Ja z z , Blu e s & S ou l
Jazz I N E U R O P E .com
Summer 2018
CHRISTIAN SANDS Reaching For e Future
T E R R I LYN E C A R R I N G TO N Talks about women in jazz
OLA ONABULÉ
Takes on the world - on his own terms
ZURICH JAZZ ORCHESTRA ree Pictures
R E G G I E WA S H I N G TO N Rainbow shadow and more
Photo Feature, Carl Hyde - London’s premier jazz photographer
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Colofon: Jazz In Europe Magazine. Summer 2018 Publisher: Jazz In Europe Media Group Weversweg 13 7553BH HENGELO (o) The Netherlands
Terrie Lyne Carrington
Talks about Women in Jazz to Fiona Ross. Page 3
Reid Miles
Designing Blue Note. Page 7
Christian Sands Reaching Further. Page 11
Carl Hyde London’s premier jazz photographer. Page 19
Zurich Jazz Orchestra “Three Pictures” Page 31
Reggie Washington Rainbow Shadow and More... Page 37
Ola Onabule Taking on the world, on his own terms. Page 45
Editorial: Editor in Chief Nigel J. Farmer Content Manager: Andrew Read Contributors: Erminia Yardley Fiona Ross Jan Veldman Photography Credits: Carl Hyde, Tracy Love, Anna Weber, Pablo Faccinetto, David Crunelle, Christian DeBlanc, Jos Knaepen, David J Simchock, Kurt Rade, Fabrizio Troccoli, Pia Sonne-Schmidt Erminia Yardley. Advertising: For advertising opportunities please contact us at. advertising@jazzineurope.com Graphic Design: DQB Media & Design www.dqbdesign.com P.O.D Provider: Peecho Rokin 75, 1012 KL Amsterdam www.peecho.com No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher. Permission is only deemed valid if approval is in writing. All photo material contained in this magazine has been provided courtsey of the artist and/or their management. The publisher (Jazz In Europe Media Group), authors, photographers and contributors reserve their rights with regards to copyright of their work.
EDITORIAL
From The Editor ‘You can’t choose your family, so, make your friends your family’. I heard this phrase repeatedly as a child, now as a mature adult with a lighten baggage load I live and observe the relationships I’ve formed through work, travel, hobbies and serendipity/happenstance (philosophically debatable), the phrase is never far from my mind. As a Digital Nomad, co-founder of Jazz In Europe Media Group (JEMG) and Editor in Chief for JazzInEurope.com I travel the digital highways everyday, meeting fascinating individuals from throughout Europe and now to the far reaches of our planet. I travel mostly at the digital speed of something approaching light, yet with the inevitable hick-ups in dropped calls or the pregnant silence that still remain part and parcel of my daily life via my Internet services provider. My constant diginaut is a veteran Aussie musician and technocrat. Andrew (the Aussie) and I still carry the same school boy wonder for things anew, and we happily co-pilot our spaceship into lesser known territories of technology. Even though we initially feel these intrepid exploratory missions are well past our pay grade. Our singular and joint Maverick tendencies drive us forward at varying speeds and what our pocket money will allow. Thankfully we can openly agree or to disagree and have the pioneering impetus to chart our way through. From inception our aim at Jazz In Europe is to explore ways that surprise people and go
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beyond what others have done or would do. Breaking with traditional development and being a change agent. This is exactly the reason we’ve decided to produce a tactile hard copy print-ondemand summer companion version of Jazz In Europe. An added value collectable product to complement our existing offerings, and enhancing the connection of ALL lovers of Jazz music and its continuing evolution as a musical genre. I wish to personally thank the artists, their management teams and our stellar contributors who are most definitely team Jazz diginauts. To Els and Pia who kindly listen and provide words of wisdom and steadfast supportive encouragement to continue, especially when outside gravitational black holes appear! Thanks to my friend Andrew, and business partner for recognising as a 40+ years music industry professional, that my fresh open approach to life and my own 40+ years International business experience remains true to Johan van Deeg’s original dream. Johan sadly passed away from a terminal illness far too young. This First collectable edition is dedicated to his memory, and we hope we’ve made him proud. And YOU enjoy this coffee table Jazz In Europe magazine. Kind regards, Nigel J. Farmer - Editor in Chief
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INTERVIEW
Terrie Lyne Carrington
Photo © Tracy Love
Interview by Fiona Ross | Photos by Tracy Love
I am extremely proud to present my new Women in Jazz series. I long for the day when there is no need to point out to the world that women are out there doing their thing. But until that day, I am proud to share with you some inspirational women’s stories starting with Terri Lynne Carrington – the Grammy award winning drummer, educator and producer and the first woman to win the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. She is passionate about educating young musicians and it was a great pleasure to speak to such an inspirational role model for the first in the series.
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Photo © Tracy Love
Fiona Ross: You were the first female artist to win a Grammy® for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and previous winners in this category include Count Basie, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, among others. I imagine you were immensely proud of this, but also maybe frustrated that this was the first time a woman had won? Terri Lyne Carrington: Absolutely. You just nailed it. When I was nominated, I didn’t realise I was the first until later and yes, I was proud to be that person, but I couldn’t believe that not that many women are even nominated, let alone win – especially when I consider how many great records have been made. And even looking at other categories in Jazz, there are a lot of nominations, like vocal, but not so many wins for women. FR: Does this take some of joy of winning away from you – are you able to enjoy it? TLC: Well, yes, I am able to enjoy it, but this was before this moment of consciousness that’s happening right now. People thought, sincerely, that the record was deserving and it wasn’t like ‘no women has won, so we have to change that, make sure a woman wins’. So, on one hand, I feel good as a woman, that the record was good and competitive – and I won – but on the other hand, there are all these other issues that we need to look at and address to bring more equity into our industry. FR: You were mentored by the great Jack DeJohnette. How was this experience? TLC: Well it was really him and Wayne Shorter and Jack I started hanging out with when I was about 18. His family just kind of embraced me and as a mentor it was more than just music and with mentoring you learn more about life, business and I got a lot of things – and this is an apprentice based art form so it’s important to have strong mentors and people that will point you in the right direction. There’s so much information, so many things, it’s impossible to know everything at a young age, even just musically, there are so many people to discover. Mentors are important to point out the missing links and also to have someone to bounce ideas off. Jack was all of those things. He opened me up musically.
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I was pretty much just a jazz head. I loved be bop, hard bop, pretty much anything hard core jazz. I went to my first classical concert with Jack – a string quartet – and he just opened me up musically. FR: You said in a previous interview that “I feel it is our job as artists, to carry out the responsibility of reporting, commenting and even educating, about what is going on in the societies we are a part of – regarding humanity, politics and anything else that affects our freedom or life condition. When we choose to be passive, we’re choosing an easier route, but complacency has its consequences.” Using art as a social weapon, wow, I love that. How do you feel you have achieved that or how are you trying to achieve that in your own work? TLC: I think about an awareness of how many great female musicians they are and have been – and most of them, are not new. With ‘The Mosaic Project’ I just kind of did it as a statement to celebrate these great women even though I have never been a fan of all female situations but I did that record and it was successful and I toured with it – and I always integrate it – because I believe if art reflects life, then we have to integrate it in that way. So, I think without trying to, without directly saying that I am trying to make a political statement, that project did make a social statement, in a way. But I wasn’t really setting out to do that. FR: And what would you hope to see today’s musicians do to help change and develop the culture? TLC: It’s exposure. I have a lot of students at Berklee, and when they come to a class, these are the things we talk about. We talk about what is happening in society, how we are part of it and how we are part of this system and we have a choice. I think the more you are aware of these things, the more you put it in your work. Bringing awareness to young people is important – without preaching. FR: You wrote an amazing article ‘Sexism In Jazz: Being Agents Of Change’ and your experience in the industry has clearly not stopped you being motivated or inspired to succeed. Many people may have given up – what was it that gave you the strength?
