The Music of Billy Childs – Influences and Inspiration

“I’ve always gravitated towards music that tells a story.”

Billy Childs

Billy Childs has played piano with some of the best in the business, from his beginnings as a working musician with J.J. Johnson and Freddie Hubbard all the way to one of his current recurring gigs, touring and recording with renowned trumpet player Chris Botti.  His piano artistry is at the heart of the Billy Childs Ensemble, his core group of musicians on his Grammy Award-winning Lyric — Jazz-Chamber Music Vol 1 and his 2011 Grammy-nominated Autumn: In Moving Pictures — Jazz-Chamber Music Volume 2 ArtistShare CDs.

As important as Childs’ virtuosic musicianship is to his own success and that of his collaborators, it’s just one part of his identity as an artist. Billy Childs is very much in demand as a composer and arranger and his compositions form the heart of his jazz-chamber music albums. Billy talked with me about the influences and inspiration that go into his compositions, and their ultimate goal.

“I’ve always loved composing and I’ve pretty much always looked at myself as a composer as well as a pianist.  I composed my first real piece of music when I was 16 or 17 .  It was something that I just all of a sudden discovered, ‘Wow, I like doing this, and it makes sense to me, how to do this.’

“I guess that the music of the late 60’s and early 70’s was highly influential on my concept as a musical voice.  The fusion era – Return To Forever; Weather Report; Emerson, Lake, and Palmer; Gentle Giant.

“Allan Holdsworth was another icon who kind of had a profound influence on me.  I was intrigued by his harmonic sense, which is one of the most sophisticated systems I’ve ever checked out.

“It was an era where you had rock connecting with classical music, jazz merging with funk, Indian music combined with rock — an era of, perhaps, unprecedented inter-genre respect and tolerance. This informs my music to this day, and has inspired my desire to organically bring together classical music and jazz.”

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“The compositional process that I use — and ultimately, what inspires me — depends on the composition, or rather, the intent of the composition.  Sometimes I find it necessary to look inward, in order to express some sort of inner darkness or deeply buried emotion.  Sometimes it’s the external world that inspires me — things in nature.  Trying to recreate a beautiful natural scenario in music, just as French Impressionism does.

“When it comes to melody — a component of the music that I feel is of the utmost importance — I wait for it to come to me.  A beautiful melody, like a beautifully constructed sentence, is something that I cannot manufacture or rush.  It has to come from the soul and, I believe, it makes itself evident.  To me, it is a skill that cannot be taught in a classroom; it’s definitely the most difficult aspect of composing.

“The main goal for me is always to make a dramatic statement with my music, one that will make the listener feel the drama and have it relate to his or her own experience.”

Next – from “Lunacy” to the Dorian Wind Quintet to The Calling, Billy Childs talks about his growth and movement towards his jazz-chamber music concept.

Previously – The Music of Billy Childs – Freddie Hubbard Shows the Way

The Music of Billy Childs – Freddie Hubbard Shows the Way

Billy Childs

Billy Childs is the Grammy Award-winning composer, arranger and pianist responsible for some of the most engaging and enjoyable music on the scene today.   Child’s most recent albums as a leader, Lyric — Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 1 and Autumn: In Moving Pictures — Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 2, both available through ArtistShare, give us deep and rewarding glimpses into his musical world — a place where melody, emotion and collaborative improvisation flourish without limits and beyond genre.

During his eclectic career Billy Childs has composed and arranged for and played and recorded with some of the greatest artists in music, including J.J. Johnson, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Jimmy Heath, Art Farmer, Nat Adderly, Allan Holdsworth, Regina Carter, Don Byron, The Dorian Wind Quintet, Dianne Reeves, Chris Botti, Brian Blade, The Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Kronos Quartet and many many others.

Recently I had the privilege of talking with Billy about his music and career, and I asked him to go back to the beginning of all these rewarding associations:  how he got his start as a professional musician.

“When I was young, there weren’t a lot of piano players and jazz musicians, really, it wasn’t an institutional academic organization like it is now, where you can get a doctorate in jazz.  There’s like a whole mess of jazz piano players that are really good, but you learn in a laboratory type of classroom environment.

“I was fortunate enough to be able to get gigs, and still under the apprentice-mentor type of scenario that I grew up with.

“My first real jazz gig was with J.J. Johnson. I did a two-week tour with J.J. in Japan. I was like 19, I think. I learned a hell of a lot from that.  J.J. figures importantly in my development as a jazz musician.

“But Freddie Hubbard without question is my main teacher. Freddie essentially taught me how to play jazz. Sometimes when I hear old recordings of me playing with Freddie, I understand the incredible patience that he must have exercised by simply withstanding the youthful comping decisions I made while he was trying to solo.  He taught me how to comp on a very high level, because his soloing was so melodically rich.

“Sometimes when he couldn’t stand it any more, he’d just simply say, ‘Lay out.’  But he was really paternal with me.  I love Freddie, I miss him terribly.”

Next — Billy Childs on composing, arranging, and his musical influences.

The Jason Parker Quartet Shines During Its “Idle Moments”

Some days back, after I blipped Grant Green’s classic “Idle Moments,”  Jason Parker (@1WorkinMusician) let me know his Seattle-based quartet had recorded its own version of this timeless masterpiece on their second full-length CD No More, No Less.

