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Episode 6 Timo Vollbrecht: Gives and Takes

Strictly Jazz Sounds

Release Date: 04/07/2023

Episode 27-Erena Terakubo: The Little Woman with a Big Sound show art Episode 27-Erena Terakubo: The Little Woman with a Big Sound

Strictly Jazz Sounds

Alto saxophonist Erena Terakubo, from Sapporo, Japan, began her recording career early, releasing her first album when she was only 15 years old. Inspired by a saxophone-playing M&M doll, Erena developed an interest in music that led her to become a notable figure in contemporary jazz. Her journey inclu0des playing in big bands in Sapporo and preferring jazz over classical music. In this episode, Erena Terakubo exuberantly shares her early influences, including J Fusion and musicians like Charlie Parker and David Sanborn. She shares insights into her life in the United States, cultural...

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Episode 26-Chien Chien Lu and Richie Goods: A Real Team show art Episode 26-Chien Chien Lu and Richie Goods: A Real Team

Strictly Jazz Sounds

Taiwanese vibraphonist and percussionist Chien Chien Lu, along with Pittsburg, Pennsylvania native bassist Richie Goods, have crafted a sound that is both captivating and rhythmic. Their music draws from a rich tapestry of cultural influences including Taiwanese, American, and African-American traditions, especially within the jazz sub-culture. Chien Chien Lu and Richie Goods are dedicated to expanding their musical repertoire, creating a unique connection that resonates deeply with listeners. In the fall of 2024, Chien Chien Lu and Richie Goods visited Columbus, Ohio, where they met with...

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Episode 25-Clarence Penn: Jazz Makes Me a Better Person show art Episode 25-Clarence Penn: Jazz Makes Me a Better Person

Strictly Jazz Sounds

There's a not so polite saying about teaching music and music teachers that goes like this: If you can, play. If you can't, teach. That is what jazz legend Ellis Marsalis once said to a Detroit drummer who was considering becoming a music teacher. I'm talking about drummer, educator, producer and band leader Clarence Penn. Fortunately, Clarence did not take it to heart, eventually acquiring a master’s in music education from Rutgers University. It was also to the benefit of future musicians who became Clarence’s students.  In this episode, Clarence Penn and I engage in deep reflection...

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Episode 24-Walter Smith III: Jazz Educator and Saxophone Virtuoso show art Episode 24-Walter Smith III: Jazz Educator and Saxophone Virtuoso

Strictly Jazz Sounds

World-renowned saxophonist and Blue Note recording artist Walter Smith III is the model music educator and practitioner. This enormously talented saxophonist pursued music education as a profession as far back as high school. In this episode, Walter’s storied career follows the path beginning with performing at McDonald’s at age 7, to an exciting area of study at one of today’s premier high schools, Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in Houston, Texas to leadership roles at Berklee College of Music, reflecting on experiences at the Thelonious Monk Institute...

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Episode 23-Kris Davis: Creative Processes and Mentorship in Jazz show art Episode 23-Kris Davis: Creative Processes and Mentorship in Jazz

Strictly Jazz Sounds

In this episode, I spend time with Grammy Award-winning pianist and Berklee College of Music professor of Jazz Kris Davis on 'Strictly Jazz Sounds.' We do a deep dive into her latest project, Run the Gauntlet, dedicated to six influential women jazz pianists, which drops on September 27, 2024. A common thread is woven throughout the hour, mentoring. As a recipient of it herself, Kris Davis discusses the importance of fostering the next generation of jazz musicians. She also provides a detail description of her fascinating composition process. Kris Davis and I spend time discussing her label,...

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Episode 22-Yuhan Su: The Imagination is in the Music show art Episode 22-Yuhan Su: The Imagination is in the Music

Strictly Jazz Sounds

Award winning vibraphonist Yuhan Su is another Gary Burton/Chick Corea-inspired musician, lured away from classical to the art form where improvisation reigns, jazz. This Taiwanese-born, New York based artist, left her homeland pursuing a jazz education at Berklee College of music, a frequently told story. Yuhan Su draws on her strengths to survive the intense transitions as a single woman migrating to the US to learn a completely different style of music, knowing no one, new to the language and cultures. And she plays the vibraphone, not an easy instrument to lug around given she’s...

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Episode 21-Wayne Escoffery: Fostering Pride in Black American Music-Jazz show art Episode 21-Wayne Escoffery: Fostering Pride in Black American Music-Jazz

Strictly Jazz Sounds

Grammy-Award winning saxophonist Wayne Escoffery is my guest on the 21st episode of Strictly Jazz Sounds. What attracted me to Wayne was his prolific traveling, extensive performances and recordings with his own band (11 recordings), the Mingus Big Band (3 recordings, one a Grammy Award winner), the Black Art Jazz Collective (4 recordings), and as sideman with trumpeter Tom Harrell (7 recordings, co-producing 4) plus works with other notable jazz musicians. He is now a Harlem resident in the neighborhood where Sonny Rollins grew up, Sugar Hill, but he was born and spent his childhood years in...

