"Questions, Questions..."
A series of interviews with the members of The Latin Jazz
Discussion List. All the questions were submitted by other members
of the group, their peers. Each artist was given a number of
questions with the option of answering as many as they wished.
Further discussion with the artist in this forum is invited...
Today's Subject:
Rick Davies
Trombonist Composer/Arranger
Based in Brooklyn and Plattsburgh, New York.
I have been active on the New York music scene for the past
two decades.
Although I have worked a lot in the jazz and pop fields, my main
area of
focus has been with Latin and Caribbean styles. I have performed
on scores
of Haitian, calypso, salsa, jazz and pop recordings. During my
years in New
York, I have played with Johnny Colon, Charlie Palmieri, Tito
Puente, Ray
Santos, Libre, and many other well known salsa musicians and
groups. My main
salsa association for the past 15 years has been with Wayne Gorbea
and Salsa
Picante. I am the musical director of this Bronx-based band and
have
written a number of pieces for their recordings. Most recently
I have been
leading a Latin jazz group called Jazzismo, which has performed
at clubs
around NYC and has a CD coming out this summer. I received a
Ph.D. in jazz
performance from New York University in 1999 (my dissertation
was on Cuban
trumpeter Chocolate Armenteros) and I recently became an assistant
professor
of jazz studies at the SUNY-Plattsburgh campus in upstate New
York.
Website: www.jazzismo.com.
Latest CD: Saboreando by Wayne Gorbea and Salsa Picante, and
the upcoming
Salsa Strut by Rick Davies and Jazzismo.
Q. "Tell us a little about your childhood - where were
you born and raised?"
I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I graduated
from
Rio Grande high school and the University of New Mexico. My professional
music career started in the southwest, where I performed with
various rhythm
and blues and Tex-Mex bands and musicians. My first experience
in Latin
music was playing and recording with Tejano musicians like Al
"Hurricane"
Sanchez and his family. I was also exposed at this time to California
Latin
rock bands like Azteca and Malo who traveled to New Mexico at
various times.
Q. "Who was the most influential person in your life
that affected you,and
your decision to become an artist?
My earliest musical influences were my father who was an outstanding
baritone singer form Wales and my older brother Leonard who introduced
me to
the world of jazz via recordings when I was ten years old. I
think it was
his recordings of Miles Davis that sent me on my wayward path
to becoming a
musician.
Q. "When did you first fall in love with Latin music
- or - when did you
first choose Latin music as a career path? Can you remember which
band or
artist turned you on?"
Although I had been exposed early on to Tejano and Latin rock
music, it
was my exposure to salsa and Latin jazz when I moved to New York
that
solidified my love of the music. I especially recall my first
experiences
seeing the big bands of Machito and Tito Puente as pushing me
in the Latin
music direction.
Q. "What piece or pieces of music made the most impact
on you and why?"
In terms of Latin music, the recorded pieces that have had
the most
impact on my musical perception are early the 1970s Eddie Palmieri
songs
such as Bilongo and Justicia that feature trumpet solos by Chocolate.
I am
also influenced by the Latin jazz of Kenny Dorham and by numerous
jazz
recordings.
Q. "Who's an artist you think more people should be aware
of..."
Although the scene has been getting more play lately, I think
hard core
NYC salsa musicians and band such as Wayne Gorbea, Willie Villegas,
Jimmy
Bosch, Jovenes del Barrio and others should get much more exposure.
I might
be prejudiced but I think that the music of the current generation
of
NYC-based salseros (sans salsa romantica) is at least as important
and vital
as the much more bally-hooed music coming out of Cuba these days
(e.g. NG La
Banda, Los Van Van, etc.) To me the New York style simply swings
more.
Q."At what hour of the day are you most productive and
why?"
In terms of what hour of the day I am most productive, I would
say I
tend to get more done early in the day but I am more creative
in the wee
small hours. I tend to get my best ideas late at night.
Q. "Are you a song writer?"
I have done a lot of writing especially in the instrumental
mode. Two of
my instrumentals (Strut and Calle Loca) were recorded by Wayne
Gorbea and
have been dance club hits in Europe. I have not done much lyric
writing but
I have recently started collaborating with the Ecuadorian poet
Fernando
Iturburu and our song La Fiesta del Bronx is currently being
played by Salsa
Picante. This coming summer a CD by my Latin jazz group Jazzismo
is being
released and contains seven of my original compositions. The
group on the CD
includes Sam Furnace, Arturo O'Farrill, Harvie Swartz, Vince
Cherico, and
Juan Rodríguez.
