities slip away.

e reason I want tostick with music on a steadybasis is [that] Im oldernow, so I dont think like a19-year-oldthat you haveall the time in the world,Otis explained. I dont wantto stop touring for the rest

of my life. All I want to do istour, record and write.

While destiny may havesparked Otis life in music,having a father who was abandleader and DJ definitelyhelped. A host of musicianscame through the fami-ly home, as did recordings.During his childhood, Otislooked up to T-Bone Walkerand absorbed his fathersDebussy and Beethovenalbums. Early rock n rollersDon & Dewey inspired the

11-year-old Otis to pick upa guitar. Five years later, hewas featured on such albumsase Johnny Otis Show Live

At Monterey!Back then, Otis certain-

ly could have served as a linkbetween his fathers genera-tion of blues musicians andhis own contemporarieswho were avidly followingJimi Hendrix. He just didntsee himself that way.

I came out playingblues, and they thought I

would stay in that direction and maybe become ablues-rock star, Otis recalled. But by the time itcame around to Inspiration Information, I did notwant to be a blues-rock star. So there are not a lotof guitar solos and not a lot of guitar out front. Idont think a lot of people cared for it. It was toonew.

Part of that innovation came because of Otisinterest in technology. Around 1971, he heard SlyStone using a Rhythm King drum machine andstarted experimenting. He has also always pre-ferred producing himself. Otis still records in hishome studio outside Los Angeles, but he limits histool kit nowadays.

My studio is pretty elaborate for a home stu-dio, he said. I have a 32-track board, and I loveworking with a board. I cant work with a mouseand a computer. Im old school, as they say, andI love it.

Last fall, Otis put together his touring band,which, like a vintage family r&b revue, includes ahorn section as well as his brother Nick on drumsand son Eric on guitar.

is is too important and too much fun, sowhy think about the past? Im thinking just aboutgood things now, and Im trying to be as positiveas I can. You just hang in there and go with theflow, keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer andhit it. Aaron Cohen

SHUGGIE

OTISHittin It

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Players

Enjoying the comfort of Faschings backstagedrawing room during the Stockholm JazzFestival in October, pianist Cecilia Persson

was the picture of contentment. She had been preg-nant for months, motherhood not far from her mind.(She gave birth to a girl in February of this year.)

Based in Stockholm, Persson, 31, grew up south ofthe city, in the town of Skane. Music was an integral

part of her childhood.We had a piano at home, and even though my

parents didnt play it, I got into that very, very early,she said. ere is a big tradition of choir in Sweden, soI went to music school when I was 10, where you have alot of choir. And I always enjoyed it. e more difficultit was, I liked it more. at was six years, with choir

and a lot of ear-training. It wasnt until I started highschool that I got into jazz music or improvised music.I played classical music until I was 18, but I never real-ly got into it; it felt more like doing your homework.

But aer 18, she added, I met people who lis-tened to jazz, and they inspired me. It was a musicalchallenge to hear all these tones and different spaces.I couldnt understand it. In the beginning, everything

piqued my interest. But then you go through all thetraditional jazz, and I liked that. But then, aer a fewyears, I started with the modern, also Nordic music,and a lot of Norwegian musicians.

Persson attended Stockholms famous RoyalAcademy, but before that she attended arts camp aerhigh school, for three years. I felt that was the most

important time, because you could do anything, shrecalls. In six weeks you have to have a concert, youhave to find out what to do. It encouraged independent thinking. When you got to the academy, it waa little bit more structure[d]. And thats good in otheways. But you have to fight a little bit more to get youown thing.

Besides leading a trio and quintet, Persson is inthe larger group Paavo, which has been around for 10years. She also has her own project, Open Rein(Hoob

Records), with various instruments and a combination of trio, quintet, sextet and nonet pieces, schedulefor release in November.

Paavos third album is the CD-and-DVD setird Song Ofe Peacock(Found You Recordings)e CD is the new Paavo trio, recorded at StockholmAtlantis Studio [where ABBA used to record], shsaid. We recorded the DVD live in the north oSweden in a very nice, nature kind of place, in a cabin

Pavo is Latin for peacock, Persson explainedBut we spell it with two As, like in the Finnish nameWe took the name because the sound of a peacock iquite special and nice. Weird also.

I use a lot of notation for all the instruments. AndI think about whos going to play that instrument.

know certain qualities about that person. But the mosimportant thing is to have parts where you dont knowwhat to do at allwhere its all empty. And it goes backand forth between those notations and free improvisation, because I like mixes, notes where its very particular and set, and then you have to shut your mindand see whats happening. John Ephland

CECILIA

PERSSONIndependentThinker

MIKIANAGRIUS

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Players

Jazz is an indigenous American art form, but it isalso a thoroughly global enterprise. And few of themusics practitioners embody its universality more

completely than saxophonist Uri Gurvich. A nativeof Israel, Gurvich, 31, has fashioned an ensemble thatweaves elements of the American vernacular witha range of disparate national traditions. e result: acommon musical language.

It is a graceful feat of cultural synthesis, one thathas been making waves in the hippest of Manhattanhauntsamong them e Stone in Loisaida, where,on aursday night midway through a weeklong res-

idency in May, Gurvichs band presented a charac-teristically wide-ranging set, opening with strains ofAmerican funk, closing with some Cuban-inflectedfireworks and, in between, serving up the sounds ofArabia and Argentina before landing on the leadershome turf with a Sephardic wedding song. For thatnumber, the band rendered a jaunty group vocal.

