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(INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6)<br />
drums differently, from adding a closed hi-hat to a<br />
floor tom on the left. I sometimes took the actual licks<br />
I learned and inverted them and voiced them<br />
differently. I also exposed myself to other styles of<br />
music. If you’re only listening to a couple players, that<br />
will be the limit of your vocabulary and what you’re<br />
referencing.<br />
TNYCJR: What is your focus with students?<br />
DW: To evaluate their ability on the kit and what is<br />
missing from their drumming so that I can help them.<br />
I ask what they want to get out of the lessons, what<br />
their goals are. Some want to know about Freddie<br />
Gruber and his stick control method; others want to<br />
know about traditional grip. I look at the fundamentals<br />
from ergonomic setup issues to drumming from an<br />
open viewpoint. My curriculum covers topics from<br />
technique to body movement, from understanding<br />
different ways of manipulating the sticks to different<br />
styles, from understanding dynamics to knowing how<br />
to let the sticks do most of the work. The focus is the<br />
sound that is developed and the feel that is created, not<br />
the technique involved. And to get the student to stop<br />
thinking about drums and to support musically what’s<br />
going on in the group, not to be a negative distraction<br />
in any way but to provide a comfort zone for your<br />
bandmates. It’s about playing with other musicians.<br />
That’s the fun of it, the live interaction and creating the<br />
story together.<br />
TNYCJR: What are you listening to at the moment?<br />
DW: With all the mixing and recording work I do,<br />
sometimes silence is golden, but I have to mention<br />
Gonzalo Grau y La Clave Secreta’s Frutero Moderno. It’s<br />
great! Like Tito Puente meets Stan Kenton. Just great<br />
writing; the music is fantastic. Gonzalo and I are<br />
talking about doing something together.<br />
TNYCJR: If you had to pick three of your recordings as<br />
favorites?<br />
DW: That’s very tough, but I was very proud of Dave<br />
Grusin presents West Side Story. We really killed that big<br />
band music. And my latest recording with Makoto<br />
Ozone, Gary Meek and Tom Kennedy, Of The Same<br />
Mind. And I have to cite one of my older band CDs,<br />
Transition. v<br />
For more information, visit daveweckl.com. Weckl is at<br />
Iridium Apr. 12th-14th. See Calendar.<br />
Recommended Listening:<br />
• Chick Corea Elektric Band—Eponymous (GRP, 1986)<br />
• Chick Corea Akoustic Band—Alive (GRP, 1989)<br />
• GRP All-Star Big Band—Eponymous (GRP, 1992)<br />
• Michel Camilo—Rendezvous (Columbia, 1993)<br />
• Dave Weckl Band—Live (And Very Plugged In)<br />
(Stretch-Concord, 2002)<br />
• Dave Weckl Band—Multiplicity<br />
(Stretch-Concord, 2005)<br />
(LABEL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11)<br />
groove, “Bonfa” would keep any Saturday night party<br />
flowing and “Introducing Mago” will warm the cockles<br />
of fans of Albert Ayler’s blowouts or the original<br />
organ-trio incarnation of Tony Williams Lifetime.<br />
Amulet also reissued drummer Bob Moses’ lost mid<br />
‘70s indie/avant classic Bittersuite in the Ozone, making<br />
it available on CD for the first time.<br />
Amulet’s latest release is Martin’s soundtrack to<br />
the Japanese film The Shell Collector, directed by<br />
Yoshifumi Tsubota. While not academically trained,<br />
Martin composed a lush, varied and truly cinematic<br />
sonic landscape, interweaving improvisation. “I didn’t<br />
study with composers but I’ve worked with many,”<br />
says Martin, learning as he went along. “I did some<br />
studies at Juilliard but I’m primarily self-taught.”<br />
To realize this soundtrack, Martin drew upon an<br />
impressive pool of talent: Steve Turre (on conch shells),<br />
Bernstein, Rothenberg, Baptista and bandmates<br />
Medeski and Wood.<br />
As to running things, “It’s a difficult business,”<br />
says Martin, especially in light of the way digital<br />
distribution has affected the way some people listen<br />
to—and purchase—music in the past few years. But<br />
Martin is undaunted; along with CD, vinyl and digital<br />
formats, there may even be cassette releases in the<br />
label’s future. (Cassettes die hard.) Martin says,<br />
“Amulet is like a non-profit and it’s not about being<br />
commercially viable. It’s about sharing something with<br />
the world. I’m proud to have over 40 releases and<br />
I encourage others to do it to, to have control [over their<br />
artistic endeavors].” Now there are a couple of words<br />
that we don’t hear enough of in these selfish, bottomline<br />
driven times: “Share” and “Encourage”. Not only<br />
does Martin know music but he also does something—<br />
with and for it via his eclectic Amulet label. v<br />
For more information, visit amuletrecords.com. Martin is at<br />
Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center Apr. 6th with Ned<br />
Rothenberg. See Calendar.<br />
BROOKLYN<br />
CENTER for the PERFORMING<br />
ARTS<br />
AT BROOKLYN COLLEGE<br />
Regina Carter’s<br />
Southern Comfort<br />
Sat, Apr 16 at 8pm; $35<br />
Straighten Up & Fly Right:<br />
The Nat King Cole Tribute<br />
Featuring Ramsey Lewis and John Pizzarelli<br />
A Con Edison Music Masters Series Event<br />
Sun, May 1 at 3pm; $40<br />
BrooklynCenter.org<br />
or 718-951-4500<br />
Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College<br />
2 to Flatbush Avenue / on-site paid parking available<br />
Supported by:<br />
Photo: David Katzenstein<br />
46 APRIL 2016 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
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