Musicians Speak with Joseph Celli

Phill Niblock, the groundbreaking composer of minimalist and experimental music, joins Musicians Speak for the second half of his interview, recorded in 2020. The New York Times wrote, “His work has influenced Brian Eno and other musicians associated with the rock world… Pitches scrape against other pitches like a speeding automobile sideswiping a row of parked cars. Sum and difference tones pile up until they sound like an orchestra of strings or an immense chorus of voices. So much is going on that one finds oneself listening first to one level of detail, then to another, and only gradually learning to hear everything at once.” In Part 2 we also listen to two of his compositions, spanning forty years.

Intermedia artist Phill Niblock discusses his early years in NY and the beginnings of his art making at Judson Church and the founding of the Experimental Intermedia Foundation by Elaine Summers. Phill discusses his thick, loud drones and microtones as we listen to Feed Corn Ear and Hurdy Hurry. He says, “What I am doing with my music is to produce something without rhythm or melody, by using many microtones that cause movements very, very slowly.”

Wadada Leo Smith has been in the epicenter of creative music for over 50 years as a composer, trumpet player, educator, and theoretician. From his earliest days with Anthony Braxton to his most recent tours, recordings, and performances with the likes of Vijay Iyer, Bill Laswell, and Milford Graves he has defined a singular path as a creative musician. In addition to being a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music, he also received the 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award and earned an honorary doctorate from CalArts, where he was also celebrated as Faculty Emeritus.During the interview, we listen to two newly released CD box sets including Sacred Ceremonies and Trumpet. Additionally, Wadada discusses various aspects of his compositional process, his work during the pandemic, upcoming projects and his tributes to other musicians, social and spiritual leaders.The New York Times wrote, “…he knows the power of a single musical gesture and cuts a clearing around himself when he plays: He uses open, full, melodic cries, and then grainy, blurry, throttled ones; he plays in recognizable rhythm for a short period or lets his phrases crumble.”“Before the masses woke, Smith's music had incorporated political, cultural, spiritual, and environmental awareness. The elder statesman of new music continues his prolific output with TUM Records box sets for the first half of 2021.” Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz

Award-winning vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu speaks about her wide range of influences, her studies in Asia, and the various compositions that we hear during the program. She is a Rome Prize Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award, among many others. As David Hajdu of The Nation wrote, Jen Shyu is "...one of the most creative vocalists in contemporary improvised music...A singer like no other, Shyu is both lyrical and wildly adventurous, producing sounds in languages as diverse as English and Javanese, Korean, and Tetum (spoken on the divided island of Timor), all of which combine to produce a beautiful language of her own passionate invention."

Guitarist/composer Bill Frisell discusses his memories of the ‘olden days’, touring, and the extraordinary energy that he gets from the music. Bill discusses the ‘magic’ of the music taking over and the instinctive sonic relationship within his trio, his early years in Denver, the music he’s listening to now, Louis Armstrong, and others. Bill Frisell’s career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 40 years and many celebrated recordings. His recorded catalog has been cited by Downbeat as, “the best recorded output of the decade.” Bill appears on over 150 recordings as leader or collaborator as well as receiving Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Jazz Album and for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Bill is the subject of a new documentary film entitled, Bill Frisell: A Portrait, which examines his creative process in depth.“Frisell has had a lot of practice putting high concept into a humble package. Long hailed as one of the most distinctive and original improving guitarists of our time, he has also earned a reputation for teasing out thematic connections with his music…There’s a reason that Jazz at Lincoln Center had him program a series called Roots of Americana.” New York Times“Bill Frisell plays the guitar like Miles Davis played the trumpet: in the hands of such radical thinkers, their instruments simply become different animals. And, like Davis, Frisell loves to have a lot of legroom when he improvises – the space that terrifies others quickens his blood.” The New Yorker

Nicole Mitchell discusses her early training and the importance of her time in Chicago and as a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Nicole mentions impactful flutists like Eric Dolphy, Hubert Laws, James Newton and the next generation of emerging musicians from the AACM. During the interview we hear several pieces of music with her Black Earth Ensemble as well as a free improvisation.Nicole has been Top Flutist by Downbeat Magazine’s Jazz Critic’s Poll every year from 2010-2017, Flutist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association nine times since 2008 and, more recently, the Champion of New Music Award by the American Composers Forum in 2018.  “Ms. Mitchell….brings an eclectic ear and a frothy vigor to her instrument. The flute is rarely given much of a chance in jazz…. But she has transcended all that, becoming a leading voice of music’s cutting edge…..Ms. Mitchell is probably the most inventive flutists in the past 30 years of jazz.”

