Matt Garrison
October 2000

"When you're in the middle of a revolution you don't really know it, until you look back on it."

Matthew Garrison
Self Release
2000

Matthew Garrison
Reviewed By
Phil DiPietro

Photo Credit
Hajime Watanabe

By Phil DiPietro

Matt Garrison's upbringing and legacy seems, musically and otherwise, larger than life. Born June 2, 1970 in New York, the son of that icon of acoustic bass, member of the immortal, classic John Coltrane Quartet, Jimmy Garrison and world-class dancer/choreographer Roberta Escamilla Garrison, he spent the first eight years of his life immersed in a community of musicians, dancers, visual artists and poets. After the death of his father, his family relocated to Rome, Italy where he began to study piano and bass guitar. In 1988 he returned to the United States and lived with his godfather Jack Dejohnette for two years, where he studied intensively with both Dejohnette and bassist Dave Holland. In 1989 he received a full scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he began his professional career with the likes of Gary Burton, Bob Moses, Betty Carter, Mike Gibbs and Lyle Mays. He's followed that up with a resume, somehow achieved in the compressed time capsule between ages 20 to 30, containing the lofty likes of Pat Metheny, Gil Evans, David Liebman, Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Joni Mitchell and Chaka Khan. Matt's got a few larger-than-life leaders left on his short list, most notably Wayne Shorter. In the meantime he's been content to gig with premier pianists Hector Martignon and Jason Moran, critically acclaimed songstress Joy Askew, as well as his own projects. He's also exercised his propensity for dabbling with some killer guitarists beyond the A-list, like David Fiuczynski, Adam Rogers, David Gilmore and Nat Janoff .

I was fortunate enough to catch up with Matt just after his return from Austria, where he turned in an extremely well-received, late August performance at the festival, Jazzsaalfaden 2000,with cutting edge euro-axeman, drum 'n' bass improvisatory mayhemist Martin Koller. Somehow, during the past year, Matt achieved a personal goal of having all the music for his solo debut ready to go by his thirtieth birthday, which passed this June. Currently, he's armed with a goal which may prove equally difficult as getting the recording together; releasing and a marketing the cd independently, with an ambitious October 1st release date. Matt's going the indie route, avoiding the conventional music-industry establishment where practicable. He's even taken it one step further, eschewing where possible the world of 2 inch 24 track tape for the hard disc, bending a bit for the occasional half-day in the studio and the mastering of the disc itself. Let's hear him tell it:

I know you've had the goal of recording a solo project for a while, but the sense of urgency is only peaking now as it's practically complete. It seems from the outside, that you were patient with the project and on hearing it, that patience is a virtue.

I agree patience is a virtue and that the record benefited from some of that , but I can't say I went about it that way. It just ended up being that way. Patience happens, man ! I've been recording this thing, off and on, for the past two years. I was trying to do it with (keyboardist) Jim Beard …he kept leaving town. I wanted Arto (Tunboyacian-percussionist/vocalist) on there as well..who kept leaving. I wanted to have us all playing together, putting tracks down at once. If I had held onto that, this wouldn't have been done for another two years. I had to stop relying on other people and their equipment to get things done. I actually ran out of patience.

Well, you've been known as a young phenom on the instrument for a few years. You could have rushed a project to market for a while now, but this project resonates with maturity.

I couldn't agree more from a musical standpoint . Really taking the time and playing with the people on the recording is so important. I still have ten more tunes that could have been on there. Its always good to sift through what you have, check it out thoroughly, play it live in some obscure little place and grow into it. You can look at it from many angles. If I had done this project this when I was playing with Zawinul or McLaughlin maybe that would have been better from a business standpoint. Or maybe its better to wait until you're done with a few things, and attract a listeners from the different fanbases of artists you've worked with in the past. Who knows...as luck would have it, I heard that I actually have two records coming out this month anyway. Verve is supposed to be releasing the import only version of John McLaughlin's "Heart of Things-LIVE (in Paris)", on October 15th. How did you go about assembling such a talented cast of young musicians? It seems like you've drawn on the core team of Brooklyn -based talent . Any of these folks could do a record of their own.

First off, I'm honored to have them on the record. Adam Rogers (guitar), David Gilmore (guitar), Gene Lake (drums), Ben Perowsky (drums), and Scott Kinsey (keyboards) and Arto are all living in New York and were all definitely in my head from the beginning. I had them in mind when writing these tunes, as I did Amit Chaterjee (Indian sitarist, vocalist), who I met in Zawinul's band, who is about as far from local as you can get. But on the topic, yeah, there are many incredible musicians here, and many of them are on the record. There are even more that could have been.

How has modern day recording technology helped you out here?