Parker is a busy player on Seattle’s thriving jazz scene, and his blog posts and tweets about making a living as a full-time musician and bandleader have a healthy following.   I was definitely curious:  would The Jason Parker Quartet’s version of “Idle Moments” stand up to a comparison of the original?

Oh, yeah.  The quartet — Parker on trumpet, Josh Rawlings on piano, Evan Flory-Barnes on bass, D’Vonne Lewis  on drums, and special guest Cynthia Mullis on tenor sax — keeps the original’s languidly slow,
no- need-to-be-in-a-hurry pace, and Parker, Mullis, and Rawlings solo beautifully over those classic changes.    Everyone’s ears are open and I especially enjoyed listening to Mullis jump off the riffs Rawlings served up during her solo.  Nice, very nice.   The Jason Parker Quartet gives a respectful nod to the past while making “Idle Moments” its very own.

Check out The Jason Parker Quartet’s “Idle Moments”:

And here’s Grant Green’s original, full-length version:

The Jason Parker Quartet as recorded on No More, No Less:

Jason Parker – trumpet
Josh Rawlings – piano
Evan Flory-Barnes – bass
D’Vonne Lewis – drums
Special guest Cynthis Mullis – tenor sax

Bill Frisell Plays His Way To Common Ground

The Intercontinentals

Bill Frisell, this gentle, genre-bending guitarist who can capture the world’s essence in a song or speak in a voice that is clearly American, extends himself towards us and in the process touches something basic, something existential.   His music is full of the joy of life yet there’s always a hint of sorrow there, too, some echo of our knowledge that nothing lasts forever.

So it is with “Good Old People,” from Bill Frisell’s 2003 album The Intercontinentals. We have melody and pulse, soaring guitars and African rhythm.  Violin and pedal steel are driven by drum and cymbal, calabash and triangle, all played by a truly intercontinental collection of Frisell’s best friends.

“Good Old People” stands on its own just fine as music but like many Frisell creations it’s more than a world-class cut from a world-class album.   “Good Old People” is a vessel for emotions both joyful and melancholy,   a soaring, cascading celebration of life that gets to the essence of what makes Bill Frisell special — his talent for touching the common humanity in all of us.

Listen to this.   No matter where you are, it sounds like home.

Bill Frisell – guitars, bass
Sidiki Camara – calabash, djembe, congas, percussion
Jenny Scheinman – violin
Greg Leisz – pedal steel guitar
Vinicius Cantuaria – guitars, drums, percussion
Christos Govetas – oud, bouzouki

http://blip.fm/~pkr79

Lionel Loueke’s Superstar Support

Lionel Loueke

I’ve been trying to figure out why I like Lionel Loueke’s music as much as I do.

Yes, he’s extremely good at what he does.  He has a distinct musical identity, his own particular combination of influences, and dedication to the craft.  He also has his own unique ways of making music. Whether he’s out front doing his own thing during his concerts or on his own records, I know it’s Lionel Loueke speaking to me from the second I hear his guitar, voice, or both.   The man from Benin is known far and wide for his beautifully moving recordings as a leader.

He is a living bridge between Africa and the West, steeped in the music of his childhood and fluent in America’s music, jazz.   But there’s something else.

It turns out I enjoy his work so much because he is the ultimate collaborator.    Even though he has an incredibly distinct style, when he’s working on someone else’s thing he brings just what’s needed for that moment.

Here are a few examples:
Loueke has a long history of collaboration with singer Gretchen Parlato; they’ve worked on each others’ albums for several years now.  On “Within Me,” from Parlato’s album In A Dream, Loueke seems to lay out during the verses and is gently there for the rest of the piece.   He provides rhythmic pulse and emphasis and stays out of the foreground.   His is a perfect, minimalist effort in support of a beautiful voice and lyric.

Magos Herrera, a very talented singer from Mexico by way of New York City, worked with Loueke on her album Distancia. The album’s opening cut, “Reencuentro,” features Loueke as an up-front member of the rhythm section.  He moves into his solo by echoing the last line of Herrera’s chorus and then has a melodic conversation with pianist Aaron Goldberg.   Here Loueke’s efforts are a prominent part of a successful group effort.

Terence Blanchard worked with Loueke on his latest album Choices. “Byus,” the album’s opening cut, features Loueke’s intro under Dr. Cornel West’s spoken words and his solo over  the cut’s fade.   In between, Loueke comps beautifully under Walter Smith III and Blanchard’s solos.   This time he gives a little signature Loueke in the beginning and a lot of inventive support for the rest of the cut.

I really appreciate the subtle support Lionel Loueke gives to others on their projects.  To me, his efforts are the very essence of the type of collaboration that makes much of today’s jazz so exciting.  Lionel Loueke helps others bring out the best in themselves, and that’s great for jazz fans everywhere.

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Photo of Lionel Loueke by Juan-Carlos Hernandez

Lionel Loueke
Lionel Loueke on his technique and influences
Gretchen Parlato
Magos Herrera
Terence Blanchard
Dr. Cornel West