Interview with pianist Ignasi Terraza. An interview by email in writing. 

Dear readers, get to know more about our US/EU Jazz – Blues Festivals and the activities of our US/EU Jazz – Blues Association in the capitals of Europe, we will soon publish program for 2024, enjoy in the July – August – Brussels, Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, Sofia, new addreses this year, also in Amsterdam, Budapest.

JB: – Please explain your creative process. What are your main impulses to write music?

IT: – I don’t usually write regularly. I prefer to improvise, to create the music in the moment. I write music when I am under pressure to begin a new project, or a record, etc.

OUR US/EU Jazz and Blues Festivals 2024

JB: – How would you describe and rate the music scene you are currently living?

IT: – The music scene is increasingly dependent on social networks, which have greatly changed the communication channels of our music. This has advantages and disadvantages; the main thing is that this means a change of paradigm in the way to promote and distribute our music. Somehow some channels stay in the traditional way, and some music lovers stay with the traditional channels, and the new audiences are approaching music more and more through social media. For the musicians of my generation, this change is a real challenge and at the same time, a nightmare. For young people building their careers in this environment, that’s more natural.

OUR US/EU Jazz and Blues Festivals 2023

JB: – 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?

IT: – I think that happened before and still happens now; the balance between reaching bigger audiences and maintaining the commitment to music and yourself.

JB: – 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?

IT: – It has always been like this; my advice is that this isn’t a sprint, it’s a long-distance race. Do your thing and time will put it in its place.

JB: – How important is it to you to have an original approach?

IT: – In jazz, and improvising, it’s important to find/have your own voice. But you don’t have to be obsessed with that. You assimilate all the tradition and the music influences that you like, digest them, and then free yourself to let out all that appears.

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

IT: – I don’t follow any special preparation, just a little concentration and relaxation before the concerts. I always have music in my mind, even when I’m not with my instrument.

JB: – What do you love most about your new album 2024: Ignasi Terraza trio – Swinging with Bobby, how was it formed and what you are working on today?

IT: – The session that we are publishing now had to be completed with another that we were to do a few months later during another tour, but unfortunately Bobby fell ill and then died so we could not complete it. During that time, the recording studio closed and the original master tapes were lost. Today we were able to mix them from the reference mixes they gave us when we left the studio, separating the instruments by tracks with AI software and remixing them.

I am satisfied with the result, because it is a fresh session full of swing, just like Bobby was, and that is why we have titled it Swinging with Bobby.

The repertoire includes four originals and four standards and represents the sound of this trio very well.

Buy from here – New CD 2024

JB: – How did you select the musicians who play on the album?

IT: – I greatly admired Bobby Durham, since he was the drummer on some of my favorite albums (with the Oscar Peterson or Monty Alexander trio, or with Ella Fitzgerald), and so I organized a tour with him and with the great double bassist and friend Pierre Boussaguet.

JB: – Can you comment on the bridge between being a musician and being a composer?

IT: – A musician has to work to put some music together to present something live to the audiences. His own voice comes through the improvisation. Composing means bringing your own thing out of the scene to be presented later to the audience by yourself or others.I try to keep both things in a good balance.

JB: – Do you have an idea of what it is you’re trying to say or get across?

IT: – Is it an idea or is it just something that we feel? It depends on the specific theme, sometimes I start from a previous idea and other times it is a matter of letting yourself be carried away by where the music itself takes you.

JB: – What do you see for your extended future? You know what you have going on?

IT: – I’m optimist for my future, I’m happy with the music we are doing now.There are periods with a busier schedule and others are more relaxed. The main thing is to keep it going and leave it to fate to find you playing.

JB: – What’s an average day like for you?

IT: – It depends a lot. Are divided between playing piano, sitting at the computer to take care of business and music, and travelling.

JB: – Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music?

IT: – Sometimes I hide a personal meaning in the title or the lyrics. Some of them I have explained in public, and others I keep to myself.

JB: – Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.

IT: – I always listen and value any response from fans. Sometimes these responses arrive under the form of a tap on the back, letting me know it’s worth keeping it going. Others, could be a suggestion to follow or not, but always to consider.

OUR US/EU Jazz and Blues Association 2023

JB: – What is your favorite part about this line of work? Your least favorite?

IT: – My favourite part is playing on stage. My least favourite is trying to look for new opportunities to play.

JB: – Have you ever had to deal with performance anxiety?

IT: – No. But some concerts involve special responsibility, which makes me nervous.

JB: – Tell me about your favorite performance venues?

IT: – I like both; big halls with a good acoustics -like classical music halls- or jazz clubs prepared with good musical instruments and material, because of the proximity to the audience.

JB: – What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

IT: – Music is not only playing; it is about all the fields related to it, and even you don’t like it, you have to deal with them too in order to be doing your thing on a stage.

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Interview by Elléa Beauchêne