When you're in the middle of a revolution you don't really know it, until you look back on it. It's affecting everybody, from the guy at home to the presidents of record companies. Every time they put out another cool midi thing they're screwing up somebody else in the industry. From the ridiculous-like a bass sound being so good they don't need you- to the sublime-like, when you can record something in your apartment that sounds as good as the studio. Labels and studios start losing artists who can do it themselves. This is very serious stuff.. it just gets smaller and smaller, faster, and cheaper. Some of the equipment I have here would have cost ten times the price 5 years ago, as would have the recording itself. Recording is fast, coming up with parts is fast, and it's just easier than ever to get on a roll, basically. I am doing a lot of new things from an electronic standpoint. When we recorded, before Kinsey put on his parts, which were done last, a lot of the samples, not just sampled bass parts, were performed with bass midi gear triggering newer keyboards called Nord Lead, which is the latest technology-they call it "physical modeling" - not sampling, not synthesis-but a different way of creating sound. It really lends itself to basslines or doubling them with some vintage synth sounds. It also allows you to change registers on the fly. While Matt illustrates by playing the vicious bassline from "Dark Matter", he explains: Here's a place on the record where you can hear it, but there are many places where it is used. To detail it in a liner notes, or in the credits would be overwhelming, but its everyplace. I've already used it on many other projects, and in live situations. For this whole project I used a program called Logic Audio. I know of no more powerful midi tool. I can now even automate mixes here at my house.

The record has a beautiful, almost traditional, Indian influence with selected, almost gently modern rhythms. The majority of the tunes focus on Indian, or eastern, sounds, with modern rhythms in there as more of accents, or interesting sections, of those tunes.

How did your affinity for composing in this style- I don't know what you want to call it, "World fusion" or modern day Indian/jazz fusion- develop?

I had been feeling this music for quite some time now, and, like I said, I wrote some of the tunes with Amit in mind. When he came over here, we discussed concepts in music that just blew me away. From a lot of different standpoints, he confirmed things that I felt naturally. We dissected the concept of microtonal music and the use of notes, the keyboard and its twelve tones and the layout of any instrument you can hold in your hands. These instruments are made to fit a specific tuning which is not truly natural, in its own resonance. We're talking about the European classical tuning, or "western" musics. Amit was brought up dealing with anywhere from 22 to 66 notes. That leaves absolutely no chance for error and plenty of it as well (laughs). Any note that you sing right now will be perfectly in tune according to certain philosophies and traditions. You will notice the use of drones throughout. Even when I write melodies in other styles they will start around a constant note-you might call it a pedal. I am also a student of martial arts. There are certain things that vibrate with your body less or more and your chakras - your centers of energy - respond to different tones in certain manners. So, a lot of those drones-they stick in areas of my body, and I write around that feeling and those sounds. That's why talking to Amit reinforced a lot of what I was thinking and made so much sense that I wound up using these things. It also gave me the conviction to do more of that-stepping back and feeling how choices of drones, keys, or even individual notes affect me. Having Amit here was a high point in this recording project.

Picking up on that, I wanted to ask your about compositional things. You add progressions over the drones and then build on that, adding layers, or cadences to the progressions.

Definitely For example, on "Family" , the scale used off the drone is called an augmented diminished scale . The chords, as they ascend, reflect the order of that scale. The progression I wrote is based all around that. I made a special note to this affect on the charts I sent out to the musicians. Just to indicate what kind of ears we're dealing with here, Scott Kinsey put some keyboard parts and a solo on that tune -using that scale- without ever seeing the note regarding it.

In my opinion "Family" is a compositional gem.

The basics of that tune took me five minutes. I heard it, it was just there. And I gradually put little things over the top. And I kept going…There's chanting over a bass chord progression which sets up a unison vocal with bass…there's a different unison line setting up another section, and it gets deeper, with a solo section, a bridge section with the bass dancing with the vocalist , and even a jungle section! Its just a great example of how an idea can build on itself. In all seriousness, I could have kept going with that one. Like we said, a lot of my music is building on a note or tone with a progression. But I get bored with that…so I try to change keys to break up what could be monotonous.

Yeah, but you'll do that from measure to measure.

Well, I'll add depth to a progression or a change a chord sequence, say as each eight bar segment goes by.

You mentioned an exotic scale earlier. Are you quite conversant in musical theory?

Oh, yeah. That's my thing, man! (laughs) Seriously, though…sometimes the theory part weighs on me more than it should, especially as a bass player. Its funny how there is a real minority of cats, as far as bass players go, who dedicate any time or effort whatsoever into delving into harmony and theory.

A famous player is known for the quote, in an instructional video, when referring to learning and practicing theory, harmony, arpeggios, etc., "That's the real deal. Otherwise, its just cats wiggling their fingers"

Well, its true! And I want to make it clear I am not some elitist that would say harmony and theory is king. For instance, on the tune "Say What?" on the cd I just detune the bass and go, man.

What tuning do you use?

No, I detune, all the way..I don't even pay attention.

You don't tune it in fourths (the normal interval between open string tones) ?

No …

Matt then picks up the bass and hits me with a random detuning of the instrument, tuning down what seems like a whole step there, several steps there.

No, no…you don't, you just go, man! You get crazy-ass intervals. If you want to analyze them all, you can. But my intent with that, as it is other times, conventional tuning or not, is to let loose. At those times, I don't pay so much attention.