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TLC: Actually, I have come to realise, more recently, that it’s tiring. You have to keep grinning when people are around and that’s ok because people have done that for me, but it’s really tiring. Everyone is at a heightened awareness and if I talk to someone who is not, I really feel obligated to explain to them why all of this is so important. But sometimes, you just want them to educate themselves. It’s not my job to educate some people, you know? But then on the other hand, I am passionate about the situation, and you want to, without being judgmental, show them where their faults are – quite often people say that they just haven’t thought about it – and at this point, if you haven’t thought about it, then you are part of the problem, even if you mean well. But this problem with gender equity, I don’t see this changing completely until men really realise they have to mentor women to bring balance and equality. These are the conversations I have. FR: You have worked with many amazing musicians Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Al Jarreau, Stan Getz, David Sanborn, Joe Sample, Cassandra Wilson, Clark Terry, Dianne Reeves etc. Are there any of these experiences that stand out to you? TLC: It’s hard to say, I have learned from them all. I have to say Wayne Shorter has been particularly important to me. He has been such a mentor – musical mentor, life mentor – and I have played with him in many settings. Herbie Hancock has also been a huge influence on me for some of the same reasons. Esperanza has been great as she has a very different approach and amalgamation of style that makes her original sounding. Al Jarreau – he taught me how to play with singers. FR: Next projects? TLC: My new project is called ‘Social Science’ and is overt and will be dealing with all kinds of themes from the election in the US, racism, gender equity and all those things and I guess this project will be my most ‘social weapon’ project to date. There were two things that really inspired me to start this project – the election and some of the police shootings and brutality over here – and they were the two first songs that I wrote about. I’m just finishing it up now, not sure when it will be released. We’ve all been writing music and that part is great. FR: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.
Photo © Tracy Love 6. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
ARTICLE
Reid Miles
Designing Blue Note
There is no doubt the cover art produced by Blue Note Records in the 50’s and 60’s is an example of iconic graphic design. There have been a number of coffee table books produced featuring Blue Note cover art and elements of the style have been copied in countless cover and poster designs throughout the years and right up until the modern day.
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O
ver the years not much has been written about the designer Reid Miles in the jazz press and if you ask most jazz fans very few will even know his name. While this may be the case, it’s striking to note that most jazz fans have no problem naming their favourite Blue Note cover or Francis Wolff photo. Reid Miles was an American modernist designer and in the graphic design world is often described as a genius of his time. Miles designed more than 500 covers for Blue Note Records and together with photographer Francis Wolff defined the visual branding of the label. Reid Miles was born in Chicago on the 4th of July 1927. In the early 1930’s his parents divorced and he moved with his mother and younger sister to Long Beach, California. After high school Miles joined the Navy and, following his discharge, moved back to Los Angeles where he enrolled at Chouinard Art Institute as part of the GI Education Bill. Miles said the he was not really interested in Art and the real reason he enrolled was because he was dating a girl that was also enrolled. According to Miles the relationship didn’t work out however by that time he had begun to enjoy his study. After graduating, Miles went to New York to look for a job. Once in New York, artist, graphic designer, and jazz fan John Hermansader gave Miles his first job. Hermansader was one of Blue Note’s first designers, along with Paul Bacon and Gil Melle. Looking back at this era, Michael Cuscuna of Mosaic Records said, “ What John Hermansader and Paul Bacon really did was evoke the feeling of the music. They used everything from Bauhaus designs to things that were really otherworldly.” Graphic designer and jazz radio host, Angelynn Grant added, “When people think of Blue Note covers they think of Francis Wolff’s photography and Reid Miles design. But John Hermansader laid the groundwork that got them going along that path.” In 1955, Blue Note Records made the move to start issuing records in the 12 inch Long Play format. It was in this period that Reid Miles was hired as Art Director. His main task was to adapt their existing catalog to the new format as well as produce design’s for the new releases.
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His first set of sleeves for the label included “Sidney Bechet’s Jazz Classics Vol 1” (BLP 1201) and “Milt Jackson and The Thelonious Monk Quintet” (BLP-1509). While in the early 1950’s Reid was not working full time for Blue Note Records, he often designed covers on the weekends. While Reid was responsible for almost every cover he often out-sourced work to colleagues including a young artist who at the time was struggling for commissions named Andy Warhol. Warhol produced three covers for Kenny Burrell and one of the best examples of Warhol’s collaborations is Johnny Griffin’s “The Congregation”. Although other artists, including Warhol, were creating for Blue Note, it was the work of Reid Miles that consistently laid out their work in a way that married the art and the sound of Blue Note into a consistent whole. In the book “The Cover Art of Blue Note Records” Felix Cromey wrote “Miles made the cover sound like it knew what lay in store for the listener”.
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Also a photographer, Reid would often take his own shots if he felt he didn’t have what he wanted from Francis Wolff. It was not always smooth sailing between Wolff and Miles and Wolff occasionally expressed frustration at the way Miles would crop is work in the design’s. Like Someone In Love by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (B4245), Eric Dolphy’s Out To Lunch (B4163) as well as Herbie Hancock’s Takin’ Off B4109), are examples of the covers with photographs by Miles. In 2015, designer Viljami Salminen wrote in a blog post that “During the Fifties, when the design industry was in flux, Reid Miles pushed forward the way the typography is treated with his bold, playful designs, creative use of typefaces, and his distinct preference for contrast and asymmetry.” In an article published by Retinart, Alex Charchar wrote about Reid Miles work “They scream modernism in a way that few can compete against, often treating the typography as visual elements that can be broken apart, stacked upon one another in a playful way, blown up or shrunk down and brought together with the photography in a way that seems gravitational. The layouts are often evasively perfect as they look as if to lay any of them out even slightly differently would be to lay them out wrong.” I think he’s right on the mark here specifically the way he used typography as a visual element. It’s clear that Reid Miles designs captured the feel of the time and helped form a visual representation of jazz that not only defined an era but also a genre. This is quite astounding when you consider that Reid Miles didn’t like jazz
at all! Miles was a Classical Music guy and as rumor has it gave many of the complementary albums he received away or even traded them in at the record store for classical recordings. In an article on Computerarts.co.uk, Experimental Jetset floated the idea; “it is interesting to see that a designer who really managed to capture the essence of his time, was also, in a way, disconnected from that very essence … it is perhaps ‘distance’ not engagement that makes the designer.” There could be something to this. After Alfred Lion’s retirement in 1967 Read Miles left Blue Note and returned permanently to Los Angeles. Miles eventually became famous for closing a one million dollar per year contract with CocaCola to produce their advertising. I’d like to finish with this quote from Reid Miles. “Fifty Bucks an album… they loved it, thought it was modern, they thought it went with the music… one or two colors to work with at that time and some outrageous graphics!” Reid Miles is one of the unsung heroes of jazz history, while most people know the Blue Note story around Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, the impact of Reid Miles is often only given limited attention. This is somewhat different in the Graphic Design sector where Reid Miles holds a place of honour and is seen as an icon of the Modernist era. Reid Miles passed away in California on 2 February 1993.
