Earconnector - jazz, new music and other urgent matters

Happy New Year everyone!

Two very interesting guitartists in Paris are Michael Felberbaum and Tam de Villiers. I asked them to interview each other.... But before that - a bit of background info:

MICHAEL FELBERBAUM has been in paris for er - 15 years? He has a rare and beautiful gift in that he really sounds himself - all the time ! Mike conjours up a bubble of his own world when he plays - every time - how does he do it? He's one on those players who can fully integrate himself into any group and get a whole and universal understanding of the music "message", and at the same time, always sound exactly like himself. He is instantly identifiable and an increadable player, composer and accompanyist.
Mike has 2 CDs out and they are both really great. Original compositions played by great musicians - I love it! The first one is called Sharp Water and is on Fresh Sound, the second one is called Sweet Salt and is on the Nocturne label. Mike also plays in lots of other peoples bands - I first heard him playing in Steve Pott's "Institute of Advanced Harmony" at the 7 Lézards Jazz Club. Since then I've continued to enjoy his playing emmensely.  He also makes excellent pasta sauce (see below) !

You can (and should - can I say that?) listen to some of Mike's records here:
LISTEN HERE : http://www.myspace.com/michaelfelberbaum
LISTEN HERE : http://michaelfelberbaum.com/
You can get Mike's records on amazon and itunes etc...

             

TAM DE VILLIERS has been in Paris for a couple of years and he's just released his first CD called Alba Lux and I really like it! I like the mystery in the tunes and structures which keep a strong identity despite being mysterious. This is very nice !  The music is very rich and quite complex melodically and rhythmically - it's played very musically by a great band ! Tam's influences are clear but he's not dipping his toes into shark infested waters of "sounds like". The tunes are very guitaristic which is an approach that gives a certain direction or liberty of intervalic movement that I find interesting and cool!
LISTEN HERE : http://www.myspace.com/tamdevilliers
You can get Tam's record on itunes and amazon etc....


      


MIKE INTERVIEWED BY TAM

Tam : What made you start playing ?

Mike : At school when i was eleven years old i walked into a classroom  where some older kids were
rehearsing. It was the first time i had ever seen electric guitars and drums played live and i was
awestruck! from that moment on i followed these kids everywhere  and  studied  them  closely. That’s
why i began smoking cigarettes and playing guitar.

Tam : What keeps you motivated ?

Mike : Cigarettes.  No…  actually it is the momentum of whatever i am writing  and/or practicing at any
given time  that keeps me motivated as well as the great musicians i work with and listen to. Motion
is key.

Tam : How do you approach free playing ?

Mike : If by « free » playing you mean no pre-determined form than i must say that i am not doing much of
this lately. Being truly free to me implies fluidity of energy  so that  thought, emotion  and action
occur simultaneously. Needless to say this is the goal of a lifetime and the moments when these three
elements are truly synchronised are brief but wonderful.

Tam : How do you approach changes playing ?

Mike : I practice playing/hearing the tunes i am writing and/or about to play on upcoming gigs . i apply in a
systematic way  intervallic/rhythmic motific ideas that i love the sound of  to changes and often
enough come up with compositional ideas which then create new excercises for me. I wish to keep a
close connection between my writing and improvising.

Tam : What pick do you use ?

Mike : excellent question!  I use a whale bone pick for electric guitar and a polar bear tooth  for acoustic
guitar (to get that extra bite!).

Tam : What do you think of the french jazz scene ?

Mike : There are some inspiring musicians in paris.  That’s enough for me.  New York still remains the
center of gravity.

Tam : Where do you see jazz music in 10 years time ? where do you see yourself  within that ?

Mike : The rapidly changing formats of recorded music as well as the way people listen to music will
definitely have an effect . The concept of a 50 to 70 minute cd will  disapear. As consumers buy
single tracks online there could be more of an emphasis put on extended compositions or on monthly
or even weekly releases of single tracks. This realtime élément might correspond  better to the
créative process  than the release of a cd every 2 years.


Tam : What or who are your main musical influences?