How conscious of a decision is it to throw down on one cut and take more of an ensemble role on the next?

I feel like the record should be like what a live experience would be like to some degree. I thought about the way some of the leaders I've worked for would do it. Joe Zawinul for instance, was intent on putting a show together…a spectacle to some degree..with gimmicks. Like having a kalimba feature for Paco Sery (drummer) or a feature for Arto (the percussionist) on bottles , and going from a massive groove thing into a subtle more gentle thing. I understood that while its very serious music, you're playing with people watching you…not just for yourself.

But that's different from showing off, or shredding, which both have bad connotations.

Exactly. And I respect that for sure, but live performance is a show. I want my record to reflect to some degree a live performance. That's why I shy away a bit from putting a lot of electronics on the record. I wouldn't put it on there unless I was confident I could go on the road and all that stuff would work! All the little samples and everything on the record could be reproduced live. In fact, now that you mention it, with all the musicianship, with those guys on a gig, the stuff would be BURNING! But to go back to the original question, yes, when I put the record together I picked where I wanted to focus on composition, or a bass pattern, or people can enjoy the voice, or the soloing, etc.

How about some colorful moments in the making of the record?

I did 97% of the stuff at home, but a standout for me was during a four hour session at Good and Evil Studios. I had to get Perowsky and Rogers in there to finish up some things. We were running out of time and I said, "I've got one more…a solo over a four chord vamp". Adam listened to it once off the mini-disc I brought down.. and bam! What he did with that solo on that tune is perfect! One pass…he absolutely killed it…what a beast!

Adam was in a great band called Lost Tribe, with Perowsky, Gilmore and the sax player on your disc, David Binney, as well.

I was a huge fan of that band. I used to go see that stuff all the time, especially when I first moved to New York.. I loved that stuff. And they always killed it with Fima (Ephron) on bass. So for me, its coming full circle. To have those cats on the disc is an honor.

What about the independent release of your disc?

This should be very challenging. I'm trying to stay very positive . There is a very positive side…like total artistic control, marketing from your own website, hopefully realizing a greater percentage of profits, putting clips up for download …. but there is a dark side to it as well.

Would you market it conventionally if you had the chance?

Well, especially from a distribution standpoint, getting the product into retailers that the music buying public is used to…that's the best way…but there are other ways. Internet sellers like cdnow, amazon, etc. are becoming the place to go for harder to find stuff, even stuff with distribution! So..hopefully, the people who want it will be able to get it easily.

Tell us about a tune or two that are complete that you chose to leave off of this one.

Well, they're just crazier rhythmically.. or for instance, we did another tune with detuned bass at a much faster tempo, and then there's "Giant Steps".

Did you leave it off because its been done so much?

No, no man. Because I'm doing this myself , I have no idea what it would cost to get the rights to use it.

Come on...of any bassists…of any instrumentalist at all out there today that has the right to do that tune, its you.

Thanks.. but seriously, I literally could call Alice Coltrane, or my mother could, and ask her to use it…and she could say "Yes". But it goes beyond that, to the label or entity that actually has the rights.

Also , as far as other tracks, or more importantly, concepts go, there are some great tunes in the can with Dave Fiuczynski, who's gonna be mad he's not on the cd. I'm doing some gigs with him in a band called Jazzpunk, where we deconstruct standards. There are other guys around town I've played with like David (Gilmore)'s brother Marque (drums) , JoJo Mayer (drums) and Karsh Kale (tabla,'tables) I would've loved to have on it.

Well, the timing would certainly be opportune for something like that.. recordings with live drum'n'bass as a rhythmic core. Certainly there is a buzz -and in this case a lot of it's coming from outside of the jazz world - around JoJo's "Nerve" nights and things like Karsh Kale's "Futureproof" and Zach Danziger's "Boomish". World class jazz improvisation floating over the top of that could be...

I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but the next one could be more …insane..from that perspective. JoJo's already agreed to be on the next one… but that's record number two, man!

OK…any other things you want people to know about this record?

A couple of things. First, the business part..get it at www.fodera.com, who I want to make sure to thank for being so supportive from the beginning, or www.audiophileimports.com. For some detailed information as to the recording itself and exactly who plays what on the record when, etc., as well as my performance schedule, which honestly, can change from day to day, links to reviews, etc.…it's all up at my site.. www.garrisonjazz.com.

I'd just like to wrap up by saying that I'm very enthusiastic about the whole, new indie vibe. In large part, I'm not into the industry politics of it and I never was. In terms of getting the recording out there, I feel like I've reached the point where I just cannot putz around anymore. I'm feeling this incredible personal sense of urgency and excitement right now, man ! Its funny, 'cause on the one hand, I feel personally, like the clock is winding down, because this thing has to come out, but by the same token, after it comes out, I'm objective enough to realize it's not a happy-go-lucky type of thing.. this music has to be out there and take its own sweet time to build its audience. It took time to make and it's going to take time to let it become known.

Matt's web site: www.garrisonjazz.com