Featuring music drawn from Gurvichs new CD,BabEl(Tzadik), the set reflected a carefully calibrat-ed balancing act in which Gurvich allowed each ofhis bandmatesArgentine pianist Leo Genovese,Bulgarian bassist Peter Slavov and Cuban drummerFrancisco Mela, augmented by Moroccan oud playerand percussionist Brahim Fribganeenough room toexpress himself without dominating the proceedings.

My main goal is that none of the elements in theband should be jeopardized, Gurvich said.

at attention to balance has been central toGurvichs musical life since his days growing upnear Tel Aviv. His parents, who had emigrated fromArgentina to Israel, made sure that Argentineans likeGustavo Leguizamn and Astor Piazzolla enjoyedequal time on the household turntable with Israelislike Sasha Argov and Americans like CannonballAdderley. By the time a teenage Gurvich enteredIsraels Rimon School of Jazz and ContemporaryMusic, his ears were wide open and his sensibilityalready mature.

He was, in fact, well prepared when the time came

for his own emigration, in 2003, to Boston.ere, hav-ing won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, hecultivated relationships with like-minded expatri-ates, including Genovese, Mela and Slavov, who wasthen part of the house band at the landmark WallysCaf, where Gurvich made an immediate impressionin open jams.

His playing touched me like few others has,Slavov said. It was about good taste and balance.

Aer establishing themselves in Boston, the fourmusicians separately took the o-traveled routeto New York, coming together there in 2009 for

Gurvichsfi

rst CD, Joseph e Storyteller (Tzadik).ree years later, the musiciansby then a work-ing unitproduced BabEl. e disc reveals a deep-ening of the bands interpersonal relationships andan expansion of its global reach with the addition ofFribgane. By adding Fribgane, a largely self-taught art-ist, to the mix, Gurvich has reached outside his circleof formally educated musicians to bring some brightNorth African color to the front lineand, in the pro-cess, to shake things up a bit.

He comes from a completely different place,Gurvich said. He changes the dynamic.

Gurvich seems intent on employing Fribgane asthe music dictates and the economics allow, shiingthe bands artistic center of gravity more toward theMiddle East. e change would be an organic one;both Fribganes improvisations and Gurvichs com-positions draw liberally on raw material from thatpart of the world.

But even if the Middle East orientation becomesmore pronounced, it is unlikely to alter the bandsbasic stability. Built on relationships dating back adecadeand modeled on principles that reach backto Gurvichs days as a boy in Israelthe band shouldwithstand any attempt to draw it too far in any onedirection.

I try to make sure that each element in the mixhas a part, Gurvich explained, and doesnt overcomethe other. Phillip Lutz

URI

GURVICHCulturalSynthesis

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By Ethan Iverson / Photo by Henry Leutwyler

THE LEGEND SITS DOWN WITH THE BAD PLUSPIANIST TO DISCUSS BACH, BERNSTEIN AND30 YEARS OF SHARING THE BANDSTAND WITH

GARY PEACOCK AND JACK DEJOHNETTE

K

eith Jarrett is committed to exploring certain long-term rela-tionships. e most exposed is a simple triangle with piano andan audience, where for over 40 years Jarrett has kept discoveringwhat else can be new in an improvised solo recital. He has also dis-

played an amazing stability and loyalty when collaborating with other musi-cians: While fellow star jazz pianists McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and ChickCorea have hired dozens of bassists and drummers over the decades, Jarrett hashad only three of each sinceLife Betweene Exit Signs, his first album in 1967.

Another important partner is Manfred Eicher, the head of ECM, who hasrecorded Jarrett since 1971. Four years later, when Eicher releasede Kln Concert,it bolstered Jarretts reputation worldwide, and it helped establish the fledgling ECMas an important label.

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Keith Jarrett in his studio on Ju

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Besides two new discsthejazz trio concert Somewhereanda studio traversal of Bach cham-ber musicECM has recent-ly released two archival gems.Sleeper is a scalding document ofJarretts European Quartet withJan Garbarek, Palle Danielssonand Jon Christensen from 1979, andHymns/Spheres is the first full CDrelease of a mysterious 1976 album of

Jarretts organ improvisations.When recording classical music,

Jarretts favored composer has beenJ.S. Bach, whom he plays in a restrainedand rhythmically alert fashion on bothpiano and harpsichord. Since 1987 he hastracked both books of e Well-TemperedClavier, e Goldberg Variations, e FrenchSuites, the Viola da Gamba Sonataswith KimKashkashian, six sonatas with recorder playerMichala Petri and now Six Sonatas For Violin

And Pianowith Michelle Makarski.Makarski (who, like Kashkashian, has record-

ed several projects for ECM unconnected toJarrett) is making her second recording with the

pianist. e first occasion was 1993s Bridge OfLight, where she played Jarretts Elegy for Violinand String Orchestra and Sonata for Violin andPiano. Makarski is equally vibrant and stylish inbaroque music, new music, or unclassifiable cir-cumstances alongside jazz musicians like TomaszStanko and John Surman. I asked her about thenew Bach record, which is Jarretts first record-ing of classical repertoire since a second volumeof Mozart concertos in 1998.

e whole thing developed spontaneouslyaer Keith and I renewed our friendship in late2008, Makarski said. Christmas that year, wedecided to play something together; it turned outwe read through the Bach sonatas. We loved it

so much, every time I was able to visit, wed playthem. Sometimes this happened every couple ofweeks, sometimes not for months. Wed just playand marvel at the music. Every time wed do this,the results were very different. Even aer decid-ing wed like to record, the process didnt muchchange. What you have is a window on an organ-ic, long-term process of exploration and deep lis-tening. [Its] a kind of momentary document of ajoyously renewed friendshipnot a strategicallyplanned project.

