Interview with Phil Allen: Soul is what brings about the desire to do this music: Video

Jazz interview with jazz bandleader and trombonist Phil Allen. An interview by email in writing. 

JazzBluesNews.Space: – First let’s start with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music?

Phil Allen: – I was born and raised in Indianapolis, IN. My musical training started with piano at age 7 and trumpet at age 10. My mother was a church organist and there was always music in our home. My older brother was a saxophonist. Private lessons continued through high school. I continued to play the piano and during this time started listening to jazz. Early on it was the Basie band, Maynard Ferguson’s band, Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis, The Ramsey Lewis Trio; mostly mainstream jazz. My junior year in high school I started arranging/composition lessons.

JBN.S: – How did your sound evolve over time? What did you do to find and develop your sound?

PA: – In college I switched to valve trombone as my main instrument. I still continued to play piano. I would find any recordings of Bob Brookmeyer that I could but also listened to recordings of Maynard on valve trombone. In an effort to not sound exactly like either of them, I started to listen to other musicians; Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Bill Evans, Jim Hall, all players that had individual sounds but played other instruments. I didn’t do anything out right to develop my sound, it has just developed and is continuing to develop over time based upon who I listen to and who I’m working with. It is an ongoing process.

JBN.S: – What practice routine or exercise have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical ability especially pertaining to rhythm?

PA: – My practice routine is made up of a portion that maintains my chops, a portion that helps me develop my harmonic “vocabulary”, sight reading and then just playing music to incorporate the above. As I listen to music and hear interesting rhythmic things, I work them out.

JBN.S: – Which harmonies and harmonic patterns do you prefer now? You’re playing is very sensitive, deft, it’s smooth, and I’d say you drift more toward harmony than dissonance. There is some dissonance there, but you use it judiciously. Is that a conscious decision or again, is it just an output of what goes in?

PA: – Thank you for the kind words. Harmony is something that is always evolving with me. I’m always studying harmony and asking questions of other musicians as to their approach. Music, like all art, is a balance of tension and release. I am drawn to composers/arrangers that have mastered this idea whether it’s in jazz or classical. Too much consonance is boring and too much dissonance is tedious.

JBN.S: – How to prevent disparate influences from coloring what you’re doing?

PA: – I’m not sure you can. I am a product of what I“ve heard and been exposed to all of my life. I really do think that Bob Brookmeyer said it best: «My style is made up of everything I“ve heard and liked and some things I haven“t liked.» And to be honest, I“m not sure that you want to «prevent disparate influences.» The larger the pallat, the greater the color choices you have.

JBN.S: – What’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

PA: – In my opinion, soul is what brings about the desire to do this music. You can only do this music (or any other art for that matter) if you have a heart for it. No one gets into music or art because they think they’re going to get rich (if they do, they need to get out) they get into it because it moves them in a positive way. Intellect is what is needed to develop the ability to perform on your instrument. We have to practice in order to develop our technique so that we can produce with our instrument the sound that is in our head. Scales, chords, patterns; these are the vocabulary we use to create our music but these have to be approached intellectually in order to learn them. Once the learning process is completed we can apply what we’ve learned to create music. The problem comes when we start thinking, “which pattern(s) am I going to play over this chord” instead of hearing a melody.

JBN.S: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; you’re okay with giving the people what they want?

PA: – I feel that the artist has to develop his individual “sound” and then hope that there is an audience for what he has to offer. By paying attention to the history of this music it’s possible to get a feel for what is pleasing and build on it, however it can’t be a copy of someone else. People who hear the Concert Jazz Band talk about how it reminds them of other bands that they love but the CJB has its on sound. As to “giving the people what they want” as long as it’s consistent with the music I’m creating, then I’m all for it. If it is not, then I politely say I’m sorry.

JBN.S: – Please any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

PA: – I’ve been greatly blessed throughout my career to play with great musicians. Being part of the Von Ohlen/Allee band in the 70’s and 80’ in Indianapolis. Playing with Fil Lorenz and the Collective West Jazz Orchestra in San Francisco. Doing concerts with Thin Air in Colorado with Bobby Shew as a guest artist (and getting a chance to write arrangments of his tunes for those concerts.) Learning about Dixieland Jazz from Skip Parsons here in Albany. Playing with John Esposito in various groups. I have way too many to list. The memories are still being made.

JBN.S: – How can we get young people interested in jazz when most of the standard tunes are half a century old?

PA: – They need to be exposed to jazz. Mentors are needed and that’s something that we musicians can do. Go into schools and play the music. Talk to church youth groups about jazz. If we see young people at a concert, talk to them; ask them what they liked and didn’t like. The fact that “most of the standard tunes are half century old” really doesn’t matter. Part of what we do in this music is re-imagine music. Miles took tunes from the 20’s and 30’s he also played pop tunes. He just did them his way. “Surrey with a Fringe on Top” is not a jazz standard because of Oklahoma, it’s because Miles made it his own.

JBN.S: – John Coltrane said that music was his spirit. How do you understand the spirit and the meaning of life?

PA: – For me music is a gift from God. I believe that everything we do or create should be for the glory of God and the enjoyment of people. It comes from Him.

JBN.S: – If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?

PA: – That we would get back to musicians producing music instead of computer programmers and radio would be programmed by individual DJ’s based up their taste. When I was young I could find any style of music on the radio. Yes you can do that today if you know where to look, but there was a time when DJ’s were playing all kinds of music, giving the listener choices not just one style.

JBN.S: – Who do you find yourself listening to these days?

PA: – I listen to everything. I seek out new big bands. I will listen to the Pat Metheny Group and then Rufus Reid. I’ll listen to Snarky Puppy and then check out Dave Douglas. I’ll go back to the Mulligan Quartet and Miles’ first quintet and then to Glen Gould playing Bach. I listen to the music in a movie that I’m watching. It’s all part of the growing process and I never want to stop growing.

JBN.S: – Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really wanna go?

PA: – I’m happy where I am and just want to keep moving forward. The key for me is to be content where I am and yet always trying to grow.

JBN.S: – I have been asking you so far, now may I have a question from yourself…

PA: – What got you into jazz? What is it that you love about it?

JBN.S: – Thank you for answers. I like jazz and blues entirely, Jazz is my life, and which I started in 2003 …

JBN.S: – So putting that all together, how are you able to harness that now?

PA: – Still trying to put it all together and I’m hopeful that at some point I might be able to harness some of it …

Interview by Simon Sargsyan