SOME ARTISTS, LIKE STAN GETZ OR BILL EVANS, DEFINE THEMSELVES BY THEIR OWN PERSONAL SOUNDS. OTHERS, SUCH AS DUKE ELLINGTON, PREFER TO BE IDENTIFIED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE BANDS THAT THEY LEAD.
KEYBOARDIST KAIT DUNTON’S MUSICAL GOAL IS NOT TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT PER SE, BUT TO CREATE A COHESIVE TEAM THAT HAS IT’S ONE MUSICAL FINGERPRINT. WITH BASSIST COOPER APPELT AND DRUMMER JAKE REED, SHE HAS FORMED THE TRIOKAIT AS A WAY TO MIX THE CONCEPT OF A COHESIVE BAND WITH ENOUGH ROOM FOR SOLOING. THE DIFFERENCE WITH HER TEAM IS THAT THE ARTISTS ARE NOT GIVEN ROOM FOR MINDLESS EXCURSIONS, BUT THEY ARE GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO ROAM WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE BAND’S SUPPORT.
WE RECENTLY SAW THE TRIOKAIT IN CONCERT AND WERE IMPRESSED WITH THE WAY THE THREE MELDED THEMES AND SOLO TRAILS LIKE COLORS IN A RICH MOSAIC.
KAIT GAVE US SOME TIME TO TELL US ABOUT HERSELF, HER MUSIC AND HER MOTIVATIONS
WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN JAZZ AND JAZZ PIANO?
I studied classical growing up, and I was really good at sight reading for some reason. I really liked jazz when I first heard it, but I didn’t understand the theory or the fact that they were improvising.
In the classical world, everything is about reading and memorizing. I had all of this amazing sheet music of big band music for piano. I would play all of these songs and get them into my head. I’d then read things like transcriptions, and even got a Bill Evans book of his solos, but I didn’t know that they were improvised! I didn’t understand that.
I was always interested in it, but I didn’t understand the heart of it I was in college and I finally learned that..I had to improvise! (laughs)
That’s what changed it for me. It was so free, and I could play whatever I wanted instead of memorizing these long classical pieces.
So I just showed up at the college jazz band audition and I prepared a medley of songs that I had kind of memorized. They liked it, but when they plopped a lead sheet in front of my I asked “What is that?!?” (laughs) I had never seen anything like it. So they told me to go take lessons and come back later.
That’s where I was. I was 18 and still didn’t know about improvisation.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN AT SCHOOL?
I got my doctorate at USC and before that was a Master’s at North Texas and Virginia before that.
At USC Alan Pasqua definitely changed my approach to harmony in the way that you can just delay the resolution of chords. That has been a really huge thing for me.
In a more fundamental way, there was a trumpet player named John D’earth. We’re actually putting out an album next year.
We have a crazy connection. Just the way that he taught music to me was not in the traditional academic mode. It wasn’t like “Here’s a major third, and here’s the AABA form.” He taught me the connection between being a human being and music, and how it connects.
It’s a deeper level of understanding music, and he would never tell me what to do. He would just say, “Go write a song.” So, I wrote something that was in G flat with a weird number of bars. Instead of saying, “Well, let’s do a blues” he’d say “Hey, that’s great.” He brought a very open and organic approach to music at the beginning of my education, so I think I was able to go into a more creative direction with music .
SO YOU DIDN’T EVOLVE INTO MORE CREATIVE AND INTUITIVE MUSIC; YOU STARTED AT THAT POINT
Yes, my last part of education, the doctorate at USC was much more constrained in terms of “let’s get down to specific stuff.”
HOW DID YOU MEET UP WITH PETER ERSKINE, JOHN DAVERSA AND BOB MINTZER?
They were all conveniently faculty at USC when I was there. They were and remain very important mentors to me. Minzter and B’Earth were friends since being teenagers.
WHAT WAS YOUR ALLURE TO THE TRIO FORMAT?
