Interview with tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds. An interview by email in writing. All very bad, not music, only trash!

Jazz Blues: – First, let’s start out with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music. How exactly did your adventure take off? When did you realize that this was a passion you could make a living out of?

Cory Weeds։ – I grew up in Burnaby,, BC, Canada. My father is a guitarist and although he doesn’t do it as a profession, being a musician was never something that was frowned upon in our household. I’m not sure that my parents envisioned things going quite the way they did but I was always encouraged to follow my dreams.

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I՛m not sure if there was a moment I realized I could make a living in Jazz, I think I was just so focused on being a part of the music that things just happened the way they happened.

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

CW: – I’m not sure that I ever set up to have my own sound, push the music forward, innovate. I think innovation is highly overrated. The very core of the music I love is based on improvisation so every time I blow into my saxophone it is 100% me. That is all the innovation I need.

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

CW: – I’m at a point in my career where as much as I want to try to practice and get better it is hard. I still try to play my horn every day and it’s usually what I would call maintenance practice. Long tones, overtones, finger exercises, learning tunes, transcribing something that I heard one of my favorite players doing etc. I also like to work on tunes that have always caused me trouble like Stablemates for example, so I’ll make playing that tune part of my practice routine.

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

CW: – Of course, I’m always changing. Life informs my music. Joy, sadness, tragedy, wins, losses…it all informs my music. I like to think of myself․

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

CW: – I guess you have some intellect but having soul is what makes the music sound good. Im 90% sould and 10% intellect, maybe even 97% 3%

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

CW: – Okay with if? If I don’t deliver it I have failed miserably.

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

CW: – That is a very tough question. We have to make the music accessible to them first of all. Have you looked at the prices of jazz in New York City? It’s impossible to be a fan in that city and support the music at those prices. We need to bring the music to the kids and educate them on why it is so hip. I can see a shift. It’s small but its positive. We need to take the perceived hipper jazz and modern jazz and who youngsters how it filters bac.

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

CW: – That’s way too deep for me. Im trying to play music, bring people joy, bring myself joy and be a good person.

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

CW: – I wish we could make streaming pay more royalties.

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JB։ – Whom do you find yourself listening to these days?

CW: – Been checking out a lot of Sonny Rollins of late cause Im reading the book that came out by Aiden Levy I believe is his name. Its fantastic so I have been checking out all the recordings he referenced which is a lot.

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

CW: – New York. My one regret in life is I didn’t spend more time in New York City.

JB: – All very bad, not music, only trash!

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Interview by Elléa Beauchêne