musician questionnaire: frederik leroux

Frederik Leroux is a guitarist. Last year, he released his quartet's debut album on his own label. Angular is a careful, Downtown jazz kind of album, throwing in incongruous hard rock riffs. He actually sent me this way back in February...

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:

1. Movie score : Ennio Morricone stuff for the Sergio Leone spaghetti trilogy, Bernard Hermann scores for Hitchcock (ex. Vertigo), Eraser Head (more for the crazy sounds, I don't know the name of the guy that did the sound effects)

2. TV theme : Twin Peaks (I don’t know who wrote it actually...), Black Adder (first series with the very silly voice and lyrics, makes my day every time)

3. Melody : "My One and Only Love" (Wood/Mellin), "My Heroics Part 2" (Absynth Minded)

4. Harmonic language : Bill Evans, Claude Debussy

5. Rhythmic feel : "It's all around you" by Tortoise (on the album It’s all around you)

6. Hip-hop track : "Runnin'" (The Pharcyde)

7. Classical piece : Bartok String Quartets, "Le Sacre Du Printemps" (Stravinsky)

8. Smash hit : 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' by Michael Jackson

9. Jazz album : The Science Fiction Sessions (Ornette Coleman)

10. Non-American folkloric group : Gamelan Jegog Wedi Sentana, I think this is the name of the artist (probably without 'Gamelan' in front of it). This is Gamelan music of Bali. Very hypnotic stuff and a lot of dynamics. Not if you’re having guests over, they might get a tad nervous...

11. Book on music : Style an Idea (Arnold Schoenberg), Silence (John Cage)

BONUS QUESTIONS:

A) Name a surprising album (or albums) you loved when you were developing as a musician: something that really informs your sound but that we would never guess in a million years: Passion and Warfare by Steve Vai , where did you think I got those monsterchops from ?

B) Name a practitioner (or a few) who play your instrument that you think is underrated: Nels Cline, he’s a very versatile musician but few people know him. He plays in free impro settings like for example with Tom Rainey, but also in the rock band Wilco.

C) Name a rock or pop album that you wish had been a smash commercial hit (but wasn't, not really): Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco

D) Name a favorite drummer, and an album to hear why you love that drummer: John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), oh yeah, he's good. I love his playing on all of the Led Zeppelin albums I have.

musician questionnaire: toine thys

Toine Thys is a saxophonist. He leads Rackham (myspace) and Take The Duck (myspace). His latest album is Rackham's excellent Juanita K.

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:

1. Movie score. Midnight Cowboy
2. TV theme. Chips
3. Melody. "Greensleaves"
4. Harmonic language. Bartok
5. Rhythmic feel. Gnawa music
6. Hip-hop track. The Roots (but i can't name any)
7. Classical piece. String Quartet Shostakovitch
8. Smash hit. "A man's world" - James Brown
9. Jazz album. Chris Cheek - I wish I knew
10. Non-American folkloric group. Tarafs de Haidouks
11. Book on music The Listening book - WA Mathieu.

BONUS QUESTIONS:

A) Name an surprising album (or albums) you loved when you were
developing as a musician: something that really informs your sound but
that we would never guess in a million years:
David Bowie : Space Oddity, David Sanborn Straight to the Heart

B) Name a practitioner (or a few) who play your instrument that you
think is underrated:
Bill McHenry, John Ellis

C) Name a rock or pop album that you wish had been a smash commercial
hit (but wasn't, not really):

D) Name a favorite drummer, and an album to hear why you love that
drummer:
Paul Motian Holiday for Strings
Roy Haynes on Pat Metheny's Q & A or Coltrane's Dear Old
Stockhlom

musician questionnaire: yves peeters

Yves Peeters is a drummer. He plays with Jazzisfaction and Kaat Hellings (concert), among many others, and leads Le Petit Cirque.

