Interview for Italian Jazz Magazine  24/02/06

How do you feel after your debut album? Is it a realized dream or the beginning of a slope?

The Roughneck album gave me a real sense of achievement, it was an outlet for a lot of my early jazz influences and something I'd wanted to do for a while.  I've literally just walked in from a gig with the Roughneck band – and it's going from strength to strength as an organic live entity, and I'm very excited at the prospect of the new album that we're working on.

Which guitarist has been very important in your formation? And who's the most influential one in the contemporary jazz scene?

The obvious ones being Grant Green, along with Wes Montgomery, early George Benson, and Gabor Szabo. But I think over the years I've always been more interested in other instruments, or mainly group sounds and producers.  Some of my favorite music being made at the moment is by Gerardo Frisina, who I'm sure you'll know.

With jazz (but also with funk) strings hav a a relationship that is not fluid nor immediate with wind instruments. Do you agree and how do you make up for this difficult, or you don't agree?

I understand what you mean, and as far as jazz is concerned I do agree. Although I think with funk – the guitar, as part of the rhythm section, is totally essential and has a very concrete roll. 

It took me a long time to find my voice within jazz, from the start of my jazz listening education at 14 till probably 20 years old – until I heard the hammond organ / guitar combination – then it all started making sense.  However, it still took till 32 to find a strong voice within a more traditional acoustic setting, and this I guess is a lot down to the composing and personnel.  Currently I'm using Malcolm Strachan on trumpet – an amazingly natural player – not because he's playing trumpet, but because he's Malcolm, and we understand each other.  This is the most important ingredient of making music for me – having the right players around you, so you can build up trust and freedom of expression.

Could you please tell us something about "Costa del soul" and about your passion for this musical genre, and for the  Meters..

Costa Del Soul I wrote quite a long time ago when I was running a band playing a sound like Larry Young's 'Unity' or Big John Patton's 'Accent on the Blues'.  But when I recorded it for the Roughneck album, as with allot of the tracks, I was trying to achieve a deep Afro Jazz sound, mixing it with a modern perspective and repetition – an influence from 20 years of dance music, rooted in tribal sounds. 

As for the Meters..well, their music just moves me – I feel it so much, and it's just what comes out when I pick up the guitar...just so natural.

Could you please tell us something about some more tracks of "Roughneck" you think are particularly important?

The tunes I'm most proud of are Every Goodbye and New Life, in a compositional way, and for a real personal outlet of feelings.  I also never get tired of playing my arrangement of Lose Yourself – a momentary sentiment expressed when I was asked to play with Lou Donaldson on his UK tour – "the music, the moment.....if you ever had an opportunity..". 

What about the experience with New Mastersounds and the way you recorded "Roughneck"…

The concept for Roughneck was born one night at the Jazz Cafe in London, talking to Adrian Gibson, a good friend and the man behind the great club.  We were discussing the idea of making some furious hard bop with raw funk production - and that was it -  Diggin Around (named after his club night Messin Around- and my affiliation to Leeds' DJ/club promoters the DIG! Family)  I recorded all of Roughneck in the same studio as I always use for the New Mastersounds, and the same engineer Richard Formby.

What about the english jazz scene that, in the last period, at least from our point of observation, seems to be living a period of crisis..

Not from where I'm standing – based in Leeds, this city has so much amazing music going on. I travel a lot and rarely find a city with an equal scene  – But, unfortunately, underground music is ignored by the press and media and brushed aside as 'simply retro'.  And I guess that's the exported impression that you're getting.  I feel it's changing, slowly, but definatley changing.