May 2003 – https://www.abstractlogix.com/

Chris Poland

May 19, 2003

AL: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT HOW YOU GOT STARTED WITH MUSIC AND SOME OF YOUR EARLY INFLUENCES.

CP: My mother actually taught me how to play guitar when I was around 10 or 11. She used to teach me old blues-folk songs. I also took some piano lessons at the time from my aunt. I couldn’t read music, but was able to play things by ear. I did a couple of piano recitals and then ended up getting back into the guitar through influence from my Cousin Eddie. Eddie was a big blues rock guitar fan and listened to guys like Jeff Beck, BB King, and Eric Clapton. I remember jamming along to those records and learning the songs. I soon after ended up meeting Gar Samuelson by virtue of a cover band we played in together doing Allman Bros. and Santana stuff and the like. Gar turned me onto fusion and the rest as they say is history.

AL: I READ THAT YOU HAD A FINGER INJURY THAT FORCED YOU TO CHANGE YOUR STYLE. ELABORATE ON THAT AND HOW WAS IT PHYSICALLY CHALLENGING FOR YOU?

CP: I cannot bend the pointer finger on my left hand. Because of this there are a lot of chords I cannot play. However, it is advantageous because it forces me to play a guitar the correct way with my fingers in the textbook straight position.

AL: WHAT WAS INVOLVED IN YOUR DECISION TO JOIN MEGADETH ? HOW DID YOUR CONCEPTS OF MUSIC CHANGE AFTER THAT EXPERIENCE (I.E., PLAYING JAZZ TO PLAYING METAL/ROCK) ?

CP: Gar was my best friend and he was my main reason for joining Megadeth. I saw what he brought to the band and I felt I could offer something as well. My experience in Megadeth broadened my horizons of playing distorted guitar and opening my mind much more to this type of heavy music.

AL: TELL US ABOUT YOUR WRITING PROCESS. WHAT MOTIVATES YOUR MUSICAL IDEAS? HOW DO TONE AND TECHNIQUE PLAY A PART IN THAT?

CP: I often have no idea where my musical ideas come from. However, if I have an idea I know that I have to pick up a guitar and expand on it. When writing, any guitarist is limited by his technical ability. You have to know what you can get away with doing and what you can pull off. I write a lot on an acoustic, but once the song is electrified the tones in the song make that song what it is. Tone gives my songs their character.

AL: THE FUSION AUDIENCES CAN BE VERY CRITICAL AT TIMES. WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO GET FROM YOUR MUSIC?

CP: I just want people to take the time to hear my music all the way through with out skipping tracks. I hope that people can relate somehow to my music and that it gives them a good feeling when they listen to it.

AL: ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR OHM TO TOUR AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN THE FUTURE?

CP: We will tentatively be touring with Marty Friedman and Alex Skolnick sometime this summer in the US. It should be a great tour and an opportunity for people to see what ? us former metal guys are up to nowadays.

AL: WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW AND WHAT INTERESTS YOU ABOUT THAT MUSIC? HOW DOES WHAT YOUR ARE DIRECTLY LISTENING TO INFLUENCE YOUR MUSIC?

CP: I have really been digging Jack Bruce’s “Out of the Storm”. I loved this record years ago and my bass player just bought me a copy as he is a huge Jack Bruce fan. I do get influenced by what I listen to, but never copy it. It comes out in my own way when I play. Again thanks for your time….if you have anything else you would like to add please feel free??. Thank you again for conducting this interview and listening to my music. Thanks also to all my fans for the support through the years. Check out the all new www.chrispoland.com and look for OHM: on tour soon with Alex Skolnick and Marty Friedman in the US. Peace!

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T Lavitz Interview

May 19, 2003

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T Lavitz

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T Lavitz is best known for playing the keys for the legendary Dixie Dregs, who mixed a little southern rock and roll with its electric jazz grooves. But over the years Lavitz has excelled on many more fronts. In addition to his solo work, he has made lasting music with the likes of Jimmy Herring, Billy Cobham and the Grateful Dead jazz tribute band, Jazz is Dead. Abstract Logix recently caught up with this in-demand player.

AL: How did you find your way into progressive music?

TL: I first grew up listening to rock. My last two years of high school, I got turned on to Chick Corea, ELP and Herbie Hancock. By college there was a full blown love of progressive music.

AL: How did your CD “Gossip” come about?

TL: Well, like most all of my other CD’s, I would have some music ready to be recorded before the plans to actually record were set. I used some different rhythm sections on that one, so the variety of the sound was natural. Arrangements seem to flow, depending on who is playing with me. On “Gossip”, I had some jazz guys, as well as some blues type players.

AL: You seem to be playing the B-3 a lot these days.

TL: I have loved the B-3 since I first played one. It just came natural. Luckily, I had a (piano) teacher who emphasized the importance of using your fingers for sustain, as well as the pedal. Since organ doesn’t have a sustain pedal, it’s all in your hands. As far as the sound, I think that B-3 is one of the purist sounds for keyboards. It’s very powerful!

AL: How did the (Dixie) Dregs reunion tour go?

TL: It went really well. That is one of very few bands that never gets boring. The music is so good that it’s always exciting to play! Also, I’ve known those guys for such a long time, they are like brothers to me.

AL: How is it different for you to perform with Jimmy Herring or the Dregs?

TL: Jimmy can play whatever style he chooses. In most of our endeavors, improvisation was a big part of the music. In the Dregs, most of the music is orchestrated.

AL: How do you approach playing jazz music in the interpretations of The Grateful Dead’s music?

TL: Well, the original idea, as I saw it, was to learn their melodies, chords, etc., and then think Miles Davis.

AL: What can we look forward to?

TL: I am writing a book for Hal Leonard, a company that publishes a lot of music books. This one will be for intermediate to advanced piano / keyboard players. I would also like to begin another CD of my own music, as it’s been a while.

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Conversations with Prasanna

May 19, 2003

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Prasanna

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Prasanna is a guitarist of a unique pedigree. An ex-Naval architect, he pursued his passion of playing the six-string with great dedication. A Berklee alumnus, where he concentrated on Western Classical music, he has developed a style that takes him in very many directions at once. He has wrapped together a great fusion of South Indian Carnatic music and rhythms with all the wonderful elements of Western Music to produce a cohesive package. Abstract Logix was lucky enough to have a few words with this up and coming star.

AL: HOW WERE YOU INTRODUCED TO MUSIC?

