Interview with Marc Jordan: Let Jazz live: Video

Jazz interview with jazz Canadian singer and songwriter Marc Jordan. An interview by email in writing.

JazzBluesNews.com: – When you improvise, you know where you’re going. It’s a matter of taking certain paths and certain directions?

Marc Jordan: – … for me all improve must have shape and a beginning middle and end … Improvsing is like a conversation … it could be with yourself or the other musicians non stage …

JBN: – Do you ever get the feeling that music majors, and particularly people who are going into jazz, are being cranked out much like business majors? That they are not really able to express themselves as jazz musicians?

MJ: – ….some will find their path…it all depends on their level of creativity……..and also music is not just a job you train for it as if you were a doctor or a lawyer but then the worlds diverge…..the problem is that so little money goes to creators that they are forced to take so many jobs that they are hurt by it…ie the jingle bussiness……pays the bills but it is very hard I believe on musicians in terms of their own creativity

JBN: – What about somebody who is really gifted and puts together a band and just gets upset to the point of quitting because of the business aspects-the agents and the clubs?

MJ: – …..this can be a problem …..we have to pay artists and creators better…that said unlike people in other lines of wor most musicians put the gig first and the money second ….so most musicians will take whats offered in order to get out and play …..the other thing is this…..the more you play live the better you become and the more you learn about playing live ……..Live is not like practicing in your room….playing live is all about the people and the space that surrounds you……..

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

MJ: – …and yet you must be open to the world around you but you must be true to yourself…..and thats the key you must be true to yourself and that means the audience will get the very best of you.

JBN: – What do you love most about your new album 2019: <Both Sides>, how it was formed and what you are working on today.

MJ: – ….I love the songs and the orchestra….my father was a great classical singer in new York in the 1940’S….i grew up therefore in a house surrounded by Orchestral music…..all kinds of music…………………..

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

MJ: – ….they are all spokes in the wheel of creativity….SOUL is hard to define….I think maybe its where music meets saddnes and joy where where music meets power and riteousness

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; you’re okay with giving the people what they want?Please any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

MJ: – ….the artist must give his best and yet it is not about the artist ….he or she is the conduit…..the true gift is for an artist to open a window that most people have not seen or have not thought about…in my experience the 2 way exchange is very rewarding to both audience and performer and although there is an invisible wall the task is to make it go away; and share the gift with the public.

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

MJ: – Let Jazz live and don’t treat it like it belongs in a museum…..it is a living evolving art form….

JBN: – And lastly, being a teacher, do you find it difficult to write music yourself?

MJ: – I…..I.’m not really a teacher…….more like a roll model…a lot of Jazz standards are just pop songs from the 1930’s and 40’s….its the arrangements that pull them towards jazz…it’s a very fine line

JBN: – How important is it to you to have an original approach? Can you comment on the bridge between being a musician and being a composer?

MJ: – Musicians play and composers write primarily….

JBN: – Do you have an idea of what it is you’re trying to say or get across? Is it an idea or is it just something that we feel?

MJ: – …music is to be experienced…felt ….thought about …. remembered …. etc…….its not so much what a piece means to you ….its what it meansto your audience … that said I am in favour of always singing songs you love simply because when they mean a lot to you…they will mean a lot to others

JBN: – What do you see for your extended future? You know what you have going on? You have life? If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?

MJ: – we must pay the creators…art is not free..its hard work

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

MJ: – … everybody…..but lots of Joni Mitchel………Paul Simon …> Oscar Peterson…………..Herbie…….willie Nelson……..Billie Holiday……….Kieth Jarret …

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

MJ: – …….no message….just a window on something in the world…every one gets something different from music

Interview by Simon Sargsyan