A FIRESIDE CHAT WITH JEFF GAUTHIER


FRED JUNG: Let's start from the beginning.

JEFF GAUTHIER: I started out playing classical music on the violin. I have an aunt who was my first violin teacher. I started when I was about eight years old. So I started playing classical music. I was fortunate that at the time, there was a music program in the L.A. schools. I was able to continue studying through the schools and then when I reached high school, I started playing electric guitar and playing rock and jazz and it dawned on me that I could do all the same stuff on the violin and it would be easier because I already played the violin. It was somewhat of a novelty in those days. Jean-Luc Ponty had recorded his first album called Sunday Walk and I had been listening to a lot of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans. Then I went to Cal Arts and studied mostly classical music. There was no jazz program at Cal Arts. When I got out of college, I fell into the wrong crowd and started playing with Nels Cline and Alex Cline and Eric Von Essen. That group played together for about twelve years.


FJ: The instrumentation - violin, bass, guitar, and drums - was not so cache then.

JEFF GAUTHIER: We weren't trying to go for a particular sound or category. We were influenced by a lot of music that was happening during the day. We always listened to a lot of John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra. We listened to Ralph Towner and Oregon. We listened to Keith Jarrett and of course, Miles Davis and Bill Evans. Because I came from a classical background and Eric Von Essen had also studied classical composition at UCLA, various classical influences crept in from time to time. It was something that happened organically.


FJ: How did you guys meet?

JEFF GAUTHIER: The way the group formed was Eric and Nels had been playing together as a duo for about a year and had really developed a really intense connection and their own musical language. I met Eric playing in an orchestra and we hit it off and realized that we had some things in common musically and that we were both interested in improvisation. He was far more advanced than I was at that point. I worked together with Nels and Eric as a trio for quite a while before we added Nels' brother, Alex. Nels and Alex have their own special connection as twins, so I just felt like I was swept up in this musical whirlwind with the genius of Eric and the connection with the Cline brothers. I felt very fortunate to be in the middle of all of that.


FJ: The origins of Cryptogramophone.

JEFF GAUTHIER: The week after Eric had passed away, Alex and I were talking and without really saying what we wanted to do or how we were going to do it, we decided that we wanted to find a way to document some of Eric's music because he had died before a lot of it had been recorded. When he died, they found about 120 compositions in a book and ninety percent of it hadn't been recorded. That was one thing that was occurring. The other thing was that I was involved in several projects that needed to be documented - Alex Cline's ensemble, Jeanette Wrate's ensemble, and my own groups. It was a combination of really wanting to Eric's music out there into the world in a way that would do justice to the music.


FJ: There are existing record labels. It is quite a stretch to begin your own.

JEFF GAUTHIER: I don't think we could have gotten our stuff out on a label. At the time, there wasn't this explosion of indie jazz labels. The technology for recording at home was still new and we weren't really burning CDs in our home yet. It was a stretch, but it felt like a necessary one.


FJ: What are the challenges facing Crypto?

JEFF GAUTHIER: Right now, the distribution channels are incredibly difficult and have been for a while in the music business. It is something that I knew I had, sadly, a bit of an aptitude for, which was to organize things and start a small business. It was a decision that changed my life.


FJ: Crypto, aesthetically, is original, avoiding the use of plastic jewel cases. But is there a Crypto sound?

JEFF GAUTHIER: I am sure there is a sound. Everything is filtered in through a couple pairs of ears and mostly they are mine. I have really been trying to document a community of musicians. That is the most important part of what the sound is. My job as producer is to really let the artist's music come through with the most integrity as possible. If there is a sound, it is more related to the community of musicians.


FJ: And now audiences have an opportunity to hear those musicians live with CryptoNight.

JEFF GAUTHIER: I used to produce a concert series called the "Inner Ear" series in Culver City. That went on for a year before the plug was pulled by the people who owned the building. I had just been on the look out for another stage. I have a studio in Culver City where I work. I would go out for walks and everyday, I would walk by this Salvadorian restaurant. It was a charming place and there was a stage and I asked the owner what went on there and he said that they had salsa music on the weekends. It seemed to be a hit right off the bat.


FJ: Are you getting acquainted with Salvadorian cuisine?

JEFF GAUTHIER: I've eaten almost everything on the menu and I can say that the food is very good.


FJ: What have been the constants in this musical community?

JEFF GAUTHIER: Well, Vinny Golia. Vinny is an amazing musician, entrepreneur, and teacher. He teaches up at Cal Arts and he started 9Winds. All the quartet's albums and CDs were on 9Winds. My first two CDs were on 9Winds. I can say comfortably that without 9Winds, there would be no Cryptogramophone. The scene here would be quite different. That has been one of the constants. Bobby Bradford has been another constant, a great musician, teacher, and inspiration. There are amazing musicians in this town: Peter Erskine, Alan Broadbent, Alan Pasqua, Bennie Maupin, and musicians who aren't with us any longer like John Carter and Horace Tapscott. This is really a very rich community. Everything changes, but the music is somehow constant. The thread goes on. I see a thread from John and Bobby through Vinny and Nels and Alex and on through some of the young kids that are coming through Cal Arts.


FJ: And the future?

JEFF GAUTHIER: We're bringing in more artists from New York and Europe. Biggi Vinkeloe is coming. She is a Swedish woodwind player. She will be playing with some musicians from the Bay Area. Mark Dresser will be coming in March, a guitarist from Belgium, Gilbert Isbin. He plays prepared acoustic guitar. We have a new Nels Cline Singers CD that will be out in the spring. I am putting out an album by Darek Oles. That is a really interesting album featuring Brad Mehldau playing duo with Darek and also some cuts with the L.A. Jazz Quartet on it and a cut that features Bennie Maupin. We have a CD by Mark Dresser and Denman Maroney. There is another record with Alex Cline, G.E. Stinson, Miya Masaoka on koto, and Karu.


Fred Jung is the Editor-In-Chief and is Wang Chunging tonight. Comments? Email Him