JOE LOVANO INTERVIEW
Festival Jazz Madrid (2024)
Joe Lovano has come to Madrid to play with his Tapestry Trio, within the Madrid International Jazz Festival 2024. Marilyn Crispell at the piano, and the drummer Carmen Castaldi have been perfect companions for Joe since they all got together a few years ago.
In this little talk, Joe dives deep into his approach to the trio format, aswell as his lately inspirations and pursues.
Get ready to be inspired by this titan!!!
In&OutJazz: Hi Joe.
Joe Lovano: Hello!
My name is Frantzes Elzaurdia and I’m here with In&OutJazz. In&OutJazz is a magazine which focuses on avant-garde and contemporary jazz music. It has 15 collaborators all around the world, and it’s supported by Europe Jazz Media. Alright. So, first of all, I wanted to ask you, how are you doing? How are you feeling today? How’s Madrid treating you?
Well, I’d like to just say thank you for inviting me…
Oh, it’s a pleasure. It’s an honor.
…To speak and to share some ideas, and focus on the beauty of expression and the art of improvising. And what a blessing it is to live in the world of music.
That’s beautiful.
So I’m feeling… great!
I’m glad. I’m really glad. I want to ask you about this trio that you have, okay? How did it come to be?
Well, you know, it’s a long journey when you are on the scene, playing with so many people through the years… I would have to say in 1981 I joined the Paul Motian Band with Bill Frissell, and Bill Frissell and I played with Paul for 30 years. He passed in 2011. During that time, there were quintets, quartets. But the trio, with Bill and I and Paul, emerged around 1984. That approach and way of communicating and sharing space, with no bass, was a springboard into my trio Tapestry today. Somewhere around 2018 we started to play. My contract with Blue Note Records came to an end, after 25 releases, so I moved into a relationship with Manfred Iker at ECM records where I recorded quite a few sessions through the years. So, it just kind of was a natural thing that happened, in that kind of sequence of events let’s say. Marilyn Crispell, also records for ECM and played with Paul, also. So we played together with Paul in some Quartet settings.
Yeah.
So she is for me, one of the most poetic, beautiful and improvisers in music. So that just kind of came together very naturally. Carmen Castaldi was playing drums with us. We grew up together in Cleveland, Ohio. And from our teenage years, we played together. Now I moved to New York in the mid 70s. Carmen went to California and Las Vegas. But then he returned somewhere in the 90s, back to the East Coast, and we started to do things together from that time. He’s featured on my recording Viva Caruso, on Blue Note Records, I had a big percussion section, and Carmen and Carmen is part of that, you know, recording.
So, for me to create music and breathe together, to create music within the music, there’s a beautiful communication that happens and it’s about relationships. When you listen to the records in the history of music, you’ll find many relationships, whether you’re listening to Miles Davis’s bands; John Coltrane’s bands; Sonny Rollins music; Bill Evans’ music; Keith Jarrett’s music… You feel and hear music being created by the inner spirits of relationships, you know, so the true art… This trio Tapestry for me, is a very expressive, amazing combination of people and music. You know, we have 3 releases on ECM now, Trio Tapestry, Garden of Expression and Our Daily Bread. So, between… within those three recordings, there’s many compositions. So, when we play, we have a big repertoire from the recordings, plus other things that we do, you know, some standard songs and some famous music, you know, that we might touch on as we’re moving through our set.
I wanted to ask you, how do you feel that the music has evolved, maybe composition wise, throughout these five years that you’ve played with this trio?
Well, the communication just gets deeper all the time. It really evolves from night to night from just listening and experiencing the presentation. And everywhere we play, there’s an inspiration from the audience, that feeds us, so that’s part of the evolution, you know? In my compositional approach, that has been evolving from playing with the trio, like when we’re not on tour, when we’re not playing any gigs, you know? After this tour, tonight… tomorrow night in Barcelona is the final concert of the 10 concert tour. Our next gig is going to be at the Village Vanguard in February. So during this time between now and February, New ideas might come for another piece, or just new ideas that come in the moment of now, when we are playing together.
Okay! And these more open pieces that you have example there was one in your latest album called The Power of Three…
The Power Of Three! Uh-huh…
Before playing those tunes, do you ever have, like any abstract idea that you tell your musicians before playing it or…
No, not in words, but like that piece, that particular piece is a written structure and a melodic shape and line that happens within a certain sequence of harmonies and intervals. Three note you know… it’s like the power of three people, and it’s the power of three notes, how the modulations happen in all 12 keys. So, the first time we played through that, I didn’t have to really say too much because I just played it… -(Sings the melody)- And Marilyn followed her part, I had my part, and Carmen just listens and reacts. So that piece was took shape in the studio, without really speaking about too much, because the music speaks if you listen and when you’re playing in this kind of fashion.
Hmm. OK. And I wanted to say… maybe last question… Let’s see, would you say that this trio is some kind of tribute to Paul Motian?
I wouldn’t say tribute, but inspiration wise, inspired by Paul and his approach about music… and uh… I mean for example Carmen grew up listening and loving Paul Motion, he is I would say a Paul Motion disciple, hehe… From the earliest recordings of Paul with Bill Evans, you know? And other things… into the Keith Jarrett band, Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman, and Paul and Keith, you know? So it’s the music that inspires you to want to play. And Paul’s beautiful approach, in the history of jazz and the drums, is a very… it holds a very powerful place in the evolution of while creating inner music. I had a chance to play with Paul in many settings. There’s three or four recordings with Hank Jones on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Paul on drums. And for me, it was like, I was recording for Blue Note records, the first one, I’m All For You, is a ballad, right?
Yeah.
But each tune has a different feel, you know? The rhythm, the inner rhythms, and the things that happen… Then Joyous Encounter was the next one, and then we did uh… one of Billy Strayhorn’s music called Lush Life. And for Paul to play with Hank Jones, who… Bill Evans was a disciple of Hank Jones, so all of a sudden for Paul to be playing with someone that Bill came from, in like 2004, I think might have been the first, I’m All For You? That recording? Oh, that was a beautiful union! And they had never played together, but Hank was hip to Paul, from Bill Evans’ music and stuff, and Paul grew up listening to Hank! With Milt Jackson, and… heh! Other recordings and stuff and just being on the scene in New York. Hank Jones, is like… the father figure for players like Tommy Flanagan and… Barry Harris, who were also from the Detroit area. Hank was the cat who had inspired all of them, and he was a few years older. Hank was born in 1918. Thelonius was 1917. So, when Hank came to New York in the 40s, he was there with Thelonius, and then he ended up… his first big gig I think were for him, was with Coleman Hawkins. And he followed… he followed Thelonius Monk, with Coleman Hawkins, Hank, in 1944, so… (Laughter) So my recording Kids, live at Dizzy’s, 2006… Hank was 88. He plays like he’s a teenager. His ideas, and flow, his approach as a pianist, but just as a… expressive musician, it’s inspiring man, it’s incredible. If you check that recording out it’s just duo, piano and tenor, live at Dizzy’s club, at Jazz At Lincoln Center.
Okay, I think that’s it! Yes.
Yeah, you’re good?
Thank you so much, thank you so much for this opportunity, and I really hope you have a good gig tonight…
Oh yeah, we’re going to have fun.
…With some nice energy for you to feed off, you know? Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure.
Thank you.
