Interview with Nicolò Renna by Andrea Aguzzi on Blog Chitarra e Dintorni

http://nicolorenna.jimdo.com/

Hello Nicolò, how did your idea of ​​youtube Chitarra Classica Italia channel start?

Hello Andrea, the idea just comes from my desire to experiment and play on the instrument trying to create new and unique songs, which are the mirror of my artistic soul; from this experience I had the input to expand my concept of creating music and then, stimulated by the fact that I know many guitarists who are valid composers and arrangers, I thought it was only right to create a meeting point where everyone can deal with others and thus strengthen more and more the idea that you have to trust your instincts trying to look for new musical paths, maybe never explored. Then the Channel will be a reference for creative guitarists who will be able to share together a common project that is the "play with music" to pull off something original and unique.

What should distinguish this channel from the more or less professional ones already on the web?

On the web we can now really find millions of youtube channels that deal with classical guitar, but for the most part, these channels deal with classical or chamber repertory ; then there are the various composers guitarists who with great courage and effort, day after day try to make known their music. The youtube Chitarra Classica Italia channel has the intention to bring together all these composers and arrangers trying to create a catchment area where those who enter know they can listen to classical guitar from another point of view. This channel is unique in its own style, because so far no one has ever dedicated a well-defined creative guitarists space.

Who can contribute to this channel and how?

In this channel can join all classical guitarists who want to present their ideas both original songs that the original arrangements they have created. They will be published only the videos that have professional quality audio, a video resolution of 1080p and possibly even a minimum of video direction. To submit videos for the preparation of Chitarra Classica Italia you can write to the email rennanicola@alice.it

Can composers and pieces already registered with the SIAE be charged on the channel and how?

They can also join us compositions already registered to SIAE without limits and constraints, initially we will deal only with us to promote on youtube and various social networks such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter.

For composers .. do you think to publish only their videos or even their music?

This is really a very interesting question; at this time we are not an edito,  we are concerned about posting videos on youtube and advertise on social networks, in the future if the project will be significantly expanded one could even think of publishing scores. In any case, the composer who will publish the video on our youtube channel, will have the opportunity to enter a personal link in the video description where he can sell and distribute their music.

What goals do you propose in terms of visits and visibility on the web and on social networks?

Our goals are long-term course; On facebook already exists, since 2014, the group of Chitarra Classica Italia with more than 1000 members, Italian and international guitarists, this is already a good start. The fundamental concept that will bring up the project is: "Unity is strength", ie the more we are proposing interesting music and more chances of success and visibility it will have in the future.

What are your future career plans?

Currently expect, in 15 days, the release of the first video clip on youtube channel Chitarra Classica Italia; It will be the first video which will open the channel and it will be an original composition titled Vortex, composed and interpreted by 90100 Guitar Duo to which I belong with the talented guitarist Antonino Argento. In parallel I am already planning for 2016 to record my solo album that will contain original compositions for solo guitar and probably tracks with broader formations.

Interview for Hilary Field by Andrea Aguzzi on Blog Chitarra e Dintorni

http://www.hilaryfield.com/

The first question is always the classic one: how does it start your love and interest for guitar and what instruments do you play or have you played?

My interest for the guitar began when I was a child because I wanted to play songs, and I used the guitar as an accompaniment instrument. It quickly evolved into playing classical music. I loved the sound of the guitar and I was thrilled with the ability to play multiple voices at once. Before I played guitar I studied violin and played in my school orchestra. I decided as a teenager that the instrument that I was truly dedicated to was the classical guitar.

What was your musical training, with which teachers have you studied and what impression they left in your music?

I studied with Jerry Willard and Pasquale Bianculli as I was growing up in New York, and then I continued studying with both of them at Stony Brook University. Both of these teachers instilled a love of music in me, and taught me how to hear the music inside the notes. I also studied with Oscar Ghiglia in summer programs. Oscar taught me how to pay attention to every nuance and dynamic, so that the music tells a story. In Seattle, Washington, I studied with Kevin Callahan, who inspired and motivated me to perform to the absolute best of my ability. He encouraged me to be creative and to improvise and compose, and offered me a great deal of guidance and support. He produced and engineered my debut CD, "Music of Spain and Latin America."

Premieres is not your first record, you are not new about recording music, but this is your first attempt with contemporary music, how was born the idea about this record and how do you choose the composers and their scores?

My husband, Andrew Ratshin, had the initial idea for my album "Premieres." The classical guitar repertoire is somewhat limited compared to literature for other instruments, such as the guitar and violin. He thought that I should do a recording of works that have never been recorded before, to add to the guitar literature, and to showcase new music that people have not heard. I thought it was a great idea, and I set out to find new music. Some of the composers on the CD (Jorge Morel, Alberto Cumplido, and Douglas Lora) are friends of mine, and when I mentioned the project to them, they wrote new music for me or shared music that has not been recorded. I contacted the other composers because I loved their music, and they very generously and graciously offered me new music for my CD project. I did personally work with all of the composers, either in person or through email, and sent them recordings throughout the process. 

What does improvisation mean for your music research? Do you think it’s possible to talk about improvisation for classical music or we have to turn to other repertories like jazz, contemporary music, etc.?

I have always been very intrigued with improvisation, in any genre at all. What we consider classical music was, at one time, contemporary music, and the composer went through a creative process before the final product was notated and published. Many classical composers, such as Bach, are well known for also being improvisers. Improvising is part of the creation of music. It is also a way to work through many paths, just the way a writer may use their stream of consciousness to put ideas on paper, and create multiple drafts before finalizing the product. When we talk to each other we improvise with words, and when we write down our thoughts we compose. I believe that on some level, all composed music originated with improvisation. With that in mind, I don't find a huge disparity between contemporary improvised music and composed classical music. I believe that improvisation is at the heart of all music. In my opinion, interpreters of composed music still need to feel the creative process of the composer, and tell the story of the music, as though they are improvising on the spot.