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:

1. Movie score

The Straight Story (Angelo Badalamenti)
Les Triplettes de Belleville (Ben Charest)

2. TV theme: The Simpsons; Twin Peaks

3. Melody: "I'll be seeing you," "Blackbird" (The Beatles)

4. Harmonic language: Bach; Monk; Beatles

5. Rhythmic feel:
samba, played by Brasilian percussion groups
buleria (flamenco rhythm)
Elvin Jones playing "Wise One" (Crescent)
Billy Higgins playing boogaloo stuff
Al Foster playing calypso

6. Hip-hop track.
"The Seed 2.0" - The Roots feat. Cody Chestnutt
"Mr Wendal" - Arrested Development

7. Classical piece.
Adagio for Strings - Samuel Barber
Piano Concerto °3 - Rachmaninov
"O let me weep, forever weep" - Henry Purcell

8. Smash hit.
"One" (U2 - I also love the version of Johnny Cash!)
"Roxanne" (The Police)
"You can call me Al" (Paul Simon)

9. Jazz album.
Kind Of Blue (of course!)
The Real McCoy (McCoy Tyner)
Charlie Haden and the L.M.O - Ballad of the Fallen
Bill Frisell with Elvin Jones and Dave Holland

10. Non-American folkloric group:
groups: Taraf de Haïdouks; Ladysmith Black Mambazo
singers: Camaron de la Isla; João Gilberto; Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

11. Book on music: But Beautiful - Geoff Dyer

BONUS QUESTIONS:

A) Name an surprising album (or albums) you loved when you were
developing as a musician: something that really informs your sound but
that we would never guess in a million years:

Afghan Wigs - Gentlemen
Tool - Undertow
Wizards of Ooze - The Dipster

B) Name a practitioner (or a few) who play your instrument that you
think is underrated:

Dré Pallemaerts (he's definitely world class!)

C) Name a rock or pop album that you wish had been a smash commercial
hit (but wasn't, not really):

Shine - Daniel Lanois
Bitter - Meshell Ndegéocello
Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris

D) Name a favorite drummer, and an album to hear why you love that
drummer:

you shouldn't ask this to a drummer! this is what you get:

Billy Higgins and Elvin Jones - anything they play on!
Tony Williams - especially all the Miles Davis 60's Quintet albums
Paul Motian - Bill Evans Trio Live at the Village Vanguard + all the trio
recordings with Lovano and Frisell
Al Foster - So Near So Far (Joe Henderson)
Billy Hart - Joe Lovano Quartet live at the Village Vanguard
Joey Baron - If (Myriam Alter)
Brian Blade - Fellowship albums, Wayne Shorter Quartet live albums, Shine (Daniel Lanois)
Dré Pallemaerts - Eleven (Erwin Vann), Vive les Etrangers (Christoph
Erbstösser)

musician questionnaire: nicolas kummert

Nicolas Kummert is a saxophonist who moved to Paris roughly a year ago. Guess which answer is tongue-in-cheek.

Jazz album: The Next Step, Kurt Rosenwinkel; Coltrane Sun ship, especially "Dearly Beloved." I love the tunes like "Alabma," where he just speaks through his horn.

Melody: "Canon à la septième," from Bach's Goldberg Variations. Question for Ethan: it's for three voices, so does it count as a melody?

Classical piece: "Art of the Fugue." Bach is the classical composer who most touches me.

Soundtrack: Saxo, with Archie Shepp. It's a French film I watched over and over when I was twelve and only playing classical saxophone.

A favourite drummer, and album: Brian Blade on Wayne Shorter's Beyond The Sound Barrier; Ed Blackwell with Ornette Coleman

Underrated practioner of your instrument: Mark Turner five years ago; Fabrizio Cassol, even in Belgium

Smash hit: "Let's Dance," David Bowie; Michael Jackson is a hit in and of himself; Stevie Wonder's "Golden Lady," the modulations at the end are great [rapturously sings them]

A pop/rock album that should have been a hit: David Bowie's recent albums.

Rhythmic feel: 12/8, or the African 6/8. I've worked with African musicians and I feel that many jazz musicians haven't really worked on it.

Harmonic language: Improvised counterpoint, harmony through melody and interaction. It's something that goes beyond the standard rules, which all the great musicians do.

