Name: Sarter Kit
Members: Tara Sarter (saxophone), Elias Stemeseder (keys), Lukas Akintaya (drums)
Interviewee: Tara Sarter
Current release: Tara Sarter's new album album What I am and What I’m Not is out via Squama.

If you enjoyed this Tara Sarter interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her on Instagram.



What were some of the musical experiences which planted a seed for your  interest in jazz?  

I took part in a brass class at school where we played a lot of big band which planted, I guess a seed for my general interest in music. Both playing and listening to it.  

What does the term jazz mean today, would you say?  

In my perspective, people want to define a specific genre in naming it “jazz.” And they really don't understand what they actually want to explain.

This  genre is so complex with thousands of layers. Sometimes I think, let’s just not specify anything.  

As of today, what kind of materials, ideas, and technologies are particularly  stimulating for you?  

DELICIOOOOOUS sounds, vegetables and fruits, cats and birdsong, my partner, trees  and water and newest - decorating candles. Ah!

And other than that, colorful fashion as well!

Where do most of your inspirations to create come from – rather from internal  impulses or external ones? Which current social / political / ecological or  other developments make you feel like you need to respond as an artist?  

Yoo actually not really sure tho haha. What I mean by that is that I don't feel as though I/we know what we’re doing here on mother earth to be honest.

So for me, am trying to live the finite moment of life lol. And the same applies to music I’d say. Music is something I enjoy filling my time with.  

Music has become a lot more global, and incorporating elements from other  parts of the world or the musical spectrum is commonplace. Do you still think  there are city scenes with a distinct, unique sound? How does your local  scene influence your work?  

There can be definitely a unique sound but I think it's more culturally determined.

As you said, music has become a lot more global and so have the possibilities to visit different places and to share knowledge with the environment.

What role do electronic tools and instruments play for your creative process?  

I just love listening to different facets of sounds.  

Thanks to technological advances, collaboration has become a lot easier.  What have been some of the most fruitful collaborations for you recently and  what approaches to and modes of collaboration currently seem best to you?

I'm still in the process of letting go of any categorization that anything is better  than anything else.  

Every opportunity for exchange and the actual practice of it is fruitful.  

Jazz has always had an interesting relationship between honouring its roots  and exploring the unknown. What does the balance between these two poles look like in your music?  

These two poles have definitely had an influence on my perception. However, it’s not that present in my mind while playing.  

When am making music, for me it’s about reacting and interacting with the  people am playing with and about feeling what am hearing. Yeah, like really  feeling the current moment we’re in together and I wish for myself and for all  human beings that we can act based on how we are and feel. Like, for example, we cannot show ourselves vulnerable due to any kind of politeness and thus deceive our perception and our being.  

Aaaand I would not like to name it “my music“ cause it’s always something I’ll  create with people. It’s not about “mine,” more about “ours.”  

How much potential for something “new” is there still in jazz? What could this  “new” look like?  

You know what, actually it should always be “new“ cause it’s always new/ different people playing the music.  

For many artists, life-changing musical experiences take place live. How do  you see that yourself?  

Yoo, definitely I would count me in.

Playing live can be such a trip, no matter what band am playing with. Even though I know the band members, it all depends on how they feel that day and that reflects musical energy, which  can bring life-changing musical experiences.  

How, would you say are your live performances and your recording projects  connected at the moment? How do they mutually influence and feed off each other?  

Hmm ... I think they’re connected and also, they're not.

Improvisation 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?  

I was recently at the Jazzwerkstatt Bern in Switzerland again, where they put  on some fantastic live concerts all within a week.

This year, I felt how improvisation can manifest itself on a different level of absurdity and discomfort. I really, really liked that because it demands a different reaction than usual.

Clapping, for example, sometimes I get the feeling it's just something you do cause they say you’ll do that in the end of a song, and not because it's the honest reaction that arises within you.  

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to improvisation?  

Fear nothing but be in love. Dare to have fun and discover being.  

Are there approaches, artists, festivals, labels, spaces or anyone/-thing else  out there who you feel deserve a shout out for taking jazz into the future?  

Jazzwerkstatt Bern!!

But honestly everyone who’s working with music. We've all got a very different perception of life which makes every opportunity to share different perspectives, in my opinion, essential for survival.  

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?

Mhhm ... not quite sure about that. A recording with a clean audio quality can give an idea of a band playing. And in a way, it’s also cool that people have a free chance to listen to dope music when they can not afford it.

But also, I  think no recording can convey of course the energy of a live concert, neither can a video. Also I also fear that people will click from video to video, perhaps to consume a lot and quickly. That unlimited access can support a very unconscious and perhaps almost insignificant feeling.

Maybe it would be a cool idea to limit access to the archive to one video per day in order to make the listening experience more unique or we just learn a better understanding of handling the technology.