What’s the role of the “Error” in your musical vision? For “error” I mean an incorrect procedure, an irregularity in the normal operation of a mechanism, a discontinuity on an otherwise uniform surface that can lead to new developments and unexpected surprises...

In your definition of error, I think about the word risk. Musical risks are necessary for growth, and they help the musician discover new possibilities. I often tell my students to try out all sorts of sounds on their instruments, even sounds that they don't like, so that they learn about all their choices. Sometimes when students add dimension to the music, such as dynamic changes, they will make errors in the notes that they previously played flawlessly. That is a good development, because it means that they are moving away from playing automatically and revealing their interpretation of the music beyond their fingers. The flawless notes will come back again later, but with more depth and feeling.

I have, sometimes, the feeling that in our times music’s history flows without a particular interest in its chronological course, in our discotheque before and after, past and future become interchangeable elements, shall this be a risk of a uniform vision for an interpreter and a composer? The risk of a musical "globalization"?

I personally don't think that there is a risk of a homogenous musical monoculture for interpreters and composers. I think that diverse musical influences add rich and valuable elements to the repertoire. Music all throughout history has been influenced by the past, by cultural integration, and by artistic and natural surroundings. From Johann Jakob Froberger's influence on the baroque keyboard suite, which was brought to a high art by J. S. Bach and future European composers, to Scott Joplin’s addition of syncopation in early 20th century classical music, to Heitor Villa Lobos’ integration of classical compositions with Choro music from the streets of Brazil, great music has always been fluid and flexible. I believe that these melting pots of ideas serve to enrich music throughout the globe. Musical influences and ideas move much faster in the twenty first century, and I look forward to hearing further developments on future musical compositions and interpretations.

Let’s talk about marketing. How much do you think it’s important for a modern musician? I mean: how much is crucial to be good promoters of themselves and their works in music today?

Marketing and promotion is very important in order for the public to be aware of the music. Word of mouth, reviews in publications, radio airplay, and streaming services all help to reach more people who might be interested in listening to the music on disc or in live performances. There are also so many ways for people to sample music if it is available on social media sites and online distribution outlets.

Please tell us five essential records, to have always with you… the classic five discs for the desert island ...

Berta Rojas: Terruño

Yo Yo Ma: The 6 Unaccompanied Cello Suites

Mitsuko Uchida: Mozart Piano Sonatas

Trio Brasileiro: Simples Assim

Jorge Morel: Suite Del Sur

What are your five favorite scores?

Ludwig Van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

Leos Janácek: Idyll for String Orchestra

Felix Mendelssohn: String Octet Op. 20

Claude Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

J.S. Bach: Four Lute Suites

With whom would you like to play? What kind of music do you listen to usually?

I actually love to play music with people who specialize in genres other than classical. I have had an opportunity to study Brazilian Choro music with Douglas Lora, who is a master in both classical and Brazilian music. When I play along with Douglas and his colleagues, I am able to feel the true rhythm and colors of the music, and it brings me closer to the culture and spirit of the music.

I listen to a variety of music, including all styles of classical music, world music, musical theater, and contemporary singer-songwriters.

Your next projects? When we will see you playing in Italy?

My plans for future projects include more world premieres, original compositions, and music by women composers. I do not have any concerts set in Italy in the near future, but I would happily accept an invitation to play in this beautiful country!

Interview with Paul Bowman by Andrea Aguzzi, third part (made in genuary 2011)

Interview with Paul Bowman, first part
Interview with Paul Bowman, second part

I have, sometimes, the feeling that in our times music’s history flows without a particular interest in its chronological course, in our discoteque before and after, past and future become interchangeable elements, shall this be a risk of a uniform vision for an interpreter and a composer? The risk of a musical "globalization"?

I have no idea what trends are prevalent in today’s new music scene. There was, according to musicologist Joseph Strauss, the illusion that serial music dominated the academic scene in the U.S. in the 1950’s and 1960’s. However, the majority of composers at that time were writing tonal music. So now with the infusion of rock and rap, I guess it’s anything goes. So how can one with authority discount this new style, except if you’re an established composer from an earlier time/style who can see the folly in it. But composers now have it really difficult to find a way to distinguish themselves and make a big name for themselves. It’s sort of like in Germany with the opera art form being dominated by “Regietheater” - directors taking enormous liberties with an opera story plot to fit their vision, which is often at odds with audiences.

Let’s talk about marketing. How much do you think it’s important for a modern musician? I mean: how much is crucial to be good promoters of themselves and their works in music today?

Though improvisers may have more performing opportunities in clubs and other “non traditional” concert spaces - and someone can make a career playing the electric guitar with this type of music - the new-music classical guitarist has to be creative in finding performing opportunities. The guitar societies unfortunately have a museum mind-set. So do the guitar festivals. And most other instrumentalist’s still don’t think the guitar is a serious enough instrument. So I rely on contacts with composers and institutions for my performing concerts. There are some managers/agents, but most of the real legwork is done by the artist.

What do you think about the discographic market crisis, with the transition to digital downloading in mp3 and all this new scenario?

It’s human nature to download things illegally, just like it is human nature to have university students plagiarize their papers and research - items they find on the web all because of the availability that the internet affords. This has unfortunately tainted research so that no real research happens. It used to be also that the waiting for a recording to come into a store would heighten ones expectations and one would value that recording more.