There is something special about the three. I guess you’re the most free when you’re alone, but it’s also kind of lonely! (laughs) In a duo you’re also pretty free, but there’s something about the energy of three people that makes it really interesting, especially with the drummer because I’m married to the drummer (Jake Reed) .
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED?
Officially since 2016, but it seems longer (laughs). So, there’s obviously an extreme connection between us, and then Cooper (Appelt) brings a whole different energy into the mix. I really like trying to make the trio as a single unit. I try to write for the trio; I don’t like to think of myself as “oh I’m a solo artist and the guys are supporting me.” I try to write so that the trio itself has its own sound.
I feel that The Bad Plus had a very important trio sound. I’m trying to achieve that.
ANY OTHER TRIOS INSPIRE YOU
I think that the first major eye-opening trio was E.S.T., the Esbjorn Svensson Trio, just because they were using sounds…I was really into electronic, or house music; the type that makes subtle changes over time. E.S.T. was one of the first acoustic groups that was using these sounds; their compositions were fairly static but it slowly evolved over time. There wasn’t a real melody/improv/melody. They used a lot of repetitive rhythmic stuff which I’ve used in my music. They were like “Whoa!”
I was also influenced Hiromi and her trio, another organic trio.
YOUR FIRST ALBUMS HAD YOU LAYING STANDARDS AND SOME MOTOWN. DID YOUR CONCEPT LATER EVOLVE?
Our first album as a trio was all original music. Real and Imagined was my first as a leader, but that was with guys I played with at Texas. I hadn’t yet come up with the idea of TrioKait as a band yet. Our first TrioKait was in 2015, making it a whole unit. I wanted it to be called “TrioKait” so I could say, “Hey, this is a thing now!”
Our next album was “TrioKait Casual” which had us playing covers. The new one is “TrioKait2” to get the branding in everyone’s mind.
PARTICULARLY WITH ELECTRONICS IN A TRIO FORMAT, HOW DO YOU GET TO THE POINT WHERE YOU CAN SAY “THAT’S OUR SOUND”?
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“Find your own sound is really a long journey”
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Finding your own sound is really a long journey. There’s a quote about trying to become most like yourself and not like anyone else.
It’s not so much the instrument as the voicings I use, or the way I attack or don’t attack at times. It’s interesting with this new record because I used synthesizers and stuff, which I’ve never done before, but people have said “Oh, it sounds really mature.” I didn’t know what I was doing, but because of that, I came from a very exploratory place…sort of like baking with new ingredients.
HOW MUCH WOULD THE SOUND CHANGE IF SOMEONE GOT REPLACED?
Everyone brings their own sound, but the thing is that, like with the electric bass, a couple times we had someone different because Cooper was out of town. The main idea was still there, but it was a different sounding band.
IS THERE AN ADVANTAGE OR DISADVANTAGE TO USING YOUR OWN SOUND WHEN DOING COVERS OF OTHER SONGS?
Great question. I love to arrange music so that it’s a song people know and will enjoy hearing it. They’ll recognize it, but it will have my thing on it. It’s a real nice compromise.
It’s a much more challenging road to try and offer your own original music all of the time. Sometimes I feel like offering a couple of covers during the performance as a relief for the audience. “Hey, I love that song!” kind of thing. It’s important to provide that.
We saw Tower of Power recently and they’re still doing it. People still want to hear the hits from 30 years ago. They played some new songs and the people listened, but they weren’t on their feet like for the others.
YOUR TRIO IS A DIFFERENT PARADIGM THAN “CLASSIC” TRIOS SUCH AS WITH BILL EVANS, ERROL GARNER OR OSCAR PETERSON AS WHILE EACH PIANIST HAD CERTAIN SPECIAL TRIOS, YOU ARE WORKING TO CREATE AN ORGANIC WHOLE, AS OPPOSED TO THE IDEA OF HAVING A PIANIST BEING “SUPPORTED” BY THE OTHER TWO PLAYERS.