P: My first exposure to music was Indian film music, Tamil film music to be specific. Illayaraja was one of the greatest influences. When I was about 11, I was playing Indian film music and somewhere along the line, I started to learn other stuff. I studied western music theory and western classical music on my own and at the same time my teacher was teaching me Carnatic music. My sister was learning the VEENA and I would always listen to her. My mother saw my interest and had an instinct that I could play the guitar. I have had such great support from my family all over the years that it made everything so much easier. I grew up in Madras, India, where you are expected to learn for many years and then perform. At least that’s what the tradition goes…. But the path that I pursued was slightly different. I learned all the preparatory material right away and was giving professional concerts at a very young age. I grew out of Indian film music, because you can do so much in Hindi film music…(laughingly). Before I knew, I was playing rock music. It felt natural. That opened up a load of things for me. I was playing all over India and winning a lot of semi rock competitions and in the course of time I became familiar in the college circuit. People thought I only played rock music but that was not the complete story. I pursued learning carnatic traditional music as well. After graduating high school, I went to do a degree in naval architecture at IIT but I kept playing and performing. I heavily got in to the blues, specifically delta blues- anything from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters. I had perfect pitch from the beginning so that really helped in some sense. With time, I was logically bought into jazz. I was surprised by the sounds and techniques of playing jazz and noticed an amazing similarity with South Indian music. I got heavily into John Coltrane and Miles Davis and felt that was the thing I wanted to do. I came to the United States in 1994, and after a small stint with a software company in Michigan, I decided to follow my passion and instincts and joined Berklee College of Music. I just had a great time, learned a lot. I started to interact with a lot of musicians from the west. I noticed that not a lot of folks were familiar with the Carnatic tradition of Music. They were all familiar with North Indian styles and people like Ravi Shankar and Shakti. I thought that I had to do something about it. I felt responsible and realized that it was a mission to introduce strangers to this musical form. My work in carnatic music went through metamorphosis and the responsibilities towards the art grew by leaps and bounds. People started to hear what I was doing and were deeply interested. I would play Miles Davis, but with my style, which probably had not been played before. During my stay in Berklee, I learned classical and chamber music and started to compose myself. But my commitment towards carnatic music continued. I started to realize the idioms of the music and how it related to western classical forms and how they were all co related. Things started to light up in my head. I started to get a lot of students of all musical interests that came up to me and asked how they could do what I was doing to relate it to their music. People would come and asked me how I would do a Charlie Parker piece and they seemed to be quite surprised. Writing became very important and I seriously got into composing. Things started to fall into place. It felt that everything was meant to be and I have had a great time in this journey and hopefully continues for a very long time.

AL: YOU HAVE SOME DIFFERENT GROUPS.

P: I perform solo Carnatic classical concerts as well as with Alphonso Johnson and Airto Moreira with the band called Quantum. I have done a bunch of shows in the past, everywhere from Madras to Anchorage! In fact I was the first Indian musician to perform in Alaska, which was quite humbling. I will be performing this fall with Victor Wooten, which is sure to be quite interesting. I am always interested to play with any one that has good musical ideas and open minded to what I am doing. In fact I have seen a growth in Carnatic music worldwide. Definitely, John McLaughlin has created worldwide interest in this musical realm, but I would like to take it to a deeper level. I know that Shawn Lane has been doing something in these lines and would actually like to see where he is coming from. The great thing is when others start to do this, it gives a certain validity.

AL: WHAT IS THE AKAMOON PROJECT?

P: They are a Belgian group and I first met them when came to India to perform. They were very eclectic and at the same time doing very complex stuff. Some of them were already interacting with South Indian musicians. It was not till later that I got back in touch with them and they were looking to do this guitar thing where they were thinking of having three guitar players. They had already made up their mind about me and the great jazz guitar player from New York, David Gilmore. The music is very difficult and fascinating. I realize how much that music connects to the music of South India. I am excited to perform with them this year at North Sea Jazz Festival and very proud to be associated with them.

AL: WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON CURRENTLY?

P: I just finished recording a new album. I will be performing with Aka Moon and Joe Lovano at the North Sea Jazz Festival this year, the new record is actually quite different than any of my work. I felt like that I had to attempt this sound. There is a lot of electronic production, synthesis and trance sound, it is real funky. There are even some ancient 19th century SWAHILI poems. It has impressions of Celtic and African music. It is also the first time that I played some kanjeera on the record. I am planning to do another record towards the end of the year with some of my friends over the years like Alphonso Johnson and a bunch of other jazz musicians. The thing is no matter what I do, the output has to be prolific. I will also be working on an instructional video aimed more towards a jazz-rock audience showing them what I do and how they might want to utilize it in their work. And maybe one of these days, I can finish composing my orchestra piece. Just so little time and so much to do.

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Henry Kaiser Interview

May 16, 2003

Henry Kaiser, News

Henry Kaiser

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Widely recognized as one of the most creative and innovative guitarists, improvisers, and producers in the fields of rock, jazz and experimental music today, California-based Henry Kaiser is one of the most extensively recorded as well, having appeared on more than 140 different albums. A restless collaborator who constantly seeks the most diverse and personally challenging contexts for his music, Mr. Kaiser not only produces and contributes to a staggering number of recorded projects; he performs frequently throughout the USA, Europe and Japan. The respect of his peers has earned him membership on the advisory board of Guitar Player Magazine, and the appreciation of his creativity by the music, film and television industries has kept him in demand as a composer and producer. He scored the weekly television series Secrets & Mysteries and has assisted dozens of artists from Ali Akbar Khan to Richard Thompson with their recording projects. Henry spoke to Abstract Logix about his music and Antartica.

AL: WHO IS HENRY KAISER?

HK: Experimental guitarist. I like to try new, untried things and see what happens.

AL: WHERE DID YOU GET ALL THOSE STYLES YOU PLAY?

HK: It may seem to listeners like I do many different styles of music. But they are all the same to me. Just like the free-form underground radio that I grew up listening to would play Miles Davis next to Ravi Shankar next to Karheinz Stockhausen next to Captain Beefheart next to BB King next to Sun Ra next to Jimi Hendrix next to Cecil Taylor, all of those things are valued the same, they are just music. And I just do musical experiments; the idiomatic demarcations are not particularly evident to me…. I can tell the difference between music that is improvised and music that is not improvised and i tend to prefer music with more improvisation going on.

AL: YOU JUST CAME BACK FROM PLAYING MUSIC, IN ALL OF PLACES, ANTARTICA!

HK: In 2001-2002 the National Science Foundation sent me to Antarctica on an Artists & Writers Program Grant. My job was to record a solo guitar album about Antarctica. It will be released later in the year. “ANTARCTIC GUITAR” is the first album to be recorded on the Antarctic Continent. I worked at both McMurdo Station and South Pole. Details of my adventures can be found in my Antarctic journals at: http://www.kff.org/docs/about/henrykaiser.html One of my favorite things about being on the ice, as they say, was that I got to do a lot of SCUBA diving under the ice. Diving has always been a big musical inspiration for me and this was the most inspiring diving of all. I also got to use the actual South Pole as a guitar slide. Outdoors at 40 below zero, not many folks get to do that!

AL: AGAIN, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE PLAYING DIFFERENT STYLES ON YOUR DVD.