Please tell us five essential records, to have always with you .. the classic five discs for the desert island ...

“400 Years of Classical Guitar” by Arlirio Diaz; any of Segovia’s recordings from the 1920’s and 30’s; “Selling England by the Pound” by Genesis; “Tales from Topographic Oceans” by Yes; my 12 C.D. box set.


What are your five favorite scores?

Le Marteau sans Maître by Pierre Boulez, Piano Preludes by G. Ligeti; Kurz Schatten II by Brian Ferneyhough; Changes by Elliott Carter and Sequenza XI per chitarra sola by Luciano Berio.

With who would you like to play? What kind of music do you listen to usually?

I would like to play with the JACK String Quartet – I think these young guys are tremendous in what they are doing for New Music. I think as long as Boulez is conducting, it would be a great experience to work with Ensemble Intercontemporain, as well as collaborate with the composers at IRCAM. As far as what music I hear, it’s very difficult for me to just engage in “casual” listening. I enjoy the silence of nature from where I live! I also had one of the most profound experiences in silence while performing in the premiere concert of the new Conrad Prebys Concert Hall at U.C. San Diego. The acoustician was Dr. Cyril Harris.

Your next projects? When we will see you playing in Italy?

As I mentioned, I am performing with flutist Harvey Sollberger in February. After that, I will be working on a solo program of transcriptions. Specifically, there is an excellent transcription of Brahms’ Hungarian Folk Dances, as well as transcriptions of Janacek piano pieces. An interesting piece to look at is the fugue from Haydn’s Creation. I would like to learn all the music really well and record this program by the end of this year (2011). In the meantime, living here on many acres in the rural mountains of western North Carolina, I will be a gentleman farmer for at least a year or two – do my projects, as well as to write and defend my dissertation. I would love to have my box set published. There are separate pieces that are published on different labels. However, every one knows it is enormously difficult these days to publish a C.D. project. On my website, one can listen to some great pieces - (www.paul-classicalguitarist.com). As far as teaching, I would be happy to be a guitar professor nearby and not have to move from my pristine, idyllic location! As for Italy, Mr. Tallini mentioned about inviting me to perform at a guitar festival in Rome that he was organizing, but I never heard back from him. I would like to return to Italy, as the musical life is wondrous!

A last question …. the Blog is read by several students .. any good advices to give them?

Find your voice and follow through with your convictions.

This is really the last question .. which is more a reflection: Luigi Nono said "Other thoughts, other noises, other sounds, other ideas. When we listen to, we often try to find ourselves in others. To find our mechanisms, system, rationalism, in the other. And this is a quite conservative violence. "... Now .. does experimentation free ourselves from the burden of having to remember?

Absolutely.

Thank you very much, Paul!

Interview with Paul Bowman by Andrea Aguzzi, second part (made in genuary 2011)

Interview with Paul Bowman, first part
Interview with Paul Bowman, third part

Talking about Berio you have played his Sequenza XI, would like to talk us about this score and your experience playing it?

Never easy – even if one follows the shorter, unpublished version found at the Paul Sacher Library in Basel – it’s a work that embodies the spirit of Berio’s music for sure. For example, a great interpretive opportunity is imbuing a sense of playfulness during the moments of repetitive, second-timed whole/half step passages. In knowing Berio’s early influences, one can interpret these repetitive figures as possessing a hint of the “Theater of the Absurd.” Possibly, the randomness that marks the piece is also a reflection of Berio’s previous experience and use of the “Open Form” as espoused by Umberto Ecco. There are “jumping in” points in the Sequenza that one can use interpretively as guideposts for elements of form, ideas, thoughts and clichés. There are subtle items – pause markings, rest durations etc. - that help delineate the form. By knowing which writers, painters, musicians Berio admired and followed during his formative years as a composer, a guitarist can through careful study achieve an interdisciplinary approach, which makes for the well-rounded artist. But the whole work tests musical memory, as the guitarist would be well suited to make the connections between moments that come before and those that are to follow. It is interesting to note, that a few years after composing the guitar Sequenza, that Berio re-edited the Sequenza I for Flute – it seems that Berio was frustrated with the interpretations of flutists playing from the earlier 1958 Edition, which used more aleatoric notation. And that the guitar Sequenza is rhythmically precise in its notation, perhaps this work may have influenced his reasoning in revising the flute Sequenza.

Mode Records is one of my favorite music labels, how did you start working with them? Will you record again with Mode?

I certainly would like to record more for them. There is a possibility that Brian Brandt will publish the Boulez Le Marteau sans Maître I recently recorded with conductor Steven Schick, percussion group red fish blue fish and soprano Stephanie Aston. Time will tell.

What does improvisation mean for your music research? Do you think it’s possible to talk about improvisation for classical music or we have to turn to other repertories like jazz, contemporary music, etc.?

Recently, I had an improvisation ensemble course during the spring ten-week quarter of the academic year at U.C. San Diego, which is a very improvisation-rich institution. There is much to be said for other styles/directions, i.e. “other repertories” one can choose, the models, the accumulation of “solo palettes,” the use of a conductor as in “sound painting” á la John Zorn’s Cobra, et al. However for me, participating in an improvisation is far better than being in an audience, unless it is really astounding. The people at U.C. San Diego are striving to be excellent in this realm, but I am not one of them.

In 1968 Derek Bailey asked to Steve Lacy to define in 15 seconds the difference between improvisation and composition, the answer was “In 15 the difference between improvisation and composition is that in composition you have all the time to decide what you say in 15 seconds, while in improvisation you have only 15 seconds” .. Was the Lacy’s answer a little too much ironic or is it a true one?

