Interview with Fabrizio Savino: I have always thought the music without genre: Video

Jazz interview with jazz guitarist Fabrizio Savino. An interview by email in writing.

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

Fabrizio Savino: – I was born in Bari, a city in the South of Italy. The love for music was transmitted to me by my brother who listened to a lot of music: 70s rock, 80s pop, jazz and classical music. This union has evolved to such an extent that today he is my luthier and I play his guitars (Savino Handmade Instruments). When I felt the need to study music I moved to Rome where I studied for five years in a music school.

JBN: – How has your sound evolved over time? What have you been doing to find and develop your own sound?

FS: – I come from 70s  rock and the in-depth study of music led me to study and learn about jazz and classical music. The comparison with the history of the electric guitar and the sound of 21^st century led me to search for a personal language. I have always thought the music without genre and I have always tried to express myself free from the concept of musical genre.

JBN: – What routine practices or exercises have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical proficiency, in terms of both rhythm and harmony?

FS: – I have a daily warm-up session. I don’t have a precise pattern but I do a lot of fretboard visualization exercises to get control and mastery of scales, chords, triads etc. I study a lot with the metronome to develop a strong perception of “inner” rhythm and harmonic freedom. What I have always tried is to free myself from harmonic / rhythmic thinking to seek a lyricism in my phrasing.

JBN: – How do you keep stray, or random, musical influences from diverting you from what you’re doing?

FS: – I don’t know if I can avoid musical influences. We are children of the past and the present so I believe that everyone is more or less influenced by an aesthetic form of music. What I am looking for is the expressive freedom of my musical thought and I try to do it above all in my compositions.

JBN: – How do you prepare for your recordings and performances to help you maintain both spiritual and musical stamina?

FS: – Concentration, attention and psycho-physical relaxation. These are fundamental elements for having a good spiritual and musical resistance. I seek the connection with ideas so that they flow unhindered during the recording session. I also talk a lot with the musicians who will be part of the project to let them know well the emotions and the music which we are going to record.

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JBN: – In your opinion, what’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

FS: – Great question. I believe that balance can be found when a person is able to welcome every aspect of life. Translated into music, balance can be found when both music, intellect and soul work in the same direction and without limiting one of these aspects to the detriment of the others.

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; are you okay with delivering people the emotion they long for?

FS: – Surely conveying emotions is the ultimate goal of music. Doing it makes me feel good and I believe that each of us filters the message based on himself sensitivity.

JBN: – Can you share any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions over the years?

FS: – I was participating in an international contest for young musicians.

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

FS: – Perhaps by ceasing to categorize Jazz as a musical genre. Personally, I experience Jazz as a language that gives to musicians the chance to study music in depth. Studying the history of jazz is essential to have a solid foundation but we must never forget the period we live in. Continuing to play only jazz standards is beautiful but limiting in the expression of one’s own artistic path. We should help young people to respect history but encourage them in searching a personal path.

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

FS: – John Coltrane is a master of spirituality. Having a connection with the spirit and the world helps us grow as individuals. The meaning of life can only be discovered by living it and honoring it every day. Personally, I dedicate various moments of my life to seeking inner silence and analyzing myself deeply trying to connect with inner energy.

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

FS: – Greater collaboration between musicians, art directors and the journalists would greatly help the growth of the music landscape. What is needed is to be united in order to raise public awareness so that there is greater participation in live events and increase the purchase of albums.

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

FS: – I have always listened to a lot of music. From jazz to classical music. But my way of listening has changed. Before I tended to analyze and study everything I was listening to. Now I tend to enjoy the listening. This is because I don’t want to influence my way of playing and thinking about music too much.

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

FS: – Through music I tell a lot about myself, especially about the experiences that life gives me and people I meet. I look for the truth in every note I play and compose. This truth is what I wish everyone to find and live. I also do it when I teach. I encourage my students to be themselves, to study the masters of the past but to try to be honest with music as much as with life.

JBN: – Let’s take a trip with a time machine: where and why would you really want to go?

FS: – I would certainly like to see music scene of 1950s, the history of jazz but also the musical revolution of 1968s. I wanted to have been there to live and feel the social changes that influenced music.

JBN: – At the bottom line, what are your expectations from our interview?

FS: – Make music known to the JazzBluesNews.com public and meet them during concerts in the United States.

Interview by Simon Sargsyan