I have interviewed Jarrett before, and I alwaysnotice his hands: While surprisingly small, theirrough-hewn solidity suggests immense potentialenergy.

Ethan Iverson:Youve made quite a respectablecontribution to the Bach discography by now.But this is your first recording of Bach on pianosince the first, The Well-Tempered Clavierin 1987.Lets start back there: When did you learn TheWell-Tempered Clavier?

Keith Jarrett:I learned selected ones when Iwas very young, more of them in my twen-ties. I just kept doing them, and e GoldbergVariations, too. Making the first Well-Temperedalbum took a lot of work.

e second book I played on harpsichordbecause I thought a lot of the pieces are much morefor that instrument . We recorded it right here at

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IN JANUARY 1983,the day before the group now

called Keith Jarretts Standards

Trio first recorded standards, the

pianist described his intentions to

bassist Gary Peacock and drummer

Jack DeJohnette over dinner.

Both masters had been fore-

warned. Keith or his manager called

to ask if I was willing to do an album

of American standards with Jack and Keith, Peacock re-

called. The encounter was their first since Peacocks 1977

ECM studio LP, Tales Of Another. At first blush it was like,

Standards?What?! I wasnt thinking anything about that.

Upon reflection, Peacocka one-time gigging pianist

and drummer, whose 1983 rsum included stints with Bill Evans, Paul Bley and Albert

Aylerdecided that if Keith wanted to play standards, there must be something more

to it, so I agreed. That decision stemmed in part from Jarretts pitch. I told them wed

all been bandleaders and played our own music, and the music of the other bandleaders

weve worked with, but they knew how freeing it is to be just playing, Jarrett recounted in

2008. [T]hey knew what I meant ... not to rehearse your own material, not say, Use brushes

here, well go into time here, the whole kit and kaboodle. Up until that moment, I think Gary

thought I was insane. I was a young pianist and a composer. Why would I want standards?

It was a legitimate question. Jarrett had devoted his energies to creating original music

that would greatly influence the course of late-20th century jazz expressionconjuring cogent

musical architecture from a blank slate as a solo artist, as on the landmark The Kln Concert

from 1975; and leading and composing for his so-called European Quartet, with Jan Garbarek,

Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen, and for the American Quartet, which Jarrett established

by adding Dewey Redman to his no-limits trio with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian.

Himself the leader of an Ahmad Jamal-styled piano trio during his formative years in Chi-

cago, DeJohnette had played with Jarrett in numerous settings: in Charles Lloyds group from

196568; with Miles Davis in 197071; and on their 1971 ECM duo recording Ruta And Daitya. He

considered it no big deal to deploy the Great American Songbook as the launching pad for impro-

visation undertaken with no preconceived ideas.

[ECM founder] Manfred Eicher suggested a trio record with us, since we all played with Miles,

DeJohnette said, before describing the trios ongoing simpatico. We each have a wealth of experi-

ence in a broad spectrum with the great players that we bring to the music, plus our own personal

stamps of creativity. Its always fresh. Theres a high level of trust, were in service of the music and we

follow where it takes us. Thats been consistent, and as long as that happens, well continue to do it.

We went in the studio to do one album, and ended up getting three in a day-and-a-half, Peacock

said, referencing the ECM albumsStandards, Vol. 1,Standards, Vol. 2and Changes. From the get-go it

was like, Whoa, what is this? Its like you play a tune, you love it and you surrender to it. You fuckin die

to it! Then this other quality, this intimacy, emerges in such a way that it informs you what to play. We

always get it. Sometimes its so far beyond the pale its like, Holy shit, what do we do now?

Such moments are abundant on the trios new album,Somewhere(ECM), which documents a July 11,

2009, engagement in Lucerne, Switzerland. The proceedings juxtapose the linear, tune-playing m.o. that

dominated the three prior trio albumsThe Out-Of-Towners(from 2004),My Foolish Heart(2007) and Yes-

terdays(2009), each from separate concerts in 2001, when Jarrett was addressing bebop and stride with

extraordinary vigorand the more elaborate, abstract long-form inventions of Inside Out(2001) andAlways

Let Me Go(2002), on which the trio extrapolates Jarretts tabula rasasolo aesthetic to the collective context.

As a musician, you want to move forward, Peacock said by way of describing the trios evolution. But

what does forward mean? More technique? More craft? Doing something youve never done before? Thats

a horizontal approach. Our approach has been verticalgoing into the depth of something, which you cant

do intellectually. Theres no set formula. Its like this is the first time and the last time well ever play together. If

youve been doing it for 50 years, its hard to turn around and try to do something else.