HK: The stuff on the DVD all seems like the same style to me….. Melody is something that I don’t really think about at all. If and when it occurs, I think it is random and unconscious. I am certainly influenced by all the music I listen to and melodies that I play often are unconsciously influenced by that. Korean Shaman music, which I listen to a lot, (see: http://www.soundspace.co.kr/index.htm and click on LABEL PRODUCTS – that’s what I listen to a lot!), shows up a lot in my playing. Probably I think more about note articulation, timbre, timing (not rhythm), space, and shape, more than I think about melody, harmony, or rhythm. This was probably also true of many of the great blues guitarists, I suspect…. I have a decidedly non-Euro-centric musical outlook. So the ways that Europeans traditionally analyze music are not of much interest to me. My models come from other cultures. What European models I relate to probably come from late 20th century composers who were trying to get away from the strict melody-harmony-rhythm thing. Nancarrow, Scelsi, Xenakis, Stockhausen, Riley, Feldman, Ligeti…. those guys I can relate to. Also I am influenced by European Free Improvisors, in particular, Derek Bailey, Keith Rowe, Evan Parker, John Stevens and Barry Guy.

AL: YOU SEEM TO BELIEVE IN THE PENTATONIC SCALES.

HK: I use them a lot. A rock-playing habit of mine is to superimpose two different pentatonic scales and use that instead of a diatonic scale. (For instance: superimpose Em and Am pentatonics = 6 note scale or Em and F#m = 8 notes or Am and Bm = 6 notes or Am and Bflatm = 10 notes… etc.) I also tend to look at scales from a North Indian Classical music perspective. Not just a set of notes – but statistical patterns within the set of notes – ways that certain notes are treated, hierarchy of note importance, different notes ascending and descending, etc. Again this comes from my listening habits.

AL: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EXPERIMENTATION AND IMPROVISATION?

HK: They are one and the same for me. New things. New patterns. New information. New interactions. New People. New Places. New Things. New Sounds.

AL: THAT STEVE KLEIN GUITAR IS INTERESTING.

HK: I have an early Steve Klein custom electric. I think David Torn told me about it first, then I got on and told Frisell and other players followed. I use Alembic Activator pickups in mine, which give my characteristic sound. I like the portability of the guitar. I like the trans-trem a lot, although it is a pain to maintain over more than a decade. I have a nice psychedelic, clown vomit, celluloid pick guard on it. That helps my playing a lot!

AL: WHAT CDS ARE IN YOUR PLAYER?

HK: I love listening to music. At home, in the car and in the studio while I work at the computer I usually am listening to something. Here are three pix of what I have just been listening to in the past week: the actual CDs taken from the RETURN-TO-SHELVES pile in my studio. Also a picture of the studio which is very messy this week….

AL: DO YOU HAVE OTHER INSTRUMENTS OR AMPS?

HK: You can see most of my favorite guitars in my “BUNCH OF GUITAR SOLOS” DVD that was just released. Here are my two favorite amps that I have had since the late 70’s, a Dumble Overdrive Special and a Dumble Steel String Singer. I use them for 75% of what I do. I also enjoy my Fender Super Champ, a couple of Two-Rock amps and a great Divided by 13 amp.

AL: YOU ADMIRE SHAWN LANE ENOUGH TO MENTION HIM ON YOUR WEBSITE.

HK: Shawn is amazing. Of course his technique is so far beyond most other electric players, but what really gets me is the wide range of ideas and influences that fuels Shawn’s musical imagination. We once team-taught a week-long workshop together. In that week we discovered that we both have an EXTREMELY wide range of interests. Some things overlapped and some things were completely different. It was fun to share and contrast our passions. Shawn’s love and knowledge of concert piano is as intense as my love of Korean shaman music. I always enjoy hearing Shawn’s new recordings! We both love film and that influences both our music a lot, too. I am sure that both of us cannot play guitar for an evening without thinking of Andrei Tarkovsky…. who else thinks like that? A while ago a label that Shawn is working with called me to try to set up a recording with Shawn, and my old pal Buckethead. I hope this comes to pass. It’s difficult to schedule stuff with Buckethead out with Guns & Roses……

AL: WHAT IS THE STATE OF PROGRESSIVE MUSIC IN AMERICA TODAY?

HK: Hmmm. I don’t know much about that. My pal Steve Feigenbaum runs the WAYSIDE / CUNEIFORM progressive distribution / label business. He seems to be able to keep putting product out. So things cannot be that bad…..

AL: WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

HK: I WANT TO GO BACK TO ANTARCTICA! I am working on that. New CDs coming from: “YO MILES!”, “PALACE OF LOVE”: Bjorkenheim-Cline-Keneally-Kaiser-Manring, Kaiser-Senba-Uchihashi-Uemura, HK solo, HK BAND reissue, HK QUARTET unissued, Kaiser-Boisen. I want to do a project with Evan Parker. I want to do a project in Comoros with Richard Thompson. I want to do another project with Korean Shaman musicians.

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The George Brooks Interview

May 16, 2003

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George Brooks

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George Brooks has one of the most distinguished sounds on saxophone today. Over the years, he has performed with greats such as Etta James, Zakir Hussain, Anthony Braxton, Larry Coryell and Henry Kaiser. Abstract Logix spoke to George about his project “Summit”. For the CD, Brooks brought together four distinguished world musicians, Steve Smith and Zakir Hussain on drums and percussion, Fareed Haque on guitar and Kai Eckhardt on bass. Summit offers brilliant compositions from George and equally impressive playing from the bunch as they tackle the complex rhythmic and melodic aspects of the pieces. The band will be performing in the Spain and Istanbul jazz festivals this summer.

AL: When did your fascination with eastern music take hold?

GB: I first heard Indian music when I was in the New England Conservatory in 1976. I met Peter Rowe there and it was through him that I started to hear about great Indian classical musicians like Nikhil Banerjee. There were courses in North Indian classical music and I was so impressed by the sound that I decided that I had to figure out a way to put that into my style of music, which was jazz. I started listening to the great Dagar brothers and Ali Akbar Khan who influenced me a lot. With time, I began to incorporate the eastern style into some of my compositions. In fact, I started to learn Alaap, which is where most Indian music starts. In fact, I did some yemen alaap in school. I happened to meet the great sitarists Krishna Bhatt and Terry Riley. After that I spent a year in India, learning the different styles of North Indian music and was deeply immersed in it.

AL: Did you learn the fundamentals of Indian classical music or did you just listen and incorporate what you hear with your Jazz oriented compositions?

GB:I was actually learning all the essential fundamentals of North Indian classical music while I was in school and definitely while I was living in India. The truth is that learning has never stopped…..I learned the structure of different ragas. The gharana, or in other words, the specific Indian school of music that I was a student of, taught that the expression of a raga was more emphasized than the actual rhythmic aspects. In south Indian music the rhythm is a more integral part. For example, the music of Shakti with Zakir Hussain and John McLaughlin was involved with the more rhythmic aspects of Indian music which is great too. The carnatic style of music influences it a lot. A few years later I got into the rhythmic aspects with Terry Riley. Incidentally, I have been listening to Carnatic music lately.