Article by Andrew Read. Cover Images © Blue Note Records
References: Udiscover Music: The Art Of Legendary Jazz Label Blue Note Records Modular4kc.Com: The Blue Note Masterpieces Of Reid Miles Retinart: The Jazzy Blue Notes Of Reid Miles Viljamis.Com: The Iconic Work Of Reid Miles
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Photo © Anna Weber
ARTICLE
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C
C Having been around in the jazz world for close on 40 years I’ve seen a number of generations come and go. With each changing of the guard we see new players come onto the scene, blending the influences of the current generation with the tradition and expanding the boundaries of this music we call jazz. New York based pianist Christian Sands is in my opinion one of the musicians who will become a torch-bearer for the next generation.
CHRISTIAN SANDS
Reaching Further
Text by: Andrew Read | Live Photo’s by: Carl Hyde, Portrait Image by: Anna Weber.
A
lready the recipient of five Grammy® award nominations and since 2012, joining the auspicious list of Steinway endorsed artists; Sands released his Mack Avenue Records début “Reach” in April last year. Having met with universal critical acclaim, “Reach’, as stated on the Mack Avenue website, indeed became one more milestone in his already auspicious career. A little more than a year on, Christian has backed up the release with a constant touring schedule that has taken him around the world and released a follow up live EP ahead of the release of a new full album this coming Autumn. Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Christian to get the latest news straight from the horses mouth!
The Early Days.
According to his biography, Christian started playing piano at four years old, composing his first piece of music at age five, starting music classes at the age of eight, and becoming a professional at ten. He attended such prestigious schools as the Neighbourhood Music School and the Educational Centre for the Arts in New Haven (Connecticut) however a key moment in Christians career came when his then teacher, noted jazz pianist, composer Dr. Rex Cadwallader, suggested he attend the “Jazz in July” summer workshop at the University of Massachusetts and study for a week with Dr. Billy Taylor. As it ended up, Taylor
asked Christian to stay on for the second week to which he immediately agreed. Christian said: “We kind of hit it off, after that anywhere he (Taylor – Ed) would go to play, he’d ask me to go along with him, whether it was DC, Philadelphia or Jersey, I was able to go along.” Christian went on to say that on many of these trips with Dr Taylor he met a number of great pianists including the late Mulgrew Miller. During these trips he was able to hear them speak about Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson and Erroll Garner etc. and their impact on jazz piano. “It was like getting a history lesson from the source”, he said. Christian’s relationship with Dr Billy Taylor was more of a mentor-ship than just your normal teacher-student relationship: “I really got to learn the history of jazz piano through Dr Billy Taylor.... I was very fortunate, you know, when you talk about the history of jazz piano, he was it – you know he was born in the time when it was being developed.” Hearing Christian speak, it’s obvious Dr Taylor not only taught Christian to play piano but also how to be a pianist, a far more holistic and expansive approach. Some years later Christian went on to earn both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Jason Moran. While there, Christian also played
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Christian Sands Trio | Live at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club - London Oct 2017 - © Carl Hyde.
with the school’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, led by Bobby Sanabria. The band recorded an album titled “Kenya Revisited Live” in 2009 that garnered a nomination for a Latin Grammy®. Bobby Sanabria’s band was not the first taste of Latin music that Christian had. In his New Haven days he played in a number of Salsa and AfroCuban band’s including Los Hombres Calientes and was listening to Latin pianists such as Chano Domínguez and Chucho Valdés. At the same time, he was listening to Fats Waller, McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock. Christian said: “...so I had all these things going on in my head, it was kind of weird, you know, almost dangerous...” He went on to say, “When I joined Sanabria’s band he also focused on the history of Afro-Cuban music, it
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wasn’t just like reading the charts, you were also learning about what happened in the music.”
Festivals and the state of Jazz Today.
We continued our discussion by moving on to the more esoteric subject of jazz music it’s self and the eternal question – what is jazz? We spoke about festival programming and the narrative that jazz festivals aren’t really jazz festivals any more. On this point Christian said that even though on some of these festivals you have pop artists, it’s no problem, they pull crowds. “With some of these pop artists you can still hear in their music that they know jazz, they understand jazz and while they may not be playing it but you can still hear it and that’s OK”. On the other hand, you have pop artists who do what they do and
European experience, the Caribbean experience, The Asian experience – the African experience! It all blends because we’re all connected, It’s a worldly experience and that’s why jazz sounds the way it sounds today.” With Christian coming from a more roots orientated background I was keen to know how important he considers the jazz tradition to be in moving jazz forward. “Well I think jazz is in an interesting place today. The word jazz is so abstract today and I think the reason it’s so abstract is that a lot of people don’t know where it’s coming from, it’s sort of in a limbo. But there are a lot of artists on the scene today that are coming from the tradition and I don’t just mean coming from Thelonious Monk, I mean coming from the early masters James P. Johnson, Earl Hines, etc. Their coming from the history of it all but still moving it forward. You know, to make jazz better you have to know where your’re coming from to know where your’re going to.”
Reach, The album.
While his current album “Reach” is his first for Mack Avenue Records it’s actually his eighth album as a leader. In the album description on the Mack Avenue website they state that the Album is a milestone in Sands career and quotes Christian as saying “I’m reaching from past recordings to bring in the future, which is really all about finding myself. It’s a chance to express my experience.” I asked him how this album differs from his previous albums.
don’t sound anything like it, you can’t feel it, then I ask the question – what are they doing here? I asked Christian if he thought this was a threat to the future of Jazz? He summed it up clearly by saying “So when you get a majority of the festivals saying the last one’s jazz, that’s when you gotta start worrying.” We went back and forth on this and I finally asked the question all jazz musicians hate to answer – what do you think jazz is in the 21st century? Christian answered: “Well I think to put it plainly, I would say that jazz is the reflection of the human experience. It used to be a reflection of the American experience but with the development of technology, with YouTube, the world is far more connected now. It’s now also the
“Well it differs in a lot of ways, it’s about where I’m at in my life right now, I’ve just turned 29 (I was 27 when I recorded it) and going through things as you do. I took the chance with this album to reflect. The whole concept for the album was to reflect while at the same time reaching forward to where I’m going. It’s like looking at who you are and what makes you who you are. It’s also looking at what’s needed to make you who you want to be.” Christian also said that his previous albums were nowhere near as deep and reflective as this album. “Reach looks forward, the previous albums just documented where I was at the time.” Reach was co-produced by both Grammy®Award winning producer Al Pryor and famed bassist Christian McBride. This came as no
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surprise seeing Sands came to prominence as the pianist in Christian McBride’s Trio. When I asked Christian about the choice of having McBride co-produce the album he said that they had built up such a rapport during his time with the trio that it was just a logical choice. He also said that McBride just let’s him be himself, especially when it comes to his own music, but also knows when to push and nudge him out of his comfort zone. On the album Christian brought together a stellar line-up based around the trio with Sands on piano with Yasushi Nakamura on bass and drummer Marcus Baylor. The album also features guest appearances from Gilad Hekselman on guitar, Marcus Strickland on tenor sax and bass clarinet and percussionist Cristian Rivera. McBride also makes a cameo appearance on bass on the ballad “Use Me”. Christian said that he hand picked these players, he had worked with them many times I felt comfortable that they would complement his music perfectly. Having heard the album a number of time’s (see my review of the album on the Jazz In Europe website) I would have to agree.
