Pablo Held Investigates

My third album GLOW was my first time leading a bigger ensemble with my longstanding trio at its core. Recorded in 2010, it featured multiple harmonic instruments (Kathrin Pechlof on harp & Hubert Nuss on harmonium & celesta and me on piano), multiple basses (Robert Landfermann, Henning Sieverts & Dietmar Fuhr) and multiple horns (Niels Klein & Sebastian Gille on woodwinds and Menzel Mutzke on trumpet & flügelhorn) and Jonas Burgwinkel on drums . For these musicians I wrote little sketches to be explored freely by their creative minds. Collectively we came up with stuff that I could have never imagined on my own. Another lesson in the power of the communal spirit. Playing and recording with this group of people was an important stage of my development. I’m happy to share some memories of the process with you. Enjoy!

I grew up listening to John Scofield through my parents who are big fans of his music. So each time we’d go on holidays or just went for a little trip in the car there’d be a cassette with Sco’s music playing at some point during the journey. “Still Warm”, “Hand Jive”, “What We Do”, “I Can See Your House from Here”, “Quiet” and also his records with Miles Davis like “Decoy” or “You’re Under Arrest” are are deeply ingrained in my childhood memories. When I was ten years old my parents took me to see John Scofield for the first time. He was touring with a great quintet (Seamus Blake, Kevin Hays, Larry Grenadier & Bill Stewart) playing the music from the “Quiet” album. This was an unforgettable experience to say the least. Since then I’ve seen him live countless other times, collecting his records, looking for bootlegs, reading his interviews and transcribing lots of his songs. In 2014 my trio got the chance to invite a special guest for a concert at Philharmonie Köln. We expressed our desire to play with Sco and to our surprise he accepted! That first concert became a record (The Trio Meets John Scofield on Pirouet Records) and after the release John asked us to come on tour with him through Europe in 2015. You can imagine how surreal all this felt, but getting to know John, playing and hanging with him has been one of the greatest experience of my life. He’s the nicest guy you can imagine, a musician of the highest order and I’m thankful to call him a friend.

This is my conversation with the great sound engineer Rob Griffin. He worked with so many incredible artists: Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, Paco De Lucia, Chick Corea… and he also mastered my last album „Ascent“. Rob is one of a kind and I think that really comes across in this conversation. He is full of enthusiasm, he loves to learn and always searching for new and better ways to capture and enhance the music, and he really enjoys to pass on his memories of all those tours with Wayne, Herbie and all my other heroes. We talk about his approach to mixing and recording, his unique up-close insights into how some of my most favorite bands, like the Wayne Shorter Quartet, work on and off stage. And above all else: his deep love for the music.

I enjoyed recording the audio commentary to my latest record “Ascent” so much that I made the plan to do this for each one of my albums. This time I’m talking about my record “The Trio Meets John Scofield” which was released on Pirouet Records back in 2014. It features my trio buddies Robert Landfermann & Jonas Burgwinkel + our hero John Scofield and it was recorded live at the Philharmonic Hall in Köln. When we got offered to play a concert featuring a special guest, Sco was at the top of our list and to our surprise he accepted to play with us! After 2 days of hanging and rehearsing we went on stage with our hero, in a packed Philharmonic Hall in our home town — a night I’ll never forget! We initially recorded it just for our own remembrance, but in the following weeks, Sco and me kept getting back to it and finally decided to put it out. It was nice to revisit this experience and share my memories and feelings about the music. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Talking to master bassist Ben Street was a great experience for me. Right from the start I felt a connection with him, which allowed for a very candid and in-depth exploration of Ben’s musical process and experiences. He also asked me a couple of questions, including some about previous episodes and the process behind this interview series. Our conversation went on for about 4 hours and it felt like it wouldn’t have been a problem for us to go on even longer. For days I was busy processing all the inspiration I got from him, and I guess I still am. It has been 2 years since I started doing these interviews. Together with my producer Till Moses Kammertöns we decided this would be an ideal celebratory episode for the 2nd anniversary. Here’s to many more! If you feel like supporting “Pablo Held Investigates” please consider becoming a member