AL: How did this “Summit” project come about?

GB: I have been performing with Zakir Hussain since 1996, going through different incarnations with Krishna Bhatt and Ashish Khan . I gave Kai Eckhardt a call and he was interested, performing in different configurations. The great Steve Smith was on tour with tabla player Sandip Burman and Jerry Goodman during 2001. He was very interested in learning and performing in this musical realm. He mentioned that if I had a project in mind with Zakir Hussain, he would be very interested so, he joined the team. Our schedule worked out great. Kai told me to check out Fareed Haque whom he was already playing with in Garaj Mahal, so we all got together and jammed. It was great. Steve and Zakir recorded live in November 2001. Zakir took the tracks to India where he did some drum overdubs and Niladri Kumar played some sitar on it and so did Tuafid Querishi. We mixed the album just in time for the shows at Yoshis in 2002. Towards the end of the year, we went for a tour of South East Asia. The band had really gelled by then. During the tour Zakir was giving lessons in Indian rhythm forms to Steve Smith who is such a great student of his art. Fareed and I would get together and do some experimentation.

AL: Do you go through a process in writing your music?

GB: I try to keep a particular melody of a raga in mind while maintaining the integrity of a chromatic embellishment. I bring my jazz background to the realm and add some modern complexities to it. Vocals are such an integral factor of Indian music, but I never try to imitate that with my sax. It always serves as a compliment.

AL: Is it a treat or a challenge to record with great musicians?

GB: It is always a treat to have all those great ideas floating in the room, but at the same time it is also a challenge. Being a leader of this formation, I try to keep everything together yet give the musicians their freedom. Once in a while you might respectfully nudge someone in a particular direction but it has been just a great evolvement.

AL: What are you working on now?

GB: I am actually working on some new compositions. I don’t know how they are going to materialize yet. I will be performing this summer with Larry Coryell, something that I am looking forward to. I have been playing with Larry for quite awhile and we did some shows last year with Hariprasad Chaurasia in Dubai and London which went great. We will be performing Summit this year at the Jazz Festivals in Spain as well as Istanbul in July.

AL: We certainly hope that we get to see more of Summit in the near future and wish you all the best.

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Jeff Berlin Interview

May 13, 2003

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Jeff Berlin

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Jeff Berlin is one of the most respected and admired bass players around. In addition to his solo albums, “Pump It” and “Taking Notes”, he has played with such luminaries as John McLaughlin and is a renowned teacher. His latest release, “In Harmony’s Way”, is a real jazz CD in his words. Jeff worked his heart out putting together the recording. He is very happy with the results and he isn’t afraid of saying so. Jeff spoke to Abstract Logix before he left for his long anticipated tour of Europe and Australia with the great pianist/bassist Richard Drexler and long time friend, drummer Danny Gottlieb.

AL: At some point in your youth, you decided you were going to stretch the limits on your instrument.

JB: Music is a very emotional part of me. In a way, the decision to seek out new ways to play bass was made without my control. Actually, it wasn’t a decision, it was a need. I was always investigating, experimenting and spending a lot of time practicing and listening to everyone around me. I felt that by making changes and doing things differently on my bass, I would continue to grow as a player and make thing sound different than other bass players. Melody is infinite! Because of this, there’s no reason that any of us should sound the same. But the change in your playing comes over time and little bits of daily improvement. You know if you had a floor full of dirt and if you start picking up a little bit with your fingers everyday, after a month, you are going to see a difference. That’s how you get better in music, a little bit each day. It is the little things that matter in the long run.

AL: You have a new CD.

JB: It is a great jazz record and it excellently represents this 49-year-old person’s vision of music. On this record, I am playing bass better than any other electric bass player in the jazz genre! I am trying to join a world of soloists who are not bass players because, in general, bass players are terrible soloists. I want to join the ranks of those guest soloists who are playing on the CD like Gary Burton, Mike Stern, and Dave Liebman. “In Harmony’s Way” is only available through www.JeffBerlinMusic.com. I’ve been touring with Richard and Danny to promote it already. It is very difficult to perform this kind of music in America than in Europe or Japan where more people are actually listening. That says something, doesn’t it? You could be the best musician on the planet and not many people would have even heard of you. . I am nearly finished recording the next CD called “Lumpy Jazz”. It’s primarily a trio CD because Richard, Danny and I have gotten quite comfortable playing together.

AL: Discuss the Players Music School?

JB: When my son was diagnosed with cancer, I quit playing music to stay home with him while he received his treatments. I started the school to make ends meet. Now that he is cured, I can play music again, but when I am not on the road, I am at the school. It is a unique music school in its own way. Anyone can come and join for the different courses. You do not have to even know a single note before you walk in. The only thing I request is practice. We spend one day at a time and provide one on one attention to everybody. We have students who play in all kinds of settings. The only thing I teach is jazz education because I feel that it gives a real strong musical foundation. We ease students in slowly rather than blasting them with tons of work. If they can take more work, then they will get it. We try to individualize our approach with our guys and nearly 100% of them learn reading, soloing and comping skills in the first six months at the school. It’s really great to see how well they grow. It is a neat program and it works. Write www.playerschool.com for information or a catalog.

AL: How do you approach the issues of technique and improvising in the school?

JB: There’s little emphasis on technique because you don’t need it if you don’t know what to play. The more you learn how to read, solo, and practice written music, the better your technique gets because now you have a reason to develop it. Musical ideas and technique go hand in hand. The better your musical ideas get- the more technique you will develop. Improvisation is learned in pieces. You might get a couple of chords, say, D-7 and G7. You will be shown how to solo over these chords. As you solo over these and other musical chord sounds, your improvisation skills start to become easier to use. It must work because everyone at our school can solo, even the beginners.

AL: Why does there seem to be a problem in America?

JB: The recording industry tells people what to listen to and buy. Over 99% of recording artists are vocal oriented stuff. No one is interested in instrumentalists. Most of today’s popular rock bands play like shit. The whole thing is quite negative. There was a time where you had musicians like Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce who were quite popular but musically brilliant too. You see less and less of that, unfortunately. No more Jimi Hendrix’s on the horizon because the record company won’t let them in. If Hendrix wanted to be in the music industry today, he’d be working as a salesman at Guitar Center.

AL: What rig are you using?

JB: I am actually looking for a new bass since my relationship with Dean Guitars ended I’m looking for a simple, flexible 4 string bass. I never liked a complicated instrument. I hate active sounding basses, and I have no use for any guitar over $1,500. I made a career playing instruments priced around $750-$1,000 and they sounded great. At the end it is really the musician that performs and makes the sound, not the instrument.