The trios fall tour will include dates in Los Angeles (Sept. 28), Seattle (Oct. 1) and Berkeley, Calif. (Oct. 4),

among other cities. Ted Panken

S

VE

NTHIELMANN/ECMR

ECORDS

with learning new piecesI was concentrating on the other things I dobut shetalked me into reading the Bach sonatas. is is a real triumph for me, becauseI thought I was done with that world. I wasnt going to learn Ligeti or anythingand didnt feel like I needed that kind of nutrition. But every time she visited, weplayed it againbetween dinners or whatever.

Your Bach is very pure, and very rhythmic. Do you think your jazz playinginfluences your Bach?

I dont know, but I do like what he said about playing beautifully: Playthe right note at the right time! In general, I like playing classical musicin time. You can take liberties, of course, but still, the right note at the

right time.

Tell us more about Michelle.

Steve Cloud recommended her for the Bridge Of Lightrecording. Buthe reason we became serious about this recording is that we were neverserious. ere was no protocol. Our tempos are never the same. But wegot along personality-wise, because for a classical musician she is veryopen-minded in that she had listened to a lot of other musics.

en, were both somewhat Slavic: Shes Polish, and my brothesays Im Serbo-Croatian, and my grandmother said she waHungarian. Together we got some of the dance qualities essen-tial to these pieces. At one point, we played something in parallel thirds together, and aerward I said, e Everly Brothers!We cracked up.

We connect with humor, and kind of a casual approach. It wa

two years of fun experimenting and then making a record. Heviolin is named Vincenzo.

You used the word nutritionbefore. Is playing Bach kind of liketaking vitamins for your improvising work?

Yes. Someone said about Bach, Hes nobodys fool. I can beguaranteed that anything I play by him has a deep and quickintelligence. I wonder what it was like to hear him improvise!

Its also nutritious because its not me. Im just throwingmyself to this other guy, and asking him, Show me somethingI stil l dont know about music.

Over the years, your improvising keeps having more coloand texture. This kind of development seems like it musbe connected to your commitment to practicing repertoire. The first solo introduction on Somewhere, Deep

Space, seems almost to be in 3-D.

3-D is a good way of putting it. Manfred Eichecomplimented me on that introduction, too.

Is it fair to say this kind of playing is connected to practicing Bach?

No. It comes more from listening. If Im improvisingmoving internal lines or something connected to fuguethen obviously practicing Bach is relevant. Bach and agree that there arent chords; there are moving lines.

But that introduction is maybe more like EllioCarter showing me how many ways there are not toplay rhythm, or maybe how a cluster has to comefrom some place you dont expect.

ere are solo concerts where I try to keepeverything from resolving.

Thats some of your playing that I enjoy the most

If Im in Rio, and I know their musicbecause bossa-nova did infect jazz very well andwill never go awayI will give them some otheir music, because I love it, too. A Rio concerwould never be totally abstract. But theres a2008 Yokohama concert, which is most successful of the kind of abstract thing we aretalking about. ey didnt applaud betweenmovements; it was a real workshop atmosphere. at is on my Top 3 list of solo con-certs I want to release someday.

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STANDARDS TRIOKeith Jarrett (center),

bassist Gary Peacock(left) and drummer

Jack DeJohnette

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Lets talk about the tunes on Somewhere.

eres a story in the names of the title. I totallydid not intend this, but someone else pointed itout. It begins in Deep Space, then Solar, Stars[Stars Fell On Alabama] and Sea [Between theDevil and the Deep Blue Sea], then Somewhereor Everywhere. Finally it is Tonight, like, takeall those things and think about them, and then: Iought About You. It is kind of like the story ofhow a concert happens.

I look at this CD as representative of almosteverything we do, but in small pieces. It was alsoa single set concert. When we have only one set, weknow we have to be expansive, because we know wearent going back out there.

I dont recall you playing Leonard Bernstein before.Why dont jazz cats play Bernstein more often?

I would guess that Bernsteins way of writingis more like a classical composer. You cant justget away with playing the block chords, or if youdo that, you have to change the voicings so theymake some kind of jazz sense without destroy-ing the tune.

You put some jazz ii/Vs in there that arent from

Bernstein. You must have thought about whatwould be your changes on those pieces.

Especially on Somewhere. On Tonight theyare not so hard to get to. We play them different-ly every time, though. And there was never a vampon a ballad before. And that really sounds like it isgoing Everywhere. It is stopping, and starting,and going out, and coming back. Its very involv-ing. When I first heard the tape I thought, eresno way we can avoid using that one!

Somewhere is such a delicate piece. If youget anything wrong, its obvious. In fact, I playedthe melody really well someplace else, not on thisrecording. I like what I do with it here, but therewas another gig that was better. Jack said aerward,

Could you play those voicings again? and I said,No, sorry!On the other hand, the ending of I ought

About You here is really good, probably the bestweve played it. It is so heartfelt and powerful.

Does that tune have a Miles Davis associationfor you?

Sure. Having him play anysong so many timesis a good signal that theres something there ... andyou can hear whats there!

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea is anolder tune, like a stride pianist might play. Do youthink of it that way, as connecting to stride?

A little, but more like: If you can find thegroove, its a good melody. You can get jocular withit, and let it jump. Jack DeJohnette and I are play-ing games with the rhythm. We never know whatwe are going to play, nor do we know why we areplaying it.

So you never hand Gary Peacock a chart?