Reaching Further, The EP.
In March this year Christian performed at the Bluewhale in Los Angeles. This concert was recorded live and three of the tracks recorded here were combined with two previously unreleased tracks from the Reach album to form the EP “Reaching Further’. The EP is a digital-only release and was released on May 18, 2018 via Mack Avenue Records. The EP serves as a natural platform to showcase his live performances, as well as a glimpse into what is to come with the scheduled release of a new Full length album for the fall. The live tracks feature material from the Reach Album however you can hear the process of evolution within the material. Sands said “People react to different things musically in a live setting, and that influenced how we play these songs. But for us, mainly there are more chord changes now,” laughs Sands. “We’ve added different pulses and more grooves after playing in Europe and the United States.” For those that have not yet experienced Christian and his trio live, a series of videos from the Bluewhale recordings have recently been added to the Mack Avenue YouTube channel.
Erroll Garner
In addition to maintaining a tight recording and touring schedule Christian has shown his hand
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as a producer with the Erroll Garner Jazz Project, producing the upcoming never-before-heard live album Erroll Garner titled “Nightconcert.” The album is a continuation of the work Sands has done with the late and deeply lamented Geri Allen, to ensure Garner’s legacy is never forgotten. “Geri was one of my teachers. I was studying with her during the same time I was studying with Dr. Billy Taylor. To watch her vision was incredible. When she introduced me to the Erroll Garner Jazz Project, I discovered the deeper idea of Erroll: his time, his phrases,” recalls Sands. “Being the Creative Ambassador to the Erroll Garner Jazz Project is a true honour and to be able to produce this record is something extremely heavy, yet humbling.”
Touring.
Since the release of Reach in early 2017, Christian has maintained a heavy touring schedule. In October of 2017 he embarked on his first major tour of Europe as a leader hitting almost every major venue on the European circuit and in almost all cases playing to packed houses. Back on home ground, April saw Christian continue his busy live schedule with Club and Festival dates on both the east and west cost. This coming June he has a number of major engagements including the Rochester Jazz Festival, a two night stint at New York’s premier venue “Dizzy’s Coca Cola Club’ at the Lincoln Centre and an appearance at the Festival International de Jazz De Montreal. After this the band heads for Europe once again to perform a series of club dates and festival appearances at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Festival in Spain and the Jazz à Vienne Festival in France. We finished up the interview with the question “What’s next for Christian Sands?” He answered “Well, more touring! After I get back from Europe I’ll be doing more shows in the States. and I have a couple of projects I’m working on with other artists. I can’t say who just yet but it’s going to be really exciting once you find out. I guess we’ve got a whole bunch of stuff going on.” With that said, I would have to agree, Christian Sands has a lot going on.
Further Information: Christian Sands Website: www.christiansandsjazz.com Mack Avenue Webste: www.mackavenue.com
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Christian Sands Trio | Live at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club - London Oct 2017 - © Carl Hyde.
REGGIE WASHINGTON RAINBOW SHADOWVOL 2
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A LOT OF LOVE, LIVE Reggie Washington 2006
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ZURICH JAZZ ORCHESTRA
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"The Zurich Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Steffen Schorn, knows all about the traditions of its genre, but it prefers to look ahead. As a result, the new album Three Pictures is not only daring, but also innovative." - Schweizer Musikzeitung “One of the most innovative and relevant line-ups in a European big band scene that’s hungry for more.” - Manfred Papst Neue Zurcher Zeitung
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PHOTO FEATURE
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From Behind The Lens
CARL HYDE
London’s Premier Jazz Photographer Feature by Erminia Yardley All photos by Carl Hyde
Carl Hyde’s photographs exude musicality, freedom, beauty and an unparalleled love for jazz. Being interested in photography myself, when I came across Carl’s pictures, I found them very refreshing. There is humanity behind the glossy façade which makes them so much more than just photographs! We meet at the small but perfectly formed studio that Carl owns in South-East London to talk jazz and, of course, photography. Photo: Dee Dee Bridgewater © Carl Hyde
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I
n a space surrounded by beautiful photos of landscapes and portraits, Carl tells me he was 8 when he first picked up a camera his parents had bought him for a school trip, a 110 compact camera which he still owns, and which I am told is very retro these days! The photos taken by Carl at the time were very ropey, he says chuckling, mainly because there were about 250 of them just depicting ducks!
Having worked so far for 4 years as the photographer at the epic Ronnie Scott’s jazz club, I want to ask Carl a tricky question and in particular on how he has managed (or not) to tackle “difficult” musicians to date. He replies in a very chilled manner and tells me he has not had a tricky “customer” so far, but everyone is different and, if he has learnt something, then that is that sometimes a mere look can tell all…
That trip and the use of his camera were to get Carl into the world of photography at a very early age, but that love of the unusual and natural would also give him a much bigger vision of what he wanted to become.
In such a competitive visual world, I want to hear from Carl how photographing jazz and its artists is seen by him, from behind his camera lens. This, I realize, is not an easy question for him, as he looks and ponders. Is it mainly a black and white or a colour picture he sees?
Fast forward a few years, Carl’s motivation at school was at an all time low: with very little interest in his school work and more interest in the world outside the windows of his 1960s brick built Comprehensive. In the distance, he would see the Docks and oil refineries of the industrial Essex which bordered the Thames estuary.
He explains he now sees that world in tones, different tonalities applying to different situations. It is never an easy, straightforward task as he tends to “slip into a zone” and does not talk to anyone to be able to grasp the spirit of the performance. He continues saying “it is never a plain, simple shot. Light and shade: it’s all a balancing act”.
“it is never a plain, simple shot. Light and shade: it’s all a balancing act”
Carl found a kindred spirit in one of his school teachers, Mr Warne (who taught photography). All other subjects seemed to vanish as he would spend endless hours in the darkroom, headphones on listening to jazz and soul, whilst mastering the developing techniques. On talking photographic skills, I ask Carl a question that’s been on my mind for a while so I put to him how people react when he decides to take pictures of them in the street. He says that this is best done with his camera phone which becomes less intrusive and that, to date, he has not been tackled by anyone yet, but “hey, you never know…” (he chuckles). This leads me to discuss with him what his favourite camera is and why. This, he replies without hesitation and says that his Canon is his “work horse” in both film and digital versions. The film camera dates back to the 1980s when he first discovers photography and music, listening to artists like Wilton Felder and Grover Washington Jr. A few years later, Carl picked up a copy of Miles Davis’s “Around Midnight” and that was the start of a beautiful relationship, the one with jazz music.
