Name: Liam Shortall aka corto.alto
Nationality: British
Occupation: Composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist
Current Release: As corto.alto, Liam has just completed the remarkable 30/108 project. As part of that challenge, he finished thirty full-fledged compositions within 30 days out of a pool of 108 sketches saved on his hard drive. Check the release out on bandcamp. We'll cover that in an in-depth interview very soon.

corto.alto will also perform at the 2024 edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival. For a full overview of this year's program, head over to the festival's official website.

If you enjoyed this conversation with corto.alto and would like to know more about his work and music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and tiktok.

We also recommend our feature on the Montreux Jazz Festival's archive of recordings.



You are about to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Tell me about your gig at the festival, please, and your own personal history with it (as a listener, visitor, enthusiast)?

Ye I’m really looking forward to this one. We have such a crazy summer coming up, after a super busy start to the year.

But Montreux Jazz Fest definitely feels like one that comes with slightly more pressure and in turn, excitement. To be honest, I sometimes have slight imposter syndrome playing at Jazz Festivals, especially ones with as much prestige as Montreux. We’re used to playing UK festivals that have a bit more of a wild energy.

But I love the challenge playing to an audience of people who are there to listen and not just to party. It’s such a legendary festival that I’ve always wanted to go to, never mind play at, so I’m definitely looking forward to it for sure.
 
One vital part of the Montreux Festival philosophy is that life-changing musical experiences take place live. How do you see that yourself and how, would you say are your live performances and your recording projects connected at the moment?

I think I agree, that some things can ONLY happen live, and there’s a specific energy that exists in a situation where you have musicians and an audience.

I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of making music without concern of how we’ll play it live, and then figure that out later. I tend not to write music FOR the live band, but rather just make the music that I hear in the studio. I suppose that’s why a lot of my music sounds quite different live.

But I think that’s a good thing, as people get to enjoy it in a different way, an it’s never the same if they come see us play multiple times.
 
What does the term jazz mean today, would you say?

I’m not entirely sure to be honest. To me it’s a language and style of communication within music, and the way a group of musicians can agree on some set of rules, that then can be broken.

I suppose it’s kind of transcended being a “genre”, but it’s obviously a huge and controversial question that I don’t really know the answer to.
 
Ímprovisation is obviously an essential element of jazz, but I would assume that just like composition, it is transforming. How do you feel has the role of improvisation changed in jazz?

For my music at least, I am definitely moving away from having loads of improvised solos in my tracks, and more towards using elements like sampling, sound design and grooves in my music.

I love hearing improvisation as much as most other fans of jazz music. But it’s not the only thing I am interested in, so I definitely want to have it as part of the tool kit of our live show, rather than the main focus.
 
The Montreux Festival intends to preserve its archive of recordings for future generations. Do you personally feels it's important that everything should remain available forever - or is there something to be said for letting beautiful moments pass and linger in the memories of those that experienced them?

I think it’s great that people who maybe can’t afford, or for some other reason don’t have access to a festival, get to still enjoy the performances.

A massively important part of making music to me is keeping it accessible and keeping the barrier to entry low, whilst still of course respecting the artist. I want everyone to be able to enjoy music, as it can be such a powerful thing.

So I suppose I think it’s great that Montreux archive their performances to share with people who couldn’t be at the festival.