By Javier Antonio Quiñones Ortiz
The following interview with pianist Kerry Politzer was recorded on July 30, 2002 at the WDNA 88.9 FM production studios in Miami.
All About Jazz: WhoÃÂs Charlie?
Kerry Politzer: Charlie is a wonderful teacher that I studied with. HeÃÂs out of Massachusetts and has a unique way of teaching. You can also study with him internationally, or nationally, by means of a cassette and sheet music.
AAJ: He provides master jazz correspondence courses of sorts.
KP: Yes, although I actually studied with him in person for four years. He had me do a lot of transcribing and composition because he teaches you all about trying to find your own voice while also giving you an education in the history of jazz.
AAJ: Why do Charlie Banacos methods and ideas contribute so much to your musical development?
KP: I wasnÃÂt aware that he had a website.
AAJ: He has a website with instructions on how to contact him for study purposes. At the website, there are some blurbs from people that have been present and past students. It is evident that he does contribute, and has contributed, to a whole bunch of musicians. I wonder, however, what is the deal with whatever it is that he does for a musician such as you.
KP: At present, we are working on some compositions. IÃÂve actually finished, so far, a book of about 30 different harmonic studies that he provides with different chords and voicings. Then I write melodic lines with those chords. I remember in the beginning, however, that while I was studying at the New England Conservatory I had just started playing jazz because I was coming from being a Classical pianist. When you are going from Classical to jazz, you really donÃÂt know where to start. ItÃÂs really overwhelming. I did what a lot of other people do, which is to study some of the beboppers and to play verbatim what they played in licks. Therefore, when I first went to see Charlie, he had me play over Blues and I think I played verbatim some Wynton Kelly licks because I like him a lot. One of the first things he had me do, instead of copying people verbatim, was to write lines of my own by means of giving me different tryouts to work with. His approach is very personal for every individual and he started me off like that, with the compositional approach.
AAJ: It certainly proved to be fruitful as we can gather from both Yearning and Watercolor. You, however, described your experience coming into jazz from the Classical milieu as overwhelming. Of course, this is not the first time IÃÂve heard someone describe such a process under such terms. On the other hand, I wonder why do you think thatÃÂs so. One could think that a person, particularly a pianist, with such a cultured music background as Classical music provides, wouldÃÂve many resources for getting into jazz. Most pianists of note canÃÂt escape the Classical tradition, as that is how you get into the instrument itself. Perhaps out of ignorance ÃÂor both ignorance and curiosityÃÂ why is it so overwhelming, as you said, to move into jazz?
KP: First, because it is an entirely new tradition with its own repertoire. Another reason, for example, is the rhythmic aspect which is something that you really have to learn because that swing feel is found nowhere in Classical music. Actually, when I was at New England there was wonderful piano teacher named Bevin Mason and he had a class called ÃÂSwing ClassÃÂ that just focused on the basic swing rhythms because rhythm seems to be understudied. People mostly study the harmonies and neglect the rhythms so that kind of thing is not found nowhere in Classical music.
AAJ: In Yearning, rhythm is sort of the background of the production in the sense that it is heavily indebted to Brazilian rhythmic jazz which is very melodic too. Brazilian music and the Brazilian people have a unique sense of sensuality, swing and happiness. They are unique people and their music reflects so. We are talking, nonetheless, about several jumps here, from Classical to jazz, from jazz to Brazilian musicÃÂ
How did that happened?
KP: I think I had the good fortune to study with and to meet people who are well versed in these different traditions who turned me on to different recordings. Here in New York there is a drummer named Vanderlei Pereira who teaches a Brazilian workshop, as well as a Brazilian ensemble workshop where you go to his house and he teaches you how to play the percussion instruments such as the pandeiro. Then you get to the real nitty-gritty of the Brazilian feel, the Samba feel and Bahião. He really gets to the foundation of the Brazilian feel and how to get inside that feel and learn the different Brazilian standards. From there, I extrapolated and added my own influences in jazz and Classical harmonies to get where I got with Yearning.
AAJ: Was Charlie helpful in that regard? I would imagine so. He must be familiarized with Latin and Brazilian music.
KP: Well, with Charlie, for the four years I studied with him in person, the transcriptions were mostly focused on the jazz traditions. We really didnÃÂt do any Latin music. I think the most Latin we got was a transcription of ÃÂCorcovadoÃÂ with Chick Corea and Stan Getz.
AAJ: So the Brazilian venture is a much more personal, perhaps even individual, exploration in the sense that you didnÃÂt need as much guidance in that regard and let curiosity guide you so to speak.
KP: Well I find that I have a great love for Brazilian music, as a lot of other people do, and I just canÃÂt stop buying albums. The more albums I listen to, the more influenced I feel.
AAJ: You mentioned something that I consider a cause of celebration among musicians. You mentioned the fact that you had dedicated some time to study Brazilian percussion instruments. In some types of Latin music, for example, many of the most distinguished players were practitioners of Afro Cuban and different types of Afro Caribbean drumming traditions. I wonder how much of that learning experience we can find expressed in Yearning.
KP: You are right. There is a great deal of influence from that Brazilian class with Pereira in Yearning. In fact, he taught us about something called a Samba Cell, which is a rhythm, thereÃÂs almost a clave involved. Like ÃÂRevelationÃÂ on Yearning where I used what you would call a clave on the upbeat side for the Samba in that entire song. I really did use some of the techniques we learned in that class even to write the melodies.
AAJ: In the case of ÃÂRevelationÃÂ as you mentioned, it is my understanding also that the composition is important in your musical development. Tell me a little bit about that.
KP: Well, I was very fortunate with that composition to get an honorable mention in the 2000 John Lennon Song Writing Competition. It also got a Third Prize in the Mid-Atlantic Song Competition of 2000.