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A question de rigueur at this point of the interview is to ask whom his jazz idols are. Carl’s face turns to a very serious expression. His idols are far too many so, he asks, where to start?? From John Coltrane to Miles Davis to Lee Morgan to Steve Williamson or contemporaries like Erza Collective, Binker & Moses, Blue Lab Beats or some incredibly talented “cats” like Leo Richardson, Freddie Gavita and Mark Kavuma to name but a few. The list, Carl says, is too long. Looking around at the pictures adorning his studio walls, I notice some striking landscape photos which leads me to ask Carl how a professional like him deals with relaxation and what, in reality, is the hardest part of his job. He delivers a truthful answer: the hours can be the hardest part as well as the lack of sleep, but then “dropping the needle onto a great vinyl together with a glass of wine (preferably Italian)” or a “bracing seascape” would make him feel human again.
Dr Lonnie Smith © Carl Hyde 22. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
Hugh Masekela Š Carl Hyde 23. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
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Oslo Jazz Orchestra © Carl Hyde 25. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
Kenny Garret © Carl Hyde 26. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
Bill Laurance © Carl Hyde 27. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
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Courtney Pine © Carl Hyde 29. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
Marcus Strickland © Carl Hyde 30. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
ARTICLE
Photo © Pablo Faccinetto
ST E F F E N S C H O R N
Zurich Jazz O r c h e s t r a “Three Pictures”
Formed in 1995 the Zurich Jazz Orchestra has rightly earned it’s place amounst Europe’s top professional Big Bands. From it’s humble beginnings as a rehearsal band and forum for local composers and arrangers the band has constantly evolved over it’s 23 year history. After seven years as a musical director, Rainer Tempel left the ZJO in April 2013 giving way for the current artistic director Steffen Schorn to take the reigns. Steffen’s first concerts as conductor took place in September 2014 at the Zurich Film Festival and the festival Jazznojazz with drummer Jojo Mayer. Since this time Steffen has led the band at countless concerts both in their home base of Zurich (Switzerland) and internationally. 31. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
n 2017 the band entered the studio to record their forth album and the first under direction Steffen Schorn titled “Three Pictures” (Mons Records). The album was released in April of this year. With this in Mind, we thought it about time to take a closer look at the Zurich Jazz Orchestra and have a chat with artistic director Steffen Schorn. Steffen is no stranger to the European Big Band scene having played with almost all of the northern European professional ensembles. He grew up playing with symphonic wind orchestras in Germany as well as cutting his teeth with the Federal Youth Symphony Orchestra of Germany. Steffen recounts his love of jazz and in particular Big Band music came from his father. He recalls his introduction to Duke Ellington came via a cassette tape his father made of a radio broadcast of the Duke Ellington Orchestra live in Zurich. “This cassette tape with “Sophisticated Lady”, “El Gato”, “The Mooche” etc, stayed with me during my childhood until it was completely destroyed…” said Steffen. Steffen’s family came from the former East German DDR. He told me that he regularly visited his aunt and grandparents in the east and at that
time it was compulsory to exchange 25 Deutsche Marks into East German currency each day as a condition of entry. The interesting thing was that in the DDR there was almost nothing to spend it on except for LP’s. “I bought a lot of records with Big Band music, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, but also symphonic music with eastern European composers as Glinka, Borodin, Tschaikosky, Stravinsky and Bartók.” he went on to say. These wide ranging influences from his youth can still today to be heard in his compositions and arrangements. Speaking of influences, I pointed out that this year marks sixty years since the seminal recording of Miles Davis with the Gil Evans orchestra’s take on Gershwin’s “Porgy & Bess”. I asked Steffen what impact Gil Evans orchestrations had on his development as a composer and arranger. He said “Of course those legendary recordings make a lot of impact on me! Gil´s writing is so spiritual, colorful, structured and yet unpredictable and always directly from the heart.” He went on to recall an interesting anecdote from his student days: “I clearly remember the moment as a student when I was experimenting with some self-
Photo © Pablo Faccinetto
I
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constructed exotic scales and see what sounds I can get out of them. One example was a scale where I had an E, F, and F#, so I constructed an orchestral spread voicing that I thought could sound hip. At that time I had no possibility to try it out, and of course this “cluster” was kind of “forbidden” according to traditional arranging rules. In the same period I transcribed “The Duke” from the LP “Miles Ahead” and found out, that Gil Evans had used the same “forbidden” voicing already 50 years ago! - That really gave me a huge kick to move on.”
it added to the “alertness of the moment..” With the new album, the first under Schorn’s leadership, he said “I wanted to present the orchestra with a program that highlighted all the stylistic variety, the ensemble sound and the great soloistic interactions we’ve developed over the years. From my side as composer/arranger I wanted to present different approaches to composing for large jazz orchestra however at the same time try to create an “own” sound that is consistent throughout the recording.” Having heard the album I can say the band have certainly achieved this.
We went on to discuss the new album “Three Pictures”. During his first three seasons as musical director, Schorn delivered over 70 different arrangements. Each concert had a complete new program and Steffen admits that this had been extremely demanding, adventurous and at times left the band a little under-rehearsed. He went on to say that the positive side of this was
The album is very diverse with tracks ranging in mood from frantic to serene. I asked Steffen to expand a little and provide us with some more detail about the compositions and his approach to the arrangements. He began by speaking about the title track “Three Pictures”:
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“Three Pictures”, is the newest of 10 suites I have
Photo © Pablo Faccinetto written for jazz orchestra. The composition is entirely written in one 9-tone-mode: “F-Monster” (because of the monstrous harmonic possibilities). This creates a variety of inner pictures, moods, emotional states-of mind. I like to think as a painter or sculptor who works with light, shadow, depth, shape of lines, proportions to produce a structured consistency of material. It´s not a sonification of existing pictures. For example, the opening sequence of the first movement is orchestrated with Alto Clarinet and C-melody Sax as lead voices, blended together with a section of alto flute, low clarinets, muted brass and carefully voiced rhythm section instruments. I love to create this special exotic warm colour, that is at the same time complex and dense but transparent, shining in a mystic light.” Contrasting the two longer suites on the album, “Three Pictures” and “Africa” is the track “Der Wildbotz”. I mentioned above that the album
invokes a full range of moods and this track is what I had in mind when I used the term “frantic”. The track appears in two versions on the album so I was keen to know more. Steffen said the tracks “Der Wildbotz are a roaring groove based on a riff in 13/4 meter (4 x 11/16 + 2/4), featuring two contrabass clarinets at the low end. When I entered the studio the rhythm section was extremely well prepared and went “nuts” on jamming over the complex layers of the groove, so I decided to record a 2nd version with solos of all 4 trombones, 2 contrabass clarinets and the drums.” Steffen went on speaking in great detail about the music on the album and what becomes clear is that this album has been thought about in great detail. While definitely not a “program” or “concept” album it does have a thematic red line throughout. Steffen stated above that he wanted to create an “own” sound and that he has.
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We then moved on to discuss the current state of Jazz. With the art-form in a state of perpetual evolution I’m interested to hear my interviewee’s thoughts are on the subject. Steffen said’ “Of course its hard to predict where music and society will go. Jazz has always been a melting pot, merging influences of different cultures. Some people say there´s nothing more to explore in Jazz, everything has allready been said in the past. I don´t think that way. I think there´s still a lot to explore, on all levels. Jazz has reflected different sides of society throughout its existance: dance music, fight for freedom and liberation, opposition and the list goes on. The Internet has given us a huge opportunity to become more globally connected, the challenge for the art form is how we can honour the heritage of different cultures and combine these into a new entity, a greater one without loosing the cultural treasures of the different traditions?” We ended our discussion there leaving me with the firm opinion that the Zurich Jazz Orchestra is not only in good hands and it truly deserving of it’s reputation as one of Europe’s top jazz ensembles. If you’re unaware of the orchestra I recommend checking out the “Three Pictures” album released on Mons Records and available in all the usual places. In addition a quick google search will lead you to some of the video’s on YouTube.
