| news from paris no.3 |
|
 Karl Jannuska is an incredible drummer. I am lucky enough to have several projects with Karl, who is also a good friend of mine, together with his Parisian family. Karl is an extremely intuitive and musical player with vast imagination and creativity and endless inspiration. As a result he is very much in demand here in Paris and also in Canada, where he is from. He grooves and swings and plays in and out - he's just great - I don’t know what to say... He now has 2 records out on the Canadian Effendi jazz label - the first one, "Liberating Vines", was fantastic, as is the recently released "Thinking in colors" - is a co-production between the French label "Cristal Records", "Effendi Records" and Karl himself. Not only is Karl a fantastic performer and accompanist, but also he is a great composer with a highly original style - these albums both feature only original material brilliantly played by other also brilliant musicians. Highly recommended!! It's available from the 25th on September. Here are some questions for Karl; 1) What/who are your main musical influences? To name a few... Elvin Jones, Philly Jo Jones, Paul Motian, Joey Baron, Jim Black, Frankie Dunlop, Bill Stewart, Brian Blade, Jeff Ballard (for the drummers). Deerhoof, Henryk Gorecki, Radiohead, Joel Miller, Bill Frisell, Nobukazu Takemura, Doudou N'Diaye Rose, Joni Mitchell, Thelonious Monk, Django Bates, Dave Douglas, Caetano Veloso (for other musical influences). I'm also inspired by my family and Manitoba (my home province in Canada that, the more time I spend away, the more I realize what an interesting place it is). 2) What frame of mind are you in when you are playing? How do you manage to keep up the intensity and variety in your playing with such mind blowing consistency? I try to stay as relaxed as possible when I play. It's not always easy especially if I don't feel I know the music well enough. I try to do some breathing exercises and light stretches before playing. Before a concert I also try to visualize myself playing great and having the sensation that the sticks feel light in my hands and that I'm in total control of the drums. In other words I try to fill my mind with positive thoughts. This is something that I learned about from a sports coach when I was 13 years old. The mental game of sports and music are very similar. I find that the ability to focus on the music comes from relaxation which, in turn, comes from breathing. That said, I don't find that I am always consistent. My goal is to improve my playing to where, even when I'm not "having a good night" it still sounds good! 3) What do you practice now? What did you used to practice - how have your habits changed? I practice very basic things like single and double stroke rolls. I practice fast tempos which is something that always stresses me out! I try to approach fast tempos like ballads and think of the tempo in whole notes. I'm starting to work on some rudimental studies for the snare drum from a book by Charlie Wilcoxen called "Modern Rudimental swing solos for the advanced drummer". Philly Jo Jones called this book his bible! I used to practice a lot playing along to recorded music when I first started. In university however my drum teacher had me working a lot out of a book called "Syncopation" by Ted Reed which was good for coordination and reading. I also worked on some transcriptions then which is something I haven't done for a while. In general I'm not a very focused practicer. Often I spend time just playing around and trying to come up with different grooves (that often become the basis on which some of my compositions are made). 4) What is your compositional process? Where do your rhythmical ideas come from? For composing, I like to start off by imaging a mood that I want to go for. Often I'll already have a title that's waiting for the song. Titles are very important to me and, as I mentioned, often procede the music. I try to find one key idea (either on the drums or on the piano) that will be manipulated to make a composition. The starting idea could be a drum groove, an interval, a chord, a bass line etc. In any case, there is one strong seed that the plant grows from. I try to let it develop as naturally as possible without letting thoughts like "it's not complicated enough..." get in the way! I find that by listening to lots of different styles of music and by being surrounded by creative musicians, I'm never at a shortage for ideas. 