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Episode 20-Roni Eytan: Jazz Harmonica Colossus show art Episode 20-Roni Eytan: Jazz Harmonica Colossus

Strictly Jazz Sounds

 Roni Eytan, a renowned Israeli-born, New York based jazz harmonica player, performs with a passion that differs from other harmonica artists. Perhaps it’s the region from which he derives-the Middle East and North Africa. His culture greatly influences his compositions and inspires his passions. Roni’s work is influenced by harmonica legend Toots Thielemans but only partially. The folk cultures that make up the regions and his spiritual influences mostly inspire his writing.  Roni Eytan stopped by my studio to talk about his harmonica work and how he got interested in this...

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Episode 19-Alexandra Ridout: Her Journey Into Jazz show art Episode 19-Alexandra Ridout: Her Journey Into Jazz

Strictly Jazz Sounds

Alexandra (Alex) Ridout is a young jazz trumpeter from the UK, now residing in New York City. In this episode of Strictly Jazz Sounds, she lays out her journey as a musician, comparing the experiences and educational backgrounds between the UK and the US. Ridout recalls her time at the Royal Academy of Music in London and Manhattan School of Music, emphasizing her family's influence, especially her jazz musician parents. Highlighting her musical achievements, the conversation includes her participation and victory in the BBC Youth Competition, winning at 17 years old. She talks about her...

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Episode 18-Jocelyn Gould: Striking a Chord show art Episode 18-Jocelyn Gould: Striking a Chord

Strictly Jazz Sounds

In this episode of Strictly Jazz Sounds, I have a conversation with Jocelyn Gould, a professional jazz guitarist who fills all the shoes it requires to drive a successful career. Jocelyn shares her journey from pretending to play a cardboard guitar at the age of four to winning a Juno Award for her first album, Elegant Traveler. She later discusses the challenges and triumphs of her career, including her education in the U.S. at Michigan State University, her experiences in New York's rough and tumble jazz scene, and her recent endeavors, including her podcast and latest album releases....

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German-born saxophonist and jazz educator Timo Vollbrecht is a mild-spoken man which slightly disarms you. You would not know by first sight that he is a practitioner and scholar of electronic-infused improvised jazz. He has long been a fan of transforming acoustic sounds with synthesizers, including using the saxophone as a tool.

Timo is also a scholar of the “nth” degree and a saxophonist who adores the multitude of sounds he can create with electronic tools. Meet Professor Vollbrecht, Director of Jazz Studies at Brown University. Yes, that Brown University. He was, in his previous academic pursuit, an adjunct professor at NYU.

His passion is 21st-century experimental electric-infused music, merging the sonic colors and texture of electronic sounds with acoustic intricate song forms. Timo became interested in improvised music at an early age. He fell in love with the saxophone first and later pursued creating the coolest and most captivating sound collages to his music.

What’s even more important to Timo, though, is community; he keeps it in the broader sense as well as in the studio and on the bandstand. He remarks that he is likely to be seen with his friends in the local pub in his Brooklyn neighborhood.

Timo, who has a PhD from NYU Steinhardt, was asked if the old school of learning jazz by ear had fallen off to the wayside. His response reveals the marriage he has as an improvisor and a professor of jazz studies. Students need to step out from behind the classroom walls and hang out at the jazz clubs.

Another amazing thing about Timo is the dissertation he wrote about one of the more mysterious characters in the jazz diaspora, ECM owner/producer Manfred Eicher. The dissertation “Manfred Eicher, ECM Records: An Analysis of the Producer as Auteur,” portrays the producer as an improvisor whose ‘instrument’ is the studio. A cool thing about this is that he was able to observe Eicher producing albums with Joe Lovano, Ralph Alessi, Ravi Coltrane, among others.

 

Timo has three albums on the Berthold label. They are Givers and Takers (2022), Fly Magic (2016), and Faces in Places (2018), all released to international critical acclaim. Timo’s bold sound is inspired by saxophonist Sonny Rollins while his electric sound concept, combining acoustic with noise was embodied in Jim Black’s band AlasNoAxis. “He’s an inspiration to his band members, encouraging them to make the sound interesting, to do it in a different way so that the elements shine balancing the music with other components,” says his remarkably talented guitarist Keisuke Matsuno.

We had so much to talk about. I was hoping Timo could provide a live display of him playing his saxophone while creating the electronic sounds he is known to do but couldn’t figure out how to make it happen via the internet connection. He did, though, pass on an extended piece he recorded so listeners could hear his extraordinary work.

Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please leave a review on Apple or my website and subscribe so you can be informed when new episodes and/or jazz news are published. And tell your friends, family and colleagues to go to: https://strictlyjazzsounds.com. Finally, go out and support live jazz.