Voice: I only hear one voice: God's.

A track you can't stop yourself from dancing to: "Yamore," Salif Keita with Cesaria Evora

Hidden Influence: Stevie Wonder, Natural Wonder

dtm musician questionnaire: jean-paul estiévenart

Jean-Paul Estiévenart is a young, baby-faced trumpeter. He won the Django d'Or Nouveau Talent in 2006. You'll often catch him at the Sounds' bar at 2AM in a natty suit.

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:

1. Movie score: Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Miles Davis)
2. TV theme:
3. Melody: "Silent Night"
4. Harmonic language: Woody Shaw's improvising
5. Rhythmic feel: Branford Marsalis Quartet
6. Hip-hop track: Buckshot Lefonque (no track)
7. Classical piece: Messaien, but no title comes to mind
8. Smash hit: I only listen to classical and jazz.
9. Jazz album: Passage (Tom Harrell)
10. Non-American folkloric group: Les Gilles de Binche
11. Book on music: Chet (Alain Gerber)

BONUS QUESTIONS:

A) Name an surprising album (or albums) you loved when you were developing as a musician: something that really informs your sound but that we would never guess in a million years: Kurt Rosenwinkel Heartcore

B) Name a practitioner (or a few) who play your instrument that you think is underrated: Woody Shaw

C) Name a rock or pop album that you wish had been a smash commercial hit (but wasn't, not really):

D) Name a favorite drummer, and an album to hear why you love that drummer: Brian Blade, Footprints: Live (Wayne Shorter)

musician questionnaire: 3/4 of take the duck

Took place after this Take The Duck concert. I conducted it from memory, which explains the order of the questions and that a few are missing. I also added a couple of questions.

Taking part were: Daniel Nösig (DN), Robert Jukic (RJ) and Karl Jannuska (KJ), who, coincidentally, once had Ethan Iverson as housemate. Toine Thys initially resisted doing it in person, preferring the safety of email. When he saw how much fun the others were having, he attempted to join in, but I cruelly made him lie in the bed he had made for himself.

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:

Jazz album:
KJ: Miles Davis Kind of Blue;
DN: John Coltrane A Love Supreme;
RJ: Wayne Shorter Juju

Classical piece:
KJ: Bach "Goldberg Variations";
RJ: Scriabin "Sonaten";
DN: Mozart "Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik"

Melody:
KJ: "Happy Birthday," "O Canada" [sings it, conversation ensues about the knowledge of one's national anthem];
DN: "All Or Nothing At All";
RJ: "Four"

Underrated practitioner of your instrument:
RJ: Neal Caine [Backstabber's Ball, on Smalls Records, is excellent];
KJ: Dave Laing, Bob Moses;
DN: Thad Jones ("He's well-known as an arranger, but not as a trumpeter")

Smash hit:
KJ: Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit";
RJ: Guns 'n' Roses "Paradise City";
DN: Guns 'n' Roses "Knocking On Heaven's Door"

Should have been a hit:
RJ: Meshell Ndegeocello Peace Beyond Passion, Radiohead ("They should have sold even more than they did");
DN: James Brown Soul On Top;
KJ: Beck Sea Change and Mutations

Harmonic language:
RJ: Monk, Shorter;
DN: Coltrane;
KJ: Cecil Taylor

Rhythmic feel:
KJ & DN simultaneously: Elvin Jones;
DN: Dave Holland, Ray Charles;
RJ: Clarence Penn, Sam Jones, Art Blakey

Favourite drummer and album:
RJ: Art Blakey, Live at the Village Vanguard;
KJ: Frankie Dunlop on Monk's Live In Tokyo;
DN: Brian Blade, Fellowship, Tony Williams on Miles Davis Four And More, My Funny Valentine

Voice:
RJ: Betty Carter;
KJ: k.d. lang, Groucho Marx;
DN: Sarah Vaughan

Track that you can't help but dance to:
[this question caused a lot of singing of Michael Jackson basslines and horn parts by Toine and even some spontaneous dancing by Karl]
RJ: Prince "Get Off", James Brown "Get Up";
KJ: Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love", Tower of Power "Knock Yourself Out";
DN: Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer"

