In conversation with chris potter
By Frederick Bernas
Music definitely gets to a different place when youre playing live, states Chris Potter. The saxophonist sits nonchalantly in the lobby of a London hotel, as conventional Muzak drones ironically in the background. He is due at Ronnie Scotts club for a gig with Underground, his bass-less quartet that integrates the funkier side of jazz with a strong progressive aesthetic. This energy thing builds up with the audience and its very exciting, Potter continues, referring to Undergrounds Follow The Red Line: Live at the Village Vanguard (Sunnyside, 2007), the third live CD he has released.
When I established this band I was thinking about trying to use some of the influences I hadnt expressed so explicitly beforelike how much time Ive spent with James Brown and Stevie Wonder, later Miles and the whole funk thing. It also feels like sometimes we get into this real kind of harmolodic Ornette-funk thing. There are a lot of influences that come and go, but I think were figuring out how to put them together in our own way, through our own four personalities.
The project sees Potter joined by Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes, guitarist Adam Rogers and drummer Nate Smitha combination he feels is starting to develop very fruitfully. Theyre all really strong musicians; I dont have to think about whether theyll be able to play something Ive written or not, I know theyll come up with something unique. They all have such interesting backgrounds. Craigs frame of reference is huge: hes way into a lot of stuff I dont know anything about, punk bands and this and thata completely different world. And I hear that in things he goes for sometimes, hes able to somehow bring it in. Nate originally started to play in churchyou know, gospeland hes got this thing when its funk, but its really warm and easy to play with. Its not that mechanical machine thing at all, its really soulful and pretty mad to mix with Craig. And Adam has so many different ways he can go and so many beautiful sonic things he does with the guitar. Hes amazing at finding some part within the whole matrix of the thing that really makes it come alive, besides playing great solos. And then I try and just not get in the way!
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This faithfully minimalist, open attitude fosters a creative chemistry that manifests itself in all kinds of ways: sparks fly at live shows. For Potter, the group represents an open book of possibilities that help him to grow and figure out how he can pull together all his strands of thought into a coherent musical statement. For a while, I made a rule for myself that I wasnt going to write anything longer than a page for Underground, he explains. Ive since broken that rule, but its still that kind of bare minimum of material: just a mood and some ideas to work with, but not too much. I want to hear what they bring into it. If theres some specific idea I have for a tune and its not going in that direction, maybe Ill say something, but I prefer to say as little as possible. Its an organic approach, as much as I can doI dont want to stifle it.
Despite heavy demand for Underground (this interview took place at the start of a significant European tour), Potter always finds time to work with a wide variety of other leaders, from Herbie Hancock to Ari Hoenig. With 14 albums under his own name, the saxophonist would be perfectly entitled to follow many of his peers by focusing on personal projects. Its a complicated situation, a funny balance, according to Potter. I get a lot out of playing with a lot of different people, but its a question I ask myself: am I shooting myself in the foot, in a way, by doing too much other stuff? I dont know exactly what the right answer is, but I can imagine just wanting to be on the road a little less than I have been, because its been a lot. But, on the other hand, if somebody calls you for a really good gig, it seems a very strange thing to say no. You know how musicians are, dying for a good gig, wondering if anyones ever going to call youyouve always got to have that in the back of your mind, he states modestly.
Furthermore, he is quick to acknowledge lessons learned from sideman experiencestarting right back at age 18, when he played hard bop with Charlie Parkers long-time trumpet partner Red Rodney. That was a real introduction to what it was like being on the international jazz scene. And it was great playing with someone whos a master of the bebop language as a real first generation thing. It was really something special to be playing Bird lines with him, knowing he played them with Bird.
In terms of band leadership, Potter talks about how to approach music as being a key facet of what hes picked up. Major mentors include Paul Motian and Dave Holland: Everyone has a different approach, like the way Dave Holland is. He has a very methodical way of working through ideas, which has been very influential to me. But on the other side, working a lot with Paul Motian has been useful as a completely opposite thing: as un-analytical as possible. Freedom. Just going with your aesthetic instinct and not at all thinking about whether youre painting inside the lines or not. So, between those extremes, and a lot of other people too, I feel its been very useful for my overall approach to music and leading bands.