Sometimes he has some music. We both havea fuzzy way of going about it. I have a big list oftunes on the piano. If nothing pops into myhead, I check out the list. But Gary and I are bothextremely cool with my starting something hesnot prepared for.

The trios language has been very influential,especially the idea of total spontaneity: Every-where in the world there are trios that dont usetight arrangements in the older mold of Bill Ev-ans or Oscar Peterson. And drummers, in partic-ular, love your trio because of Jack. Hes famousfor playing very convoluted rhythms, breakingup the time. But on Deep Blue Sea, especially,I was once again struck by the depth of his ridecymbal beat.

When the rough mixes of the record startedcoming, I would usually start with that tune

because I wanted to hear Jack.

eres a couple plac-es where he double-times, but the rest of it is prettysimple. But being a drummer myself, I know theresnothing simple or commonplace about swinging.

Youve been interviewed so often about the trio.couldnt think of anything new to ask, except perhaps a backwards question: You could play withanybody, anywhere, anytime. Why stay with thesame two guys? And only thosetwo guys?

A lot of it is about magic. If you dont choose theright guys, magic will never happen. A big part omy work is intuition. You dont need much information or many clues to know if you want to playwith someone. If it is really right, then clues areright in your face.

efi

rst time we did a record, we had dinnethe night before. And Gary was worried about playing Alleings You Are again because he haddone it so much already. I told him he didnt have to

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play it like he had ever done it before,and in fact, I didnt want him to.

ere was no intention to be aworking band. But if youfind the rightguys and the magic happens, then,well: Lets play a gig. Not in a concerthall, but in a club, because All eings You Are in a concert seemswrong. But maybe the magic deep-ens so you try a small hall in Japan,then finally major halls everywhere.

And you feel freer and freer withinthis context. If you decide to be likepeanut butter and spread yourself allover the place, you might never havethe experience of what happens nextwith those same guys.

In 30 years we never had an argu-ment about music. We never had adispute of any major consequence.We just show up and play. One of theconcepts, if not the basic concept, isthat we are all sidemen to the music.

At this point, anything else Iwould do would be an event. Andwhat if it was horrible and lasted only

a very short time? Id happily go out ofmy career knowing I had never madethat kind of mistake.

A lot of the trios repertoire comesfrom musicals, like these two songsfrom West Side Story. Have youwatched a lot of musicals?

Not really. I dont love musicals,although I like the music from WestSide Storya lot. And some of LeonardBernsteins other, more serious music Ilike, too.

You must be connected to the ideaof American music.

Yeah, I dont think theresEuropean jazz, although there arelots of people trying to get the spirit.My quartet with Scandinavians wasgreat. I love Sleeper, the recent discov-ery from that band.

But jazz is the sound of loneself-expression, of your own self. Youcant disguise yourselfyou speakfrom who you are.

I dont know if there are influenc-es in music, anyway. Aer you hearmusic, you either imitate it or just goon being yourself. Books can be a big-ger influence. I dont have as manyas Umberto Eco, but I like what hesaid about having a big library: Youshould always have more books thanyou can read, so you always know thatyou dont know everything.

What about Harold Arlen vs. GeorgeGershwin vs. Irving Berlin: Do you thinkabout the differences in their voices?

Not as much as I should, but atleast I know the lyrics. Gary asked me,aer years of playing, Do you knowthe lyrics to all the songs? and I said,

Sure. He said, at explains it. dont know what he meant, exactlybut American music. Well, I thinkElliot Carter is American music, too.

Im astonished youve brought upCarter twice in this interview!

Hes a recent discovery for mesomebody I learned about in the lasdecade. His music really gives msomething. e content of his musi

doesnt impose new things for mejust like the experience. He workedhard at getting several meters tohappen at once, and then the wholorchestra goes, Brmmph! togetherHow did they do that?

The two American composers I wouldguess you have really checked ouare Aaron Copland and Charles Ives

Of course. Copland was mororiginal and more important thanmany people realize because hes sopopular. If theres an American soundin classical music, he invented it.

I went through a long CharleIves phase, and gained a lot from himefirst time hearing him is revelatory, of course.

You worked with Lou Harrison.

Lou had something really specialOne time aer hearing a group playa Mozart symphony, he said, eplayed it better than they could.

I was having a bit of shouldepiano trouble when he wrote me thPiano Concerto, so I asked him noto write anything percussive. enhe turns around and gives me th

Stampede movement, which is nojust banging with the octave bar buputting it down and picking it up againHe said, Dont get muscle-bound.

But like it is hard to be a Europeanjazz player, I think it is hard to be anAmerican composer. Its not hard tobe an American jazz player. But wdidnt invent composing, and its tough country to draw a large-scaleanything of, because everyone is so[much] themselves.

In jazz, you are not expectinganybody to do anything they cando, and you arent expected to be ablto analyze a symphony. In jazz, youdont need much composition beforyou can express yourself. I was listening to the radio at Christmastime, andthere were horrible jazz versions ohorrible Christmas tunes. I was goingto turn it off, but then Sonny Rollincame on with Winter Wonderland.I said to myself, eres no way I canturn it offnow!