AAJ: You have managed to make some inroads in certain circles with your ability to compose, although as a young jazz pianist you are surrounded by fierce competition in your field. Although the same can be said of any other musical market, I am fond of reminding people that a few years back you could fit a record store in a relatively small place. Nowadays, just the jazz section, of a well-supplied store, is a store in and on itself. ThatÃÂs the people you have playing and recording throughout the world from whom you can learn, but you are also competing against them. Having the ability to compose is something important, albeit it is quite difficult to rise above the majority of the composers out there because of the quantity and quality of talent, as well as the facility for exposure and distribution or records and music.
LetÃÂs talk about Watercolor. If one is familiarized with your work in Yearning, the music of Watercolor comes as a sort of departure. Obviously, it is still Politzer and Brazil still makes it there, even though in sporadic and hinted rather than stated forms. This is an interesting trio production, which presents its own challenges as the trio is a classic jazz format with an incredible history behind it and names galore to drop around, particularly in the jazz piano traditions. Aside from ÃÂFoggy Day,ÃÂ you also managed to write the rest of the recording material. Tell me about this album. WhatÃÂs going on here?
KP: In Watercolor I wanted to have some of the more Classical harmonies influence things. I just thought of a big watercolor with many different colors blending into each other. Every tune has a different color on the album.
AAJ: That is a good analogy. How would you, however, describe this album. Is this a jazz album? Is this something that can be easily identified? I would describe it as a jazz album although for some it might be a bit difficult to place at times.
KP: It is jazz influenced by Classical music.
AAJ: You had the experience of being chosen to play solo piano at the SESAC Annual Awards. WhatÃÂs SESAC and tell me a little bit about that.
KP: SESAC is a wonderful publishing rights organization that I am part of and last year I was really excited to play at their annual awards ceremony. I think that last year it was Stefon Harris and some other people ItÃÂs a big extravaganza. For the ceremony I had to learn different compositions from SESAC artists like Jim Brickman and play them, so that was very nice to be exposed to some other composers and their work.
AAJ: When you compose, how do you handle the process of inspiration?
KP: I guess it depends on the day. At times, I can be just noodling around and come up with an idea. Other times, I find that when you play something that you didnÃÂt expect to play a whole new cell of an idea can come out ÃÂlike if you play a melody with the wrong notes. Then, you can also have the wonderful experience where a tune just happens into your head. ItÃÂs almost like you plucked it out of the universe. ThatÃÂs what happened with ÃÂEarly Spring ChillÃÂ on Watercolor. I just had a chord that was suggested to me by Charlie Banacos and the whole tune just sprang forth.
AAJ: Does your process of inspiration responds better to a planned approach or is it more serendipitous in nature?
KP: I guess it is more serendipitous.
AAJ: What moves you aside from music? What interests do you have? What touches you aesthetically, or energizes you, other than music?
KP: Some times, I find a lot of inspiration in nature. Walking around Prospect Park. I also write poetry so the two some times meet.
AAJ: Since you write poetry, have you considered incorporating poetry in your music too?
KP: I just started to do that because I just started to take singing lessons and began writing some lyrics. This is a new development for me because I only concentrated on instrumental music for as long as IÃÂve been playing. We will see how it all works out.
AAJ: Concerning your personal background. Where are your parents from? Where did you grow up?
KP: I grew up in Maryland and then I started hearing and playing music when I was about three because they got me one of those little toy pianos. By the time, I was four, they had me study some music classes with some recorders and pianos and all that. When I was eight years old, I studied Classical music for the first time and then went away at 14 to the North Carolina School of the Arts where I studied Classical piano for a few years. After that, I moved to Boston and went to the New England Conservatory. My mother is from D.C. and my father is from New York City.
AAJ: Do you listen to music? The more musicians I meet, the more I realize that a lot of them hardly ever listen to music, or stopped listening to music altogether, a long time ago. Does that holds true for you?
KP: I love to listen to music, although I donÃÂt listen to as much as I did just because of not having as much time but I am very much an avid listener. I have an eclectic taste. I just ordered, for example, a three CD violin sonata set from the Odessa Pages of violinist David Oistrahk with sonatas from Prokofiev, Franck, Beethoven, Leclair and Ysaye. I have also ordered the Regina Carter and Kenny Barron album Freefall that just came out. I really love Brazilian composers like Chico Buarque and I keep buying more and more albums of him. Then, I have some other musicians that I admire like Kirk Rosenwinkel and George Colligan.
AAJ: Since we are talking about musicians, you feature two different sets of musicians in your respective albums, are these the same musicians you gig with?
KP: Some times. I also play at the Cornelius Street Café with my Brazilian repertoire group and I use the drummer of Vanderlei Pereira.
AAJ: In terms of you future plans, you already mentioned that you are pursuing singing lessons, whatÃÂs does your next album is going to look like after Watercolor?
KP: I hope to do another album that features more singing and have more of the Brazilian elements. I want to alternate between both groups as the CDÃÂs go on.
AAJ: HowÃÂs the market for jazz now? How are the gigs? Have you tried to sell your albums to multinational labels in order to attain major exposure for your recordings?
KP: I have found that it is a bit difficult at this time. Maybe I havenÃÂt pursue it enough but I have found some wonderful ways of putting out CDÃÂs. One is the Consolidated Artists Productions label and the other being distributors such as North Country and The Orchard. You just feel gratified when you can take you music out there and share it with people, in spite of the definite market difficulties right now. I hope to just to keep on doing what I love and putting out more CDÃÂs and expanding the opportunities and eventually playing more festivals and putting out my music to a larger audience.