The thing is that, in the big picture I would love1601 people to see my name and think that a certain thing is going to occur. But, concurrently, I would like TrioKait to have its own sound, to where you hear just a little bit and you go, “Oh, that’s TrioKait.”
HOW FAR ARE YOU ON THE PATH OF ACHIEVING YOUR OWN SOUND?
We’re not at the beginning; we’re about halfway there. We haven’t reached the end, but we’re well past the beginning.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH SNARKY PUPPY?
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“The thing I learned…is how persistance and hard work truly pays off”
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It was great! I went on their very first tour, pulling a trailer and sleeping on the floor. I remember that first rehearsal; Mike (League) asked me to join the band and it was crazy! They were playing this Indian music in 13 and I thought “This is a different kind of band!” It was a blast.
The thing I learned from that band that I think about every single day is how persistence and hard work truly pays off, particularly with a charismatic leader like Mike.
Now that I’m a bandleader, I think about Mike every day because I’m like “How can I possibly work as hard as he did?” and I’m afraid that I don’t. His energy and direction were inspiring.
I ALWAYS WONDER WHAT WOMEN THINK OF AWARDS AND TITLES LIKE “TEN FUTURE FEMALE JAZZ STARS”
The whole thing is hilarious. It’s a two-sided thing. One the one hand I’m happy to have the publicity, and a lot of people have referred to that article as a line that’s been drawn. But the fact is, aren’t we all just musicians? Why is being a female a separate thing?
Things in the industry are obviously changing at a rapid pace, but it does take time. Lincoln Center still doesn’t have any women in the band. It’s still dominated by males, and that’s the norm, so there needs to be this qualifier. It’s kind of odd.
I try to stay away from the political stuff. I try to lead by action, “Hey, I’m a band leader.” But I won’t get political on the bandstand or seek out partnerships with feminist magazines.
I want it to be about the music, and if it’s interesting that a woman’s doing it, then great!
IS THERE ANY BOOK, PHILOSOPHY OR TEACHER THAT HAS INSPIRED YOU TO DO WHAT YOU DO?
That’s a tough question; why does anyone pursue art? You kind of feel like you have to do it. You’ve got something to say.
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“Why does anyone pursue art? You kind of feel you have to do it. You’ve got something to say”
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None of my parents were musicians, and I didn’t have a religious upbringing. I was surprised they let me pursue the music, but they never pushed me. They let me pursue it on my own, which is pretty unusual nowadays.
WHAT’S THE ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE OF HAVING A HUSBAND IN THE BAND?
It’s awesome (laughs)! We get to share a hotel room, so the band saves money!
I actually think about that a lot, because this is a really hard life to choose, and there are definitely times where I feel like I just can’t do this anymore. It’s then where Jake encourages me and says, “You have to keep doing this; you have to keep going. You can’t back out.”
If he weren’t in music and was a lawyer or something I would have given up a long time ago, because I wouldn’t be facing this person every day that would be extremely disappointed in me if I stopped. Of course I’d be disappointed in myself. But to be face to face with someone, you must keep going.
WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE GOALS
Definitely to make a career out of this. I have teaching and other things to support it, but I want to make music full time. What I’d really love is just to have a sound that people know where people go Kait Dunton’s got this thing.”
I feel that jazz is having a nice moment where we’re coming back, and I feel that our trio does offer something for the jazz purist, but for someone that doesn’t know anything about jazz, so they can also enjoy it. I’m presenting this music for a larger audience. We’ll be at Vibrato the day before Thanksgiving.
AS SOLOMON ONCE WROTE, “A CHORD OF THREE STRANDS IS NOT EASILY BROKEN.” KAIT DUNTON AND HER TRIOKAIT PUT THAT WISDOM TO MUSICAL PRACTICALITY, AND THE SUPPORT, TRUST AND ENCOURAGEMENT THAT EACH MEMBER GIVES THE OTHER IS AN INSPIRATION FOR ALL RELATIONS, MUSICAL OR NOT.