Q. "What kinds of things do you do to inspire your writing?"
While I try to use a sophisticated jazz harmonic palette when
I compose,
the most important concerns to me are melodic lyricism and strict
adherence
to the laws of clave. At this point in my composing career rhythmic
swing is
the most important factor.
Q. "What things do you practice day to day?"
In terms of practicing, I have to deal like all brass players
with chop
maintenance and development. Therefore, I spend a considerable
amount of
time on technical exercises. I have also been transcribing a
number of solos
by Cuban trumpet players. I did a number of Chocolate solos for
my
dissertation and am currently focusing on the solos of Felix
Chappottin for
an upcoming book on Cuban trumpet playing. After gathering this
material I
try and incorporate some of it into my own soloing style.
Q. "What are your priorities when you go to the stage?"
When performing on stage with a salsa band, it is important
not to
detract from the swing of the band. I always watch the dancers
and key up
to the percussionists and the bass tumbao. Whether I'm playing
a horn line
or a solo, I always try and add to the rhythmic momentum. While
swing is an
important element in jazz and Latin jazz, the latter is much
less forgiving
of rhythmic irregularities.
Q. "How do you see yourself in relation to the 'tradition'?"
My relationship with the "tradition" is an ongoing
educational process.
As both a musician and a scholar, I am constantly listening to,
analyzing,
and researching music from the Afro-Cuban continuum. Only by
being exposed
to the various periods of the tradition from Sexteto Habanero
to Arsenio
Rodríguez to New York salsa and beyond can a musician
come to a greater
understanding of this music. It is also important to listen to
the music of
similar genres such as the music of Brazil and other South American
and
Caribbean countries.
Q. "What music do you listen to when you are relaxing?"
When relaxing I like to listen to a wide variety of styles
from Handel
to hip hop. I also like to listen to music from other areas of
the world
such as India and Africa. Finally, I always go back to my original
love
which is jazz. Nothing makes me feel better than listening to
Lester Young
working out with the Count Basie band.
Q. "Give us a mental image of your favorite view in the
world".
Being from New Mexico, my favorite all-time view is of the
Sangre de
Christo mountains from the desert west of Taos. The contrast
between the
cactus and piñon laden high-country desert and the blood
red 13,000-foot
Rocky Mountain peaks is breathtaking. The quarter mile deep Rio
Grande gorge
in between significantly enhances this view.
Q. "If you have children what kind of musical education
have you given them
or do you intend to give them?"
I don't have children but I always try and instill in my music
students
a combination of rigorous discipline and open-minded creativity.
Q. "What does the music you play do for you, emotionally,
spiritually,
socially, whichever-other-ly?
Music is a microcosm of life. When everything is going right
music can
enhance your life in most ways. Conversely, music can at times
be a
struggle and a torment. Because an art form is an outward manifestation
of
the inner life of the artist, by developing the quality of our
music we can
also improve our life emotionally, spiritually, and socially.
Q. "What changes or landmarks in your life can you attribute
to the music
you play?"
I'm sure that my life would have been totally different if
I hadn't been
a musician. Instead of having toured the world and meeting some
of the most
interesting people out there, I probably would have been a mousy
accountant
or something similar in Albuquerque. While there has been a lot
of
dues-paying in my life because of music, I think the benefits
have far
outweighed the downers.
Q. "When the music is at it's best in your opinion, what
is it that's
happening (to make it the best) and what do you feel?
In my opinion, music is at its best when there is a high level
of
communication going on between the musicians in the group and
between the
musicians and the audience. The high points of a musical performance
are
those rare moments when all the participants converge onto the
same
wavelength. In Latin music this also involves dancing on the
part of the
audience and I always watch the dancers when I perform.
Q. "What one CD of those you have recorded would you
keep if the others were
forever lost??!!"
Although it would be a hard decision to make, the CD I would
keep of the
ones I've recorded would probably be Wayne Gorbea and Salsa Picante's
Saboreando.
Q. "What one CD of someone else's would you keep if all
others were
lost??!!"