Well the question I have to ask the improviser is, “how many years and hours have you practiced your instrument, how many times have you collaborated in improvisation concerts?” These guys also have reservoirs of textural, soloistic “palettes” ready at a moments notice. So it’s not like the composer who has to agonize over choices, as the improviser is able to recall immediately. But I bet the choices from the composer for a majority of time will be more thoughtful and meaningful than musical choices from the improviser.

What’s the role of the “Error” in your musical vision? For “error” I mean an incorrect procedure, an irregularity in the normal operation of a mechanism, a discontinuity on an otherwise uniform surface that can lead to new developments and unexpected surprises …

While doing research during my qualification writing, certain assumptions about music were challenged. I think that writing has helped to clarify many misconceptions on my part. It makes me realize, the more I know, the more it is that I don’t know.

It seems to me that there is a small music scene about classical guitarists dedicated to an innovative and contemporary repertoire, as well as you come to my mind the names of Marco Cappelli, David Tanenbaum, David Starobin, Elena Casoli, Seth Josel, Marc Ribot who played John Zorn music ... shall I speak about a music scene? Are you in contact with these musicians? Are there other guitarists you know and that you can suggest us that they move on these innovative musical routes?

I am not in touch with those you named, though our repertoire has benefited by the collaborative work with these artists. I admire Elena Casoli for her interpretation of works from her husband, composer Maurizio Pisati. In Italy you also have the innovative guitarist Arturo Tallini, whom I met when I performed at the Rome Academy with Harvey Sollberger in 2007. Arturo is now playing duos with the new music guitarist Magnus Andersson. In addition, I was grateful to meet the acquaintance of guitarist/conductor Stefano Cardi at my solo recital at the Rome Academy in 2005. New Music guitarists on the scene that I really admire are: Stefan Österjö, Jürgen Ruck, and Geoffrey Morris. I recently discovered a talented American in Michael Nicollela. My colleague at U.C. San Diego, Pablo Gomez Cano is also exceptional.

Talking about innovative composers, what do you think about John Zorn and the New York musical downtown scene, so ready to get and recode every musical language, improvisation, jazz, contemporary music, cartoon music?

Yeah I performed once a long time ago at Phil Nibblock’s Loft – one of the Mecca’s of the downtown scene long before there was a John Zorn on the scene. I did notice the downtown scene in New York – I played with the group The Bowery Ensemble in Lukas Foss’ Music for Six, which had comical and improvisational elements to it. But as I mentioned above, the improv downtown scene is not for me, and often consists of people with extremely large egos with posing manifestations. It’s more fun to play than to listen.

endo of second part

Interview with Paul Bowman by Andrea Aguzzi, first part (made in genuary 2011)

Interview with Paul Bowman, second part
Interview with Paul Bowman, third part

The first question is always the classic one: how does it start your love and interest for guitar and what instruments do you play or have you played?

I had a typical “American” childhood, as my interest at age 11 was rock music and the electric guitar. I learned jazz guitar in high school, and though I started classical guitar after hearing Segovia in concert at age 14, I enjoyed playing in the high school jazz big band. Around this time, a turn toward the serious life’s work on the guitar came after a swimming/diving accident and coming within one millimeter of being paralyzed. Not to mention, at that moment I saw my life pass before my eyes. This enlightened the conviction in my choice to study music. After High School, I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. But then, it got all blurred as I started to play the Renaissance Lute. I had taken master-classes with Paul O’Dette, which was a great experience. I remember going home one Thanksgiving and bringing on board the bus my lute, classical and jazz guitars. After 3 semesters as one of 700 or so guitar majors, I transferred to the Manhattan School of Music where I received my B.M and M.M. degrees and studying classical guitar with the three-headed guitar faculty there at that time. After living in Europe for 11 years, I returned to the U.S. in 2006 to get my Doctorate. I qualified for candidacy the D.M.A. in Contemporary Performance this past June at the University of California San Diego. The University is reputable as one of the leading institutions in the world for the research of New Music. There I did not study on my instrument with a guitar professor (there is not a guitar performance professor at U.C.S.D.). But rather, I brought my pieces in for lessons to professors who were composers, instrumentalists and conductors. The ideas from these musicians perspective were informative in that musical ideas were not bound by knowledge of the guitar’s technical limitations.

You have worked closely with composers of distinction such as Elliott Carter, George Crumb, Jason Eckardt, David del Tredici, Harvey Sollberger, Pierre Boulez, Roger Reynolds, Tristan Murail, Helmut Lachenmann, Matthias Spahlinger, Phillipe Manoury and Charles Wuorinen and you have also collaborated with esteemed conductors Stefan Asbury, Heinz Holliger, Steven Schick and Jeffrey Milarsky. How was it working with these people?