Photo © Pablo Faccinetto
Text by; Jan Veldman Photos by: Pablo Faccinetto
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Photo © David Crunelle
INTERVIEW
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December 2017 saw the release of Reggie Washington’s new album “Rainbow Shadow – Vol2”. This album is the second in a series that pays tribute to the late and great Jef Lee Johnson and features Marvin Sewell - Guitar, DJ Grazzhoppa - Turntables and Patrick Dorcean on Drums. Since the release of the album Reggie has been touring constantly and not inclined to rest on his laurels, last month he once again entered the studio to record an album with Bobby Sparks, E.J Strickland, and Brussels based saxaphone player Fabrice Alleman.
Photo © David Crunelle
Bassist Reggie Washington was a key participant in the Modern Jazz revolution of the 80’s and 90’s. His list of credits include touring, recording and performing with musicians as Steve Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Chico Hamilton, Oliver Lake, Cassandra Wilson and Lester Bowie to name just a few. He has been described as a versatile, 360-degree jazz musician who is equally at home in the Funk, R&B, Blues world. Reggie has a natural and contagious energy, and his bass lines are both sophisticated and explicit.
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Photo © David Crunelle Recently I had the pleasure of speaking to Reggie to discuss the new album, his work as a sideman and his view of the state of Jazz in 2018. Andrew Read: Reggie thanks for talking with us. You grew up in New York City in the 1970’s and 80’s. Both you and your older brother Kenny ended up professional jazz musicians. Tell us a little about those early days and the road that led you to your profession?
My father Charles had an extreme love and passion for music and passed it on to his children. He had a hi-end stereo system and over 3,000 albums and reel-to-reel tapes ranging from jazz, blues, R&B, classical, gospel & big band. My brother still has those same records along with more than 350,000 other albums, CD’s and audio media. We also had access to instruments, sheet music & big band charts when my father helped form the Staten Island Music Workshop during the 70’s.
Reggie Washington: First off; along with my brother Kenny, my sister Yvette (who’s the better musician of the three of us) is an excellent violinist/violist and a teacher of stringed instruments with 30+ years tenure at a prestigious Academy in New York. All 3 of us were immersed in all genres of music everyday!
He would bring professional musicians to Staten Island to work with and help the “local young musical talent”. My Dad had musicians like Reggie Workman, Jimmy Knepper, Jimmy Owens & Dizzy Gillespie come to the house to hang out, listen to records and tell stories while eating my Mom’s home cooking! Kenny & I were able to sit “up close” and observe the Thad Jones & Mel
“My Dad had musicians like Reggie Workman, Jimmy Knepper, Jimmy Owens & Dizzy Gillespie come to the house to hang out, listen to records and tell stories while eating my Mom’s home cooking! “
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AR: Wow, what an amazing thing to be exposed to at such a young age. It’s not often one can say they’ve had the likes of Dizzy and Reggie Workman round for dinner. Even though you were quite young do you have any specific memories of those visits?” RW: One of my earliest memories is of Reggie Workman coming to the house (in ‘68 or ‘69) and he had his acoustic bass with him. He stood it up near the front door against the record closet. The two things that stuck in my head was seeing an acoustic bass for the first time and the guy holding it was also called Reggie! He called me “Namesake” and he still calls me that to this day when I see him. My Dad liked to show off his record collection and play records, drink, eat and talk crap into the early morning hours. Things often got really loud after my parents sent me and my sister to bed. I think about it now and flip out because at that time Reggie was playing with John Coltrane!
I also remember attending a concert around 1970 (not sure of the year) at Wagner College in Staten Island that my Dad put together with Dizzy Gillespie guesting with the Staten Island Music Workshop. We were backstage and my Dad was as always singing the praises of his kids to Dizzy! He said to him; “My little son here loves your tunes, especially The Land of Ooo-bla-dee” (sung by Joe Carroll). Go ahead and sing it for Dizzy!” I was petrified when he asked me to sing that song, I knew it up and down...true but sing it for Dizzy Gillespie ???? The look on my father’s face was; “don’t you embarrass me boy”! I felt a lot better when Dizzy’s facial expressions changed from skepticism to amazement when I sang through all the lyrics to his trumpet solo...and sang that too! My father was gushing with pride! AR: In the early 1980s you joined Chico Hamilton’s band where you stayed for most of that decade. Was this your first major gig and how did working with Chico impact your development as a musician and in particular as a bassist.
Photo © David Crunelle
Lewis Orchestra concerts every week during the Summer of ‘72 and ‘73! A whole lot to take in for a 10 year-old boy but what a great experience it was!
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RW: It was at the beginning of a lot of things for me. I was trying to grow into a professional musician at the time. I was SO NEW!! Saxophonist John Purcell recommended me for Chico’s gig. Chico was a genius, an innovator and a mentor to the Cats in the band. He not only impacted my bass playing stamina through kicking my butt night after night, he encouraged composing and arranging in the band. He also played a part in my development as a young black man travelling in the World! He taught me to be open and respectful of other cultures & people. He taught all of us in that quartet (Cary DeNigris, Eric Person and myself) through example how we need to respect ourselves and to let us know what our mission was as a musician and where it can take us! His teachings are practiced every time I hit the bandstand. AR: As a sideman you have an impressive list of credits. It wasn’t until 2006 that you released your first album as a leader, what led to this change of focus and what do you feel are the main differences between being a hired member of the rhythm section and the responsibility of being a band leader.
Photo © David Crunelle
RW: In 2005, I found somebody who believed in “Me” a lot more than I ever could! Stefany Calembert-Washington (my wife/manager) gave me a much needed “push” to be a leader. It was my musical challenge. I’ve helped support some great ensembles from the bass chair over the last 30 years so it was about time I started one of my own. That’s when I started playing trio with Ravi Coltrane & Gene Lake! One of my favorite albums is “Freedom Suites” by Sonny Rollins! I wanted that kind of space, fire and sensibility that Sonny had with Oscar Pettiford & Max Roach! From there, I just stayed humble to the music continuing to learn, grow and develop as an artist.
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AR. Although I don’t want to dwell on your work as a side-man, I would like to ask you about one association in particular. You worked with Branford Marsalis’s 90’s jazz/hip-hop/rock group Buckshot LeFonque where you toured with the band on their first tour and appeared on the second album Music Evolution. At that time Buckshot LeFonque was seen as a ground breaking ensemble fusing jazz and HipHop. I hear some of these elements in your recent work. Is there a connection? RW: Definitely! I had a great time with Bran and crew giving me an opportunity to get my doubling (acoustic & electric bass)
Also, over the past 20 years other bands were born from Buckshot like Roy Hargrove & RH Factor who later influenced Snarky Puppy. Ever since meeting DJ Apollo Novicio in Buckshot, I wanted to incorporate a DJ into one of my bands! I finally did it in my “Music of the Phrase” project with guitarist Jef Lee Johnson and my Belgian family drummer: Patrick Dorcéan & DJ Grazzhoppa in 2008 and 2009.