Mike : the first music that really touched me was the soundtrack to the 007 movie "goldfinger" especially
the title track sung by shirley bassey, this was quickly followed by "live and let die" and all the
subsequent james bond movies until at the age of 11 i discovered the beatles, then ac/dc, deep purple, led zep,
jimmy hendrix, BB king, bob marley, michael jackson .... i was not into jazz at all except for a cassette my dad gave
me of django reinhardt which i listened to a lot.

i really discovered jazz through coltrane's "interstellar space" duo with rashid ali.
the energy and focused abandon it radiated was pretty similar to jimi hendrix and other heavy rock
bands i was into. then it was "in a silent way" , "kind of blue" by miles
"blue train" and a "love supreme" by coltrane, john mclaughlin's shakti records, "colors of chloe" and
"fluid rustle"  by eberhardt weber.

there are two teachers that stand out: my high school music teacher roy zimmerman who is a
contemporary classical music composer with a very open mind and deep  knowledge. he was my
guide when i began playing at the age of 12. anthony michael peterson was my teacher when i lived
in boston. he was a very spiritual person and awakened me the basic essence of music in a very
precise way. he would also send me to sub for him on gigs he didn't feel like doing and then he'd sit
in the back and listen to me. next lesson would be based on what happened at the gig!

i had this steady gig in the house band at "wally's" in boston for two years . we would play a set and
then people would sit in. the horn players where kurtis rivers,
salim washington, roy hargrove, mark turner, antonio hart, frank lacey, seamus blake, sam newsome,
wynton marsalis and many others. i certainly did a lot of comping! i learned a lot about music and
also the history of jazz (one of the house drummers had played with bird in the same club years
earlier!)

Tam : What frame of mind are you in when you you are playing?

Mike : when it works well my mind is not the principal actor but it isn't switched off either.
it functions as a shepherd to my body and emotions.

Tam : What do you practice now? what did you use to  practice? how have your habits changed?

Mike : now i am working on arpeggios, diatonic fifth's and fourths applied to tunes i am writing/and or
playing.

until recently i never practiced and thought i would somehow become great through sheer desire.
now i know the truth!

Tam : What is your compositional process?

Mike : it is usually centered around the guitar and often evolves out of something i'm practicing. i am
fascinated by three and five bar phrases and i'm working on a modular concept where for example
the bassline can become a lead line while the melody becomes a bassline.

Tam : What are your next musical projects going to be?

Mike : i will  continue with the quartet from my last cd "sweetsalt" (fresh sound new talent) which is with
pierre de bethmann on piano and rhodes, bassist daryll hall and karl jannuska on drums. i also have
some gigs in february at the hot club in lyon with a different line-up: françois theberge on tenor sax,
olivier truchot on hammond B3 and drummer stef foucher. i'm excited to try this new formula!


Tam : Why is guitar so cool ?

Mike : It just is.




TAM INTERVIEWED BY MIKE

Mike : What/who are your main musical influences?

Tam : When I started out playing/learning jazz (around the age of 16), I was instantly attracted to the
more modern approach to guitar (post 70s generation). I guess that might be because my
parents used to listen to Weather Report, Frank Zappa, Santana and Wayne Shorter all the
time. So I started out seriously digging Pat Metheny (especially “Bright Size Life”) and John
Scofield (especially “Time on My Hands”). I never got too into the generation before with the
exception of Wes Montgomery whose phrasing and musicality is timeless. The next big wake
up call for me was when I discovered more recent contemporary players like Wayne Krantz,
Ben Monder and Marc Ducret. All three of which I would cite as very strong influences.
What frame of mind are you in when you are playing?
I try to get myself into a focused and concentrated mind frame. The common thing people say
is to be as relaxed as possible. However this is usually an impossibility for me as I often get
nervous and excited before I play – so I’ve learnt to kind of convert those nerves into a
positive energy source. The result of which is often that I play lots of stuff live that I wouldn’t
have done in a rehearsal situation, but sometimes the excitement can take the edge off the
precision in my playing. I’m still working on this – some people control this more naturally than
others – but I feel it takes most people a career of live performance to get the balance
excitement/relaxation/focus right.

Mike : What do you practice now? What did you used to practice - how have your habits changed?

Tam : At the moment I am working on my time feel – lots of metronome practice – really slow
tempos. I put the metronome ridiculously slow – like 20-30 bpm and try to divide that time
space into 1, 2, 3 or 4 bars of 4 (or sometimes 3, 5 or 7) whilst playing quavers, triplets, semiquavers,
quintuplets, sextuplets. Usually over a chord progression. Been trying this for the
last year or so – still can’t do it – so I’ll stick with it for now! Other than this I work a lot on my
tunes – usually they are too hard for me to play once I have written them, so I practice them
till I can play them fluidly. That way I use them as a kind of vehicle to improve certain areas of
my playing in a direction and style that I’m striving for. I always have spent more time working
on my own compositions than standards – I guess I should brush up on my standards playing
at some point!

Mike : What is your compositional process? Where do your harmonic/rhythmical/melodic ideas come from?

