Part 2

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your improvisations which you couldn't or wouldn't through other musical approaches? If so, which are these? What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to improvisation?

I believe I am somewhat acting out parts of my personality which I wouldn´t otherwise in other musical settings. I feel like I am always trying to approach an improvisation with emotion and energy and trying to give the audience something to think about or react to. I love the idea of this and if I can touch the audience in an emotional fashion here rather than just playing the chart and “getting it right” then I love that.

Also, I feel I often approach my improvisations with ferocity and energy (sometimes too much, something I’m working on). This energy I feel I can really unleash in the improvised sections of a set maybe not throughout the entire set or show of music.

From the Album the track “Crazy DNA” is a track where I feel myself and the band channelling that level of ferocity and energy that I am discussing. Is it too much, maybe?



I think I just wanted to give the group an opportunity and composition where they were driven to go in that direction, to get excited to play Big!

In terms of your personal expression and the experience of performance, how does playing solo compare to group improvisations?

In my head there is a clear difference between group and solo performance in the amount of potential space there is to fill. I feel like sonically the space is different and more flexible - there is ´more space between the notes´ and that completely changes the approach conceptually.   

In regard to myself I enjoy playing solo, but haven't spent that much time doing it publicly. Earlier in my life at music school in my early 20's I was very into “Third Stream” and contemporary music, particularly some of the solo and group chamber ensemble stuff. I was listening to - Don Byron, Louis Sclavis, Chris Speed, Dave Douglas, Ralph Towner etc.



I was playing in a few combos around Sydney, including the Monday Club and the Splinter Orchestra, which were exploring this kind of music in different forms. In these ensembles I got my first chance to do a solo performance as part of an art installation.

I performed a few times like this and really loved it but haven’t explored playing solo in a public setting since … I think I might now.

In your best improvisations, do you feel a strong sense of personal presence or do you (or your ego) “disappear”?  

I don’t know about my ego … but certainly I feel myself disappear into the music and the moment. If the band is rolling along naturally, everything is sitting right and I’m not stressing about what is coming up too much, then I really feel like I let loose in the music and try to say something meaningful. At that point I feel like I can let the music speak for itself and I can simply be a messenger for the music.

I have always liked the Spanish phrase ‘Duende’ often used to describe a heightened state of emotion, expression and authenticity connected primarily with Flamenco music. I feel like I am always aiming to channel this thought and state in my improvisations and on-stage.

Throughout the Album, I feel that the band is trying to fluctuate between this more unconcocious mind state and a more concious state capable of nailing the trickier compositions. I think “Magic Square (Groove 5)" is a good example of this.



In a live situation, decisions between creatives often work without words. From your experience and current projects, what does this process feel like and how does it work?

I love this feeling on stage of working with little to no words. In two of my current projects Benjamin Samuels and Cinta T I feel that both bands have reached an extremely comfortable point to explore the music as an ensemble without too much regard for the “charts” anymore.

I feel like this process can come very naturally if the band are all comfortable as a unit playing together, everyone is listening intensely to each other and everyone is willing to give each other space and trust each other. My bandmate and Bass Player Ralph Marshall who features on the album said, quote, “he enjoys a gig the most where playing he feels like the band is ready to jump off a cliff together”. I think this is a beautiful analogy.

I think on this album there are some good moments of this, particularly the way the track “Parabola” came together it was figured out in the studio with my composition on the floor a lot of pointing, a vague chat through and then 1, 2, 3 Record all in one take.



Also, the track “Ambitious Antithesis” was an extremely natural track to record. I think the recording is the second take and the way the band (particularly the rhythm section) moves naturally between the sections is great.

Stewart Copeland said: “Listening is where the cool stuff comes from. And that listening thing, magically, turns all of your chops into gold.” What do you listen for?

I am always trying to listen for those little moments. Those little magical moments that make you feel emotion from the music, the moments that surprise you and those moments that amaze. I always want to try to be aware of those moments.

If I’m on stage and I can feel that happening, that’s incredible and I want to keep the flow the best way possible. Maybe someone else is leading the way, it doesn’t matter. I am always going to be listening for the energy of the band, the emotion, the groove and the timbre.

If these things are hitting the spot I would change nothing just listen and play because one of those incredible moments is coming … just wait …

There can be surprising moments during improvisations – from one of the performers not playing a single note to another shaking up a quiet section with an outburst of noise. Have you been part of similar situations and how did they impact the performance from your point of view?

I agree there can be some brilliant and obscure moments during an improvisation. I definitely have been in some brilliant and sometimes not so brilliant situations in an improvised setting. Often some of these ‘surprising’ moments can totally make or break an improvisation especially in a group setting.

When I was playing with a brilliant Woodwind player in 2014, Tony Gorman, he used to tell me about his duo performances with a great Tabla player Bobby Singh. They would play as a duo and their whole concept was  completely based on and around surprising. They sometimes would play a lot or sometimes only one of them barely playing for long sections of time. I have heard them perform a number of times and they have been some of the most beautiful performances and most meaningful improvisation I have witnessed.

They also made an Album together As Wide as the Sky. It is a beautiful exploration of space and duo playing.



On the other hand these moments of surprise sometimes may shake you in a performance setting  as well and surprise in a bad way, I really believe however if you can go with it and recover and make something of it then you can create something beautiful out of the chaos.

I have always been fascinated by the many facets of improvisation but sometimes found it hard to follow them as a listener. Do you have some recommendations for “how to listen” in this regard?

I have always listened to a diverse array of music. Some of this music in my mind requires slightly different focus when listening to different styles.

If I am listening to more chamber and arranged music I personally am often interested in the different textures and structures being used in the improvisation aspects. If I’m listening to a more straight-ahead record I’m often listening for some of that beautiful classic lyrical Jazz language or on a Klezmer or Balkan Record I'm always listening for some of that specific articulations. If I’m listening to something very modern and a melting pot of styles I am often listening for the energy and tension and release in the music and Improv.

The style somewhat guides how I listen, however as music always is, it’s all quite subjective. I like to try to understand the intent of the music and find a focus point especially when I listen a first time in order understand the music on a deeper level. Especially if the music traditional it is nice to try to understand it stylistically, the feel, the groove.

In a way, improvisations remind us of the transitory nature of life. When an improvisation ends, is it really gone, just like a cup of coffee? Or does it live on in some form?

I believe that if the improvisation has touched the audience (or whoever) in an emotional fashion then it can and does live on in some form.

I think the concept and meaning for the musicians on stage are important in that moment. If its just a fleeting intense moment with no particular emotion, concept or reason (or just another crazy solo at a jam or whatever, which we are all guilty of.) then I don't think it’s as potent, effective and meaningful for the audience.

In regard to our album, I really feel that the Piano Solo (by Danny G Felix) on the backend of “New Trap” is a prime example of a beautiful, meaningful solo, done with tact and taste and with no “wasted” notes, that is not just a cup of spilt coffee!