Sonny put so much of himselinto this piece. It was something thawas only Sonny, and that somethingmade the little tune transcendent. D

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PicnicState of MindAT KERMITS TREME SPEAKEASY ON A QUIET AFTERNOON IN JUNE, THElunch hour has come and gone but several patrons linger, using the space more as a commu-nity center than a restaurant. In one corner, a woman counsels a recent high school grad-uate on her career goals. In another, members of the Music and Culture Coalition of NewOrleans discuss how to fight a music gag rule the city recently levied on an 80-year-old

venue in the Seventh Ward.

As the conversations in the dining room begin to winddown, the clubs proprietor, trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, walksthrough the front door, bringing with him a burst of energyand chatter. Hes quickly drawn into the center of the culturalactivists meeting and given unsolicited updates on the plightof the St. Roch Tavern. Smiling as he shakes every hand prof-fered his way, the trumpeter looks like a chef in his kitchenpants and white T-shirt; hes greeted like a de facto mayor.

Ruffins wears many hats simultaneously at home in NewOrleans, where his role in the music scene extends far beyondthe music itself. He is not just a bandleader; hes a cultural cura-tor. A vocal supporter of live music, Ruffins has owned multipleclubs in Treme, using themand his own sets around townto showcase local artists. His restaurants menu is a survey offoods hes been cooking since childhood. Even his participa-tion in the citys Social Aid and Pleasure Club parades has acuratorial aspect: Armed with his iPad, Ruffins is the self-pro-fessed go-to guy for video at parades, making use of his life-long obsession with video recording to capture the bands anddancers at their best and share the footage online.

e Music and Culture Coalition, or MaCCNO, formed in

September 2012 aer Ruffins invited musicians and club own-ers to a series of meetings at his restaurant to discuss restric-tions on live music being implemented in the city. Since then,the group has steadi ly advocated on behalf of live music venues.

I just got so upset, Ruffins says, settling into a seat in therestaurants kitchen with a cold beer. Why would they tryto shut down a club of live entertainment? I mean, I under-standsome of the neighbors complained. I also understandsome of those neighbors got theretwo weeksago.

Hes referring to a controversial aspect of what some arecalling the new New Orleans. As the city rebuilt itself aerHurricane Katrina, thousands of newcomers began calling ithome. Lured by deals on housing, tax incentives and a revital-ized curiosity in the citys culture, they have been held large-ly responsible for the gentrification of downtown neighbor-hoods, and the subsequent changes, both good and bad.

Some of these people are millionaires, and the averagemusicians arent gonna know how to fight that, Ruffinsexplains. So I thought rather than everyone trying to fighttheir one individual thing, lets get together to deal with it.

While his club helps live music thrive in the historic

By Jennifer Odell / Photo by Erika Goldring

New YearEve in New

OrleansKermi

Ruffins athe Joy

Theater onDec. 31, 201

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Treme, his new album, We Partyin TraditionalStyle! (Basin Street), is about sustaining the spir-it of traditional New Orleans jazz. To achieve thatgoal, Ruffins gathered players who could bestapproximate the sound that first inspired him toplay music for a living.

Some critics have questioned his choice torecord standard (yet eloquently performed) ver-sions of traditional tunes rather than writing orig-inal material or taking the classics in a new direc-tion. But in a way, the album represents Ruffins

playing host to traditional New Orleans jazz itself.e idea was to try to go back, he says.

ats what I kept wanting to do in myheart. When I first started playinggoing toPreservation Hall, going to Maison Bourbon,going to Famous Doorand watching all theelderly guys play, it touched me so hard. I thinkevery human being has to do what really makesthem feel good, and if I had my way, I would sitdown at Preservation Hall or at the Palm CourtCaf and play that music every day. Because its socomfortable and so satisfying.

A swinging rendition of Chinatown kicksoff the disc, with clarinetist Tom Fischer play-ing trill-swathed lines around Ruffins melody.

e lively horn interplay continues when LucienBarbarins trombone comes in, purring throughthe low end of Exactly Like You. On Marie,pianist Steve Pistorius dexterity and lightnessbalance out the trumpeters big, round, personal-ity-drenched blowing, while the vocal part show-cases an appealingly sorasp in Ruffins voice.

Ruffins trumpet chops are undeniable. Buteven when he laces tunes with inventive solosand hot, swinging melodies, he doesnt necessar-ily aspire to break new musical ground. Oenthe goal is simply to create his own version of themusic that first moved him.

When he was a teenager, Ruffins discoveredLouis Armstrong, shortly aer starting the

Rebirth Brass Band with Philip and Keith Frazierin 1983. While working with the band and per-forming in Jackson Square for tips alongsideShannon Powell, Anthony Tuba Fats Lacen andDirty Dozen Brass Band founder Roger Lewis,Ruffins went deep into his Satchmo research,checking out every recording and video he couldfind. From there, he moved on to Cab Calloway,Count Basie, Miles Davis and Lionel Hampton.

e influence of Satchmo is apparent on WePartyin. Asked how he has made the music ofArmstrong and others his own, Ruffins is quick toadmit that infusing it with his personality was key.