While performing and recording with Ensemble Sospeso New York, I worked with Elliott Carter. He was a young man then, maybe 91 years old or so! We performed his work, Syringa (1978) for mezzo, bass baritone, guitar and ten instruments and recorded it on the Mode Records label. Jeffrey Milarsky conducted. Mr. Carter had a stately presence as we worked together on the beginning of the work – a noble guitar solo imitating the Greek god Orpheus. George Crumb is a composer who is very friendly and easily approachable, kind of a “down-home” personality. I really enjoyed working together on his percussion/guitar duo Mundus Cantus. Jason Eckardt, and David del Tredici coached me before performances of their works. Helmut Lachenmann devises ways of playing for the guitar and other instruments in creating sounds and affects that follow his musical and textural ethos. So I learned extended techniques from him during rehearsals at U.C. San Diego for his chamber work, Zwei Gefühle. My work with flutist/composer/conductor Harvey Sollberger is an ongoing process, as we we’ll be giving workshops/performances this February at Duke University, U.N.C. Chapel Hill, and at N.C. State University. Harvey is important because of his approach to accuracy, especially in the areas of rhythmic precision and in the dogged adherence to playing what’s in the score. Charles Wuorinen is someone I know from his work as a conductor, as well as from his coaching’s I’ve had on several of his works. I also worked with Pierre Boulez in his Le Marteau sans Maître with Ensemble Sospeso and conductor Stefan Asbury in a birthday-tribute concert at Alice Tully Hall, New York. Percussionist/conductor Steven Schick worked with me in the performance and recording of Boulez’ important work as well. Heinz Holliger conducted myself and members of Ensemble notabu Düsseldorf in Elliott Carter’s – Luimen – a work containing not only the guitar solo Shard, but, some tricky ensemble playing as well. Composer Roger Reynolds is University Professor at the University of California San Diego. We worked together on his solo work, The Behaviour of Mirrors (1985) - a piece that explores the premise that a mirror can not only reflect moments of the present, but moments of the past and of the future as well. The work was recorded and is in my 12 C.D. box set as well as playing on YouTube. I just worked with Tristan Murail this past April on his work, Tellur (1977). To get inspired ideas from one of the founders of Spectralism on the performance of this work was immensely valuable.

You have played Changes by Elliott Carter, would like to talk us about this score and your experience playing it?

Changes (1983) is one of the pivotal works for guitar. As a classical guitar student at Manhattan School of Music, I got to hear Mr. Starobin perform Changes before its premiere. It’s a work that demands rigor and mercurial ways of change in your playing. The transmutation of dynamic and rhythmic contours are occurring all the time. It works well when the player sticks to a tempo, follows for example the sequencing patterns of the 16th – note quintuplets, and, uses very little rubato. Imagine you’re playing “ringing changes,” like the bell ringers there in Europe (and to a lesser extend here in the U.S.) do. So be ready to find the most sonorous and softest elements of your instrument and right hand attack – and then give the most contrasting performances of the textures and dynamics as possible. I like to play the ending like a Bach Chorale, reveling in the most sonorous musical elements.

Berio in his essay "A remembrance to the future," wrote: ".. A pianist who is a specialist about classical and romantic repertoire, and plays Beethoven and Chopin without knowing the music of the twentieth century, is also off as a pianist who is specialist about contemporary music and plays with hands and mind that have never been crossed in depth by Beethoven and Chopin. " You play both traditional classical and contemporary repertoire ... do you recognize yourself in these words?

That reference of Berio while speaking to the students at Harvard University truly resounds in my musical philosophy. The New-Music interpretive experience refreshes the guitarist’s “toolbar” and ready’s one’s performing outside of established interpretive contexts. This is more important wisdom than any guitar teacher helped me with, because all they did was to try to sell me a bag of “interpretive” goods – I am not interested in playing “this way” or like “this player” – I am only interested in playing what’s in the music, not whether I have had conversations with J.S. Bach through my dreams, etc. My model musician is the pianist Maurizio Pollini, because he plays all the styles incredibly well. He is never satisfied, always striving and puts music first. His recording of the second Boulez Piano Sonata is incredible! I have dual major influences in my musical development. On the one hand, there is the New York “Uptown” music tradition – composers Babbitt, Wuorinen, Sollberger – as well as the musicians I worked with while studying and living in New York such as those in “The Group for Contemporary Music”, the “New Music Consort”, “Musician’s Accord”, and other musicians such as percussionist/conductor Clare Heldrich, who have shaped my musical training and background at an early age. And on the other hand, I have a strong classical guitar background through the knowledge from my teachers, intimate listening of recordings of important guitarists such as Segovia, Williams, Bream, Diaz, and my participation in international classical guitar competitions. So my advice for the beginning classical guitarist is to develop the sound, the execution and concentration required for a performance. Then, the ability in playing for example, a Bach Suite with a fugue is important. This is mandatory in order to be prepared for contemporary works, like the quasi suite-form of the Britten Nocturnal, opus 70. Oscar Ghiglia used to teach that a first-year guitarist should learn and perform Bach’s Prelude, Fugue and Allegro BWV 998 – and for good reason! Further, if you learn and edit your own Bach Suite from the Neue Bach Ausgabe, and not an edited guitar version, then one has an idea what it would be like to learn a brand new work composed for the guitar – a clean slate, no fingerings, and - what do you do now?

end of first part

Interview with Jahloon (Jeff Berg) by Andrea Aguzzi

The first question is always the classic one: how does it start your love and interest for guitar?

Well it was the 60’s and everyone wanted to play guitar, when I finally got one it was almost like I had played one in a past life, it came very easy, I played for hours and hours every day. My mother was bereft as I ignored all school studies, but I still passed the exams. I’ve also played Flute, trained by a lady player in the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, that ended when my girlfriend at the time turned up mid-lesson and caused a scene, it was too much for the tutor, it was too much for me….

What was your musical training?

Finally my parents realized I was serious about guitar and sent me to Bill Sullivan, a great tutor in Liverpool, he listened to me play, took down a 1947 Gibson 175 off the wall and said “I’ll Teach You Jazz” (One of my friends went through the same process and Bill taught him Classical, shows what a great teacher he was, seeing the potential in students)

How did your interest for fretless guitar start?

Well I had read about the Vigier Surfretter in 1998, a review in a magazine, and it sort of stuck in the back of my mind. In 2003 I came across the compilation CD “Fretless Guitar Masters” and it was a complete revelation, I just could not believe how good it was.

How did you decide to create a website like www.unfretted.com?