Tam : For me composition and general practice of improvisation is very much the same thing. Quite
often a new composition can be the result of me messing around with some new intervallic
patterns on a mode/ or noodling around trying to find nice lines with open strings on the
guitar. Hence most of my tunes are written very guitaristically – one day I will have to try to be
more diverse, but for now I’m not yet bored with this approach! I usually get an idea going on
the guitar and then write it down (often using a piece of software for musical notation so I can
listen back at any time). I extract bass lines and melody lines from what I was playing on the
guitar and arrange it for a group context. The stuff I write usually ends up being pretty
saturated harmonically and rhythmically and with contrapuntal elements between the bass
and melody. Actually I don’t really plan it out that way – I compose what I enjoy hearing and
what I find exciting – I know I have a tendency to go a little overboard while I’m writing so in
the back of my mind I keep telling myself – “careful – keep it melodic, keep it simple, can you
sing it?”. No matter how complicated it gets I really think if the end result doesn’t have a
melody or groove that touches you or grabs you – the composition is no more than an
exercise. In which case I ditch it. I don’t think about harmony while im writing (or at least very
little). I try to keep it abstract or a little unclear in my head until the final finishing moments
when I analyze it harmonically so that I can tie it all up neatly. It’s like discovering what was in
there all along – I think everyone has a hidden compositional voice in their head, but too
much knowledge of harmony and being formatted to write in 4/8 bar phrases can cloud this.
Although I don’t deny the fact that there are of course merits of trying to write something to a
preconceived rhythmical form or harmonic sequence at times.

Mike : What CDs are on top of the pile at the moment for you?

Tam : Recently I’ve been checking out one of Steve Lehman’s recent albums “On Meaning”, a friend
of mine’s album Paul Brousseau “Kolkhoze Printanium”, Human Feel “Galore”, Ben Monder’s
“Oceana”, and a great CD by David Sanchez done in 2000 “Melaza”.

Mike : What are your next musical projects going to be?

Tam : Other than of course trying to find more gigs with my main quartet project which has only just
started, I have recently recorded a demo with a new trio project with vibraphonist Illya Amar,
drummer Johan Guidou and myself. It’s called “Sloobiie” and all three of us write for it. It’s
kind of an eclectic mix of sounds ranging from nostalgic pop-ish melody, progressive rock,
impro jazz, and electronic sounds… We all tinker with synthesizers, effects and odds and
ends. At times I play bass lines with a heavily distorted octave pedal and other times the
drummer plays bass lines on a synth whilst thumping a beat with his remaining appendages!!
The sound of electric guitar in the high register with the vibraphone doubling the melody
works really well. Anyways – its an interesting project to write/play for – lets hope people will
find it equally so to listen to.

Mike : What made you start playing?

Tam : Listening to Nirvana “unplugged” when I was 15 made me pick up the guitar, then learning
blues solos by BB King and rock solos by Jimi Hendrix got me into improvisation and then I
went to regular jazz classes held by Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith, plus I had an
inspiring guitar teacher (called “Morph” no kidding!) who was really into Pat Metheny!

Mike : What keeps you motivated?

Tam : Whenever a have a little lapse in motivation, I just try to remind myself that I am super lucky
to be in a position do even have had the choice of considering music as a career. For a lot of
people that is just not an option – due to financial, family and peer pressures. It’s both scary
and greatly motivating to know that you yourself are responsible for developing your music
and forging a career out of it. It can be hard, but every little success and pleasure taken
during a performance keeps you going. For that it is good to play regularly – even if it is just a
little gig – as it reminds you of that feeling that got you into this into this in the first place.

Mike : How do you approach free playing?

Tam : I’m not a “free player” in the purest sense (at the moment anyway!!). I mostly like to use free
playing within a compositional context – and I like to impose a certain objective to the
passage of free playing to lead towards something. I also think that harmonic, melodic
elements can sound great in free playing and it doesn’t necessarily have to be chaotic and
completely dissonant. I admit that I find completely abstract free playing very difficult to play
and even to listen to. In any case, I try to keep my ears open, be aware of not taking up all the
space (in a group context) or if I do be sure that musically its sounds good at the particular
moment. It’s really an energy thing – I feel it’s really about making musical gestures and
creating textures in relation to what is happening collectively in the group.

Mike : How do you approach changes playing or “form based” playing?

Tam : Inversely, I think that the fluidity and energy one can build up in a free context (when we don’t
have a form or harmony to think about) is to be strived for in a “changes” or “structured”
context. I try to play over changes in a decontructivist way – using angular intervals, rhythms
so that a certain ambiguity is created. I like the illusion that there is no structure whereas
everything I am playing is technically rhythmically and harmonically “correct” or “in”. I haven’t
quite got this down yet as its hard to pull off whilst making it sound good, but this is what I
would like to hear in any case.

