Name: Joe Webb
Nationality: British
Occupation: Pianist, composer, improviser
Current event: The Joe Webb trio, comprising of Joe, Will Sach (double bass) and Dave Archer (guitar) will perform at London's Ronnie Scott's on May 28th 2024. For more information, head over to the club's website. The performance will mark the release of his new EP via Edition Records.

If you enjoyed this Joe Webb interview and would like to know more about his work and music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram. 



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in improvisation?

Yeah definitely. My grandad used to play different variations of the pieces he knew.

When did you first consciously start getting interested in musical improvisation? Which artists, teachers, albums or performances involving prominent use of improvisation captured your imagination in the beginning?

I got into improvisation straight away. I loved rock and roll initially. Whenever I played piano when I was young, I played the blues and improvised over the sequence.

My classical piano teachers husband gave me my first jazz CD’s. These were Night Train by the Oscar Peterson trio, West Side Story by the Oscar Peterson trio and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.



I’d never heard improvisation like this before and it totally blew my mind.

Tell me about your instrument and/or tools, please. What made you seek it out, what makes it “your” instrument, and what are some of the nost important aspects of playing it?

I played clarinet and saxophone when I was younger but I didn’t feel the same connection as I did/do with the piano.

Playing piano and improvising feels like something that I need to do. I’ve learned a lot about myself from playing my instrument.

How would you describe your own relationship with your instrument – is it an extension of your self/body, a partner and companion, a creative catalyst, a challenge to be overcome, something else entirely?

Yeah, it’s totally an extension of my body. It’s always felt like that.

Do you feel as though there are at least elements of composition and improvisation which are entirely unique to each? Based on your own work or maybe performances or recordings by other artists, do you feel that there are results which could only have happened through one of them?

I think approaching composition in the way of improvisation is a logical practice.

When playing solo piano gigs in bars and clubs (where you are essentially background music), I love playing tunes in completely different ways. I find that this type of improvisation leads me to composition

When you're improvising, does it actually feel like you're inventing something on the spot – or are you inventively re-arranging patterns from preparations, practise or previous performances? What balance is there between forgetting and remembering in your work?

In the style of jazz that I mostly play, most of the improvisation is usually based on something, like a chord sequence. So there are guidelines to the creativity.

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?

Absolutely. I think true improvisation is a real show of someone’s true personality. Feeling free to express yourself is the key for me.  

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

Obviously, the more people on stage with you, the more arranging there is to be done. When playing solo, there are no rules.

I love playing solo and in my trio equally. The more we play together it feels more and more like a solo gig because we all think the same and have great trust in each other on the band stand

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

When you execute your ideas exactly how you want to, it’s the best feeling. You almost go into a state of euphoria.

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?

After working very intensely with Sam and Will, when we perform we never speak and some of the “cues” are not even physically noted anymore.

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?

My musical listening has always been the same.

Does it make me feel something? If it does, I’m all in.

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 think it’s important not to force yourself to listen to anything against your will.

Sometimes listening to something you don’t like even once might plant the seed for you to get into it later on.

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?

If you compose something whilst improvising, that for me, is the improvisation living on. Every time you play “that tune or song”, you will be in that mental space again.

I love writing on tour for this exact reason.