I just realised I had found something I was really passionate about, the Fretless Guitar, I’d already bought one, a Godin Fretless Multiac SA Nylon and the next step was to provide a resource for fretless guitarists. Ned Evett already had fretlessguitar.com but that was limited in scope. I wanted to open up the world of Fretless Guitar, bring the players together, so there was no other option that to start the website unfretted.com, it might just have been the best thing I ever did,

In 2005 you have realized the double cd “Village of the Unfretted? How did it start the idea and how did you choose the 35 guitar players involved?

This could be a long story… Unfetted had a forum, and the core members started a thread called “Village of the Unfretted” basically a story where you could add tales and characters with a fretless theme, it was very funny, sometimes strange, but always entertaining. Someone at some point said we should make a CD to accompany the story, seemed like a great idea, well it snowballed and then we thought, it might be impolite not to invite all fretless players to take part. Well I expected about a 35% positive result, well bowl me over when we got 95% positive response! So it became a double CD with two and a half hours of music, space was so tight I had to reduce my contribution to 1:50 to fit it all in.

In 2014 you have written your book “Fretless Guitar The DefinitiveGuide”, why did you decide to write a book about this argument?

Well no one had written about this before, I’d always wanted to write a book and here it is! There are not many copies left and I know in future this will change hands at very high prices. (Village of the Unfretted CD has been listed on ebay at £52 even though I still sell it at £15)

If you have to convince a musician to play a fretless guitar, which ideas and arguments would you say to convince him?

Oh well, first I would discourage him / her, its not an easy path, don’t go down a road you cannot walk to the end. If you really want to embark on this trip you will open new vistas, new sounds, new tones, its a hell of a trip!

I have seen that most part of the fretless guitar’s scene is divided into two parts: one devoted cto contemporary/atonal/microtonal music and second one devoted to .. “world music” mostly from east or indian world. In our west country it seems there is still a division about this…

That’s a complex question. I don’t really see it as a division.

The contemporary / atonal / microtonal is a very exciting area, it is pushing the boundaries, and I love it!

The “World Music” side is very different, it is taking traditions form Turkish and Arabic Makams, Indian scales and Asian music. Traditional instruments have been able to play this music and its transition to the fretless guitar means the scales of this music can be played on a modern instrument. The great take up of the Fretless Guitar in Turkey can be sited as an example, there are some great players there, and some great luthiers.

When I started playing my fretless guitar a lot of people asked me why I want to play microtonal music.. but this not my case, I play fretless guitar but inside the twelve tone intonation, like a violin. In our west countries it seems there is still this contradiction ….

HaHa! Most people just asked me why no frets? and could not comprehend why I wanted to make things so difficult.

Even if you play within 12T there are subleties you can introduce, that slightly flat “blue note” the third in a chord flattened by 14 cents to produce a pure intonation...

I have, sometimes, the feeling that in our times music’s history flows without a particular interest in its chronological course, in our discotheque before and after, past and future become interchangeable elements, shall this be a risk of a uniform vision for an interpreter and a composer?

Is it possible that the fretless guitar can be seen as a result of musical "globalization"?

Mmmm… I don’t think Fretless Guitar is a result of Globalisation, but I do think the fretless community has been brought together by the global internet. Originally we might have been following our course individually, alone, but now we can link up with other like minded musicians.

I don’t think there will be a uniform vision for the fretless guitar, take the CD “Village of the Unfretted” there are so many distinctive styles and some people thought that was a weakness, personally I thought it was the strength of the album.

Please tell us five essential records, to have always with you .. the classic five discs for the desert island ...

This is going to be weird…

25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago - to remind me of pre fretless bustle

Oze - Ned Evett,

Feel My Pain - from Tim Donahue’s Madmaen and Sinner’s album

From Istanbul - Nicolas Meier

Weedwacker - Jack Mazzenga

BTW you get six disks on Desert Island Discs :)

Yes, but I like number five. Your next projects? When we will see you in Italy?

Completely re-writing the Unfetted webite to make it compatible with mobiles / tablets / iPads etc.

A project introducing the fretless guitar to the wider community

I love Italy, will book a flight tomorrow!

I wait for you in Venice!

Interview with Mauro Tonolli (Oltre Duo) by Andrea Aguzzi

Hello Mauro, how are you? It's a long time that we don’t have a talk but I have seen that your music never stops, tell us a bit about this new project Oltre Duo ..

Hello Andrea, it’s always a pleasure to talk to you!. Oltre Duo has a base formation, classical guitar and vibraphone; for a few more passages we play duo solo guitar -cajon.
But Oltre Duo was born with the desire to expand "beyond" the duo and to collaborate, depending on the concert we play, with other musicians.
We try to play with instruments that can accompany with soloists or singers of many different kinds, it is a continuous stimulus.

How did you meet Alessandro Bianchini?

Alessandro is a talented percussionist and vibraphonist especially, we played together for the first time a year ago and we enjoyed it,  so we started the idea of Oltre Duo.

Your combination between classical guitar and vibraphone is not something so simple and obvious, there are references in jazz but with different guitars, as you solved the problems associated with differences in the volumes of sound? Did you boost your classical guitar?

The diversity of the volumes between our instruments has forced me to search for an amplification that could not distort my guitar sound. Many people opt for an already amplified instrument (there are excellent ones) but the sound is not the same, you can feel it especially in duo and for the classical repertoire. I'm lucky to have a beautiful Philip Woodfield 2011 guitar, amplified with two Neumann microphones TML 102 large diaphragm condenser, also when I play live. I use an Audient preamplifier. It's not the fastest and simple solution but it is very natural.

