A conversation on the current New Orleans music scene between Mark Bingham, Helen Gillet, Michael Dominici, and Jonathan Freilich

WWOZ radio DJ, Michael Dominici had the idea to take some of what has been happening in these interviews and take it onto WWOZ during his radio show.  There were time constraints that didn't allow us, with our summer schedules, to do this live so we pre-recorded it on May 28th, 2011. Mark Bingham allowed us to do the interview at Piety St. Studios so we sat down for about an hour and discussed a few things pertaining to recording, time perception, thinking of music for now, anachronistic music, and observations on a few other musicians around the scene including Quintron, Ratty Scurvics, Clint Maedgen and others.  Other things were touched on too. The conversation ranges from light and humorous to a tinkering with quasi-meta-musico-profundums.

This will probably be quite edited for WWOZ radio broadcast so here is an opportunity to hear it in its entirety.  

Michael Dominici is a DJ, a very aware listener and New Orleans lover and culture observer.  Cellist,Helen Gillet has been an active professional musician around New Orleans for many years now. Mark Bingham is a renowned record producer, composer, engineer, song writer etc.  

Helen and Mark have both been individually interviewed for this series at an earlier time. Both are available from this site on the interviews page.

Without further ado, here is the conversation...

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Jeff Albert interview parts 3-5

Here is the rest of the interview with Jeff Albert, trombonist, music student, Open Ears curator, composer.

Part 3- The Albert-Ankrum project; The Naked Orchestra; Davis Rogan and Peter and the Wolf; meeting other creative players on the new orleans music scene; the impact of playing with Michael Ray and diversity of style; the differences between the academic perspective and music in "the real world;" more on Chicago music and relationship with Jeb Bishop; the performance venue vacuum that allowed for the Open Ears series to start; whether anything has happened as a result of Open Ears- (here he really delves into the series); what is necessary to make a creative music venue successful.

Part 4- Electronic music and current Ph.D work at LSU; influence of electronic music on his acoustic/ trombone improvisations; music concrete; stockhausen; childrens' perceptions of electronic and creative music; subject of dissertation; programming a computer to improvise; how Jeff listens to music and how that has changed over time.

Part 5- Communication with audiences; the different subjects involved in his writing; experience playing with drummer, Hamid Drake; playing with drummer, Marcello Bennetti; thoughts on European improvisational styles.

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Interview with Jeff Albert, Trombonist and curator of the Open Ears Series. Parts 1&2

Jeff Albert is more than a musician.  Like a few others interviewed here he has contributed to the New Orleans music scene through the Tuesday Open Ears series at the Blue Nile.  The series allows an open forum for a wide variety of musical performance.  It is a rare night where one can witness any sort of musical exploration. Through improving the breadth of what is presented he has contributed to  the formation  of musical groups and associations of musicians that otherwise would not have a place to develop their playing and ideas.  It also brings in adventurous groups from outside New Orleans.  Jeff has developed his own expression and his self- understanding steadily over the years.  He has learned a great deal from his own associations with musicians and gigs and he shares a lot about those experiences here.  There is also interesting information about the trombone and electronic music.

Part 1- How the open ears series came about, what it is, whether it is still doing what he wants, what it's relationship is to the reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina; influences of Chicago improvising musicians and how he formed alliances with those musicians; improvisation itself, what the relation is to jazz; tradition and lineage in improvisational music; early biographical information -growing up in Lafayette; starting trombone in band class and the pros and cons of that level of music education.

Part 2- musical aspirations as a starting trombone student; becoming conscious of jazz music; decision to be a musician and go to Loyola University over University of North Texas; J.J. Johnson; Clint Maedgen, Coltrane Live in Japan; studies with Dick Erb; early rewarding professional gig experience in horn sections; Pedro Cruz and latin music scene experiences; the feeling of being a professional musician and enjoyment of the lifestyle; urge for self-expression bubbling to the surface; comfort with computers and meeting John Worthington, the computer guru; becoming aware of the greater relative power of emotional playing; UNO for a masters degree and improving composition; learning strengths and limitations.