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Chad Wackerman Interview

May 5, 2003

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Chad Wackerman

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Shane Theriot serves as the Neville Brothers‘ lead guitarist. But he does plenty of things on his own. He has a new record out called “Grease Factor”. It is a collection of his ideas apart from the group think that must exist as a member of someone else’s band. It is quite an impressive outing. Shane was able to spend a few minutes talking with Abstract Logix.

AL: How did you attain all of those wonderful tones on the new CD?

ST: Some good amps and a great engineer! Really, you can have all the best equipment and gear, etc.… But the tone comes from your hands. From my studio experience I’ve learned what to use and what not to use in order to produce a certain sound- I’m always experimenting and trying different combinations of amps, pedals- the cheaper the better! haha I feel you can get more personality out of a low-tech thing than some high grade boutique amp.

AL: Are you totally happy with your new CD?

ST: I like to think making the record was comparable to making a movie- I knew exactly who was going to play on each tune, (actors) and what each tune would sound like afterwards. Actually most of the tunes were written with a specific drummer in mind- Little Hat and Dublin were written with Vidacovich in mind, and the funk things had Batiste’s name already on them. The Apartment was written for Jeff Sipe to play. Of course, some things took on a mind of their own after hearing the playback- that’s always the magic of building a track and what you shoot for.

AL: No two tunes sound alike. Was this a conscious decision?

ST: No, I just wrote and cut the tunes when I could. The running order was tricky because of the variety of moods, but those are just the way I heard them. My goal with “Hwy 90” and “Grease Factor” was to utilize the sounds around me (south LA. Cajun/Zydeco, funk, brass bands etc.) and combine that with modern rock and jazz concepts. I try to just let it happen, I don’t want it to sound contrived in any way, but the grooves from these styles of music are just fun to play, and easy for a listener to grab on to.

AL: Can you compare this CD to your last one?

ST: “Grease Factor” was intentionally meant to be a vehicle for heavier guitar playing. Not a chops record per se, but just something that I wanted to not hold back on. I’ve often played heavier guitar parts and solos on other peoples records and wanted to apply that to my own project.

AL: Do you teach?

ST: I haven’t done much teaching at all for the past 8 years. I’d like to set up a few students at some point; I just don’t have the time now. Occasionally, I write for Guitar Player magazine and Guitar 9. I’ve also done some instructional books- “New Orleans Funk Guitar” for Warner Bros. Also, Adam Nitti and I are working on an online music school called Music Dojo. Teaching is important because when you get the right student who wants to learn, you teach yourself more in the process.

AL: How important was your experience at GIT? (Guitar Institute of Technology)

ST: GIT was a great time in my life; I met lots of players from all over the world and still have friends from that time. I still visit there and teach occasionally, and stay in contact with a few of my old teachers like Scott Henderson and Dan Gilbert.

AL: How has performing with the Neville Brothers helped your guitar playing?

ST: It forced me to simplify some things and really got me into the feel of a song. Saying what you want to say in 16 bars or whatever and getting out of there….also dialing in a variety of tones in a short amount of time- we don’t sound check at all! I think it also has added some fire to my playing that you don’t get by doing session work every day.

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Mark Egan Interview

May 4, 2003

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Mark Egan

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Bassist Mark Egan has been a fixture of fusion’s bottom end for almost 25 years. He came to fame as a member of the Pat Metheny Group. But his lyrical playing and inventive mind have been in the mix for several noteworthy group projects and some solo efforts. Along with drummer Danny Gottlieb, Egan produced several outstanding albums as a founding member of the fine fusion ensemble “Elements”. (Another Elements CD is due soon). He also enjoys the status of being Bill Cosby’s favorite bass player. Egan spoke to Abstract Logix about his influences and the state of the art of fusion music.

AL: Can jazz or fusion music survive the current atmosphere?

ME: I think there is still a place for jazz and fusion in the music world today. I come from a jazz fusion background and still create within that style. In that genre there are a lot of musicians who are still pushing the envelope. It’s a bit more difficult than it was ten or fifteen years ago because music has become so compartmentalized. For instance, on radio today there are many different categories – smooth jazz, straight-ahead jazz, contemporary jazz, ambient, pop, rock, funk etc.. Whereas in the late 60’s there was just FM radio and they would play anything. You could go from listening to Jimi Hendrix to Miles Davis to Alan Watts reciting works about Zen philosophy to Charlie Parker, followed by the Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin.

AL: Who influenced you?

ME: I have had many stage of influence. I was originally a trumpet player and some of my first influences were Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Lee Morgan – the whole lineage of trumpet players. As I got into jazz through trumpet I learned about bass players in the jazz world. Due to the fact that I’m a Baby Boomer I was also exposed to all the music that was happening in the sixties – Motown music, Cream, Led Zeppelin. So there was that side of my influences, as well. During that time, when I was about 15, I got really interested in the bass from listening to the radio. There were a lot of great bassists playing – James Jameson .. Chuck Rainey was playing with Aretha Franklin. So I really tuned in to the bass and those performers influenced me. When I went away to the University of Miami to study music I got deeper into it. One of my great live influences from that period was Jaco Pastorius. Being a member of the Pat Metheny Group was a big influence on my playing.

AL: Do you think you have influences on your composing?

ME: Compositionally I get my influences from many places. I studied Western Harmony and Counterpoint in college, so I had a whole classical background of composition. I was also influenced by great jazz composers such as Duke Ellington and Bill Evans and Miles Davis and John Coltrane. I listened to people like Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, who are also great composers. I was especially attracted to the impressionists Dubussy and Ravel. When I write I try not to set limits. I try to keep myself open, to hear things. For instance, lately I’ve been waking up and going straight to the instrument and playing, just ideas, not reading or anything. I’ve been coming up with a lot of ideas, writing them down and making a point of saying, Today I’m going to finish a song with this idea. That’s been very helpful. So I did set myself that limit. As far as writing expectations go, I’m always looking to write a great melody, a great groove and a great song. It takes a lot of work – focusing and experimenting to come up with something that you’re satisfied with. There are only a few songs that I’ve written that I really, really like a lot. The others are approaching a place that I’m aspiring to.

AL: The sound you get is very distinct from other bassists. Does your sound affect what you write?

ME: I’m very affected by the palette of sounds that I have. Sometimes I write on the bass and I’ll come up with a melody. Because the particular Pedulla bass that I have has a lot of sustain and is really growly, it makes me play a certain way. It takes me into a specific area and that influences my writing process. I have many different ways that I write. Sometimes I’ll just write in my head, sometimes I’ll write at the piano or a keyboard synthesizer and get a certain loop or a groove going and work with that. Sometimes I’ll play along with a groove, think of a chord progression and write a melody after that. Another time I might write a melody and then harmonize it, come up with a groove that fits it. In general, the writing process starts for me with a mood or groove and then I go from there.

AL: You and Danny Gottlieb go back a long way.

