Jazz Colours
Andrew Rigmore
June 2009


Let´s start with talking about the CD you released right now, "Solo Bone": a work of this sort is like a challenge, to others but also to yourself, isn´t it?

Sure, "Solo Bone" was a big challenge. The task was also about being on stage during one hour, alone from the beginning through the end, without even a rhythm section. It is a great experience though. A concert of unaccompanied trombone is certainly not an idea that comes easily to mind, even for the most experienced of musicians. I also remarked by speaking with some listeners at the end of performances that most of them are surprised that a solo trombone concert is actually not so challenging to listen to.

Among the musicians of your reference surely there must be Albert Mangelsdorff, not only because he was the first one to perform in live concert as "solo trombone"; but also for your use of multiphonics, a technique he was a master of. What kind of study does a player need to get to perform such a technique?

The first time I ever had to deal with multiphonics was actually in contemporary music. I was working on a solo piece called "Basta" by Folke Rabe. The final part of the composition is a suite of multiphonics (6th to 5th, which actually sounds like a diminished chords that is going to a minor chord). At that time, I did not really think about a specific method I should use to produce them, and I have always liked to insert multiphonics in my performances. Producing multiphonics is actually not difficult but when you want many multiphonics in a row, which sound in tune, then you need to practice them regularly. I really started to practice multiphonics when I worked on "Solo Bone." Mangelsdorff used to practice his voice every day in order to master multiphonics perfectly. And I would suggest a player to practice them with the mouthpiece only.

Other musicians that influence you?

Actually, classical composers influence me a lot like Marais, Brahms, Ravel, Debussy, Bartok, Ligeti, Kurtag, Gubaidulina, Maessian, Berio, Grisey to name a few. I am also very influenced by jazz player like Glenn Ferris, Geoffroy de Masure, Tomasz Stanko, Claudio Pontiggia, Chet Baker, Roswell Rudd, J.J Johnson, Slide Hampton, Hank Mobley and all the musicians I have been working and playing with. Lately, I discovered a beautiful recording by Michael Adkins, Rotator, on Hat Hut, that has been spinning in my home stereo systems for several weeks.

Your work in quartet "7th Heaven" has been very welcome from critics and audience. Now you have announced your new quartet, featuring Marc Ducret instead of Scott DuBois and Drew Gress instead of Thomas Morgan: what happened?

Nothing scary happened (!) and the explanation is actually quite simple. Most of best New York players are very busy and it is hard to get them for several tours in a row. Sometimes you have to book them two years in advance so the changes of line up are usually related to musicians´ availabilities.

After "7th Heaven", I did two tours with another vibrant line up featuring Thomas Morgan on bass, Todd Neufeld on guitar and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. We recorded a great album last June called "Pieces Of Old Sky," which will be released on Clean Feed Records in September 2009.

Furthermore I am still in a searching process. Therefore, I am trying different musicians and combinations to experience sounds, atmospheres and musical directions. For my next two tours (November 09 and October 10) I will be working with Marc Ducret, Drew Gress and Gerald Cleaver who was the drummer on "7th Heaven."

"YaY", the album in duo with eclectic pianist Malcolm Braff, seems a little less free and a little more melodic: maybe you diverge a bit from your usual approach (except for your own compositions, of course); so, did you try a different way?

If you look only at "7th Heaven" which is my first personal album, I agree with you, I diverged a little from my usual approach. But "7th Heaven" is also the result of a long searching process and I had to go through many different musical styles including classical, jazz, pop and folk to find that specific sound. "YaY" is indeed more about melodies and African grooves but that type of music has always been present in my life. Also, before "7th Heaven," my music was more oriented to melodies and harmonies. You can hear it by listening to "Rêves…" (YVP, 2004) by the Aeby Blaser Quartet, which is my first release as a co-leader with Swiss pianist, Stefan Aeby. By recording "YaY", I wanted to share my musical range with the listeners. On top of that, playing with Malcolm Braff is a real honor!

How this collaboration (Braff and you) started?

