Jazznet: Michael Jefry Stevens
Jazznet møder komponist og pianist Michael Jefry Stevens.
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Michael Jefry Stevens er født den 13. marts 1951 i New York city og har siden 1980 boet i Brooklyn. Michael Jefry Stevens er pianist og komponist med mere end 400 kompositioner bag sig, blandt andet har han skrevet værker for big band, strenge kvartetter, vokal musik, musik for solo instrumenter og forskellige mindre gruppe kompositioner. MJF har igennem de sidste 35 år været forbundet med nogen af de mest vigtige personligheder indenfor den moderne jazz. Michael Jefry Stevens har udgivet mange plader i mange forskellige konstellationer. De vigtigste og mest interessante har været (i tilfældig orden) : Mosaic Sextet med Dave Douglas på trompet, Mark Feldman på violin, Michael Rabinowitz på bassoon, Harvey Sorgen på trommer og Joe Fonda på bass - deres udgivelse "Today This Moment" er regnet som en af de klassiske moderen jazz udgivelser i de seneste 25 år. Denne rytme sektion forsatte deres samarbejde og blev til Fonda/Stevens Group som siden 1993 har udgivet 10 cd'er. I 1999 startede Stevens sin Conference Call quartet med hans medsammensvorne i musikken Joe Fonda i samarbejde med den tyske saxofonist Gebhard Ullmann og trommeslageren George Schuller. Stevens har også gjort sig bemærket i jazz trio sammenhænge blandt andet i Stevens, Siegel & Ferguson som har udgivet 5 cd'er. Stevens' nyeste projekt er hans In transit kvartet bestående af trommeslageren Dieter Ulrich, Bassisten Daniel Studer og saxofonisten Juerg Solothurnmann som lige har udgivet en cd på Unit records. Af fremtidige projekter kan nævnes en duo optagelse med den serbiske violinist Szilard Mezei og et nyt kvartet projekt kaldet Eastern Boundary med den ungarske trommeslager Balazs Bagyi og den ungarske saxofonist Mihaly Borbely. På hans hjemmeside (www.michaeljefrystevens.com) kan man læse meget mere om ham og hans mange spændende projekter.
Interview pr. mail med Michael J. Stevens, Februar 2008
Jazznet :
How did your adventures with music begin. Did you have any training by any teachers or are you self taught ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
I started playing piano at age 5 and studied until age 8. At that time my family moved from NYC to Miami Beach, Fl. In Florida I never found a good piano teacher, but I played trombone from third grade (age 8) all the way through high school. I also played rock and roll organ in rock bands all the way through high school. I did end up with a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance from Queens College (1993) but that was way after the fact. In the meantime I did study with some great teachers: Frank Stagnitta, Chuck Marohnic: But I would say most of my learning came on the band stands primarily in NYC (I moved to NYC in 1980 and left in 2002).
Jazznet :
Are you inspired by some of the great masters of jazz like Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry and John Coltrane or who do you see as your inspiration ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
John Coltrane was a huge influence on me. Also Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor, Andrew Hill.
Jazznet :
If you should mention some artist who in your opinion are going to be the future of jazz and take it into the future, who should they be ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
I recently heard the guitarist Lionel Loueke perform with his trio in Toronto. This was one of the most inspirational musical performances I have ever witnessed. A cross between John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix. Definitely the future of jazz. Another great artist to watch is Chris Potter.
Jazznet :
What are you doing now and what will be the next release from you and your many different exciting projects ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
I just recorded a new project in NYC with four brass players and piano of my original music. I am very excited about this project. The players included Steve Swell and Dave Taylor on trombone, and Dave Ballou and Ed Sarath on trumpet. In addition I have a new quartet here in Tennessee that I just recorded featuring saxophonist Don Aliquo. In a few weeks I will be touring Europe with my Griffith/Stevens Quartet which features Miles Griffith on vocals and two great European jazz artists: Dieter Ulrich on drums and Peter Herbert on bass. This summer I will be recording a CD with my old Danish friend, guitarist Jon Hemmersam. The band will include Dave Liebman and Bob Moses.