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser Joe Morris recalls his early years as a guitarist, his influences, and his path to becoming one of the most widely respected free music guitarists today. We listen to solo and ensemble performances as he discusses free jazz and the differences with other jazz styles. Joe also talks about the new Improvisation Now! concert series that he is curating at Real Art Ways and the various participating musicians. He appears on over 150 recordings as leader, co-leader and sideman with ‘best of the year’ nominations in the Village Voice, Chicago Tribune, Wire, Coda, and Jazzis among others. He has been on the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at the New England Conservatory of Music since 2000.“…the preeminent free music guitarist of his generation.” Downbeat Magazine“One of the most profound improvisers at work in the U. S.” The Wire“…the guitar revolutionary to pay attention to.” The Boston Phoenix“…the most exciting and original jazz plucker to emerge in the last decade.” Downbeat

William Parker is a bassist, improviser, composer, author and educator from New York City. William has recorded over 150 albums, published six books and taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians and artists. He has been called “one of the most inventive bassist/leaders since Mingus” and “the creative heir to Jimmy Garrison and Paul Chambers…” The Village Voice called him, “…the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time.”During the interview Parker discusses his early years in the Bronx, training with some of the masters of the bass, his 12-years with Cecil Taylor and his universal beliefs in the power of music. In addition to Cecil Taylor he has performed with creative musicians Milford Graves, Don Cherry, Bill Dixon, Peter Brotzmann, Derek Bailey, John Zorn, Rashied Ali, Charles Gayle, Jimmy Lyons, Billy Bang, Daniel Carter, Cooper Moore, David S. Ware, Sonny Murray, Jemeel Moondoc, Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Oliver Lake, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Enrico Rava, Grachan Moncur III, The Art Ensemble Of Chicago among others. A solo bass performance, a trio with Andrew Cyrille and Enrico Rava and his quartet are featured during the interview.

The Washington Post has written about saxophonist/bass clarinetist extraordinaire and band leader David Murray in no uncertain terms, describing him as ‘…a legend…he took the jazz world by storm.’The Village Voice declared David ‘musician of the decade’. On Musicians Speak, David discusses his early church years, his work with the Gwo-Ka Masters and the Grateful Dead. He has released over 150 recordings with an extraordinaire range of musicians including Pharoah Sanders, World Sax Quartet, Lester Bowie, Andrew Cyrille, Jack DeJohnette, James Blood Ulmer, Don Pullen, Milford Graves and countless others.David discusses Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, PaPa Joe Jones, the World Saxophone Quartet as well as his current band featuring Marta Sanchez. The interview is accompanied by music from several of his releases including his most recent release Brave New World Trio.Cecil Taylor emphasized David's signature sound when he said, “You stick your ear in the door, you know it’s David!”

Free-jazz pianist/composer Marilyn Crispell discusses her early training in classical music and the profound impact of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme that led to an eventual transition into free-jazz. During the interview we hear music from three periods of her over fifty year career including Coltrane’s Dear Lord, a trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motion and finally the latest recording Spi-raling Horn. Marilyn also discusses her esteemed NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship. She has performed and recorded extensively with Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry, the Anthony Braxton Quartet, Reggie Workman, Paul Motion, Oliver Lake, Irene Schweizer, Gerry Hemingway, and many other leading improvisors of the past five decades.Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran remarked on Crispell’s incredible musicianship. “Following her playing all these years, watching also then all this kind of incredible lyricism flow from her hands, it’s easy to say that she’s a storyteller, but she also makes peace with the instrument. That’s the kind of piano player she is.”“Hearing Marilyn Crispell play solo piano is like monitoring an active volcano. She is one of a very few pianists who rise to the challenge of free jazz” The New York Times