Both these musical ideologies prevail in Potters recent work. As well as ongoing development of the freewheeling Underground, his 2007 release Song For Anyone (Sunnyside) features a series of compositions for tenteta group including instruments not normally seen in a jazz context, such as strings. That was something Id been wanting to do for years and years, he explains. I never really studied that much composition in college, definitely not orchestration. It was a little bit like I didnt really know what I was doing, but I just went for it anyway. It was so exciting for me to hear real people playing it and hear it actually come true, it makes me want to do more someday. I havent yet, but when I listen to that record I think how did I manage to get all that work done? It was a way for me to explore a new compositional side.
Making the album also planted the idea of spontaneous composition in Potters mind. It entails a slightly refined, contextualised approach to traditional improvisation, as he was required to view solos as only one part of a broader written structurerather than a separate entity existing of its own accord. I think I improved as an improviser by thinking about the composition from start to finish, not just improvisation that goes somewhere on its own. I had to think about it beforehand, and have a chance to plan whats going to go where, lead to what, and when. It helped me think more compositionally as an improviser.
Another knock-on effect has been fresh interest in spontaneous group composition, an idea he has been exploring with Underground. Ive been thinking about my role in that kind of situationhow to add whats necessary and get out of the way when its not necessary. Its a tricky thing. How free? It doesnt matter if it has a form or not, were still trying to be as free with it as we canwhatever that means. Even when its within a certain set of guidelines, the feeling that its creative and growing comes from the freedom. Maybe choosing to play the written material sometimes, and judiciously choosing when to go away from that, doesnt make it seem any less free than completely free playing.
Potters album Gratitude (Verve, 2001) saw the saxophonist pay eloquent tributes to his key inspirators on the instrumentSonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Eddie Harris and Ornette Coleman included. When asked which of his own contemporaries Potter draws on, he spoke of a mutual cross-pollination they all use to raise the bar. I really enjoy David Binney, the writing especially. Also Mark Turner, Chris Cheek, Seamus Blake, Josh Redman, whoevers at a high level. But its funny, I think its just a different feeling we all tend to have about people who are from our same generation versus people who are older. Were all looking up to Wayne [Shorter] and whoever and thinking wowyou know, he just doesnt seem human! But I think its just a natural thing, a generational thing. In some way, I feel like with all the other saxophone players of my age its more like trading ideas back and forth a little bit. I think we all influence each other, or at least they influence me!
This reflects the rich unity of New Yorks contemporary scene, which is becoming increasingly vital amidst the music industrys apparent impending doom. As major record labels are forced to downscale or completely abandon jazz-related activities, little collectives of like-minded artists are coming to the forethink Dave Douglass Greenleaf Music or John Zorns flourishing Tsadik imprint. The trend has made its way overseas: budding independent operations are rising in London, with musicians eager to work together and spread a shared message. Potter asserts that, of course, we just want to make music, not spend time on all that admin stuff, but also understands that most people are accepting they have to do a bit of both, especially when theyre starting off.
His vision for the future (hes still a thirty-something) sits on the principle of a perpetually open mind: What any artist is ultimately trying to do is express their view of life and what it feels like to be alive. I definitely want to approach music in a way that, until the end of my life, it will be growing, and Ill still be growingI hope Ill be open enough to react to whats happening and smart enough to recognise something good when I see it or avoid something bad when I see it. That day-to-day search for inspiration isnt even really a search, its just recognising it when it happens.
With an Underground studio album freshly recorded, a customarily busy gig schedule and a collaboration featuring Dave Holland, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Eric Harland in the pipeline, 2009 looks like it will be another good one for Chris Potter. Speaking again of the Underground band, he is clearly enthused: I feel that now its starting to find its own language, which is exciting for me to be part of. It keeps getting better and better. Long may this continue.
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March 23, 2009 · 0 comments
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