Interviews

The Pat Martino Interview by Trefor Owen PAT MARTINO has perhaps been the most popular and enduring of the young jazz guitarists who emerged in the latter years of the sixties. A precocious talent, his hard-swinging […]

“I try to choose transcripts that contribute something. Then I transcribe the music bar by bar (sometimes note by note). Above all, I spend a lot of time trying to make the rhythm as precise […]

“I’ve always favoured pragmatism over artistic struggle! I’ve always made sure my rent and bills were covered by a nice teaching job, so I could pick and choose the gigs that I take – I’m […]

“If I could do it all over again, after I heard Joe Pass play, I should have gotten simple vocal versions of the tunes he was playing by great singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie […]

“During my last year in college, I got a call from Van Morrison. I rehearsed with him for a while, on bass, and he asked me to go across country on tour with him. But […]

“One day I was playing a gig in Israel and a tenor saxophone player asked if he could sit in. That was Steve Grossman. After I picked my jaw off the floor, I was amazed […]

“I was never particularly insecure on the instrument, because as I hinted at, I didn’t ever set out to be the ‘best’ guitarist at all and was always aware that there were others that would […]

“The best part about being a musician is that my ability to hear what’s going on musically while I’m listening to music continues to get better and better. Ultimately listening to music is one of […]

“I love learning tunes and being able to play them as a pianist would.  Then, to be honest, I think that the feeling that I was always playing catch-up, the feeling of not being good […]

“A major influence in my musical life and more was the pianist Mike Longo who was Dizzy Gillespie’s musical director during the 60’s. I may not be playing if I had not connected with Mike. […]