Interview with Bob Holz: Positive vibes: Video

Jazz interview with jazz drummer Bob Holz. An interview by email in writing. 

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

Bob Holz: – New York. Listening to Miles Davis.

JBN.S: – What got you interested in picking up the drums?

BH: – Art Blakey records.

JBN.S: – What teacher or teachers helped you progress to the level of playing you have today?

BH: – Billy Cobham. What made you choose the drums?Jazz is alive with drums.

JBN.S: – How did your sound evolve over time?

BH: – It got bigger and smoother.

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

BH: – Lots of practice.

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

BH: – Reading, independence, rudiments and Latin rhythms.

JBN.S: – Which harmonies and harmonic patterns do you prefer now?

BH: – Jazz based.

JBN.S: – 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?

BH: – Yes, it’s a conscience decision. I like to go back and forth.

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

BH: – I don’t have an issue with that.

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

BH: – They coexist perfectly.

There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist. On stage, the audience inspires musicians. We feed off of the energy.

JBN.S: – You’re okay with giving the people what they want?

BH: – Absolutely!

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

BH: – Playing with Larry Coryell and Ralphe Armstrong live was a high point.

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

BH: – Expose it to the at a young age.

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

BH: – I’m still working on that.

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

BH: – Nothing really.

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

BH: – Bebop music.

JBN.S: – What is the message you choose to bring through your music?

BH: – Positive vibes.

Interview by Simon Sargsyan