| 1. At what age did you start playing guitar and when did you start playing jazz?
I started playing at age 6, but I was told that I wanted to play the guitar ever since I was 2. I certainly remember those toy guitars! I had classical guitar lessons on and off through my teens and later studied solo classical guitar at The London College Of Music. I delved into jazz during this time but got to it through fusion and funk genres, eventually getting seduced into the whole thing.
2. Which people influenced you as an improvising musician?
In the very early days it was progressive rock guitarist Jan Akkerman (from the band Focus). Later through the eighties, Larry Carlton and Robben Ford had a profound impact on me and in the 90's and up to the present day it was Pat Martino and Wes Montgomery. I also went through a big Charlie Parker phase along with Miles Davis and his rhythm sections, and I particulary caught the ear of his swinging piano players, Red Garland and Wynton Kelly. I always tried to reproduce that swinging comping style on the guitar. There were and are many other influences, Michael Brecker's bands, Joe Pass and contemporary bands like Steely Dan, Pat Metheny Group etc etc.
3. Did you take guitar lessons when you were young?
Yes I did from the age of 6 onwards, strictly classical guitar. Oddly I never ever had a jazz guitar lesson. One day I should take one!
4. What do you listen to today?
There is embarrassingly very little I am excited about that is new. I try to remain open but I find myself going backwards in time to get excited again. All my favourite bop musicians from the 50's and 60's get air time over here in my house from time to time but I find it a little un-progressive to keep looking back. There are clearly some fantastic guitarists playing today but I do find myself still drawn to the Pat Martino's and Pat Metheny's of the world. I am drawn to anything with soul, passion and sophistication. I particularly like contemporaty pop artists like John Mayer and Coldplay. They come to mind . Quite refreshing.
5. What gear do you use and what was your first guitar?
That question requires an answer today and a different one hopefully tomorrow. I have been using Fender Twin amps for the last few years but recently bought a new Acoustic Image Clarus 2R amp, which should be arriving any day. It sounded amazing when I played through it.
My guitar of choice for the last 10 years has been a Benedetto custom guitar made for me by Bob himself. I have a bunch of other strats, teles, acoustics etc for rhythm stuff, but the Bene has become my sound.
I also have a pedal board I put together with really old funky pedals. Wah wahs, Talk box, phaser etc etc. I try to keep it as retro as I can. Most of ther time I just go straight through to the amp however.
My first guitar was some half size classical guitar that my parents gave me on my 6th birthday. I remember smelling inside the soundhole (a habit I still seem to have!) and just loving that carved wood smell.
I think my first electric guitar was a Zenta telecaster copy. It was rough, I know that much.
6. Do you get frustrated about your guitar playing sometimes? What aspects of guitar playing do you feel you need to improve on?
Yes, but it's usually when I don't play enough. I just got back from a mini tour of the UK and by the end of the run I was on top of my game. There's nothing like playing all the time to keep your chops alive and I only really like it when I am able to play at my personal best. I find it particularly freeing not to have to worry about any technical issues and literally just play music. I'm sure a great deal of it is psychological but it certainly has the better of me a lot of the time. I try to hide it though. I think I tend to do that quite well.
Something I need to improve on is my metronomic time, to be honest. For the most part it is pretty good but if I am not warmed up I tend to rush sometimes and I always know when it is happening. And I usually know how to fix it. I also think most musicians are probably somewhat insecure in this department. Again, there's nothing like playing all the time to improve all this too. I play duo every week with another guitar player and this is a fantastic way to really nail this. I could also use more vocabulary on some changes. But then again, is there a jazz musician that is satisfied in this area?
7. What is your practice routine like? How much time do you devote to studying music and guitar?
I go through phases of practice and phases of not practicing. I like to play through standards or work on something new to get inside it. I try to keep my chops together with fast tempos, but medium tempos in the straight ahead genre are hardest for me to really say something. Working on getting round chord progressions and new vocab is something that I like to practice. I wish I had more time, there is so much to practice. I've got my hand in too many pies.
8. Do you teach music? What do you hope a student gets out of your teachings, besides the obvious?
Not strictly. I mean I used to teach one on one many years ago but it has been a long time.