If I could only keep one album by someone else it would be
My Funny
Valentine by Miles Davis.
Q. "Name an all-star band of your favorite musicians
(and arrangers) or one
band for each genre (charanga, conjunto, big band, etc.)"
My all-star list will contain a few players on each instrument.
Piano: Chucho Valdez, Eddie Palmieri, Wayne Gorbea
Bass: Andy Gonzalez, Harvie Swartz, Johnny Torres, Joe Santiago
Drums: Steve Berrios, Vince Cherico, Willie Martinez
Percussion: Jerry Gonzalez, Chembo, Patato
Saxophone: Sam Furnace, Mario Rivera, Mauricio Smith
Trumpet: Chocolate Armenteros, Ray Vega, Tomer Levy
Trombone: Jimmy Bosch, Papo Vasquez, Lewis Kahn, Reynaldo Jorge
Singer: Gilberto Santa Rosa, Ruben Blades
Q. "What musicians would you most like to play with,
now living on earth or
elsewhere?"
I've been lucky in my career to have played with many of the
best
musicians out there. Of the musicians I haven't played with and
would like
to, Cachao is high on the list. I'd also like to jam with the
Buena Vista
Social club crowd and with Eddie Palmieri.
Q. "What band or musicians would you have wanted to play
with from the past
and why?"
It is difficult to make a short list of musicians from the
past that I
would have wanted to play with. In Latin music this would include
Beny More
and Arsenio Rodriguez. As a brass player I would have liked to
have been in
the horn section with Felix Chappottin and Generoso Jimenez.
Dead jazz
musicians I would have liked to hang with include Charlie Parker,
Clifford
Brown, Lee Morgan, and Kenny Dorham. Unfortunately, J.J. Johnson
has
recently joined this list of immortals.
Q. "Are critics important? Or do you rather see your
music reviewed in the
vanity press?Are you susceptible to bad reviews?".
Critics are important in publicizing the music, but they can
be
deleterious if they let their egos get in the way. They should
strive to be
objective and descriptive rather than Judgmental in their comments.
Q. "Do you believe in music as art, as opposed to a product
for
merchandising?"
While the merchandizing of music will always be with us, the
most
important music does not include mass marketing as one of its
primary goals.
When we look back over the history of our music the classic recordings
have
seldom been the biggest selling ones.
Q. "Would you still be a musician even if that means
you´ll die of hunger?"
If you starve to death you won't be a musician. While great
wealth has
never been one of my goals as a musician, I don't think poverty
is a
necessary ingredient in the production of good music.
Q. "If you had to choose a short segment (a few bars)
from your work to
represent you, which would it be?"
If I had to choose a short segment from the work I've done
to represent
me it would be a trombone solo from a live recording of a gig
by Wayne
Gorbea and Salsa Picante or a similar type of band such as Libre.
As a
composer I would pick one of my songs from Gorbea's recordings
or from my
upcoming Jazzismo CD.
Q. "What food would you most liken your music to?"
I'd like to think my music is like my favorite food: green
chile from
southern New Mexico.
Q. "Do you believe in aliens? (HAHAHAHA!)"
I believe in aliens because I see them on MTV. What could
be more alien
than Britney Spears or NSYNC.
Q. "One piece of advice for musicians"
My advice for musicians is to lighten up and have some fun.
I think a
lot of musicians get so serious and worked up about their art
form that they
lose the sense of joy and fun that is the mark great music especially
dance-oriented music.
Q. "One piece of advice for listeners (or dancers)"
Listeners and dancers should be more adventurous. We are all
familiar
with dancers who only want to hear merengues because it's too
hard to dance
to salsa. Part of the reason for the shallowness of many Latin
music fans is
the lack of radio play for all but the most commercially oriented
music. The
big radio stations should be impelled to abandon their criminally
incestuous
payola-based programming collusion with major labels. If the
listener were
given more choices, they would probably develop a greater depth
of musical
taste.
Q. "One piece of advice for life"
While I don't subscribe to the notion that musicians make
the best
social commentators, I think their dedication to their craft
and their
search for perfection does set an example for our often superficial
society
with its lack of belief in anything other than the basest creature
comforts.
Credits:
Allan Johnston - format questions
Eliseo Cardona - translations
Lea esta entrevista en Español visite
www.anapapaya.com