5) What drums and sticks are you using? Do you use any "unconventional" stuff too ? I have a set of Canwood drums. It's a Canadian company that doesn't exist anymore. I use Vic Firth sticks model SD10 "Swinger". I use a little bit of percussion too depending on the musical setting. I have a nice gong, some shakers, a tambourine and some bells. I also just bought a pandero and am trying to learn to play it. 6) What is your top musical experience memory? I have some great memories from gigs with Amy Gamlen! While I was in high school I had a chance to play with a professional musician much older than myself and I'll never forget the feeling that I was being transported by the music and that everything sounded good and that it wasn't possible to "make a mistake". I also have a fond memory of a concert with Sheila Jordan in Taiwan in a park with about 10 000 people in the crowd. It was Sheila's birthday and everyone sang happy birthday to her! Goosebumps just remembering it. As a spectator I'll never forget seeing Kurt Rosenwinkel, Seamus Blake and Jorge Rossy in a small club in Montreal. I was 17 and had never heard a concert that touched me so much. I couldn't sleep that night. More recently I saw Wayne Shorter and was really moved by the space, fluidity and pure beauty of their music. It's a true "group". 7) What CDs are on top of the pile at the moment for you? Nobukazu Takemura, "10th"; Deerhoof, "Friend Opportunity"; "Buur Xylophones" Music from Burkina Faso; Jack DeJohnette duo with Bill Frisell "The elephant sleeps but still remembers"; Brad Mehldau trio "Live at the Village Vanguard"; Joel Miller "Tantramar"; my new cd is also in the pile! I did a lot of recording this past year as a sideman with several groups so I spend lots of time listening to music I've recorded. 8) What do you know about the English scene? Not much I'm sad to admit. I'm a big Django Bates fan so I'm familiar with the musicians that play with him. I also like John Taylor. 9) What are your next musical projects going to be? A friend of mine from university, Sienna Dahlen, has written some lyrics for some of my songs and I'd like to record my music with her in the not-so-distant future. I have lots of music written that I'd like to record. At some point I'd like to do another cd with the band from my first cd. A great bunch of guys that I've known for a long time. I'd also like to collaborate with my friend Joel Miller. So many ideas, so little time/ money! 10) What question do wish I'd asked? Those are pretty good questions. I don't think anything is missing! You can hear more of Karl's music here: http://profile.myspace.com/karljannuska You can get hold of Karl's record here: www.cristalrecords.com www.fnac.fr The effendi website doesn't have anything yet about the new cd. Here's Karl's official bio: Born in Altona, Manitoba, Canada on December 31, 1975, Karl began playing the drums at the age of 7. As a teenager in Brandon, Manitoba, he studied with local drummer Doug Sullivan who introduced him to jazz and allowed the young drummer to sit in on his gigs. In 1993 Karl moved to Montreal where he attended McGill University and in 1997 completed a Bachelor of Music degree with High Distinction. While enrolled at McGill Karl studied with drummers Peter Magadini, Chris McCann and André White and composition with Jan Jarczyck, Kevin Dean and Joe Sullivan.
Receiving grants from the Canada and Quebec Arts councils in 1999, Karl moved to New York for nine months to study with drummer Tom Rainey. Karl has become one of the top call drummers in France since his move to Paris in 2001. At the age of 32, Karl has performed and/ or recorded with Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, Randy Brecker, Sheila Jordan, Louie Bellson, Dave Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kevin Hays, Ben Monder, Peter Bernstein, David Binney, Seamus Blake, Michel Donato, François Bourassa, François Théberge, Ingrid Jensen, David Linx, Stephane Belmondo, Laurent Coq, Jacky Terrason, François Moutin, Rick Margitza, Nicolas Folmer, David El Malek, Baptiste Trotignon, Sophie Alour, Niels Lan Doky, Paolo Fresu, Pierre DeBethmann, and Sara Lazarus. As a teacher, Karl has been on the teaching staff at the Jazz in Marciac workshop since 2005. He has been a jury member for the Conservatoire de Marseille and in 2007 gave masterclasses at the Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood (CMDL) and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSMDP) in Paris. Karl can be heard on over thirty recordings as a sideman. His first release as a leader, “Liberating Vines” (FND 042) received an Opus award for “Jazz and World Music Record of the Year”. In 2004 Karl’s composition “House of 100 Faces” was awarded the CBC Etoiles Galaxie prize for most original composition at the Montréal International Jazz Festival. His latest release (released in September 2008) “Thinking in Colours” is on the Effendi & Cristal record labels. |
| Next > |
|---|