Mike : What pick do you use!??

Tam : I use a pick made out of stone (agate) – I think it sounds great – makes the strings ring out
more “bell-like” without absorbing or dulling some of the harmonics like a plastic pick can.

Mike : What do you think of the French jazz scene? How does it compare to other scenes in your opinion?

Tam : From my ex-pat Britain perspective, I enjoy the diversity in the French (most notably Paris)
scene. Paris is in the middle of Europe and so it’s kind of a cultural crossroads musically.
Firstly you have the American jazz influence which originated when jazz artists from the US
first came to Paris in the 30s and 40s, which has become mixed in with a more European tilt
on jazz (using classical elements, and/or contemporary classical). Then you have all the
rhythmically rich African and Arabic influence coming in (as a result of France’s old colonial
communities. Then, as perhaps as a result simply of the French temperament – a desire to
forge a distinctly French voice (oftentimes infused with some strong left-wing idealistic political
expression) – in my observation, I have noted strong movement of improvised free jazz here
in Paris which is often referred to as “musique improvisé francais” or simply “impro-jazz”. A
kind of eclectic blend of free jazz, mixed with classical elements, musique concrete, electro
acoustic, ethnic music and often retaining strong melodic “heads” with free-ish, textural
improvised sections.
As a result of the exposure to this eclecticism –I find the attitude of the general audience more
open here than in the UK. Plus there are (still, but not sure for how much longer) a lot more
government subsidies for music here than in the UK.
In the UK there seems to be more reverence of the American jazz tradition – and as a result a
slightly higher level in more straight forms of playing if that’s your bag. There are of course
super straight players in France and inversely an excellent group of contemporary influenced
musicians in the UK, but I’m just talking about the general musical climate…

Mike : Where do you see jazz music in 10 years time? Where do you see yourself within that?

Tam : The general trend of jazz is that of diversity. It already is and is becoming generally more and
more varied in style and influence. The result of which is that its very difficult now to use the
word “jazz” whilst retaining a clear idea of what that really refers to. This diversity is very
exciting in terms of a creative perspective, but can leave the uninitiated completely lost and
can even turn people away from even trying to understand it. Many times I have met people
saying “Oh I don’t like jazz” and I am often puzzled as to what they may have listened to that
may have turned them off. Often, these same people, upon hearing another jazz group –
admit that they really enjoyed it. It’s strange that if one hears a bad rock band – one just says
– “oh a crap rock band”, but it doesn’t besmirch their view of the rock genre in itself, whereas
upon hearing a poor jazz group (or maybe even a good one which may be a bit too far out for
their ears), it can turn them off anything labeled “jazz” as a whole!
There seems to be a general problem of image attached to the word “jazz”. Something mixed
with a feeling of inaccessibility, nostalgia of jazz’s beginnings, elitism, intellectualism, “no
melody” that drives the general public away. I feel that the jazz press is in some way
accountable for this as they tend to propagate the old romanticism and elitism in jazz as it
suits their small but dedicated target audience.
I feel that the challenge now is for our generation of jazz musicians – is to do away with these
old trappings associated with jazz and invite the general public to celebrate its newfound
diversity – and make them realize that jazz does not mean one thing. There will be groups
they like and those they don’t. Try to make people realize that what it really is after all is
music, pure and simple. Just listen without any preconceived notion and decide if you like the
band after - without judging the whole of the jazz genre off the back of one artist’s
interpretation.

Mike : Why is guitar so cool?

Tam : Because as yet, it remains the only instrument where you can do a solo with your teeth, and
then demonstrate its secondary function as a good piece of firewood.

Thanks GUYS!!

mike's tomato sauce:

sauté very finely chopped onion (one quarter of a small onion) in olive oil
on medium/low heat, add a teaspoon of sugar over onions, add one or two
crushed chile peppers. as onions begin to turn brown add italian canned crushed
tomatoes (italians do not use fresh tomatoes for sauce). salt to taste (don't be shy)
cook on low heat for 5/10 minutes add a few fresh basil leaves to sauce before
mixing with freshly cooked pasta al dente (always cook pasta two minutes less than package
says).

raw artichoke salad:

remove and dispose of outer leaves and stems of artichokes, cut top off and throw away (half-way
down).
slice artichoke thinly with sharp knife and put immediately in bowl with fresh lemon juice (one or
two)
and mix well before repeating operation with next artichoke. when finished add a little olive
oil and small amount of salt, wait five minutes and eat.