By Vittorio Lo Conte
After his "From Starry Nights To Sunrise", recorded in Germany and published
by Splasc(h) Records we meet Sicilian drummer Calogero
Marrali to talk about his debut CD.
AAJ: Before coming back to Sicily you played drums just about everywhere.
When did you decide to dedicate yourself to this instrument? Was there an artist
like Elvin Jones or Max Roach that made you say, "This is the
instrument I want to play!"?
Calogero Marrali: I think music is an innate gift that comes to light early in life.
As a boy, I followed around my cousin who played guitar, learning a chord here
and there. In the same period, that is, about 1966, I started beating my mom's
pots and pans and the detergent barrels. It was such an obsession that I even
played the glasses at the dinner table using knives as drumsticks to the point
of driving my parents crazy.
Around that time, somebody gave me a record of
Gene Krupa and one of Max Roach with Clifford Brown which
made a profound impression on me and from then on I never stopped dedicating
myself to this instrument.
AAJ: Did you play jazz from the beginning or did you start with other kinds of
music styles?
C.M.: I started playing with a rock band that played the melodic rock of Deep
Purple and other such bands. I would have liked to have started with jazz,
but it was practically impossible to find somebody who played
jazz where I lived, so I played it by myself in the basement, listening to the few
records I had over and over again.
AAJ: There is a huge difference between Gene Krupa's big band rhythms
and those of Max Roach. Did you have, at the beginning, a weakness for big band
musicians like Krupa or Buddy Rich?
C.M.: I think I had a weakness for Big Bands. Not until 1975 did I find
the famous M.M.O.. My father toured a lot and he brought me one from New
York: "Music Minus One Drummer - You" by Sonny Truitt and Jim
Chapin, with Clark Terry, Sonny Russo, Bob Wilber and
many others. It was one of the best gifts I've ever had in my life and I still
guard it jealously.
AAJ: What brought you to Germany? The majority of musicians wants to go to New
York.
C.M.: It's a long story, but I'll tell it briefly. While I studied for
admission to the conservatory, I also studied drums with Mauro Gerardi,
then the drummer of Italian rock star Vasco Rossi, to get in depth
knowledge in the study of
drumming. He gave me a great technical preparation.
At the time, approximately
1979, I was playing in the Bologna area where I met a girl, Toni, now my
wife. She came here from S. Francisco to improve her Italian and then went back
to the U.S.A. to complete her university studies. She told me that she wanted
to go to Germany to improve her German and I decided to follow her.
From that
time on, I go to the U.S.A. often.
AAJ: Which were your first recordings?
C.M.: My first recording dates back to 1987; in Ulm I recorded for a German Quartet
and in 1990 in a studio in Palermo I recorded for the Loredana Melodia
Quintet.
AAJ: Where you satisfied with those recordings?
C.M.: At first I was, but, listening to them later, I thought maybe I could have
done a better job. This happens to me every time I work in studio.
AAJ: With which musicians did you perform in Germany? Many German musicians are
unknown abroad even though they're very good musicians.
C.M.: I played and still play with the Petrocca Brothers: Lorenzo,
Davide, Franco and Antonio, with whom I share a good
friendship and esteem and then Thilo Wagner, Joachim Scheu,
Helmut Siegle, Oscar Klein and others.
AAJ: With whom do you perform in the USA?
C.M.: In the USA I play with George Benson...just kidding, of course.
I have many friends that play jazz, but, unfortunately, they're not
famous. Perhaps one day they will be and than they'll call me.
AAJ: Not all famous musicians are good musicians and viceversa; for
instance, the pianist Thilo Wagne belongs to the sencond category. Are
you happy with the end result of the collaboration with your sidemen in your
last CD? Can you talk a bit about this CD? To me it appeared as very mature, the
collective effort worked out pretty well.
C.M.: Thilo is a "World Class" musician and you're right - not all famous
musicians are good musicians and viceversa. Thilo can be both
traditional and modern, however and whenever he wants to, not to mention
Davide, who is only 23 years old and plays divinely. And last but non least,
Lorenzo who is unmistakably BRAVO. I'm extremely happy about how they
expressed themselves not only musically but also humanly. We recorded this CD
last march between gigs. Infact, we recorded the first piece the first morning
after assembling all the instruments and doing a sound check, then we
dismantled all the instruments and the same evening we went for a performance at
the Frankfurt Messen.
The next morning we were back in studio to complete the
recording. It all happend in a hurry, but, nonetheless, I think I produced what
I intended to, and, that is, to make good music and not a record dominated by
many drumming fills. Infact, before we went into the studio, I told
Lorenzo that I did not want this to be a drummer's CD, but the CD made by a complete
musician.
AAJ: Do you think this CD is a step ahead for you musically? Or do you think
your other productions have the same musical quality?
C.M.: In relation to what I've done up until now, I think that this CD, the first
one I've done as a leader, is a step ahead for my music. It's not that the other
productions in which I've taken part are better or worse, but this one is the
first I've done under my name and it marks the beginning of my discographic carrier
which will continue, I hope, in a positive way.
AAJ: What surprises do you have up your sleeve in the future for your listeners?
C.M.: My next CD will be with a "Big name" of the jazz scene which I'm not
anticipating since it is still in the planning stage.
This article is published courtesy of All About Jazz Italia:
www.allaboujtazz.com/italy