AR: Let’s move on to your work as a leader. Your last CD “Rainbow Shadow” was a tribute to the late and great Jef Lee Johnson. Jef was a truly amazing musician and I see he appeared on your 2012 album Freedom. I’d be interested to hear the back story for the project. Simply, I wanted to continue Jef Lee Johnson’s musical message. I’ve been a fan since we met in 1986! Sometimes the industry “validates” or gives praise to one artist and gives another artist who’s just as talented/gifted no respect or praise at all! To me; Jef was one of those talents not to get the “dapp” he well deserved!
Photo © Jos Knaepen
chops together at a high musical level. That group was one of the first who legitimately could go from playing Jazz to Hip-Hop/Funk... FOR REAL!!
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AR: The follow up album for Rainbow Shadow aptly titled “Rainbow Shadow – Vol2” was released in December 2017. How does this album relate to the last one? RW: I tried to do the same thing Jef was doing with his recordings. I wanted it to be a continuation of the 1st CD with a story to tell. There’s been an upward evolution in the band and the concept. More use of Jef (via samples) by Grazzhoppa and me embracing the role of lead vocalist in the music! It’s a new and interesting challenge for me as a leader and it makes me very excited about Volume #2!
Photo © David Crunelle
The original core band of myself on basses & vocals, Marvin Sewell on an assortment of guitars (acoustic, electric, dobro, resonator), DJ Grazzhoppa on turntables and holding it down Patrick Dorcéan on drums is there. I asked some more friends of Jef’s and lovers of his music to be guests on Volume #2 such as; guitarists Ronny Drayton, Jimi Hazel & Hervé Samb, keyboardist Federico Gonzalez-Peña, vocalist Monique Harcum, spoken word artist Tiboo and saxophonist John Massa!
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AR: Recently you played a few dates in Paris and at the “Like A Jazzmachine 2018” festival in, Luxembourg with Fabrice Alleman, Bobby Sparks and drummer E.J. Strickland. After these dates you went into the studio. Can you tell us a little about this project.
I’m calling this project Vintage New Acoustic. I’ve wanted to do an “acoustic bass driven” project for a while, but with the death of Jef Lee Johnson; “Rainbow Shadow Volumes 1 and 2” took my attention. Last month, the good folks at “Like A Jazz Machine” Festival in Luxembourg gave me a great opportunity to realise this side of my bass playing; my “Acoustic Side”! Recently I was on a jazz trio tour with legendary drummer Mike Clark & saxophonist Rick Margitza and it opened up my mind & soul to re-explore some favourite standards of mine and the band; Bobby Ray Sparks (keyboards, acoustic piano), Fabrice Alleman (tenor & soprano sax), E.J. Strickland (drums).
RW: I think the state of jazz and in general music today is at a crossroad. If we continue to do nothing to uplift it, there will be nothing of quality to give to the next generation! Artists need to know they have more of a responsibility to their listeners. Music can send a positive message to a lot of people quickly! Music heals the soul and I’m planning to heal as many souls as I can! We need to use this musical power to strengthen our global society and make this World a better place for our children. I personally want to bring the music to another level upward, like my forefathers did and pass on the torch as they did with me.
I wanted to stay righteous to the legends I’ve shared the stage with (Chico Hamilton, Archie Shepp, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake, etc.) and also inject some new life into the tunes, mostly all acoustic bass driven. We recorded the quartet for 3 days in Marseille, France at Da Town Studio with Ulrich Edorh engineering. He also engineered Rainbow Shadow Vol. #2. Stay tuned for “Vintage New Acoustic”. AR: Recently I’ve been asking many of the musicians I interview a standard question that, at times, tends to provoke some controversial answers. So here we go, What is your opinion of the state of jazz today?
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O Photo © David J. Simchock
INTERVIEW
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O Ola Onabulé
Taking on the world, on his own terms. Text By: Nigel J. Farmer
Ola Onabulé is an artist with a strong, loyal and consistently growing fan base. This isn’t just because of his musical prowess, beautifully crafted lyrics and the powerful impact of his live performances. It includes his attention to detail, producing a constant range of high quality albums which is the norm for this wonderful, friendly, gracious man. It’s also the fact that Ola’s authenticity makes him truly stand out from the crowd. All of this is achieved by Ola and a small core of dedicated industry professionals who firmly believe that the art form of great music comes first.
O
la Onabulé is already well established in Europe. Performing in many of the current premier jazz festivals, including the renowned Umbria jazz festival in Italy. Ola is also making a name and building an international fan base with recent visits to Mexico, performing and holding workshops. Returning to the United States in 2018, once again performing at festivals and multiple gigs dates in intimate and large Jazz venues. Recently I had the chance to chat with Ola while he took time out from a busy travel schedule, going back to work on his next album and before his return trip to North America. I was particularly interested to ask him how important the North American market was for his continued growth as an artist? “Oh, incredibly important. It is still amongst the largest, most inventive and vibrant arenas for
contemporary music. America has so much music to gift the world and I consider myself a proud beneficiary of her gift. To have access to the American market is to have access to the world commercially, but for me there is a powerful artistic incentive to seek a relationship with America as well. I love the beautiful irony of art forms that have powerful groups in Africa, making the trip, in reverse, back from America to the continent from which they started a millennium earlier as rhythms heavy ceremonial incantations and praise songs. Especially in the middle part of the 20th century, when Jazz, Rhythm ‘n’ Blues and Gospel were mixing with traditional African genres to create new art forms that would go on to become classics in their own right such as Highlife Jazz, Township Jazz, Afro-beat and Juju music. I, in turn, experiment with these postmodern African hybrids, fusing them with my love
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Photo © Fabrizio Troccoli 48. | Jazz In Europe - Summer 2018
of modern Jazz and Neo-Soul, using them to express my complex identity. So, naturally when the work is done I am very curious to discover what Americans make of this constant crossfertilisation of our shared heritage.” As I said earlier Ola seems to happily switch as a performing artist between large international stages and small intimate jazz clubs. I asked Ola how he adapted his performances to suit each setting? “Learning how to “finesse the room” – as I have heard some of the old school musicians call it – This is a skill one just has to learn to know ones musical journey. Playing wall to wall, loud or overly energetic songs in a small intimate room to an audience of 150 people can be just as awkward as playing an entire set of elegiac dirges to a diverse outdoor summer festival ground. I’ve learnt these lessons over a long period of time by trial and error – from back in the day when I used to play solo guitar and voice gigs in jazz bars all the way to playing cavernous yet prestigious venues like the Royal Albert Hall – and I continue to learn with every gig. It’s a work in progress.” Ola’s studio was full of fascinating and high quality music equipment. Ola is endorsed by Sennheiser and ACS Custom equipment. I wondered how important this equipment was to him both as a musician and a producer. “Oh very important, on stage, singers don’t have instruments and the attendant gear to lug around but they do need microphones to sing into and monitors to ensure they can hear themselves clearly. I am incredibly lucky that for many years I have had the support of arguably the two best companies in these respective fields. I use a Neumann KMS105 mic on stage; it is remarkable for the fact that it produces a studio quality sound on stage and is particularly suited to my vocal range and style which involves a lot of scatting and experimental vocalese. In the studio, I rely heavily and exclusively on Neumann Microphones for my recordings. I record mainly acoustic instruments in my own facility and the addition of the schools just raises my game stratospherically! It means I increase my chances of creating albums that sound like they belong on the world stage. My ACS in-ear-monitors were introduced to me by the incomparable Andy Shiach, (CEO of the company). They are the closest guarantee I have of an infallible monitor sound on stage and I am totally and
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utterly addicted to them. Finally and undeniably, my association with companies like Sennheiser, Neumann and ACS also serve as a statement of intent that I want to strive to write the best albums I possibly can, not just artistically, but technically as well.” So with that said I had to ask more about Ola’s new album. I asked him if he could tell me something of the concept, the line-up, material etc. “Yes, I’d love to! I am so excited about this next project. It’s something of a concept album in that it entirely made up of songs that each tell a different aspect of a powerful life altering story. They are all thinly veiled allegories based around imagined events in an imaginary place in an imagined time but designed such that they should
Photo © Kurt Rade
have powerful resonances of specific events happening around us now, in our world. Events which we have all witnessed on the news, on social media and for some of us in our personal lives. It’s not an album full of benign love songs, I’ll get to writing those when I’m old and maudlin. For now, I am in a mood to prod and provoke a little. The subject matter really lit up my neurons because I had so many ideas for songs right from the get go, there were snatches of melodies sung onto my phone in the bath, at train stations, in the bathroom and anywhere else that the muse arrested my attention. I scribbled dozens of isolated lines of lyrics on of scraps of paper, defacing books and magazines and envelopes and other odds and ends. I ended up fully fleshing out about 30 songs and then becoming fully aware that I couldn’t indeed put that many songs on an album, I whittled them down to 15 tunes.