I had no choice, because Ill never be able toplay at the level that those guys play, Ruffins says.ere are very few people in the world who canactually do that. So I would take little risks andthen go back to playing my old traditional NewOrleans stuffthat I kind of figured out on my own[by] listening to the great brass bands like theDirty Dozen and Olympia and the Chosen Few.

irty years later, Ruffins is still soaking upinspiration from the citys best artists. His regulargigging band, the BBQ Swingers, features strongmusicians with a collectively stunning range.But as is oen the case when Ruffins heads intothe studio, the albums lineupwhich, in addi-tion to Barbarin, Pistorius and Fischer, includesShannon Powell (drums), Don Vappie (banjo),

Richard Moten (bass) and singer Mykia Jovanis an ensemble of players recruited specifically fortheir traditional style expertise.

Unlike many of his peers who had formaltraining at the New Orleans Center for CreativeArts or whose artistry was passed down via familyheritage, Ruffins came relatively late to his educa-tion in traditional New Orleans jazz.

Growing up in the Lower Ninth Ward, theyoung trumpeter listened to bands like r&b hit-makers the Commodores while helping his

grandmother cook on Saturdays. ere was nobrass bands just walkin around, he says.

Ruffins horizons widened when he le theneighborhood to attend Joseph S. Clark HighSchool in the Sixth Ward, where he met theFraziers. Once they graduated and Rebirth beganto take off, Ruffins stitched himself into the fab-ric of Treme.

He has fond memories of those days: Hangingout with Uncle Lionel [Batiste], [Dirty DozenBrass Band co-founder] Benny Jones, Tuba Fatsand a whole lot of other great men. Every day, Id

be sitting at the bar with those guys, with UncleLionel singin tunes to me all the time, teachingme all kinds of stuffI had no idea existed in thisworldlet alone in New Orleans.

Before long, his informal lessons paid off. Hefound himself working for the Rebirth, Olympia,Dirty Dozen, Chosen Few and Treme brass bandssimultaneously, playing as many as five gigs in aday and switching band T-shirts as he moved fromset to set. at was the time of my life: 19, 20 years

old, with all those damn [brass band] T-shirts, hesays, laughing. Id get mixed up sometimes.In the meantime, Ruffins continued studying

both live and recorded traditional jazz, practicingthe riffs he heard and developing his own style,while marveling at the spirituality those menbrought onstage.

e beautiful suits and ties, the lifestyle, hereminisces. It just grew on me. I said, is is it.is is what Im gonna do. I dont know how Imgonna get there. But Im gonna be dressed up,playing that old-school traditional jazz swing, allmixed together.

Although he was still co-leading the Rebirth,he felt tugged in a different direction.

I said [to him], Go for it, bro, recalls PhilipFrazier, who had already noticed that concertaudiences were strongly responding to Ruffinstone and charm. Kermit plays with that growl;theres like a roll in it that people love. And peoplesee that he just really loves life.

By 1992, Ruffins had ventured out on his own,recording three albums for the Justice label beforefinding his groove with Basin Street Records andthe BBQ Swingers.

A few days aer the MaCCNO meeting inJune, Ruffins is clad in a crisp suit and bow tieonstage at the legendary venue Tipitinas for aCD release party. Seated around him and dressed

equally to the nines, some of the citys best traditional jazz players, including Pistorius and clarinetist Evan Christopher, back up a vibrato-heavyAll Of Me, courtesy of singer Mykia Jovan.

Even in this album-focused setting, Ruffinplays curator, presenting a wide swath of his musicommunity rather than simply showcasing thnew release. e BBQ Swingers execute the eclectic mix of jazz, soul, hip-hop and r&b that theifans have come to expect.

Hes really good at playing in that traditiona

jazz idiomwhen he wants to do it, says drummer Derrick Freeman, who has been with the BBQSwingers for nearly two decades. People ask us althe time, What are you gonna do in the next set?Im like, I seriously have no idea. We might starthe set with Tupac. We might start the set withFrank Sinatra.

Trombonist Corey Henry, an alumnus of thBBQ Swingers who now tours with Galactic andleads the Treme Funktet, compares Ruffins role aa traditional jazz player to his role as a live musiadvocate, saying he breathes new life into both.

Aer the hurricane, people leand had gonin so many different directions, we didnt knowhow to keep music afloat, says Henry. [Ruffinsclub] was one way everything got kick-startedagain in Treme with live music.

Like most things about Ruffins, the party vibof his club comes from a place of honest sentiment. He says hes always wanted to own a venuewhere he could keep alive his familys tradition ogathering together for good times and great food

Since I was about 11 years old in the LoweNinth Ward, me and my whole family, we wouldgo out almost every Saturdayfishin, crabbinat 4 oclock in the morning, he says, pausing inthe Treme Speakeasy kitchen to drain a Bud Light

At 11 in the morning, were comin back tothe house. In the backyard, the grill is lit, thejukebox is going, my grandmothers over thereeverybodys in their little station cleaning fishgutting fish, cleaning crabs, then wed boil emPut some aside for gumbo.eres a cowan, whichis a turtle. Hang it upside down with its headchopped off, blood drippin out, he says, smilingletting the image sink in.

I was helping doing all that stuff, so you growup seeing that, doing that and you continue doingwhat youre seeing all your life. I always say, Treaeach day like its a picnic, he says, quoting himself with a visible sense of satisfaction.

Ive been having that picnic state of mindsince I can remember. I think thats what reallygets me over. I think it comes across with musiand my way of living.

