Earconnector - jazz, new music and other urgent matters

Sandro Zerafa is a Maltese guitarist and composer living in Paris. He has a really great band  called the "White Russian 5tet"  - original music - brilliantly written and arranged for quintet with 2 saxophones, guitar, drums and the bass playing of Yoni Zelnik. Yoni is and Isreali bass player living and working in Paris. He is a fantastic bass player and is very busy for very good reason!  Sandro's first record is fantastic so I hope you will get yourselves a copy and enjoy listening to it. These guys have played a lot together and so it thought it would be great for them to ask each other a few questions. Sandro's biography is possible the best one I've ever read - it gives you a good idea of the music too - ENJOY! amy


listen here:
http://www.sandrozerafa.net
http://myspace.com/sandrozerafa

After several years of classical guitar studies, Sandro found himself inadvertently in a musical limbo, during which he was listening to Sonic Youth, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Miles Davis at the same time. Following this post-adolescent crisis he consecrated himself to jazz. A period ensued where he played 13-bar blues and AABAA structures in clubs on the island of Malta.
After graduating with Honors in Music from the University of Malta he moved to Lyons - capital of the tripe sausage. Started gigging, discovered Ornette Coleman, ate more tripe sausage. Graduated with a medaille d’or in jazz guitar from the Lyons Conservatory and in search of further mental desiquilibrium he moved to Paris, where he’s been living since then.
Won several awards at successive editions of La Defense National Jazz Contest, and has been very active on the local jazz scene. Sandro can be heard with his own White Russian 5tet, Nico Gori European 4tet, Robin Nicaise 6tet, Decaphonic Orchestra, Fabio Accardi Band. When not playing guitar he can be spotted in Belleville groceries, shopping for olive oil.
Sandro never quit loving Heitor Villa Lobos - he is in fact an in-demand accompanist in Brazilian music projects and can be heard with the Brazilian jazz ensemble Botafogo. He has worked with singers Aline de Lima, Catia Werneck, Marcia Maria, Johanne Sayada and others. He occasionally beats on his pandeiro.
Sandro has toured in France, Belgium, Italy, S.Korea, Greece, Malta, Turkey etc. He still hasn’t figured out how to attain his financial goals, but he has learnt how to make a good porcini risotto. (amy: it is VERY good!)

Yoni Zelnik
Born in Israel in 1975, Yoni began music by playing bass guitar in a rock band with his teenager friend. Later, he discoverd jazz and moved to Paris in 1995 to study the doublebass. He only stayed one year in a music school but tried to play as much as possible with fellow musicians. He has recorded about 30 records as a sideman and has performed in about 40 countries.

YONI INTERVIEWS SANDRO

Do you have a regular method for composing,where do you get ideas from?
Absolutely not. Usually it starts from doodling around and improvising.  It could be a motif or a short chord progression. Usually it's a rhythmic idea. The hardest part for me is "ending" my tunes. I am trying to stretch structures now, but I feel more comfortable with short, compact compositions. The process of developing an idea could take ages. I write lots of tunes which I scrap but the ones I keep usually I am quite happy with. I really dig the way Ornette Coleman's tunes are structured, and the way he plays around with tonalities has inspired me a lot.

What other styles of music,beside jazz,do you listen to?
I listen to a lot of Brazilian music - choro, maracatu, bossa nova, MPB.  Plenty of classical music as well. I like a lot  music from the late romantic period to the first half of this century. Rachmaninov, Bartok, early Schonberg, Shostakovitch. Also when I'm in the mood -  60s/70s funk - The Meters, Earth Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang, Sly and the Family Stone etc.

What would be your dream band to play with?
That's a very difficult question. However, musicians I always dreamt of playing with since I started listening to jazz are - Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, Lee Konitz, Paul Bley, Billy Higgins. Some of them are dead now. I enjoy playing with musicians who have an organic way of developing their solos and interacting with the other musicians. I love it when the music develops in a linear manner and goes somewhere completely unexpected, yet retaining structure and lyricism.

Who are your favorite guitar players?
I don't listen that much to guitar players. My all-time favorite is Jim Hall. I particularly like his work with Bill Evans and his albums with Paul Desmond. He has a very charismatic and generous way of playing the guitar. I used to listen a lot to John Scofield when I was younger - I used to like his angular style and voicings. I started listening to Rosenwinkel when he was playing with the Paul Motian EBBB  and I think he really influenced a whole new generation of guitar-players. Lately I have been listening a lot to Peter Bernstein and Gilad Hekselman. I love their sound.

Your records for a desert island?
Wayne Shorter - Native Dancer, Thelonious Monk's Columbia solo recordings, Keith Jarrett's Impulse recordings, Joe Lovano - I'm All for You, Nana Caymmi/Cesar Camargo Mariano - Voz e  Suor, Joao Bosco - Galos de Briga, Rachmaninov - Preludes (played by himself or by Richter), Bill Evans - The Village Vanguard sessions/ The Paris Concert, Stan Getz/Bob Brookmeyer - Fall 1961

Why did you move to Paris, are you satisfied here?
I think Paris must be the best place for jazz after New York City. It is possible to make a decent living and meet good musicians and play regularly, though I must say I don't really follow what's happening here and I don't really identify myself with the French jazz scene. I was born in a small island (Malta) where for obvious reasons the cultural scene was limited. I had to get out in order to develop and improve, although I still feel attached to Malta, and for me it's important to keep performing regularly over there and to keep things moving over there.