ME: Danny Gottlieb and I met in 1971 at the University of Miami, both students. We both played in the jazz band together. Outside of the university we played in various ensembles and did a lot of gigs together. When Pay Metheny was going to form his group he asked Danny and me and Lyle Mays if we would be in the group, so we all got together and that was the original Pat Metheny Group. It was really then that Danny and I focused and came up with a sound together. We were on the road almost every day for four years. And when you play that much you really become a team and develop a sound together as a rhythm section. From that we branched off and started our group Elements which has a focus on the rhythm section – bass and drums, but also features the great Saxophonist Bill Evans, and the great Keyboardist and composer Clifford Carter. Danny and I continue to go and play together. We have a special rapport. Having played together in so many circumstances we know where each other are going to go and we compliment each other. And that’s a great thing, because drums and bass have to work as one thing.

AL: How did you get involved in writing for TV and the movies?

ME: After I left the Pat Metheny Group in 1980 I went back into the New York recording session scene. When I moved to New York originally in 1976 I was doing a lot of studio work because I was with the David Sanborn Group. Being in that band indoctrinated me into the whole New York session scene, and I left it to go on the road with Pat Metheny. In my session work I did a lot of playing for TV and movie scores. I met people who worked in those fields, they liked my music and one thing led to another. A lot of the projects that I was asked to write for TV or movies were very creative. I was free to write pretty much what I would write if I were doing my own record, with a lot of textures and bass features.

AL: Toninho Horta has had some effect upon your music.

ME: Toninho Horta is an incredible musician, guitarist, and composer. I first met him in Brazil in 1980, and I was a big fan of his even before that for his work with Milton Nascimento. Toninho has taken the Brazilian harmonic approach to playing guitar from the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim and has created his own sound with it while still carrying on the tradition of Brazilian music. It’s very rich in harmony from the influence of classical western music fused with jazz and Brazilian rhythms. Toninho Horta’s writing inspired me to write in a Brazilian style, melodic and rich with chords.

AL: How does being the bandleader change things?

ME: Being a band leader is a lot of responsibility. It’s a different perspective than just being a player in a group and having someone else being the overseer of the musical arrangements, or the direction of the band, the logistics of traveling, or touring, of paying everyone, getting paid. All of those things are what a leader has to be involved with. You are the one on the line. When it’s a success it’s great, but when it’s a failure it’s not. Luckily we’ve been pretty successful with Elements and my solo projects where we always end up on our two feet.

AL: What do you have in your CD player currently?

ME: Lately I’ve been listening to Joe Zawinul’s new CD. I think it’s called Places & Faces or Faces & Places – great bass playing. It’s great to play along with. I also listen to a lot of classical music, Indian music – Zakir Hussein. I have a new Trio record that I’ve been producing and which I play on with Danny Gottlieb and a great piano player called Jeff Laibson. So I’ve been working on that and listening to it a lot. I am also listening to Keith Jarrett and the live Trio recordings that he’s done. It’s been good for me in making sure that our piano trio – the Jeff Laibson Trio, come up to those standards.

AL: You are currently touring with Larry Coryell. What kind of stuff are you playing?

ME: We have a trio with Paul Wertico on drums, formerly of the Pat Metheny Group. We’re doing a wide spectrum of contemporary jazz – standards to fusion. We’re doing originals from everyone in the group. It’s a great outlet for all of us. We just finished recording a record which is called “Tricycles” because it’s named after one of my songs of that name recorded in Heidelberg, Germany. It’s a really good representation of what we do live and has the same energy as a live concert even though it is a studio recording. And that’s a rare thing.

AL: What’s next?

ME: As I mentioned earlier, I’m completing a trio record with Jeff Laibson and Danny Gottlieb which will be out in the fall 2003. I’m excited about this recording because I’m using my acoustic, upright bass which I haven’t recorded with that much. I mostly played electric. It’s very experimental, free playing and I’m really happy with the results. As far as live touring I’m on the road with Larry Coryell. I also have a trio with a great guitar player named Jeff Ciampa, and Danny Gottlieb and we’ll be touring and playing around the Northeast. I’m also gearing up to do a new studio Elements record, which is long overdue. I’m working on compositions for that at the moment and hopefully will be recording that this year. That will feature Bill Evans and Clifford Carter. My label, Wavetone Records is also putting out an electric jazz trio record with Jeff Ciampa, Danny Gottlieb and I called “House of Mirrors”. That’s coming out at the same time as the Laibson Trio.

AL: Anything left unsaid?

ME: I’d like to say thank you for supporting creative music. It’s great to have a web site like Abstract Logix. We need more places like this on the Internet and in the world. There’s a lot of great music out there to hear and play, and we need an audience like you out there to share it with, because that’s why we do it.

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Gary Husband Interview

May 2, 2003

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Gary Husband

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Gary Husband is a household name for every jazz, fusion and even pop fans today. There are very few people today that can play drums in a heavy setting and can amazingly interpret the music of Allan Holdsworth. He has appeared on monumental recordings of music history and has created a dazzling new record himself. On top of that, he is the backbone of the most interesting pop-jazz bands of our times, Level 42. Gary has been working on a new recording, interpreting the music of John McLaughlin as well as appearing on the new Gongzilla records. He will be performing in New York this summer for a few exclusive shows. This is what Gary had to tell us .

AL: You play two quite distinct instruments at a very high level. How did this happen?

GH: I guess it is quite rare when a musician specializes on two instruments to the point where both are his or her main instruments. For me, long before drums came along I was studying, very seriously, classical theory and classical piano. I guess the way I play, and hear piano is directly inspired by a lot of that classical background, and a lot of that material. The jazzier, more improvisational side I did not study. No taking down of solos, and no real in depth study of a lot of conventional jazz methods. I developed this, I guess, from listening, and the inspiration I got from musicians and records. I really wanted to follow my heart, and what I heard. As I heard or felt things I developed them. I still work like that, so perhaps, (and I’m glad to say) the kind of lines or harmonic approaches I end up using are not really derivative of anybody in particular except just many influences and inspirations that I’ve had in the past, and still do have. It’s been a very organic process that way. On my next album, “Aspire – Gary Husband & Friends” I play some acoustic guitar! So I guess that’s going to throw people now, too!!

AL: You’ve recently interpreted Allan Holdsworth’s music. Interpreting is a lot different from covering and you have captured Allan with playing Allan.

GH: Thank you! Thanks for listening. Well, all those versions, really, come from just a process of listening in, looking to see what lot of the bare bones of Allan’s melodies would suggest to me. Just a lot of imagination, and a hell of a lot of application!!!! Wow! I worked really hard on that one. I guess what came out at the end was a selection of interpretations, some very much expanded upon, and very rearranged … some even recomposed really … and then some which are closer to Allan’s definitive versions. Even the selections that remain closer to the originals though, in form, are all dramatically re-harmonized. Guitar harmony does not translate well at all into piano harmony. Got to start right at the beginning.