Looking ahead, Ruffins plans to record analbum with strings alongside members of thLouisiana Philharmonic, slated for a 2014 releaseIn the meantime, he has another clubthe temporarily defunct Mother-in-Law Loungetoopen, and a dining rooms worth of trout to fry. D

If I had my way, I would sit down

at Preservation Hall and playthat music every day.

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EDDIE DANIELS IS DRIVING FOUR OF US FROM HIS HOME BASE IN SANTA FE, N.M., TOthe small town of Abiquiu, where artist Doug Coffin is hosting a June renovated house warming party.

As we pass the legendary site of the Santa Fe Opera, one of Americas prime operatic entities, Daniels

mentions that he was offered a role playing in the bar scene in Alban Bergs Wozzeckfor the company.

On cue, Roger KellawayDaniels longtime musical collaborator and duo partnerbegins singing the

tune from that scene, from his perch in the passengers seat.

Later in the 50-mile drive, we sample a recording of an energizedjazz-chamber version of Mussorgskys Pictures At An Exhibition, Israelipianist Yaron Gottfrieds project that Daniels traveled to Israel this sum-mer to perform.

Needless to say, Daniels and Kellaway are not your typical jazz vets.Both studied classical music early on and have incorporated elements ofthat genre into their workKellaway, notably, with his acclaimed 70s proj-ect the Cello Quartet. Both have also leaned into the winds of pop music:clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Daniels as a sideman to pop stars, and pianistKellaway working with many non-jazz singers, including Bobby Darrin.In a memorable contribution to pop culture, Kellaway penned the closingtheme of the TV series All in the Family.

Coffin, the charismatic multimedia artistpainter, sculptor, designer,mystical handymansupplied the abstract painting that became thecover of the duos third album together, the recently released Duke AteRoadhouse: Live In Santa Fe(IPO). Coffin met Daniels in a Santa Fe coffee-house and has become a friend and creative ally. He is, by Daniels account,part of the band. e artist is scheduled to actually paint alongside theduo (with cellist James Holland making cameos, as he does on the album)live onstage at the Detroit Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend.

In Abiquiu, we arrive at the hilltop property where Coffin lives andworks, with a stunning view of the sweeping, striated Plaza Blanca area,part of which is owned by movie star Shirley MacLaine. Mention ofMacLaine triggers an anecdote from Kellaway, who met her at the late actorJack Lemmons memorial service.

As the house party heats up, the duo lays into a tuneful hourlong set inthis living room-turned-jazz room, including the theme from the 1962filmDays of Wine and Roses(starring Lemmon) and In A Sentimental Moodfrom the new album.ey also take an exploratory swing through BodyAnd Soul featuring a cameo from tenor saxophonist Chris Collins, alsothe director of the Detroit Jazz Festival, who came along for the ride.

It is apparent from the duos three concert albums and this impromptuhilltop set that Daniels and Kellaway are blessed with emphatic rapport.ey have been wending in and out of each others musical lives over manyyears, including their collaboration on Daniels 1988 albumMemos FromParadise, a jazz-band-plus-string-quartet project from the clarinetistsfruitful GRP era, which earned Kellaway a Grammy for his arrangements.

Another point of comparison with this pair of seventy-somethingmusicians is that both are former New Yorkers who have long since fledthe urban thrum and lived, for 20 years, in lovely American outposts:Daniels in Santa Fe and Kellaway in Ojai, Calif., a hideaway close toyetfar enough fromLos Angeles.

Daniels and his wife, plus their German Shepherd, live in a spacious,comfortable house on a five-acre site, perched high enough to afford a pan-oramic view of the areas arid beauty. As we settle into Daniels home stu-dio for an interview, Kellaway sits for a moment at the piano, playing someintriguing, yearning chordsCage-ian chords, it turns out. Earlier, we hadbeen discussing John Cages Four Walls, a work performed by a blue-capedEthan Iverson (the pianist ine Bad Plus) at the Ojai Music Festival onlya week before and, apparently, still rumbling around in Kellaways head.

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Eddie Daniels (left photo) at the VandoJam,held on Jan. 23 at Ralph Brennans JazzKitchen in Anaheim, Calif. (Photo: KurtBarclay). Roger Kellaway at Zankel Hallin New York City, December 2009 (Photo:

Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos)

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But for this conversation, the subject is mostly DukeEllington, through the prism of the Daniels-Kellawaysensibility.

DownBeat: Is there something about being based insuch remote places that nourishes and feeds your cre-ative juices?

Roger Kellaway:For me, its the space.Eddie Daniels:I was going to say the same word.RK:e space and the quietness.ED:Also, it tends to make you go more inward, into your-

self. Cities distract you.eres a lot of excitement, a lot of stuffgoing on, and they keep your adrenals pumping all the time.Here, you come down. You sit. You can be with yourself. Youkind of have to go with yourself.

You look at the sky. You hear the coyotes. And our music islike that. We dont just dive into something, to attack some-thingunless Roger writes something that has an attaccaatthe very top. And if he does, hell usually say, Lets play arounda little before we attack. So we almost always come to some-thing from an airy space or place, where theres room to settle.

e music has a way of discovering itself while were playing, because of thatspace-iness and an inner questioning of who we are, a kind of inner journey.

I can hear that. Plus, there is the lack of a rhythm section, which has animpact on the personality of your duo.

RK:People who play with bass and drums all the time could be capable ofunderstanding what happens with us. But actually, my trio has been drumlessfor 10 years. When

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