Indirectly I teach you could say as I have a very successful home study jazz guitar course called "Play What You Hear" I sell on my website at www.playjazzguitar.com. I tend to point most interested students towards that because it's all in there. I guess I would consider teaching personally again but I just don't think I have the time frankly.
Well, if they study from my course I hope they get literally everything out of it. I remember when I was at music school and would look forward to my weekly classical guitar lessons. My teacher, who was a phenomenal classical player, would be practicing some new piece for an upcoming recital and would play it for me and I remember just being so inspired . He was a true mentor and I look back to those moments even today. I believe it is those moments of inspiration that drive us. So I think in answer to your question, I would like the student to find enough inspiration in the course to drive himself or herself forward and continue the fascination for guitar.
9. What are your favorite standards to play?
All The Things You Are, Have You Met Miss Jones, Alone Together, Like Someone In Love, Giant Steps. There are many. I need to learn some new ones too.
10. Do you make a living as a professional musician? What did you have to do to make this work for you?
Yes, I have for the last 20 years or so. Aside from a huge amount of practice in the early days, I think the real issue is that you become a professional when you decide that you ARE a professional. I think a lot of it is in the attitude.
I lived in London for 10 years after I left music school and ventured into the professional world. I put a band together and invited most of the London session players to play in the band. This proved to be a training ground for my writing and arranging and that way I got to meet a lot of musicians.
I really had the bug to come to Los Angeles to be a solo artist and I finally made the big move February 1991. I then did all I could to meet musicians, played clubs, the odd casual, and eventually ended up playing with Marc Antoine who introduced me to Kirk Whalum, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot etc etc and after much touring I landed my own record deal and spend the next 10 years trying to chase after their success.
I think the thing to know is that everyone is on a different path and what works for one musician will not necessarily work for another. All you can do is try to figure out as clearly in your mind as you can what it is that makes you tick, take a deep breath and jump off the cliff.
11. What are the pros and cons of being a professional musician?
The pros are that you get to live a different kind of life to most. It can involve travel, playing with wonderful musicians, interacting and telling musical stories together and there can be an element of glamour to it if you get to where you want to get to, even though it's not always good to dwell on that side of it. The ultimate pro is that you get to do what you love.
The downside is that you might pay a price for doing what you love. Unless you are smart it can be very unsettling and scary as musicians are hired and fired all the time. This is the very nature of the business. When you leave a gig you have to find another one.
Healthy spousal relationships are extremely hard, or so I have found. The ultimate downside for most is that, being a professional musician means saying yes to practically every gig that is offered as one needs to work to eat, just like anyone else. This always had a negative effect on me personally because I have always felt very precious about music and never wanted to get to a place where I didn't enjoy the music. So I found it very easy to say no to certain job offers. This of course fueled me to pursue my musical dreams. It's not a secure business for the most part, particualrly now when the whole business is in such transition, but it can have it's rewards if you want it enough.
12. Do you have any tips for people starting in the music business?
Be realistic about your goals, be passionate about music and never let anyone tell you you can't do it!
13. What projects are you working on at the moment?
I have just finished a new beginners/intermediate home study guitar course called "Guitar Made Simple" that will be released to the world in January. This project took a year to complete from start to finish and I'm very glad I can now come up for air! I am also finishing up a new album that is due for release 1st quarter of 2006. And I'm looking forward to taking some time off frankly, I have to learn to slow dow, I think it's my new year's resolution.
14. Do you have any advice for beginning jazz guitarists?
Yes. There are three things one must focus on that spring to mind. There are of course many others.
1) You must learn to build over time a good vocabulary of musical ideas to improvise with.
2) You must learn how to use these musical ideas over different harmonies. In short you need to learn how to "hear music". Many guitarists have knowledge but they don't really hear what they are playing.
3) Learn to play well with others. Listen and enjoy the interaction. I have played with technically amazing players but it was not a joyful experience because they were not interested in "interacting". Other times it has been sheer heaven. We learn from others and there is no better place to do that than on the bandstand.
|
