Pablo Held Investigates

Pianist Danilo Perez is one of my biggest heroes. Ever since I first heard the magical album “Footprints Live” by the Wayne Shorter quartet two decades ago I became an instant fan. I still remember having NO clue what these guys were doing. They played the songs I thought I knew, but in a way that I had never heard before. I began trying to get every record, every bootleg, every interview, every video, every book that could help me understand and study this music more deeply. And with this interview I finally got the chance to ask some of the questions I’ve had for years. This episode is everything I hope for with this podcast- and much more! A dream come true, really.

Madison Cunningham is a natural. A master singer/songwriter with incredible abilities on the guitar and a singular voice. To me, everything she does sounds effortless and passionate at the same time – that’s a rare combination! I just love her music and I’m thrilled that I got to talk to her. Madison generously shared insights into her compositional process, stories behind my favorite songs, and, to my great delight, even played a couple of them for me. We also talked about performing in front of Joni Mitchell, dealing with social media, her favorite Judee Sill song, and much more. I’m glad I get to share this conversation with you, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Who are You? This is the leitmotif of my musical discussion with drummer, pianist and vibes player Jorge Rossy. He shares his journey as a multi-instrumentalist, how working with Wayne Shorter forced him to escape his comfort zone, what it was like to work on odd-meters with the iconic Brad Mehldau Trio, how Guillermo Klein helped him to get into composition, how working with Al Foster and Jakob Bro expanded his musical vocabulary, leading a band, subbing in a band, the story behind his album “Wicca”, and much more. Talking to Jorge is just like playing with him. He makes you listen, he’s encourages you to go deep, he’s funny and radically honest, and his deep love for the music is apparent in everything he does. Thank you Jorge!

Ben Solomon is an incredible saxophonist who I first heard through the music of the late Wallace Roney. I was immediately struck by his sound, the energy and his love for the music. In fact, that was the only note I wrote down prior to this interview: Love. You can often tell when people are in love. You can see and feel it. With Ben I can feel that he’s in love. I had to talk to Ben about his love for the music of John Coltrane, about his process and how he was able to to gain such a deep understanding of it. We also get into many other topics like our shared love for classical composers Igor Stravinsky, Ravel and Carlos Salzedo, working with Wallace Roney and Chick Corea, composing, and much more. I’m glad that we now can all learn together from Ben!

I had been admiring Melissa Aldana’s playing and music for many years, when I suddenly received a message from her, saying that she really liked the podcast. I was flattered and amazed that she would reach out to me. We made plans to do an interview and here it is! We talked about learning from Melissa’s heroes Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Heath and Mark Turner and how she incorporates these influences into her world, about leading a band, practicing creativity, her latest album 12 Stars and the process behind it, self-doubt/self-acceptance and much more. After following Melissa’s musical journey from afar for a long time, it was great to now get a more personal and deeper view into her process. It felt like we were hanging out. Come and hang out with us!

Master drummer Jochen Rueckert is a personal hero of mine. I’ve been checking him out since my teenage years, when I discovered Achim Kaufmann’s “Weave”, Paul Heller’s “Kaleidoskop” & Jochen’s own “Introduction”, three massively influential records for me. He is an outstanding drummer and a great guy who always speaks his mind, and this conversation is no exception. We talked about him coming up in the Cologne scene and then making his move to NY in the late 90s, winding up playing with Kurt Rosenwinkel & Marc Copland, his clarity, dynamics, what he expects from bandleaders and fellow musicians, self doubt and much more.

I still remember when I first heard Kurt Rosenwinkel’s epic album “The Next Step”. In the early 2000s I was visiting my guitar friend Riaz Khabirpour in his apartment in Amsterdam. When he went out to practice, I stayed in his place, going through his record collection. I can still tap into the feeling I had when hearing Kurt’s intro to “Zhivago” for the first time. I was mesmerized by his otherworldly, fluid and big sound. Lines and harmonies like I hadn’t heard before quite like that. Since then, “The Next Step” remained an important album to me and made me check out as much of Kurt’s music as I could. In our talk, we get in to his relationship with Ben Street, Jeff Ballard & Mark Turner, memories from his steady gig at Smalls, thinking of other instruments while playing the guitar, the development of his sound, learning other people’s music, playing Paul Motian’s EBBB… and then he went over to the piano and demonstrated the process behind his song “Cycle 5” and much more. I’m grateful to Kurt for all the inspiration and for everything he shared so candidly in our conversation.

What a pleasure it was to talk to composer/arranger/pianist/accordionist Gil Goldstein! I’ve been in awe of his work with Michael Brecker, Milton Nascimento, Jim Hall, Wallace Roney and of course his own music (check out his album “Under Rouseau’s Moon”). Furthermore, his book “Jazz Composer’s Companion” was a great help to me, especially because of the interviews that Gil himself conducted with some of my biggest heroes – he’s basically an investigator himself Gil and me share a deep affinity for Gil Evans, so naturally I had to ask him about the process of his late mentor. These accounts are a nice counterpart to my conversation with Maria Schneider with whom I also talked about Gil Evans’ music. Enjoy the two of us hanging/nerding out.

Sometimes you can’t predict in which direction an interview will go. When I spoke with Laura Mvula we didn’t nerd out about theoretical stuff. In the beginning you can notice me wanting to go in this direction. But instead we get something much deeper and more meaningful: Laura opened up about her life as an artist, the constant challenge to stay present and to reach what she calls “the freest place”. We touch on how she deals with expectations and how that helps her to be even more honest in her work. I felt like I really got to know Laura and I’m thankful for her honesty and generosity.

Ralph Towner is my hero. He’s a musical pioneer, a poetic and lyrical storyteller, always searching for something new, a giant of jazz & improvised music. I have childhood memories of listening to his records in my parents collection — His duo recording with Gary Peacock “Oracle” always comes to mind. So do his solo recordings, his work with Oregon, Weather Report, Azimuth and much more. After many years of loving and studying his music I got to meet him for the first time in 2017 after an incredible solo gig of his in Wuppertal. The promoter managed to sneak me into the dinner and somehow I ended up sitting next to Ralph. Naturally I asked him many questions all night! An interview, only without the camera. Later on Ralph was not only kind enough to write liner notes to a trio album of mine, he also accepted to play a couple of gigs with us in 2018. A dream come true, and an unforgettable experience. This conversation took place in late 2021, before the soundcheck for our gig at Cologne Philharmonic Hall. I’m so happy that Ralph agreed to do this with me, because I’ve been wanting to interview him properly for a long time. Ralph shows and demonstrates a lot of things on the guitar, giving us a rare insight into his process. I always dreamed to be in that seat: right next to my hero, asking him about his compositions and seeing him up close coming up with all those beautiful sounds. We also talk about Bill Evans’ influence on his music, playing with Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones, how his piano playing influenced his approach to the guitar and much more. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.