IT’S NOT COMMON THESE DAYS THAT A JAZZ GROUP GETS POPULAR, BUT THE MIDWEST TRIO THE BAD PLUS, WHICH HAD ETHAN IVERSON AT THE PIANO FOR MANY YEARS, HAD THAT PRIVILEDGE.
EVEN MORE UNCOMMON WAS THAT THE PIANO TRIO HAD ITS OWN UNIQUE SOUND, ALMOST SOUNDING LIKE A ROCK GROUP IN BOTH MUSICAL ATTITUDE AND DELIVERY, EVEN EVOKING A SENSE OF HUMOR. THIER SOUND AND STYLE IS ARGUABLY THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FOR NOT ONLY PIANO TRIOS, BUT SMALL GROUPS IN GENERAL.
AFTER RIDING THE TEAM’S POPULAR WAVE, PIANIST ETHAN IVERSON DECIDED TO DEPART FROM THE TRIO (UNDER GOOD TERMS) AND VENTURE OUT ON HIS OWN. DURING HIS STINTS IN LOS ANGELES (WHERE I HAVE SEEN HIM) HIS STYLE WAS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAT IT WAS WITH HIS MORE FAMED TRIO, AS HE SWUNG AND BOPPED ALONG WITH DRUMMERS BILLY HART AND ALBERT ‘TOOTIE’ HEATH.
GOING DEEPER INTO THE ROOTS OF JAZZ, IVERSON HAS RECENTLY RELEASED AN ALBUM DEDICATED TO THE MUSIC OF BUD POWELL. TEAMED WITH THE UMBRIA JAZZ ORCHESTRA, IVERSON’S BUD POWELL IN THE 21ST CENTURY IS A CELEBRATION IS A JOYFUL TRIBUTE TO AN UNDESERVEDLY FORGOTTEN FOUNDATION OF MODERN JAZZ.
MR. IVERSON WAS NOT ONLY GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO ANSWER MY EMAIL QUESTIONS, BUT HE RETURNED MY EMAIL QUICKER THAN ANYONE I’VE CORRESPONDED WITH BEFORE. NOW, THAT’S MIDWESTERN VALUES!!
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF DURING THE COVID LOCKDOWN?
- It’s the same thing we all learned, that we took too many things for granted.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPOSURE TO BUD POWELL’S MUSIC?
- Powell was just a name to me for a while. I had the Mosaic set of Blue Notes as a teenager, but the sounds were very complex and un-theatrical. Like many burgeoning jazzers, I understood Thelonious Monk or Keith Jarrett more quickly than Bud Powell. In college my friend Eddie Hobizal hipped me to the Verve CD Jazz Giant. Eddie had learned the “Cherokee” solo, he sang it along with the record, that was impressive. Somewhere in those early years, Bruce Barth told me he could play that “Cherokee” solo not just in B-flat but in A and B as well. H’mm. Then I got the 2-LP live set of Bud with Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, Curly Russell, and Art Blakey, One Night at Birdland, and finally understood how intense and powerful this music was.
WHY DO YOU THINK BEBOP IN GENERAL, AND BUD POWELL IN PARTICULAR IS BEING OVERLOOKED THESE DAYS?
- I’m not sure if I agree that Bud is more overlooked than he used to be, because the internet (despite all of its problems) has allowed truly great music from all decades to resurface: new fans now have access to these wonderful older sounds. However, “straight ahead jazz” or “bebop” is certainly not at its peak, partly because the cultural context of the creators no longer exists.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO DO AN ALBUM OF BUD POWELL’S MUSIC?
- Quite simply it was Umbria Jazz’s idea. The American representative Enzo Capua read my writing about Bud and perhaps also saw me play in a Powell tribute project with Tim Hagans, Greg Osby, Lonnie Plaxico, and Joey Baron. Carlo Pagnotta, the head of Umbria, loves Bud Powell (Carlo even saw Bud play live) and agreed with Enzo they should give me a chance.
SPEAKING OF PIANISTS, YOU’VE LEARNED FROM SOME OF THE BEST. WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR TIME WITH FRED HERSCH?
- I had plenty of creative ideas, but my basic skill set was minimal. Fred was the first person who really showed me something about touching the piano.
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- “Fred (Hersch) was the first person who really showed me something about touching the piano”
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YOU’VE ALSO BEEN TAKING LESSONS FROM THE MORE CLASSICAL MINDED JOHN BLOOMFIELD. WHAT ARE YOU GLEANING FROM THIS EXPERIENCE?
- Like many jazz pianists, I spend time practicing Bach and Chopin; indeed, I have gigged as a “professional classical pianist” with some pretty heavy hitters. As you get older, your natural facility gives away to the long grind. John — certainly one of the best teachers I’ve ever known — offers solutions to playing with ease.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN, YOU ALSO TEACH AT THE NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY. WHAT IS THE MAIN THING YOU EMPHASIZE TO YOUR STUDENTS?