Folkloric group:
RJ: Troitsa;
KJ: Doc Watson;
DN: Totó [Columbian singer, not the rock band]

A pop tune:
RJ: Aerosmith/Run DMC "Walk This Way", the whole of Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales;
DN: Falco "Amadeus";
KJ: "Live To Tell" Madonna

Hidden early influence:
RJ: Jimi Hendrix ("In 7th grade, I dressed like a hippie and was an outcast");
KJ: Starship's "We Built This City On Rock 'n' Roll", Genesis Invisible Touch;
DN: Duran Duran Irina

musician questionnaire: pascal schumacher quartet

[The whole quartet took the questionnaire together at the Sounds, which explains the lack of details (but I love Jens's bonus question answers), but ensured lots of unprintable jokes and conversation that ricocheted between english, french, dutch and german.]

Pascal Schumacher (PS) is a vibraphonist from Luxembourg. His Quartet has released two excellent albums and has just recorded its third. He won the Django d'Or Nouveau Talent in 2005. (myspace)

Jef Neve (JN) is a pianist. His Trio recently made its major label debut with the amazing nobody is illegal and is proving immensely popular. (myspace)

Bassist Christophe Devisscher (CD) recently recorded and toured with the resurrected English singer Tony Christie and is a member of his wife Kristen Cornwell's quintet.

Jens Düppe (JD) is a German drummer. He replaced Teun Verbruggen in the PSQ last year and is a member of the Cologne Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and (sometimes) the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. He's the only I got to ask the bonus questions to.

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:

1. Movie score:
PS: All the James Bonds, Kill Bill;
CD: Cinema Paradiso (Ennio Morricone);
JN: The English Patient (Gabriel Yared);
JD: Le merveilleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Yann Tiersen)

2. TV theme:
CD: "3rd Rock From The Sun", "Frasier";
JN: "MacGyver";
PS: A-Team;
JD: "Alf"

3. Melody:
CD: "Godfather Theme" (Ennio Morricone Nino Rota);
JD: "Ballad of the Sad Young Man" (Frans Landesman/Thomas Wolf) as played by Keith Jarrett on Tribute;
PS: "Still" (Elvis Costello), "Innocent Eye, Chrystal See" (Harmen Fraanje, from Ronja);
JN: Second movement of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto

4. Harmonic language:
PS: Debussy;
CD: The Beatles;
JN: Scriabin;
JD: Radiohead, African singing

5. Rhythmic feel:
JN: Shakti;
JD: Bulgarian music

6. Hip-hop track:
JD: "Feel Like Making Love" as covered by D'Angelo on Voodoo;
PS: "Die Da" (Fantastischen Vier);
CD: "Praise You" (Fat Boy Slim);
JN: Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby" [I tried to discourage him...]

7. Classical piece:
CD: "Adagio For Strings" (Samuel Barber);
JN: "The Passion of St. Matthew" (J. S. Bach)
PS: The Military Orchestra of Luxembourg playing a swing version of "Eine Kleine Nachtmuziek" [sarcasm alert: Pascal had endured this the previous night];
JD: "Symphonie Classique" (Prokofiev)

8. Smash hit:
PS: "The Man Who Sold The World" (David Bowie);
CD: "Don't Dream It's Over" (Crowded House);
JN: "With Or Without You" (U2);
JD: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Nirvana)

9. Jazz album:
JN: "Songs" (Brad Mehldau);
PS: Xenophonia (Bojan Z), - (Nelson Veras);
CD: Live At The Pershing (Ahmad Jamal), Trio Jeepy (Branford Marsalis);
JD: Live at the Village Vanguard (Bill Evans), Bloomington (Branford Marsalis)

10. Non-American folkloric group:
PS: Milton Nascimento;
CD: Goran Bregovic;
JN: The Chieftains;
JD: Djavan

11. Book on music:
CD: Beneath The Underdog (Charles Mingus), Schoenberg's harmony book;
PS: Sonata Forms (Charles Rosen), Farinelli;
JN: Mozart's letters to his father;
JD: The History of Blue Note

BONUS QUESTIONS:

A) Name a surprising album (or albums) you loved when you were developing as a musician: something that really informs your sound but that we would never guess in a million years:
JD: Dave Sanborn Heart To Heart and Straight To The Heart. I know both... by heart.

