Jon Faddis Interview Page 4

JF:  And Clark Terry was the same way.  “Clark, I would like you to do a tune with me on my new record.”  “Really?  Yeah, I’d be honored.”  You know, he was like thrilled to be able to do that.

Smitty:  Isn’t that something?  He looks like such a classy guy.  Looks like you could just have a great time with him.  I’ve never met him, but he looks like just a fun person.

JF:  Yeah, he is, and you can hear it in his music.

Smitty:  Talk a little bit about your regular quartet, with David Hazeltine, Kiyoshi Kitagawa, and Dion Parson.  Talk about this band and what they mean to you and this music that you’ve composed.

JF:  Well, Dion Parson, the drummer, has been with me the longest; he’s been with me since about 1992, something like that. And David has been with me a long time, too.  It’s funny because I met them all through word of mouth.  You know, somebody would say “You should try this guy out, check out his sounds.”  David played with me on the CD that I did, the 1998 release Remembrances; he was recommended to me by Slide Hampton. Slide Hampton played a gig with him and said to me,  “Man, you ought to hear this piano player.”  In my piano chair before was Renee Rosnes, who was at that time a young Canadian pianist; she’s a great pianist who has a great set of ears.  As her career has advanced and developed, she’s been doing more things (including playing with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, now the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York) and leading her own group, which is great.  But it was more challenging to schedule her for a lot of my gigs, so David came in, and he and I have been working together since I think the mid to late 90s. And Kiyoshi Kitagawa also came in through a recommendation.  I think this is one of my finest rhythm sections, and I’ve been lucky enough to have some of the best.  This one really works together very well.

Smitty:  That’s excellent. I must say that I got just a sterling review from my two friends  and colleagues, Donna Vaupel and Joe Kurasz, who were present for your performance at The Jazz Standard club in August in New York.  They were just blown away by the rhythm section and Abdou and Alioune. Yes, they were so touched by the whole gig, how you cats just blew everybody away, and it was such a wonderful night that they had to e-mail me and tell me the whole story about how nice it was, and how you so beautifully explained the meanings of some of the songs.  They had you down word for word.

JF:  Oh my goodness.

Smitty:  So they just had the time of their life.  They said “You’ve gotta come to the Jazz Standard and hear him” because it was just a wonderful night and they just loved the whole gig that you all performed there.  So you truly have a great rhythm section.  And in particular, they were impressed with “Laurelyn,” the person and Laurelyn the song.  They said it was so melodic and beautiful.  Those were their exact descriptions of that song.

JF:  Well, I too am impressed with “Laurelyn,” but not so much the song, but the person.

Smitty:  There you go, yes, they spoke very highly of her. 

JF:  When I wrote the song, I was just trying to capture her the best I could, you know, at least a little bit of who she is.  Yet with art we can’t always capture the soul or the spirit totally; if we capture a little bit of that essence, though, that’s something.

Smitty:  Yes, indeed, absolutely.  Jon, I have thoroughly enjoyed this record.  I like the photo on the back of the liner notes on the tracks.

JF:  Oh, that was taken behind Bennett Studios… you know, Tony Bennett's son has a beautiful studio here in Englewood, New Jersey, which is about ten minutes from my home.  And we went outside to take pictures, with John Abbott of course.  One of the fun aspects of the studio is that there are these railroad tracks right behind the recording studio.  The recording studio itself was once the depot station for the railroad, with a restaurant and arrivals/departures area, and all that stuff.  The studio is great, natural lighting and wood throughout, spacious, and some very good jazz photographs on the wall, too.  During the end of one of the songs … and I don’t know if you can hear it unless you listen very closely … there’s a very, very low rumble from a train passing by that fit perfectly with the end of the tune.  The timing, I don’t know how it could’ve been better.

Smitty:  (Laughs.)

JF:  It went by right when we hit the final chord on “Transitions,” and sometimes, you have to go with things like that, because it just fit.  The engineer said “You wanna do another take?” and I said “No, no, no.  Leave it in.  We have to leave that in.”

Smitty:  I must listen closely again.

JF:  And it’s the very, very end.

Smitty:  I will do that.  Oh, that’s nice, that’s real nice.  Well, I can’t say enough about this entire project from the beginning to end.  It has such great melodies, just such a great vibe, and the whole reflective vibe of it is what I really appreciate because it really invokes the reflective way of thinking and the tunes are just fantastic.  And I must congratulate you once again for the work you’ve done with this project, and your fellow musicians as well.  My compliments.  I highly recommend this CD.  Everyone should hear this one.  Regardless of what music you prefer, I think this is true music and I think everyone should hear this record.

JF:  Well, thank you for those kind words.

Smitty:  Yes indeed, my friend, and I think “Teranga” itself just really sums it all up for this record.  What a great title.  You couldn’t have selected a better title for this record.

JF:  You know, a lot of people have been waiting for me to do a new recording.  I gave one to a friend who is a pretty well known trumpet player and he has a very, very nice BMW X5 and he was driving it and he put it in.  Called me up, saying, “Man, the sound, the sound!”

Smitty:  Yes indeed. The sound is just fantastic.  That’s why I love to take night drives with the music and it just brings out everything.  There’s something about that.

JF:  Yeah.  Quiet time, yeah.

Smitty:  Yes, I love that.  It’s just me, the road and the music.

JF:  Me and the road and the music, la-da-da-da-da-da-da.  (Both laughing.)

Smitty:  Oh my goodness.  Jon, my friend, thank you so much for this great music, for spending this time; I didn’t originally think we would have such an extensive interview, but when you get to talking about beautiful things and you’re talking with beautiful people, sometimes the minutes just take off on you.  But I can’t thank you enough for this great time to spend with you and for this music that I will have for a long, long, time.

JF:  Smitty, it is a pleasure and an honor, and I thank you for what you do for the music as well.

Smitty:  Yes indeed, and my sentiments exactly.  It’s a pleasure and an honor, and this is the spice of my life.  I really enjoy the music and I really enjoy talking with wonderful people like yourself and really getting a stronger feel for the music, so it’s my pleasure, my friend.  All right, we’ve been talking with Koch Recording artist, the amazing Mr. Jon Faddis.  He’s got a great new record out, it’s called Teranga, you must get into this record, it is a beautiful book of music, I highly recommend it.  Jon, thanks again, my friend, and best of everything in 2006 and beyond.

JF:  Thank you, Smitty.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For more information, please visit www.jonfaddis.com or www.terangajazz.com and www.kochrecords.com.