More on Jeff and the Open Ears Music Series can be found at www.openearsmusic.org

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Conversation with saxophonist Rex Gregory

Rex Gregory is an extremely talented, but also very disciplined, instrumentalist.  He plays with a wide variety of people around town in a number of styles, many of them not fixed genres.  Part of this comes from a great talent for getting with the "conversational" style that emerges when groups of players get together to improvise.  Basically, he's quick!  He's also young (27.)  He plays flute, all the saxes, and clarinet and last year he released his first album as a leader, An End To Oblivion.  He is very comfortable dealing with ideas both "intellectual" and  in music. He enthusiastically tackles areas where he has no understanding and he is quite well read as a result.  If you check his blog at http://rexgregory.blogspot.com/ you can see he writes confidently too whether you are in agreement with his opinions or not.  I felt this was an entertaining interview because Rex is comfortable with shooting off opinions.  His website is at http://rexgregory.com/  The last section of this interview got into some very interesting areas that show a lot of the inner symbolic possibilities that are available in the basic elements of music.

This is the most conversational interview to date.

This conversation happened outdoors so there is some wind noise. On the other hand it seems comfortable and you get the sounds of the Marigny on a pleasant late spring day.

Part 1- Rex talks about getting back to jazz and what he means by jazz, jazz competitions and whether there is a place for competition in music, Beethoven and Viennese classical music.

Part 2- how Rex started on saxophone, background in Texas and music in his family, university selection,  what was serendipitous about University of New Orleans instead of New York, herd mentality in New York, tribalism, influence of the previous generation of jazz musicians from Texas, Robert Glasper, Claudia Quintet, studies with Ed Petersen, studies with Brice Winston

Parts 3 and 4 have very interesting philosophical information in them.  Rex describes more closely, especially in part 4, the relationship between his ideas and the way they actually shape his compositions.

Part 3- The word "Jazz", Duke Ellington, genres, blending in, the state of modern jazz in New Orleans, his record An End to Oblivion, influence of All the rest is noise by Alex Ross, 20th century nihilism(?), why we are in a retrospective age and the retrospective mind frame, the impact of mass communication.  

Part 4- Rex really gets down to business here;  what he means, what his process was in his writing for the album, and what the connection is between his thoughts and the actual construction of the pieces of music.  A very interesting section occurs here where he breaks down the meaning of a number of gestures in one of his pieces of music.  He also discusses whether and how he is communicating his ideas with audiences and where he is going now.  Rex revealed something generously here and despite the depth, this segment has a nice blend of seriousness with humor. 

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Interview with Aurora Nealand

Aurora Nealand is all over the current New Orleans local scene.  She seemed to emerge out of nowhere.   Some of her appeal is  that she has a humble nature, coupled with a fiery attack when she plays, and a real fearlessness about sitting in and getting involved.  She plays solo performances with a gas mask and an accordion. You'll see her playing soprano sax and clarinet exchanges with herself at Pres. Hall with The Royal Roses (see earlier post on front page.) You'll see her playing duos with pianist/composer Tom Mcdermott.  These are just a few of the interesting things she gets up to.  I have seen her under deeper cover than that, and been amazed at how easily she blends in or stands out.  She reveals a lot here about where she is coming from and where she wants to go.  She also talks a lot about the various communities and social scenes that currently surround some parts of the local scene.

Part 1- Rory Danger & The Danger Dangers, what Aurora understands about the phase she's in,  escape from the feeling of need for approval, engagement in the traditional jazz scene, exposure to Wendell Brunious and Leroy Jones, Preservation Hall, search for ways to use study of traditional or older musics for personal expression.  

Part 2- beginnings in music, studying electronic composition at Oberlin, early biography, The Jazz Vipers, the challenges of the mentality fostered in students in jazz education, early experiences of the music scene in New Orleans, graduate school in Austin for composition, interdisciplinary/ collaborative/experimental performance, at The Jacques Lecoq school, early experiences sitting in with new Orleans bands, Ben Schenck and Panorama Brass Band, Vavavoom, the appeal of the accordion, theatricality in her music, issues of communicating with the audience in the current "trad" scene, what is the appeal of "retro?", sexual dynamics in the vintage/retro scene, relationship of fashion to the gigs, formation and communities around music and comfort.