AL: You are working on a similar treatment of John McLaughlin’s music?

GH: It’ll be a similar type of approach, although John’s music is often so much more literal in a sense, than Allan’s. In spite of that though, the interpretations will take on a life and form of their own, as they did with the first album. Luckily, John is very supportive of this idea!! He was very taken with the last album, and I feel very proud of that. He’s a very big inspiration.

AL: Do you easily switch back between the drums and piano or do you have perform with each for a period of time to get into the groove?

GH: It really depends. I cannot say. I guess it works out to be half the time involved in piano, keyboards and writing, and the other half for drums. I hardly think about it. Actually though, I’d like to work on this idea for solo concerts where I have some drums set up around the piano and, with the use maybe of a sequencer, I can be involved with both in the same setting. That’d be great. It takes some intense planning though, as I want it to be real – not some kind of novelty circus approach.

AL: What music are you most proud of? There’s lots to choose from.

GH: That’s very nice of you to say, although … hmmm, I don’t know. A lot of the Allan Holdsworth records I am kind of proud of. There was a lot of development that took place for me as a drummer since I had 100% freedom in the approach. I was able to really compose drum parts for his pieces while he suggested nothing! It’s great to be left to your own imagination and have somebody trust you. The quality control was not always that much on these records as far as my own playing is concerned. Usually thought out, and recorded very quickly. I could have done far better in terms of the actual playing. I’m proud of the ideas though, and I guess I think I have a clear identity as a drummer. I like that thought. I think it with the piano thing too. It’s nice. Other things? Steve Topping – Time & Distance or What It Is or the new one coming up, Late Flower. He’s a great one, at the moment not recognized. It’ll change. I like what a lot of what happened with my trio, (the New Trio) in terms of the imagination and the arrangement side. I enjoyed my time with that little group. Every concert was pretty memorable, very different from the last one, and just always very creative.

AL: Was there stuff you heard growing up that pushed you in a certain direction?

GH: Well, in terms of the old days, I guess everyone was just copping the records. Including me! Big time. All the big band stuff from the U.S., the jazz and fusion stuff. England, as you will know, is much more culturally diverse now anyway – there are lots of things happening … but really not too much out of the area of more dance oriented things or pop. I hear very little improvisational development, or harmony. Bjork, with Vince Mendoza scoring, will do it for me though! I don’t know. I find I am inspired constantly through life’s adventures anyway – just through living. In the old days I was inspired by a lot of pop, classical, jazz and fusion, rock. As well as this you had bands like The Police, where people were actually playing. It’s a little different these days, in that way. I feel more than ever bit of a maverick. For my own survival! I guess I always did anyway.

AL: Tell us about your work with Gongzilla.

GH: Gongzilla is a group I first recorded with on an album a few years back named “Thrive”. I did a recent one with them, coming out now, “The East Village Sessions”. It’s pretty good. Not my finest hour behind the drums (!) but I’m seldom happy with my performances anyway. Got some good things though. They will not allow click tracks though, so … there’s no repairing anything, and it’s all done just as it comes! I like this approach, and I don’t like it!

AL: Any advice for those out there who may also want to become drummers and pianists simultaneously?

GH: Well, I’d say don’t force it! If you feel like you have a bit of a split personality, like me, then I guess you go for it. I mean, I suffer, in terms of marketing, and people’s marketing demands. It’s not an easy ride to be selling yourself as a dual instrumentalist, but it’s very necessary for me as I can’t do without one or the other of them. I guess that makes me a true Gemini, but one has got to do what one is going to do! And mean it!

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On the eve of the release of his new album Larger Than Life, we sat down with bassist, improvisor, and composer Gary Willis to discuss his collaborators on the project, his process, and the results.

Q: Given the vast geographic disparity, how did this record come together — were you all in the same room or did you take a more modular approach? What were the advantages of your chosen approach and how did it elevate and enrich the material?

Gary Willis: It did make it difficult…since it turned out to be a five-year thing. I took the opportunity to go to Los Angeles in 2010 because Gergo was going to be there, so he and I and Kinsey got things started. Then in 2011, when Gergo moved into Barcelona, I immediately booked studio time and we spent a day just jamming.

Afterwards for a lot of the songs I’d write things and send them to Kinsey in L.A. and he’d record with [saxophonist] Steve Tavaglione. Then he’d send me things he and Tav did. So there were files going back and forth all the time. So parts of it were like a collaborative improvisation in a way.

As late as last year, I had this tune “Beast Mode,” and I knew the three of us couldn’t get together. But Gergo was going to be in L.A., so I sent a version he and Kinsey could improvise over. As a duo they nailed it in one take and I added my part later…

Before Gergo and I went into the studio to record duo, we booked a rehearsal studio with the intention to prepare some things in advance. Immediately we came up with what became “Vendetta.” After that, we said, “We’re wasting our time here: Let’s do what we do here in the studio – just let it happen live.”

Q: With improvisation being central to this music, how do you see your role as composer and bandleader?

GW: Two of the 4 of the songs that were composed before we recorded them are mine, so those two are “traditional” with melodies and solo sections, etc. The other 8 songs got their start with improvisation so my first role is to determine what should be preserved from what turned out to be several hours of raw, improvised material. One thing I’ve learned from composing this way is that an inspired drum performance is the heart of the whole process. Without question, Gergo’s playing is inspiring throughout. So the main challenge is to make sure that if there’s a part of the music that needs composition, that it lives up to the level of inspiration that Gergo or the group has reached at that moment.

Q: Will you try to re-learn this sort of hybrid material and play it live?

GW: We’re gonna try. It’s cool to go back and check out – to visit what had just happened in the moment and recreate…

Q: I’d be curious to know more about how you see the bass’s role in this music — you aren’t strictly in a supporting capacity, but neither are you out front as a lead instrument the whole time…

GW: To me, music that communicates well is everyone playing with their imagination… you imagine different roles for yourself, sometimes you belong out front, other times it’s a supporting role. That’s the other thing about jamming with Gergo and Kinsey is they have this ability to jam compositionally — it’s not just about soloing…

We haven’t played together that much, but it’s just something that happens when you get the right musicians together. You don’t have to talk about it — actually, the more you discuss, the less in the moment you are when it happens.

The title track started out as a trio jam with me and Gergo and Kinsey where I brought in an initial bass part. It was originally a seventeen-minute thing. Kinsey managed to whittle it down to eight minutes. I found some things he played and turned those into melodies, wrote some myself, and it developed over time into its own thing.

Q: Was the bass the last thing that went down?

GW: On six of them, Gergo and I started out jamming…I’d play melodies there, and some of those became the songs. Other times I’d do kind of a placeholder — knowing it wouldn’t be the final melody, but it would be taking up the space where I knew I wanted to write something like that…

Q: Does being in Barcelona make it easier or harder to make a recording like this? Is it easier to have a global presence being based in Europe?

