Part 1

Name: Valia Calda
Members: Sam Warner (trumpet / flugelhorn), James Allsopp (bass, clarinet / tenor sax), Nikos Ziarkas (guitar / electronics), Gaspar Sena (drums), Thodoris Ziarkas (double bass)
Interviewee: Nikos, Thodoris
Nationality: Greek/British
Current release: Valia Calda's Homeland is out via Deep Mountain.

If you enjoyed this Valia Calda interview and would like to know more about the band and their music, visit their official website. The group also have profiles on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.  

Over the course of their careers, the members of Valia Calda have worked with a wide range of artists. For the thoughts of one of them, read our Yazz Ahmed interview.



When did you first start getting interested in musical improvisation?  

For us, the idea of improvisation was embodied in our musical language from an early age.

Our first encounter with music was while learning the music of South Greece at the ages of 6 and 8. Within that musical tradition, improvisation plays a very important role, as melodies are constantly repeated - the musician is expected to reinvent the musical phrases and respond to the improvised lyrics of each occasion or the dance.

Being exposed to music which is connected to a festivity or a ritual teaches you the importance of interacting with your environment and being aware. Then later, when we discovered jazz and free improvisation, the mindset was slightly different, but the core idea felt quite natural.

Which artists, approaches, albums or performances involving prominent use of improvisation captured your imagination in the beginning?

To begin with, the music of Psarantonis, the iconic lyra player from Crete, was the first inspiration of how improvisation can be used as a vehicle and as a way to direct the energy of the music. His approach to traditional music made it feel alive, and this, for both of us, was a first strong encounter.



In a parallel universe, the music of Petroloukas Halkias from the region of Epirus Greece, (where our family comes from) had a very strong effect on us as well.



Moving on, we cannot avoid mentioning the work of John Coltrane and  Ornette’s “Lonely Woman”, which were very strong influences during our jazz studies.



More individually, a memorable performance for Thodoris was seeing the double bassist John Edwards in London, and this completely changed his view of the double bass, and has since informed hugely his practise as improviser.

For Nikos: seeing Nels Cline Live at ‘The Stone’ in NY, despite being a personal guitar hero of mine it was the first time I saw someone improvising truly with no musical barriers. It felt as if you had no idea where he was gonna go next but you were going on a musical trip together.



[Read our Nels Cline interview]

Focusing on improvisation can be an incisive transition. Aside from musical considerations, there can also be personal motivations for looking for alternatives. Was this the case for you, and if so, in which way?

Nikos: I often find myself being artistically attracted to the unknown and that's why I like to play right on the edge when improvising.

It creates a very satisfying feeling that I can only experience through music.
 
What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to improvisation? Do you see yourself as part of a tradition or historic lineage?
 
Within our group we have very different approaches to improvisation and different trajectories. For the way we have been creating music the last ten years together, what connected us the most to group improvisations was the idea of atmospheres which often led us to what could be described to psychedelic-meditative improvisations.

As a group we aim to create different atmospheres or colours that we choose to navigate through. We always aim to support an overall sound for the ensemble which grows collectively and allows the whole energy of the band to work together.

When we started we either had the approach of “jazz solos” where one leads or more chaotic group improvisations. We have moved away a little bit from these approaches as the group has evolved. But that’s not a rule, in our albums you will find all of these approaches, depending on what the music needs.

“Crossing the Warm Valley” from our newly released album is one of our early pieces featuring group improvisations.




What was your own learning curve / creative development like when it comes to improvisation - what were challenges and breakthroughs?

One of the first and important “walls” that we had to climb was moving away from the way we thought about improvisation in the context of Greek traditional music.

That tradition of improvisation has to do with cultural references and circular repetition of phrases. The first challenge dealing with a more free or jazz improvisation approach, was to be able to think in longer forms and consciously think of what’s the direction of the music.

An important breakthrough was to experiment with longer forms, breaking the thinking of repetitive phrases, and how to play around with the flow of rhythm. Adjusting our way of thinking in that way has influenced the way the group improvisations in our pieces with Valia Calda have developed.

This is an example from our debut EP (2014), the tune “Epirus Suite”:



Tell me about your instrument and/or tools, please. How would you describe the relationship with it? What are its most important qualities and how do they influence the musical results and your own performance?  

Nikos: One of the most important transitions I’ve made in the past years is changing guitar type.

I’ve been using a Fender Jazzmaster the past years and that instrument makes me play in a completely different way, like no other guitar. From the shape and feel to the bands I associate the guitar with, from grunge to experimental jazz and psychedelic rock.

Also I’ve been extensively using the Electro-Harmonix Memory Man with Hazarai pedal. It’s one of my favourite pedals and can be heard all over this record.

Examples of this can really be heard on the guitar solo of “Stalker.”



Can you talk about a work, event or performance in your career that's particularly dear to you? Why does it feel special to you? When, why and how did you start working on it, what were some of the motivations and ideas behind it?

Two come to mind really, and both are quite recent. One is performing at Montreux jazz festival last summer 2022. Just because of how big and historic that festival is and also from the fact that when I started listening to jazz at 15 I used to watch videos of all my heroes performing there.

Second was performing at the Brooklyn jazz festival last October. My mother is from Brooklyn and the festival happened to be taking place literally in the street she used  to play as a kid. The fact that she happened to be visiting NY at that period and was in the audience was particularly special as well.