I’m happy to share my interview with the great Aaron Parks. I first heard him sometime 2004 on Terence Blanchard’s “Bounce” album. Being very impressed by his playing I began to investigate more and came across lots of recordings that featured his playing. Too many to list here, but I’ll say that especially during that time “Bounce” and “Flow” by Terence Blanchard, Gretchen Parlato’s eponymous record and lots of bootlegs of Kurt Rosenwinkel’s bands with Aaron were particularly inspiring for me. I’ve closely followed Aaron’s music every since. As I tell him at some point during the interivew, I really think that Aaron introduced a fresh new approach to the piano that wasn’t there before he came on the scene. We also talk about what he’s working on at the moment, his relationship with Thomas Morgan and Ben Street, the different approaches in his trios with Ben Street & Billy Hart vs. Thomas Morgan & RJ Miller, finding a personal approach on the piano, different piano players who are on the scene today, his process of strengthening his musical foundation, listening habits, and daily practices… lots of things! It’s always great to talk to Aaron. I’m happy he agreed to do this interview and that we can share it with all of you. Enjoy!

I first heard about Lau Noah in a podcast with Larry Goldings where he talked about how much admiration he had for her work. (I always listen very closely when my heroes talk about music that they’re checking out. This was no exception.) I’ve been following Lau Noah’s music since back then. She has such a unique songwriting style and a very personal approach to accompanying herself. Hear for yourself: her Tiny Desk concert is a great documentation of her beautiful music. We first met when she performed at our KLAENG festival in Köln in 2019 and this conversation happened a a couple of months later. I’m glad I got to talk to her. Hope you enjoy our conversation!

I first became aware of Lionel Loueke’s playing on records by Gretchen Parlato, Terence Blanchard and of course through closely following everything that Herbie Hancock was up to. I was completely blown away and wanted to know more about him. That led me to check out his own record “Virgin Forest” and then when it came out I obsessed over “Karibu”– I still go back to that album regularly! All of the stuff he’s done since is amazing. In fact, his new album is released today! I really admire his unique approach to the guitar and his musicality in general. Lionel is doing things I never heard anybody else do – he’s a true innovator! I was very excited to talk to him. Hope you enjoy this conversation!

This episode is in German, for English subtitles please watch the video version. I’m excited to include Christian Lillinger, one of the most individual voices on the drumset in music today, in this series of interviews. Christian is a role model for me on a lot of levels. His no-bullshit/no-compromise attitude is admirable and I think it results in a crystal clear vision of a singular artist. As a leader & sideman he’s been involved with a lot of my favorite groups today: GRUND, Open Form For Society, GRÜNEN, Dell/Lillinger/Westergaard, Amok Amor, Ronny Graupe’s SPOOM and Gropper/Graupe/Lillinger, to name a few. Also, Christian runs an incredible label called PLAIST MUSIC, where he releases genre-free music by himself and other cutting edge artists. I have know Christian for a long time. We came up more or less at the same time and throughout the years I’ve have had the great pleasure of playing with him on different occasions*. I’m happy to share our interview which by the way features a little cameo (totally unplanned, although it looks staged) by a frequent collaborator of Christian’s. Enjoy!

Bill Frisell was on the top my list right from the start of this interview series. Through the help of Mike Gibbs, I finally got in touch with Bill and we had a lovely conversation. What is there to say about Bill Frisell’s music that hasn’t been said yet? I mean, I don’t know anyone who knows about his music and doesn’t like it – everybody loves Bill Frisell! Maybe it’s because he’s so eclectic, so there’s something in there for everybody? Or because of his unique approach to the guitar? Or maybe because he enriches every musical setting? Because of his great tunes? His many different bands? The classic recordings he contributed to as a sideman? I really don’t know… there are so many things to love about him, his playing and his music. OK maybe I should stop rambling… You have a 2 hour conversation ahead of you, and you’re in for a ride. Enjoy! For further listening, here are some of my favorite recordings with Bill: • In Line, Bill Frisell with Dave Holland & Elvin Jones, Sign Of Life, Gone Just like a Train, Where in the World?, Hemisphere’s (with Jim Hall), Quartet, Bill Frisell/Ron Carter/Paul Motian/, Have a Little Faith, Small Town & Epistrophy (with Thomas Morgan), Songs we know (with Fred Hersch) ALL albums by Paul Motian w/ BillALL albums by Jakob Bro w/ BillKenny Wheeler – Angel SongAmarcord Nino RotaMarc Johnson – Bass Desires / The Sound Of Summer RunningLyle Mays – Lyle Mays / Street DreamsPaul Bley – FragmentsJohn Scofield – Grace under Pressure / This meets ThatMike Gibbs – A Bill Frisell Set ListJoey Baron – Down HomeTony Scherr – Come AroundRon Miles – I Am A Man / QuiverScott Colley – EmpireAndrew Cyrille – The Declaration of Musical Independence