GW: If this was a traditional studio-based recording with everyone in the same room, playing at the same time then yes it would be a problem. But everyone involved contributed in a way that doesn’t make you think there was any distances or time zones involved.

I stopped thinking geographical a long time ago so I really have no idea if I have a global presence. Living in Europe, I’m sure there are some opportunities that have come my way that wouldn’t have been there if I had stayed in the US.

Q: Tell us about your use of Claudia Bardagí’s wordless vocals throughout the album.

GW: One of the things that defines a melody is its sing-ability. But for me lyrics really confine how well you can identify with a piece of music. Claudia’s singing added a real human quality to the melodies and she was able to keep their abstract nature by not using lyrics.

Q: And the last track was recorded live…

GW: Yeah, we’ve added it as a bonus. It’s a good example of us improvising together. We were invited to play at the 80th birthday celebration of Joe Zawinul in Budapest, so we worked “Corner Pocket” into Kinsey’s “This Is That”.

Q: The artwork by Rafael Sarmento seems to be a big part of this new project. Did the collaboration with him come before or after the music was cut? What drew you to him?

GW: It happened afterwards. Once all the titles were settled they started to give me a kind of a vague idea about the artwork. At the same time I got introduced to him from a friend of a friend. When I saw his work, there was an immediate connection and we started emailing about it. I explained some of the visuals I was imagining for some of the songs, and he came up with some on his own. As we started working more closely, he gave the whole thing a concrete identity.

Q: Does that mean this is programmatic music? The music definitely has a cinematic quality to it.

GW: I guess it could be… depends on your imagination. I mean the music came first…but that’s how I like listen to music: With my imagination. I want to lead people in that direction, if I get a chance to.

Q: So, what would you say is the common thread connecting these performances, these songs?

GW: The obvious thread is me and Gergo and Kinsey playing but also I’m hopeful that a sense of imagination, a sense of humor and like you said, a cinematic quality can be found throughout.

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Brett Garsed Interview

May 2, 2003

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Brett Garsed

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Australian Brett Garsed began playing guitar at age 12 after hearing Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore play Speed King. Basically self-taught on the instrument, his first band consisted of his two cousins and a friend. In July of 1985, Brett was featured in Guitar Player magazine’s Spotlight column, which was devoted to exposing new talent to the rest of the world. His new album “Big Sky” is being highly touted. Brett talks to Abstract Logix about his music.

AL: Talk about “Big Sky”.

BG: For the “Big Sky” album I wanted to write all the material myself and then let Ric and Toss interpret their own way. I generally improvise on my own and try to clear my mind of formulas or stock progressions. I try to let the song grow naturally instead of forcing it which usually makes for a better song but it may mean it’ll take awhile for the composition to complete itself. I’ll run my initial idea till it’s locked in my mind and then go for a walk or something and let my imagination tell me where it’s going to go next. I actually do a lot of writing while I’m in my car stuck in traffic. I really like the input of the players so I let Ric and Toss just do their thing. When you work with musicians as brilliant as those guys they always play just the right thing for the song so the best result comes from letting them interpret the song the way they feel it.

AL: This was your first CD as a leader.

BG: It was quite daunting actually and I have to admit it was a bit of a freak out when I realized that I was the one with the final say as I’ve always worked with other people in the past. When you release something to the public as your own vision it can be a bit scary considering you’ll be the one the barbs hit if people don’t like it but I just tried to make sure that I was putting the integrity of the music first rather than trying to impress anyone. That way I was assured that I’d enjoy listening to the album years from now and whatever anyone else thinks of it is up to them.

AL: Are you successfully bridging the gap between pop and fusion?

BG: Most of my music is probably more related to rock and pop than fusion anyway so it’s not that much of a change. The fusion influence for me is mainly the improvising aspect and also some of the harmonic ideas I use but I always try to write a good melody that stands on it’s own as that’s what I enjoy about music. I was heavily influenced by Jeff Beck’s “Blow By Blow” and “Wired” albums as well as Bruford’s “One Of A Kind”. I see these albums as masterpieces of composition and even though the musical language they use is complex it only serves the song. Good writing is the same whether it’s pop or fusion, at least it is to me anyway.

AL: What was it like playing with Shawn Lane and others on the rave-up Centrifugal Funk ?

BG: I had a lot of fun doing that album although Mark (not Mike) Varney wanted me to overplay much more than I’d liked. It was a really great album for me to be involved with though as it still spreads my name till this day and it gave me an opportunity to hear myself alongside such amazing players as Frank Gambale and Shawn. Luckily I didn’t end up making a fool of myself! I didn’t really meet Shawn during that project but met him about a year later while I was touring with Bobby Rock and he’s a perfect gentleman as well as a genius musician.

AL: How do you feel fusion is going over in the States?

BG: Fusion in and of itself seems to be quite healthy in the US although I may be the wrong person to ask. Perhaps it’s a lack of melody in instrumental music that deters your average listener. It was the attention to melody that attracted me to those early Jeff Beck albums and even though the modern fusion of Tribal Tech and Allan Holdsworth is much more challenging harmonically and rhythmically it’s still brilliant writing with strong melodies and hooks, just like great pop writing.

AL: T.J. has an important place in your development.

BG: TJ Helmerich is my musical brother and we compliment each other perfectly. TJ is actually one of the main people responsible for me believing in myself enough to create my own music and put it out there. He’s a genius musician as well as a world class vocalist and one of the best recording engineers on the planet. We’ll always work together as a team. I wanted to do my own album as I’d rather write with TJ instead of bringing completed tunes in that he couldn’t contribute to. I feel what we do together is very unique so I didn’t want to dilute that so there’ll be more Garsed & Helmerich albums coming out.

AL: What is next for you?

BG: More of everything! I’m always pushing myself to grow and learn so I intend to keep working and trying to be a unique voice with original ideas. As I said, I’m not interested in regurgitating the past so I’m always busy exploring the language of music in my own way and contributing to the genre instead of transcribing other people’s hard work and building a career on that so, expect the same thing only different!

AL: By the way, you waited a long time to release your first CD.?

BG: It took me that long to raise the money to buy the equipment to do it. Plus I’d been doing a lot of gigs with Toss Panos and Ric Fierabracci and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to record with them. The minute I heard them play I knew it had to be them on the album. It’s been an honor for me to work with musicians like them and I’m grateful that they’d want to work with me. I’m glad I waited this long as I’m a more mature musician now and I feel my writing is stronger.

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Monthly Archives: May 2003

Chris Poland

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T Lavitz Interview

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Conversations with Prasanna

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Henry Kaiser Interview

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The George Brooks Interview

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Jeff Berlin Interview

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Chad Wackerman Interview

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Mark Egan Interview

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Gary Husband Interview

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Brett Garsed Interview

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