We’ll see... I intend to start recording once I get back from my next bout of US gigs. I’ll be reunited in the studio with the seriously hefty talents of London players like John Parricelli, Jack Pollitt and Femi Temowo in addition to the amazing gentlemen from my touring band including John Crawford, Guillermo Hill, Chris Nickolls, Will Fry and Phil Mulford who has appeared on more of my work than any other musician. There will also be a couple of guest solos who I can’t name yet as they are not yet fully confirmed. A lot of stars have aligned to make this album happen, it will undoubtedly be my most well recorded batch so far. Most inspiringly, I am getting fabulous support from the makers of the most sought after and admired microphones in the world Neumann of Germany to make this album a reality. This is an amazing power
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and wish to have been granted. My recording passion is to capture the performances of the best musicians in an acoustically gorgeous environment being captured by the most exceptionally well crafted microphones possible. That dream becomes more real than ever for this next album thanks to Neumann and as they tend to specialise in capacitor microphones, their parent company, Sennheisser have stepped in to make sure I have all the dynamic microphones I
Photo © Jasmin Hilger
need to record guitar and upright bass, as well as some aspects of the drum kit, i.e. the snare and rack toms. In addition, Reference Laboratory of Italy have provided me with their premium quality audio cables for connecting the microphones to my recorder and the Hazelrigg Brothers from the USA who build Mic Preamps to highest possible standards are letting me borrow one of their gorgeous devices to record my voice. I’ll be monitoring my vocal recording sessions with a newly developed In-Ear-Monitoring system from ACS Custom in the UK.” Ola Onabulé exudes quiet gentlemanly confidence, and this includes taking on multiple production roles; producer, recording engineer
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and performer. I asked Ola if he felt this approach gave him a more consistent product result. Plus was he ever concerned that playing all these roles can be distracting? “Well, the recording studio is the environment I am most familiar with and relaxed in. My inner geek takes flight in a confluence of tech and creative harmony! I got into recording right from the onset of my career as a singer songwriter, fascinated by the autonomy it afforded me. That I could write what I wanted when I wanted, then record it as I imagined it before it was subjected to record company focus groups of yesteryears was a blessing unparalleled. First I got a 4 track recorder, then an 8 track and on and on until I built my first home studio almost 2 decades ago. Now, four self-built project studios later, the process of taking a song from inception to detailed demo, and finally to professionally recorded conclusion, is for me, a seamless one. Part of a singular process. I start to hear what the finished version of a song and what it’s production will sound like as I’m writing it, sometimes down to the most acute detail such as what specific snare drum I’d like the drummer to play on a particular track and what microphone will best capture that sound. The real moment of letting go takes place once I have introduced the band to the song. I am lucky enough to work with musicians who have boundless talent and professional experience. They understand the shorthand of my demos and they quickly enhance and embellish them till they become what we hear on my albums. I relinquish mastering and mixing to the professionals as I have usually lost all objectivity about the tracks by the time I’m done with the tracking process.” I am in no doubt that Ola Onabulé is humble enough to strive for life-long artistic learning and is fully cognisant that his music helps him to express his continued fascination of what life offers. In Ola’s own words he says; “The eternal quest has always been to keep the old flame lit whilst starting new fires further afield.” I am sure his latest album will be well received by both existing and new fans, contributing to his continued success.
“[..] Vocalist Rebecca Angel whose pristine vocals are elegant and combined with an intoxicating tone and impeccable phrasing” - Brent Black, of Criticaljazz
NEW EP NOW AVAILABLE
w w w. re b e cc a a n g e l. n e t
Al s o Ava i l a b l e :
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www.jasonmilesmusic.com
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New Releases PAUL HELLER meets ROMAN SCHWALLER
Paul Heller & Romas Schwaller – tenor saxes, Martin Sasse – piano, Thomas Stabenow – bass, Nicklas Walter – drums
“This music touches me deeply! It has many moods and it reminds me of the two tenor groups from the past: The two Franks (Frank Foster & Frank Wess) or earlier the String & the Jug (Sonny SSS & Gene Ammons). I can hear the brotherly passion.” – Jimmy Heath SEE PAUL HELLER LIVE AT THE STADTGARTEN, KÖLN 07 Oct: Paul Heller’s "Next Level Jazz All Star Big Band“ feat. Anat Cohen 18 Nov: Paul Heller feat. Michael Sagmeister & Christoph Spendel, Thomas Heidepriem, Michael Küüner 16 Dec: Paul Heller feat. Wolfgang Haffner, Hubert Nuss, Ingmar Heller www.paul-heller.com
DENIS GÄBEL The Good Spirits
MIRIAM AST & VICTOR GUTIERREZ
PETER HEDRICH - New Hope feat. JIGGS WHIGHAM
“The Good Spirits serves as a proper introduccon to the tranquil coolness and carefree sounds of Gäbel and his merry band of American struuers.” – Ken Micallef, Downbeat,
“Secret Songs” is a special colleccon of original tunes and arrangements of jazz standards
“A unique tribute to the great master Jiggs Whigham, played and expanded by a rising star on the trombone.”
LIVE DATES 05 July: Sommernachtjazz, Mainz 06 July: Absolventenkonzert des Cusanuswerks, Bonn 16 Sept Omnibus Theatre, Clapham London
www.peterhedrich.de
“An early candidate for any best-of 2018 list.“ - Hans-Bernd Kiilaus, JazzPodium www.denisgaebel.com
www.miriamast.com
www.monsrecords.de