Which repertoire do you played mostly? I saw in your youtube channel that you play music by Heitor Villa Lobos, Joao Pernambuco, Celso Machado and Astor Piazzolla, what kind of  audience do you hope to achieve?

The video and audio on our youtube channel and on our website are part of the first session in a recording studio, then we recorded music by Nelson Cavaquinho ("Luz Negra" in the version of Bollani), Antonio C. Jobin Jim Hall and Chick Corea. In autumn will be released on CD with our many partnerships.
The repertoire is constantly moving, we have no restrictions, our public enjoy  the music we play.The element of improvisation that we insert in classic scores and revisiting some standards have given us the opportunity to find dates in environments dedicated to jazz music.

I know you're planning a series of events extending your duo to quintet, quartet and trio, do you want to talk about these events and these lineup changes? They will also change the music that you play?

Whenever we can, we like to invite one or more musicians or accept external collaborations. This approach is challenging and it change the music to be proposed at the concert, sometimes we change the songs we have in the repertoire, and sometimes we change them.
In recent months we have worked with Emilio Galante (flute), Shanti K. Roat (voice), Stefano Bianchini (double bass), Thomas Samonati (drums). The next concerts are in trio quartet and quintet, with voice we will play several songs by Antonio C. Jobin, with the flute, for example, we play more Piazzolla.

One last question and then I'll leave you to your guitars .... electric guitar and contemporary music ... do you think you will play again?

I still play electric guitart, even when we play in a quintet with Oltre Duo.
I left contemporary music for the moment but by the next year the intention is to commission original works for Oltre Duo, guitar and vibraphone. If there is any composer who want to experience this formation we are ready to add his music in this project!

I saw that you are organizing a music festival in Trentino, am I right?

Exactly, it is entitled " Rassegna concerti del Baldo " and this is the first edition. For this year we have organized three concerts and a master class with Pacassoni Trio, Mosaiko Ensemble and Oltre Duo as a quintet, in Brentonico and Mori towns between late August and early September.
Although the music world in recent years is suffering there are still institutions that believe in art, I have to thank the Cassa Rusale di Mori, Brentonico, Val di Gresta for their trust and finance.

http://oltreduo.wix.com/oltreduo

Interview with Stefano Zabeo by Andrea Aguzzi

Hello Stefano, I try to play a game with you ... in 1987, in February issue of the italian magazine Chitarre appeared your interview. I try to ask you again some of these questions, you answered .. 28 years ago, let's see what has changed since then? Then I add some questions of my own.

How did you approach your guitar?

Guitar was undoubtedly the instrument that more than any other has fascinated me, but it was not the only one in my personal musical journey. You see, in the days when I started (it was still in mid 60s), it was important to be part of a band, or a "group" as it was then called; then which instrument you played was often decided based on the vacancies in the group that you wanted to join. In reality, however, the very first instrument that I approached was the harmonium because my parents, when I was 10 years old, I had given me a very small and very simple one with the electric motor to blow air into the reeds. But with the advent of the Beat era the collective imagination of an entire generation underwent a drastic change: the music suddenly became the vehicle of redemption, of rebellion and a hope of success in life.
The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones and all groups of that time were not simply admired for the music they produced, but considered true masters of life, the "first" that had managed to get to where we all hoped to arrive ... so that the sense of belonging to the "group" was before the same music. Sure, we were terribly naive, and we did not realize how miserable were our attempts nor what our myths were trying to make us understand between the lines. Only a few of us indeed understood the English language at those times beacause at school you primary learned  French, and so, we were singing in a kind of awkward grammelot or dialect but we took it very seriously, we did not realize that maybe the true original text played "The I'm a loser, and I'm not what I appear to be "... anyway the truth was that a band with of two guitars, bass and drums became the standard and, like many others, I began to learn that instrument, because guitarists were always on display. In time, however, things changed and I played other instruments primarily based on the needs of the musical trends. I went from guitar to bass, then on keyboards, tenor sax and flute. It was only in the 70s that I returned to the guitar and then I never abandoned it.

Who were the guitarists who have influenced you the most?

I could name countless, but for very different reasons among them I would say especially Keith Richards, Johnny Winter and Freddie King. The first for his concept about the rhythm guitar, the second for the elegance of phrasing and the third for the enormous emotionalism of his notes. But it is very simplistic to stop only 3 names!

How much is important guitar's technique for a blues guitarist?

Technique is useful only as it allows you to better express your emotions, but in the blues can even become a handicap if let it carry you away. I know it's could be a bit strange idea in an age of acrobatic guitar hero that can play all speeds! But it is the same with blues often go against corrent... "less is more" is the phrase that best describes the way you play the blues. Alexis Korner once told me: "The real blues musician is the one that plays JUST really indispensable notes." You see, it's a matter of vocabulary and register exactly like in the spoken language. If you want to describe a dialogue between two longshoremen in Marseille, you can not use terms that are too refined and complex and evolved syntax, because the registry would sound wrong. The blues is a bit '"ignorant", I hope you will accept this term, and the most important thing is the message it brings, emotional immediacy of what you express. There is no room in it for the virtuosity, because they can not be immediate because by their very nature require long preparation and exhausting exercises. I'm not saying that the virtuosity itself is wrong, God forbid me! But the blues is the other way, that's for sure!

What is your relationship with guitar?

I love guitar because I express myself with it, but I never forget the nature of "instrument": that is used to get to the music and not vice versa.

Currently how many guitars do you have?

18 :-D :-D :-D

Do you think is possible to live in Italy only playing the Blues?

