Pablo Held Investigates

My dear friend Jonas Burgwinkel was the one who told me about Blake Mills first, hipping me to his album “Heigh Ho”. I liked it right away. But it was Blake’s “Mutable Set” that completely turned me around. It really hit me and I somehow became addicted to it, listening to it all the time. It’s probably the record I listened to the most during 2020. I love to get lost in music like that. Blake actually changed the way I listen to music, making me more aware of the impact of great production on a record. And there’s a patience and honesty in his music that really moves me: Being a killer guitarist while having total restraint, never showing off — that’s rare. To me, Blake is of this singular breed of artists that are totally unpredictable, where you never know what they’ll do next. I mean, I couldn’t have predicted “Look” after “Heigh Ho” or “Notes with Attachments” after “Mutable Set”. Can’t wait to hear what he’ll come up with next. But I already know that I’ll be listening closely. A few notes about the story behind this interview: Chris Weisman helped me get in touch with Blake. Our inverview went great, we talked a lot about “Mutable Set” and I was super excited to share it as soon as possible. However, when the first single of the Blake Mills/Pino Palladino record was released soon after, I knew I needed to talk to him once more. There would have been no point in releasing the interview without addressing this new music. I’m so grateful that Blake agreed on another talk with me. In our second conversation we went through every song on the new album and Blake offered incredible insights into the process behind it.

Interview in German, the video version has English subtitles.  SALOMEA is one of the most exciting bands that has emerged from Cologne scene in the last years. Singer & founder Rebekka Salomea Ziegler and her trusty comrades Yannis Anft (keys), Oliver Lutz (bass) & Leif Berger (drums) are good friends of mine and I’ve been following their music and their individual projects with great interest and admiration. I’m thankful I could get a glimpse into their process and share it with you. Enjoy! SALOMEA released their eponymous debut-record on KLAENGrecords in 2018 and now they’re busy producing a much-awaited second album. I’m thankful I could get a glimpse into their process and share it with you*. Enjoy!

This is the second album of my trio, recorded in 2009 and released in 2010 on Pirouet Records. Going back to this album was like stepping into a time machine. I talk about how we applied our live concept into the studio situation on some of the tunes. I also talk about how my trio mates were responsible for a few of the (questionable) song titles on the album, our use of musical cues, strategies on trio interplay and other memories from the recording sessions.

Marilyn Crispell is a master improviser, a musician of the highest order. To me she embodies focus, presence and selflessness. And I just love the way she plays the piano! Here are some of my favorite records of Marilyn’s: AmaryllisNothing Ever Was, Anyway: The Music of Annette PeacockVignettesFor ColtranePianosolo – A Concert In BerlinLive In Zürich We talk about her ability to focus, the communal spirit of group interaction, leaving space, teaching, Annette Peacock’s music, working with Paul Motian & Gary Peacock, composition and so much more. Enjoy!

The first time I became aware of Marc Copland was when a good friend of mine showed me the album “Softly…”. I was immediately drawn to Marc’s personal approach to harmony and his ability to tell a story on the piano. To this day this album remains one of my favorites of his. Discovering Marc’s music really matched with some of my other interests during that time, i.e. the music of Bill Carrothers, Bill Stewart, Hubert Nuss – all these guys share a deep sensibility for colors in the music. A few years after that I wound up on the same label as Marc: Pirouet Records. Pirouet’s artistic director Jason Seizer was the one that put us in touch when he brought Marc to a gig of mine. I still remember the stories Marc told me that evening as they have been incredibly helpful to me. As you will see in this conversation, Marc is really great at telling stories and he’s ready to share, inspire and hip you to things.

If you like this series, please consider supporting me on Patreon. I first heard Vince Mendoza‘s music through my parents, who had albums of his collaborations with Joni Mitchell. Then around 2003 I discovered his wonderful album “Epiphany” which I then listened to for a whole summer. I was blown away by the music and all my heroes were on that record: my late teacher John Taylor, Marc Johnson, Peter Erskine, John Abercrombie, Kenny Wheeler, Joe Lovano and Michael Brecker! After that I checked out as much as I could from Vince’s writing, digging his own records, but also his work for Björk, Jim Beard, John Scofield, Herbie Hancock, Peter Erskine, Larry Goldings and much more. In this conversation we talk about his collaborations with Herbie Hancock & Joni Mitchell, transcribing, his writing process and “Epiphany”.

If you like this series, please consider supporting me on Patreon. “This guy will change your life!” That’s how Larry Goldings hipped me to Chris Weisman. Well, Larry was right. Chris has such a vast output… eclectic, yet always unique. A singular songsmith of the highest order – nobody does what he does.At first I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of music he has out. But that changed after I found the right entry point. For me, it was his album “Play Sharp To Me”. Soon I couldn’t stop checking more of his albums, deeply immersing myself in his catalogue. I got so inspired that I wrote a song for him. In the credits to each of Chris’ albums on bandcamp it says “Write me”. So I did and send him my song. This was how his reply started: This is SO SURREAL. I became very into your podcast literally in the last two days. We started having long email conversations, hipping each other to various things. Naturally I felt the urge to get him on the podcast. Having read that he didn’t really do interviews I was hesitant to ask. But he was already sharing all this interesting stuff about his process, and somehow I felt we were already in it… Finally I asked him and he said he would be happy to do it! For the next stage of preparation, Chris sent me ALL of his albums plus early demos. I usually know a lot of the music of the guys that I’m interviewing… but this never happened before! So when the actual day of the interview came I felt so weismaned-up … And what a great experience it was to connect with Chris. I think of this conversation as a celebration of his music and a gateway into his creative mind.

pianist Bill Carrothers interviewed by Pablo HeldIf you like this series, please consider supporting me on Patreon. Bill Carrothers has been a big influence on me since my teenage years. I first heard him on Bill Stewart‘s classic record “Telepathy” which completely turned me around. From then on I tried to find as much recordings of Bill that I could. I remember finding lots of help and inspiration in a transcript a lesson that he gave. (you can find this on his website). As I tell Bill right in the beginning of this interview, anyone who’s serious about harmony and this music in general should listen to him. Hearing his music changed me forever. We talked for a long time and Bill was very generous, giving lots of insights into his process + he even plays a couple of things at the piano during our conversation! I hope you enjoy!!

Descent is the follow-up EP to my record Ascent and features the same line up: my trio buddies Robert Landfermann & Jonas Burgwinkel, guitarist Nelson Veras and me. Four previously unreleased tracks from the initial recording session. In this audio commentary I talk about the composition & recording process behind this music.

If you like this series, please consider supporting me on Patreon. I got into Jakob Bro‘s music through my friend Moritz Baumgärtner. He showed he a couple of tracks sometime in 2009 and I immediately fell in love with the sounds I heard. “Balladeering”, “Time” and “Pearl River” are the records I’ve listened to the most, but I also love his recent works for ECM with Joey Baron, Thomas Morgan, Palle Mikkelborg and Jon Christensen. But there’s also so many treasures to be found in his earlier works, in his collaboration project BRO/KNAK and his recordings as a sideman with Tomasz Stanko, Paul Motian, Jakob Buchanan, Jonas Westergaard and many more. Furthermore, I’m a big fan of the documentary “Weightless” about the recording of the “Balladeering” album – to see how this music was created is priceless! I secretly wish that a film like this one would exist for all of my favorite records… In this conversation we talk about how Jakob came to fulfill his lifelong dream to play in Paul Motian’s group, his relationship with Thomas Morgan, composing, practicing, putting together a band, finding a personal approach to the guitar and much more. Being a longtime admirer of Jakob Bro, it was really great for me to get to talk to him. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.