Are you optomistic for the future of jazz in a creative and commercial way?
I think these last few years have been good to jazz. More in a creative than in a commercial way. Jazz has "opened" up its doors. Musicians like Brad Mehldau, The Bad Plus, Seamus Blake have paved the way for a new aesthetic where jazz is no longer attached only to its heritage. Doing cover versions of pop songs has been done before, but these guys have approached it with a new attitude, and in some way they liberated jazz from insularity. Though I think that this new trend of integrating pop elements in jazz is starting to wear thin.

Where does you passion for brasilian music come from? Does it influence your playing?
My interest in Brazilian music goes back to the days when I was studying classical guitar. The music of Heitor Villa-Lobos sparked my curiosity. Then I discovered Joao Bosco, Guinga, Hermeto Pascoal, Chico Buarque. I really love the way the guitar is used in Brazilian music and I think that the Brazilian swing is really a beautiful synthesis of binary and ternary time-feel. I don't know if it has influenced my playing, but even when I am playing jazz I try to search for the same sensations this particular kind of swing gives me.

What are your future projects for your music? A new recording? A new group?
Next winter I should be recording a new album with my White Russian 5tet, which has been my favorite project to date. Also I am toying with the idea of doing a trio. Also there is a new project in the pipeline, with pandeiro player Sergio Krakowski.

Who are your favorite rhythm sections in jazz?
The rhythm sections in Ornette's Atlantic recordings (featuring Blackwell or Higgins), Elvin Jones/Jimmy Garrison, Brad Mehldau's rhythm sections (whether it's Ballard or Rossi), any rhythm section with Brian Blade in it and Paul Motian/Charlie Haden.

What do you practice at home? Does it change often?
Lately I have been practicing a lot on standards, trying to get rid of cliches and tics, trying to phrase in an "uneven" way, working on a "linear" way of improvising. I also do some weird metronomic exercises sometimes. All this changes often and is often influenced by what I am listening at the moment.


SANDRO INTERVIEWS YONI:

Who are your favorite bassplayers at the moment?  
I think that there many great bassists to listen to at the moment.  
The tendency to come back to a acoustic sound, as opposed to the horrible amplified sound that, god knows why, seemed to be the reference for a very long time, releaved me. Larry Grenadier and Ben Street are the guys I've listened to the most concerning
the younger bassists. Of course,I'm always still listening to the "older" players,and I never get enough of that stuff!  

Do you think there exists a European style/school of bassplaying?
I'm really not in the theory of europeen jazz as opposed to a american jazz. Concerning bass playing,I don't want to be rude but if there is a difference,it's too often a lack of the bases of jazz. Anyway,from what I've seen in Paris,I can't say that there is one style of bass playing. There's maybe more emphasise on "lyrical" bassists but i've seen and heard many different styles.  

Do you find the scene in Paris to be stimulating?
Stimulating wouldn't be the exact term.I think it's a very cool scene,with loads of musicians, including some really great players,and IMPORTANT-places to play and people to play to. But I must admit that I listen almost exclusively to groups coming fron New York. It's very rare that I had been stimulated by a concert of a french group.

What do you think of the current trend in jazz of assimilating elements from pop music? Do you think this will be short-lived?
I don't know if it's a current trend. Miles was assimalating elements 40 years ago.....I find it very normal to be influenced by other styles,especially for composing and if it's done tastefully,I like it!

Do you practice in a sytematic manner?
Unfortunately,or fortunately,depends how you look at it, I don't have a lot of time to practice because of my schedule. When I'm at home I often work on the tunes for my future concerts.If I have some time,I try to work on rythm and ear training in a simple manner.

Favorite recent releases?
"Third Occasion" by David Binney is beautiful.
"Reccomended Tools" by Donny Mccaslin is a great saxophone trio record.

Last concert you attended which you really liked?
Danilo Perez with Ben Street and Adam Cruz at the Sunside.
Very inspiring concert that continued to exicte me for a very long time.

Did you ever think of putting up your own project?
As you can see it took me about 2 weeks to answer your questions. I don't know why, but I become very lazy when I have to write something personal. Maybe I need a dead line to write music too. Anyway,I think it's stupid not to,but for the moment I've never taken the time to try and do my own thing. I really respect people who do.

What are the qualities you appreciate most in a musician?
Sound is surely a very important and instictif quality. A musician can really touch me with his sound. I really like to play with players who listen to the other musicians-I've suffered a lot from that as a bass player! I also love to play with musicians with great time, I think it's very important for reaching a real intensity with a group.


Buy Sandro’s album on CD Baby

        

find out more here:
http://www.sandrozerafa.net
http://myspace.com/sandrozerafa