Interview with  an ungrateful, impolite, dull, unhuman, drawn creature, as if saxophonist Nicolas Prost. 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. How exactly did your adventure take of? When did you realize that this was a passion you could make a living out of?

Nicolas Prost: – I was born in the Bourgogne region in France and my father was a traditional jazz music lover (Brubeck, Errol Garner). I decided to start music with the study of the piano but in my village the wind orchestras predominated. The choice of the saxophone was obvious for my family.

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

NP: – I am a crossover saxophonist and have a great habit of playing classical and contemporary repertoire written for the saxophone (Debussy, Milhaud, Hindemith, Berio). The search for its initial sound is close to the wind instruments of the symphony orchestra (between the clarinet and the oboe).

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

NP: – Virtuosity with the work on the cells, with offsets of the supports, improvement and anticipation of the reading of the notes and work on transcendent studies written for the classical saxophone (Loyon, Lacour, Soussman). Rhythm ? to feel, to sing, to be at the bottom of time…

JBN: – Have you changed through the years? Any charges or overall evolution? And if so why?

NP: – Yes, less focused on virtuosity but more calm, mastery and less instinctive phrasing. The expression also: evolution of the vibrato for example and more tension in the crescendo.

There could be talk or advertising about your CD

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

NP: – The music is a good compromise between emotion, technique and reflection. Everything is linked and the recipe works if the mood is positive with a minimum of luck and meeting opportunities. Talent is above all the public that guides us to achieve it. So: be very “listening”.

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

NP: – First give all your personality (choice of program, style of play) and know how to adapt if necessary. But not too much… so as not to damage what is at the heart of interpretation and creation. Problem is to accept the negative reviews to go to progress.

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

NP: – Offer a good mix between traditional jazz (early swing & Bebop), symphonic jazz (Gershwin & Bernstien), World jazz with Rap influences… give all the tools to listen differently.

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

NP: – Sure ! Spirit leads everything. The heart will decide.

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

NP: – Music is compulsory in all schools … especially where people do not have access.

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

NP: – Count Basie, Eminem, Muse and… Tchaikovsky.

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

NP: – I am satisfied with what I own and try to enjoy happy times. An ideal future would be to play music without any constraints.

Interview by Simon Sarg

Note: https://jazzbluesnews.com/2023/03/19/useu-jazz-blues-association-festivals/ You can express your consent and join our association, which will give you the opportunity to perform at our Jazz and Blues festivals, naturally receiving an appropriate royalty. We cover all expenses. The objectives of the interview are: How to introduce yourself, your activities, thoughts and intellect, and make new discoveries for our US/EU Jazz & Blues Association, which organizes festivals, concerts and meetings in Boston and various European countries, why not for you too!! You can read more about the association here. https://jazzbluesnews.com/2022/11/19/useujba/