We actually started playing together in 2005 with his band, the Malcolm Braff & TNT. Then we were invited by Yvan Ischer, producer at Swiss Radio in Lausanne to perform a duo for the twenty years anniversary of a broadcast called "Jazzz". The music sounded like it has always been there, so we decided to record more material.

Is there any reason why you prefer the guitar rather than piano, for your own quartets?

I first thought about this instrument because I met Scott DuBois and we really wanted to work together. That is how I introduced the guitar in the first line-up of the band and I was extremely happy about the sound it created. Playing with guitar gives more space and power to my music. The blend of this instrument with the trombone is very interesting and a combination that not many trombone players explore. Scott could not participate in the next tour but I absolutely wanted to keep that specific sound.

As for the percussion duo, your first one was with Ziv Ravitz, and you go on still performing in concert with him; but the incoming record will be together Swiss drummer and percussionist Pierre Favre. Do you think this new project will go on the same path than the previous one? And as for the previous, is it over or do you want to keep it on independently (from this new one)?

First of all, it is important to understand that I like to play with many different players, like most of us I guess. I am also an impulsive person whose ideas and projects are manifolds. Therefore it is sometimes hard to keep all the projects and wishes together and I have to make some choices. As I now live in Berlin since last January I thought it would make more sense to have a duo based in Europe. I always dreamed about playing with Pierre Favre. Having a project with him made a lot of sense to me, as we are both originally from the same part in Switzerland: he is from Le Locle and I am from La Chaux-de-Fonds, two neighboring cities. We started the collaboration in April by playing for a week at the "Center Dürrenmatt" in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, where we created the music I composed based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt´s paintings and writings. We will record in September 2009. On top of that, to play with Pierre is a very natural feeling and this is a sentiment that we both share. I really hope that we will work together for many years.

So you have experienced many kind of group combination, from the orchestra to the duo (with piano or percussion), up to the solo, too. Where do you think the voice of your trombone (your voice!) fit in best?

I certainly feel better in small groups, but the size is actually not so important to me, as long as I play with people who listen and understand my musical sensitivity. However, I would not mind to play in front of a philharmonic orchestra!

You are one of the few European musicians who, instead of moving permanently to US, prefer to go back and forth: why, you choose so?

Well, I like both continents and I feel good in USA and in Europe. When I used to live in US, I was also considered as a European musician who was going back and forth. Now, I live in Berlin and I am doing the same, just in a different direction. I travel where the music is taking me and so it does not really matter where I am based.

In the USA, often people and mainly jazz musicians are critical about the European avant-garde, and black jazz players (not all, fortunately) also go as far as telling that this is not very jazz (probably because they claim a sort of "paternity"). What do you think about that?

I have discussed this subject many times and my opinions remain divided. I guess we could start by giving a definition to what is actually jazz, but again there will be a lot of diverging opinions!
Yes, European avant-garde music does not sound like American jazz, just because we experienced different things and our culture, musical backgrounds and educations are different. On the other hand, European avant-garde music has been considerably influenced by the tradition and the concept is very similar to jazz. We actually use the same material but organize it in a different way, for example the improvisation, the rhythm, the interaction, the melody, the harmony, etc. Therefore I would consider European avant-garde as a branch of jazz and as part of the evolution. We have the same situation with classical music. We include all new music (contemporary) in that category even if it is not really "classical music." It is just a label.

And what do you find in the US ambience when you go there and perform your projects close to the avant-garde (i.e. "Solo Bone")?

In the USA, my music has always been warmly welcomed, especially in New York City where most of jazz players are open-minded and ready to hear new music. I actually developed my "avant-garde" style by playing with young musicians from the New York scene. To me, the ambiance in US is very creative and there are a lots of performance spaces in NYC specifically dedicated to improvised music like "Roulette," "Poisson Rouge," or "Tea lounge." I have to admit that I have not toured much in US yet with my own projects but this will change soon, as I will be on tour with Pierre Favre in US and Canada in June 2010.
As for your adaptability, your own voice, your style, what do you like to capture with your sound, with your playing?

I just want to share my experiences with the listeners and try to bring them along with me while traveling in my musical world. It is a great feeling when you see everybody with you during a performance and it is even greater when people thank you for the journey at the end of the concert.