Part 3- What interests her about the groups she is currently working with, Michael Watson, challenges of getting bookings, chazfest and Rory Danger & The Danger Dangers, playing with Spencer Bohren, the hype man, the invention of the Rory Danger persona, Rockabilly and its image, more on sexual role restriction.

Part 4- working with Why are we building such a big ship? and what she loves about Walt's writing, authenticity, current songwriting and composition,  where she is headed, teaching and teaching and busking tours in Europe, qualitites and qualifications in her teaching, graphic scores, Morton Subotnick, music concrete, Shostakovich, Britney Spears, Pop music and peoples taste, original music and frustration with the classical scene.

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"Coherence Creating Scenarios." Interview with Dr. James "Jimbo" P. Walsh- composer, bassist, pianist, teacher

   ...fascinating from the second the record button goes down! Deep humanism...

Folks...This is not dumbed down.  If you really want to know about musical thinking check this!

   Jimbo Walsh plays around town with a lot of people. Amongst those are Washboard Rodeo, The Naked Orchestra, the real Davis Rogan, The Other Planets.  He also is a very deep and adept composer with a fascinating background that informs that practice as well as what he brings to the various "social music" groups.  that he plays with.  He has a heavy understanding of electronic music, and integration with the rest of the 20th century classical music dis-continuum.  

This is a very interesting interview in that it really examines concepts and ideas in music while relating it to Walsh's early biography.  Jimbo has the capability to integrate the highly complex with the very simple and he has no boundaries in the kinds of music that he is interested in or could become interested in.  He has made really interesting connections across the academic world and the world of the "alternative" scene.

The biographical arc to this interview only gets as far as the end of high school for Walsh.  We plan to get another one in to get a little further and definitely get deeper into ideas.

Part 1- Coherence creating scenarios, consciousness as a rationalization for pre-conscious mechanisms, music compositional systems as an analogue to the coherence creating system in society, how different coherence scenarios clash and cause difficulty in musical appreciation or communication, coherence and incoherence as a concept in western composition and how it integrates with other cultures, Pat Carpenter, Schoenberg's concept of the musical idea and organic unity, study and analysis of western musical classics, the heresy of organic unity in the post-modern era, beginning playing experiences, music in his family, affection for the Beatles, family dynamic, influence of Father and his engagement with philosophy.

Part 2- early biographical information relating to music; piano lessons, fat people on low instruments, first ideas and exposure to improvisation, lessons with Arthur Cunningham in jazz, the differences between that previous classical training, beginnings of recomposition and reharmonization, talent for music theory, the problem with current music theory teaching, becoming aware of relationship between music and society, exposure to Charles Mingus, Tony Williams, John Mclaughlin, LSD. 

Part 3- Complexity in music signifying consciousness expansion, opinions of LSD, more on aforementioned artists, "rocking," virtuosity, seeing the Rolling Stones/ Stevie Wonder, first experiences playing in New York live music scene, blues and emotional power, heyday of progressive rock/ fusion and backlash against it, more on Arthur Cunningham, Gullah community. 

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Interview with Mark Bingham- studio engineer, musician, composer, sonic adventurer, studio owner and founder(Piety St. Studios)

 Mark Bingham talks in depth about some key times in his life in music.  A lot came to light in this interview and, although we have been friends for years, I learned a lot of pieces of information that made sense of some parts of his life and work that I didn't realize.

Mark's contribution to New Orleans's music scene starts back in 1982.  Most of this interview deals with stuff earlier than that.  Even though it's a long interview and has a lot of information, a lot was left out due to time limitation.  Mark is a real good anecdote dropper- very useful in this format and we may get into a 2nd interview to tackle more impressions of the diversity of artists he has worked with. 