- Jazz is the American meeting point between European classical music and African classical music. The European side is easier to talk about than the African side; usually we need to dig in harder to the African side.
WHAT IS THE BEST MUSICAL OR CAREER ADVICE SOMEONE HAS GIVEN YOU?
- Mark Turner told me, “It takes us longer to become great because there is so much more to learn.”
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“Mark Turner told me, “It takes us longer to become great because there is so much more to learn.”
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ALONG WITH YOUR TIME WITH THE BAD PLUS, YOU HAVE PLAYED WITH SOME OF THE BEST DRUMMERS AROUND, SUCH AS KING, HEATH, HART AND ROSSY. IS THERE A DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU PLAY WITH “OLD TIMERS” LIKE HEATH AND ROSS THE GREW UP BEFORE ROCK AND ROLL, WHILE ROSSY AND KING ARE CLOSER TO YOUR GENERATION?
- Certainly Billy Hart and Tootie Heath have a different kind of authenticity to their swing groove than a drummer born in the ‘70s or later. Perhaps some of it can be explained in technical or academic terms, but another part of it is simply “you had to be there.”
DO THESE DIFFERENT DRUMMERS CAUSE YOU TO PLAY DIFFERENTLY YOURSELF?
- I think the genre of any given piece is what really determines my response. So, with Tootie, I play Tadd Dameron: that’s a genre that requires certain elements. With Billy Hart, we can play open, multi-directional structures: That’s totally different! However, the reason to do any of it is to play the genres in your own way, to bring something personal to the table.
AS A VETERAN PIANIST, DO YOU HAVE A PET PEEVE ABOUT PIANISTS OR DRUMMERS?
- About pianists? Not really. But I everyone I really love the most is connected to the very old and the very new at the same time.
WHEN YOU WATCH A PIANIST IN CONCERT, WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING FOR?
- What do you listen for when you watch a piano player perform? Probably I am simply looking for a unified aesthetic, something that makes sense. Anything can work if it is from the heart and has some kind of internal rhyme.
WHAT ARTISTS, LIVING OR DEAD, WOULD YOU PAY $1000 TO SEE PERFORM?
- Well, take my money! If I could bring back Coltrane with McCoy, Garrison, and Elvin for a set…
WHAT 5 BOOKS DO YOU RECOMMEND EVERYONE TO READ?
- I’d like to reframe this question and just ask everyone to really get into whatever they are in to! If it’s 5 books about Marvel superheroes or five books by Virginia Woolf, keep going! Immersion gives context.
IS THERE ANY MAJOR PHILOSOPHY OR RELIGIOUS BOOK THAT HAS GUIDED OR INSPIRED YOUR LIFE?
- Billy Hart told me, “In order to swing, you’ve got to believe in God.”
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“Billy Hart told me, ‘In order to swing, you’ve got to believe in God.’”
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WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST JOY IN YOUR LIFE?
- What gives you the most joy in life? When you are working well, that is the best.
WHO, LIVING OR DEAD, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SIT DOWN FOR AN EVENING AND PICK HIS/HER BRAIN?
- It’s easy to select a dead person, there are so many. I have never sat down with Thomas Adés, one of the greatest living composers, but we have met briefly once or twice and maybe that could happen one day. Of course, whether Adés would give up any secrets to me is an open question!
WHAT FUTURE GOALS DO YOU HAVE?
- I am composing many formal scores without much improvisation. None of that music is visible yet but I feel like these sounds will find an audience once they start getting into the world.
YOU HAVE THE BALANCE OF SOMEONE WHO COMES FROM THE MIDWEST. WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT THE MIDEWEST, AND WHAT DO YOU MOST LOOK FORWARD TO WHEN YOU RETURN?
- I love Wisconsin and Minnesota in the summer: a beautiful summer day on a nature trail is truly paradise: it also scratches that sweet itch of nostalgia.
- WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY AT YOUR MEMORIAL SERVICE?
- That he was a nice guy who loved what he got to do.
WHEN MY DAUGHTER WAS LOOKING FOR COLLEGES TO ATTEND, SHE CHOSE ONE IN MINNESOTA BECAUSE SHE WANTED “THE MOST UN-CALIFORNIA PLACE IN AMERICA”. SHE FOUND HER PARADISE WITH IT’S VALUES AND SETTLED DOWN THERE WITH A HUSBAND AND FAMILY.
IF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN TO THE MIDWEST, WITH ITS RESPECT FOR TRADITION, LOYALTY AND HARD WORK, HANGING AROUND THE LIKES OF ETHAN IVERSON IS THE NEXT BEST THING. HIS MUSIC IS LIKE THE WARMTH OF A SUMMER ALONG THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR OR IN DOOR COUNTY. HIS LATEST ALBUM TAKES YOU TO THE ROOTS OF MODERN JAZZ, AND HIS CAREER TAKES YOU TO THE ROOTS OF AMERICA’S HEART.