B) Name a practitioner (or a few) who play your instrument that you think is underrated:
JD: Jorge Rossy - the Brad Mehldau Trio isn't the same without him; Billy Hart; Bob Moses - I once recommended that a saxophonist friend go to a Moses workshop I couldn't attend. He was the only one there!

C) Name a rock or pop album that you wish had been a smash commercial hit (but wasn't, not really):
JD: The only rock I know, I know because it sold a lot.

D) Name a favorite drummer, and an album to hear why you love that drummer:
JD: Brian Blade, Fellowship. He's a busy player, but manages to sound warm and transparent.

musician questionnaire: joachim badenhorst

[Lately, I've been harassing people to get them to answer the Do The Math Musician Questionnaire. Unlike the original, most of mine were done in person, not by email. As Joachim was the first to reply (by email!) to my query, he gets to launch the Belgian version of the DTM MQ. Hopefully, the panorama of answers in upcoming installments will offer a little insight into the scene and people over here (but not only, as there are some international guests).]

Joachim Badenhorst is a clarinetist and saxophonist. His groups (Rawfishboys, Red Rocket and Skakk Trio) illuminated 2006. You might be able to get the Rawfishboys record if you ask nicely, Red Rocket should be seeing an official release, and you can hear all of them (and one more on MySpace).

The Charlie Parker comment won't surprise anyone who's heard Joachim play.

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:

1. Movie score: Noi Albinoi (Dagur Kári directed this -beautiful- movie, also
made the -beautiful- music for it with his band Slowblow), Twin Peaks (Angelo Badalamenti), Vengo (Tony Gatlif).
2. TV theme: "The Simpsons" (Danny Elfman)
3. Melody: "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb), "So nice" (Magic Malik).
4. Harmonic language: Bach, Django Bates (i love his reharmonisation of "Quiet
Nights Of Quiet Stars" on his cd Quiet Nights).
5. Rhythmic feel: Vijay Iyer, Dino Saluzzi.
6. Hip-hop track: "Get it together" (Beastie Boys)
7. Classical piece: Stabat Mater (Pergolesi)
8. Smash hit: "Hope There's Someone" by Antony and the johnsons.
9. Jazz album: Eric Dolphy with Booker Little Far Cry, Mick Goodrick In
Passing (amazing band, John Surman plays soo good on this album...)
10. Non-American folkloric group. Husnu Senlendirici, Giora Feidman.
11. Book on music. Give my regards to eight street (collected writings of
Morton Feldman).

BONUS QUESTIONS:

A) Name a surprising album (or albums) you loved when you were developing
as a musician: something that really informs your sound but that we would
never guess in a million years: Charlie Parker: In A Soulful Mood. This was
the first jazz record i bought, it blew me away. funny enough my favourite
tracks were always "Loverman" and "The Gypsy" where Parker plays a bit more
fragile, later i found out he was very sick when he recorded these.

B) Name a practitioner (or a few) who play your instrument that you think is
underrated: Ned Rothenberg, Hayden Chisholm, Ben Goldberg, Gilad Atzmon, Frank
Gratkowski, Loren Stillman, Julian Arguelles, Frederik Ljunkvist.

C) Name a rock or pop album that you wish had been a smash commercial hit
(but wasn't, not really): Either/Or (Elliot Smith), Nearly God (Tricky).

D) Name a favorite drummer, and an album to hear why you love that drummer:
I love Toma Gouband (Toma Gouband Trio with Brice Soniano and Harmen
Fraanje on Cristal records (a new cd is coming up with the same trio + Magic
Malik) and Sean Carpio (Mikkel Ploug Group feat. Mark Turner on Fresh Sound New Talent).