Part 1 deals with early recording experiments in high school, discovery by the music business, electronic music, early approach to song writing, Los Angeles, university life in Indiana, and association with composer, Iannis Xenakis.

Part 2 continues on to describe being an A&R man at Elektra records, The Doors, Bruce Botnick, The Holy Modal Rounders, Peter Stampfel, Bulgarian music, the marketing of authenticity, initial perceptions of the New Orleans music scene, the move to New York after LA.

Part 3- The New York scene in the early 70's, more in depth about Peter Stampfel, the creative impact of speed, commissions for dance companies, funding, drum machines, "crazy art bullshit", getting sick of NYC.

Part 4- The actual "secret" training to be a producer in LA, "technical" recording versus responding to the situation at hand, what makes a good studio, New Orleans musical myopia, encountering racial division in New Orleans music, Allison Miner, working for Rounder records, reinforcement of bogus New Orleans mythologies, brass bands and the growth of the players in them, why people are interested in Piety St studios, producing now, current ideas, difference between recordings of the past and present, what stands out.

Recorded May 24, 2011 in the dining area at Piety St. Studios.

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Alex Mcmurray Interview

Interview clips of Alex Mcmurray just prior to the Chazfestival (2009).

4 parts to the interview.

1. Here Alex talks about the origins of chazfest, the tin men and their involvement, musical experience, and the ideas behind Chazfestival.

2. Alex talks about Chazfestival in contrast to the New Orleans Jazz and heritage Festival, the strains of putting on a festival, general attitudes toward organizing, and the future of the Chazfestival.

3. Criterion for selecting bands for the festival.

4. Alex remembers what he can about previous years of the Chazfestival, bending self-imposed rules, the non-musical elements of the festival and those pressures, funniest chazfest story.

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Interview with Brian Coogan.

Keyboardist, Brian Coogan, took some time for an interview on the day of the Chazfestival.  The interview is in 3 parts.

1. Here he talks about sitting in with Aurora and Walt at Chazfestival, songwriting and its relation or distinctness from jazz, being an audience at Chazfestival, and comparisons with the Jazz and Heritage Festival.

2. Here Coogan talks about Chazfestival in relation to artistic freedom, comparisons between New Orleans and New York, musician identity, relationship of songwriting to his viewpoints, funky dance music, his new band- The Brian Coogan Band.

3. This section deals with dance music, Brian's background, the music he came up listening to, carting around Hammond organs and their role in New Orleans music, the ironies of nostalgia and musical anachronisms in New Orleans music, modernity in music

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Interview with saxophonist, Martin Krusche

Martin Krusche- saxophonist, saxophone repairman, sailor, plasterer, leader of the magnetic ear.  He played at last years Chazfestival (2009) and here he reflects on that experience, being an audience member at chazfest, the current magnetic ear, alternative festivals, sailing and music, and the bywater audiences' demand for mood variance in music depending on time and location.

part 1

part 2

part 3

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Phil Degruy interviewee/ interviewer

Phil is one of the most fascinating and innovative instrumentalists from New Orleans.  His creativity is not bound by the guitar- he also modifies, or maybe corrects, a lot of what falls in front of him and on him.  He even invented and plays a kind of guitar- the guitarp.  In this interview in a few parts, he talks about style in his playing, his guitar influences, alternate lyrics, new orleans guitar scene history, and converses and hypothesizes about the problems of music business and herd mentality.

part 1part 2part 3part 4part 5

 Then the tables suddenly turned...  Phil Degruy interviewed Jonathan Freilich about times in the city, guitar, Naked On The Floor, music philosophy, music background, and composition.

part 1part 2part 3part 4

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Helen Gillet Interview

This is an interview in 3 parts from April 2009. Helen Gillet talks about her band Wazozo, Belgian songs, oom-pah, chazfest, and nostalgia. 

(N.B. In part 2, there is a cutoff in the audio after about a minute and for a short time thereafter.  I apologize, that gap is unrecoverable. This recording was early in the series and there were some glitches.  Nonetheless, I feel that the other info, before and after the cutoff, is interesting enough to warrant leaving this up.)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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