Jazznet :
At your concerts and on your records as well, how much is improvised and how much is planned before start ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
Normally I am performing original music that either I write or some of my partners write (especially Joe Fonda). In these cases we plan out the compositions for each set, but allow the possibility to improvise away from the plan as well. This means that we never know precisely what is going to happen but we have some kind of a guide to follow. I would say the same thing happens in the recording studio. There are some groups (In Transit for one) that are completely improvised. In these cases we have no idea what is going to happen on the band stand. In the studio we are able to edit the music after the fact and present it in a bit more coherent way.
Jazznet :
If you should mention 5 records that have meant something to you and your music, what would they be ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
Beatles – Rubber Soul
Beatles – Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Miles Davis – kind of Blue
John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
Bill Evans – The Bill Evans Album
Jazznet :
When i play free jazz and improvised music for the people i know they just dont seem to understand it and appreciate it the way i do. Are you some times in the situation that people dont understand your music, that it is misunderstood ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
Of course this can happen. But my experience is that if the “feeling” of the music is real and powerful it will ultimately win the audience over. I have a hard time with “free music” that is one-dimensional. For instance, much of “free music” has a tendency to be loud and angry in tone. I find that if there is only one dimension I will get bored as a listener. But if the music moves through different moods and feelings I will be very connected to it.
Jazznet :
Frank Zappa once said "Jazz is not dead it just smells funny". What are your comments on that, do you think jazz is a dead and in serious need of a vitamin injection ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
Jazz is not dead. Jazz is very much alive and well. It is a spiritual force of healing on this planet. What I feel is dying is western civilization as we have come to know it for the past 100 years. Certainly here in the USA it is difficult to recognize the country that I grew up in during the 1960’s. That was a country of hope and sympathy. Now I live in a country of corporate and political greed. A country where there is no compassion for the individual. Unfortunately this way of thinking is moving slowly across the planet. Europe, however, has the advantage of hundreds of years of cultural history to balance itself with. Still, in the end this cultural virus of commercialized “art” and corporate greed is changing every country on the globe.
Jazznet :
Do you have any plans of coming to Denmark to play some concerts ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
Between 1998 and 2002 I spent quite a lot of time performing in Denmark. I recorded two cd’s with guitarist Jon Hemmersam and did quite a lot of teaching at the Aarhus Conservatory. I hope to come back again soon to your wonderful country.
Jazznet :
If a new listener was about to buy his first recording with your work. Which one would you recommend as the best introduction to your music ???
Michael Jefry Stevens :
I would start with the Mosaic Sextet recording which was released on Konnex Records in the early 1990’s and re-released with unreleased material on GM Recordings out of Boston in early 2000. This group featured Dave Douglas, Mark Feldman, Michael Rabinowitz, Harvey Sorgen, Joe Fonda and myself. The other recording would be my first Leo Records recording which is “Haiku” - duets with violinist Mark Feldman. Finally, I would buy the first Fonda/Stevens Group CD “the Wish” on Music and Arts.
Anmeldelse:
Michael Jefry Stevens & Michael Rabinowitz : Play.
"Play" er en duo optagelse med Michael Jefry Stevens på piano og Michael Rabinowitz på fagot. Dette er deres første samarbejde siden de i de tidlige 90'ere spillede sammen i den legendariske Mosaic sextet. Gennem hele pladen viser Stevens at han er en mand med fuldstændig kontrol over sit instrument, ikke kun på den tekniske side men også hvad angår hans varme og afrundede måde at spille på. Hans frasering har en elengance over sig som gør hans spil til en nydelse at lægge øre til. Nogen vil måske mene at en fagot ikke er det optimale instrument til jazz musik men her tager de i den grad fejl - fagotten passer rigtig godt ind i den frie improvisatoriske del af jazzmusikken og samspillet mellem de to musikere når uanede højder. Musikken på denne cd er åben, kraftfuld og de 2 x Michael præsenterer en varieret og æstetisk musikoplevelse hvor der gives plads til de forskellige finurligheder og skævheder, de hver især lægger for dagen på deres respektive instrumenter. Denne cd er nok ikke den Stevens plade jeg vil anbefale til nybegynderen til hans musik, men når man først er blevet indfanget skal den helt sikkert hjem til samlingen. Her er en cd du kan sætte på anlægget hvis du er i humør til noget smukt og skrøbeligt.
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