I would love to tell you so, but I would be insincere! Nobody has never managed it, and even the few who play blues full time actually have other resources that give them the opportunity to live that way. Basically I think there are two major obstacles to prevent that a musician can live playing only blues here in Italy. The first and most important is the lack of credibility that we attach ourselves to our own bluesman. An Italian who plays blues looks almost like a Japanese singing "'O sole mio". No matter if from so many years the blues language had such a spread to become universal: for the people it continues to be a music exclusive heritage of African Americans. But also ourselves that we are in the industry are always ready to run to see  the first American, while hardly we move for somebody who is not coming from the promised land! And the second obstacle, related to the first, is the language: the public does not follow easily the English texts, there is little things to do! This causes tthat he blues music is a forcibly niche and therefore the market is what it is ...

What amp do you use? Do you use some effect?

For years, I almost exclusively use Fender amps (I have 5 of them), the only exception is a small 15-watt Ampeg. As effects I play only a delay, especially for the slide parts, and sometimes an overdrive if the room does not allow to increase the volume of the amplifier. In the past I used sporadically a chorus, but lately I've abandoned it.

You know .. several years passed since Guido Toffoletti died, you have played a lot with him, do you want to talk about him? What kind of person he was?

Not many know that Guido and I were friends since adolescence and not just musical collaborators. Guido was a normal man with all his strengths and all his faults: I have never shared the idea that the traits of a person must be sublimated after his death because that is the real way to bury it for good. Guido anyway had musical patterns different than that most of the other musicians shared and this led him to play in a way that many of them, unfortunately, did not appreciate. And here we return to the discourse on the technique that we have faced before. The guitar is a very overused in our country, but perhaps anywhere. This causes the fact that the development of a highly competitive among guitar players, sometimes even decidedly excessive. If we add the widespread mentality that only those who have great technique deserves attention and success, what I call ironically "paganinism", there arose the hatred towards any person obtaining a success judged undeserved ... beyond the famous "nemo propheta in patria" all those who spent hours and hours on the instrument in the paranoid quest to be" the best "and still did not get the slightest success, could not stand that one of them who was considered of limited capacity could play in theaters and on television as well as being interviewed. Someone came to invent the story that he would bring bad luck, as often happens when you have no other available means. And he really suffered this a lot. What shall I say? Perhaps the most obvious accomplishment was his managerial ability that undoubtedly he had. But that doesn't mean he was not a real musician: he would not come to play with all the international characters that played on his records and in his concerts live! Aside from the personal relationship and friendship, I have a big debt of gratitude to him because I would never have come to meet so many important musicians  and to play along with them if it was not for him!

What is the significance of improvisation in your music research? Do you think it's possible to talk about improvisation in the classical repertoire or you're forced to leave and turn to other repertoires, jazz, contemporary, etc?

Here I think you have asked me a question that perhaps was addressed to other musicians... but improvisation is the basis of blues without a doubt! The beauty of the blues is just in the extemporaneousness of its executions that are from time to time new roads starting from the same structured code.

How does your musical methodology is influenced by the community of people (musicians or not) with which you collaborate? Do you change your approach in relation to what you directly or indirectly receive from them? If you listen to a different interpretation of a song that you already played or that you want to play, do you keep in mind this listening or do you prefer to proceed in complete independence?

Any experience life proposes you ends up influencing the way you play: this is valid about listening to other musicians. I definitely learned more listening to others bad performances then staying closed at home studying sterile things. But I also learned a lot of beautiful things made by good musicians.

A little bit provocative question about music in general, not just contemporary or avant-garde. Frank Zappa in his autobiography wrote: "If John Cage, for example, said" Now I put a contact microphone on my throat, then I drink carrot juice and this will be my composition ", then his gargling would qualify as a COMPOSITION, because he applied a frame, declaring it as such. "Take it or leave it, now I want this to be music." Do you think this could be a really good statement to define a music's genre, just say this is classical music, this is contemporary and it's done? Does it still makes sense to talk of "genre"?

The music genre is the vocabulary with which you express yourself. The lexicon is the result of rules. The real musician is the one who doesn't care about the rules just to express himself. The important thing is that there is not only an aesthetic but an emotional message in what you do: I doubt that a gargle can express emotions, but you never know ...

You play the blues from many years. I sometimes feel that in our time music history flows without a particular interest in its chronological course, in our discoteque before and after, the past and the future become interchangeable elements, shall it  present a risk for an interpreter and a composer of a uniform vision? A "globalization" of music?

The vision of "uniform" or "globalized" doesn't represent a danger to the real artists because there will never be for them the approval of their personality. Schools have always existed, and gave home to a myriad of pseudo-artists so insignificant as to be often forgotten or remembered only by geeks, which in turn have established a career placing an attempt to reduce art to a encyclopedic list without understanding its true nature and enjoying it. I think is enoght to say that the school should churn out more than any other new brilliant minds that can create innovation is called "Conservatory": In contrast the true artists have broken from the basis the same schools that they had bred. I do not consider myself a true artist, and this is why I would say these things: I'm  only one that makes the most of what he does trying to try and convey emotions, that's all!

What are you five favourite scores?

There are no scores in blues music :-D

The blog is also read by young graduates, what advice would you give to those who, after years of study, decided to start a career as a musician?

Nowadays, any job you want to get has not a real gain perspective: so I think is better to do only what you are passionate about

Who would you like to play with and who would you like to play?

I have already managed to play with many of those with whom I dreamed of being able to play, but we are always part of the myth. In reality then things do not always correspond to dreams. I'd love to play exclusively with musicians who love what they do and believe. I'd like to "play" all those who think they are very good because they make a thousand notes per second.

What are your next projects?

I'm putting back together the old Blues Society, the band of Guido in its original lineup, and I'm very excited about this thing!