Ben Wolfe: The Freedom to Create

AAJ: You said you haven't had the chance to play a lot of your material on gigs yet. If you were playing them out, with a working group, how do you think the compositions might change?

BW: Not that much. Maybe I would be more conscious of the length of the songs, how long each soloist would play, who would solo... It would be a little bit more figured out, and arranged. But not that much. When I play gigs, it's not that much different from the records. Some songs are longer. I might play more solo bass pieces, like I might play a ballad alone, or a few tunes.

AAJ: Would you like to play your stuff out more often?

BW: More than anything. I'd love to. That's what I want to do.

AAJ: Why don't you?

BW: Well...[pauses.] That's a good question. Maybe I think, in my mind, that I can't work enough doing that. But I want to. And I'm heading that way. I'm not going to not do it. If it's possible for me to be a bandleader full-time, I'll be one. I'd like to sort of work my way into it. It would be nice to work with Diana, and in my time off do concerts or do gigs of my own thing, and on the road score film... You know, to have it all kind of come together, and then organically go to where I'm the bandleader. I'm still trying to figure it out. I figured out how to be a sideman; now I'm trying to figure out how to be a leader. It's not as simple as just saying, "Hey, I want to do it." Even though it might appear that way, because people are doing it. But I do all original music. I'm not willing to do anything, in order to do it. I'm not willing to sacrifice anything, musically.

That's probably how it started, with doing the records. Like, "I'm a sideman, with different people, and it's their thing. With mine, it's going to be as pure as I can make it." I love playing. When I play little clubs every now and then, I love it. I would do it every day. I have endless energy for that kind of stuff, I really do.

AAJ: Obviously you'd have Ned in your band...?

BW: If I could afford him. You know, who knows? If the time came when I couldn't have him, I'd have to figure something out, just like he would have to for his band. I'm his bassist, and he's my tenor player. We used to have a cooperative band, and we decided not to.

AAJ: Why?

BW: It just made more sense. There were two visions. It's easier to have one person, if they have a strong vision. Otherwise you're splitting, and then it becomes, like, half the set's his thing, half the set's mine. It just made more sense. We play every Thursday at Small's, and it's his band.

AAJ: It's a trio?

BW: Yeah. All Ned's records are pianoless trios. He has two that haven't come out yet. He has a live one that he hasn't put out yet, that's great. That's the next one, I think, that will come out.

AAJ: How'd you get involved with Amosaya Records?

BW: The baritone saxophonist on "Bagdad Theater," Dave Schumacher? He's the head of that label. It's kind of like a collective, an artist-run thing. They have really good US distribution. That's really what I needed, and what I had a problem with on my last record. It was great to be on Mons, and they've been great to me; but they were based in Germany, so it was a little trickier as far as the US is concerned. And I like the fact that it's artist-run. Everyone's sort of in it together.

AAJ: I want to ask you about some of the musicians you've worked with, because you've been in some pretty incredible situations. I saw you in Boston a few years back, with Diana Krall and Russell Malone. Russell strikes me as a very witty musician.

BW: I've played with Russell for years. Russell's hilarious. He's also very thorough. He's a guitar freak. He's studied every guitarist. You name a guitarist, he knows him intimately. He's amazing that way.

AAJ: Earlier in your career, you served as the musical director for Harry Connick, Jr.'s band. What was it like working with him?

BW: He did everything. He wrote, arranged, designed the stage set...he does everything. He's by far the most talented musician I've ever met in my life. Amazing. He could sit down with a piece of paper and a pen and write out a symphony. He's an amazing talent.

AAJ: You also worked with the Wynton Marsalis Septet. Being on the road with that crew must have been something.

BW: I love Wynton. I think about him all the time. I could say nothing bad about him. Never. He's someone who I think is an amazing composer. I love the way he writes. He writes long, extended works, ballets, symphonies... Being around him, his diligence... He would always work. It was all music with him. Ned's the same way. Wynton was always in the bunk on the bus, studying Bartok's string quartets or something like that. He was always thinking about music and working on music. I learned a lot being in that band. I learned a lot about playing with confidence, and not being afraid to play. That band was like a family. I loved being in that band. Like a family, we fought sometimes; but there was really a lot of loyalty in that group. It's hard to describe. You never know what it's going to be like. All of a sudden you're with the same people every day for a year, and that could be disastrous. But that was a really special experience for me. I'm very proud to have been part of that band.

AAJ: I'd imagine it must have influenced you deeply, just because of the nature of that band. There were so many strong personalities.

BW: Yes, very strong personalities. Everyone plays with a lot of confidence. And Wynton told me that before I came out on the road. He said, "There's a certain kind of confidence that you're going to learn out here, that we play with." We did this amazing tour, for this record called "In This House, On This Morning." I did the tour, playing all of these Baptist churches. Obviously, that's not where I grew up. So here I am: The second half of the show starts off with a bass solo, which is like a sermon, and I was terrified every night! I wish I could do it again, because I could probably play a lot better now; but I learned so much by being terrified every night. It was a real positive pressure on that tour. It was scary. So now it takes a lot to scare me. I learned from Wynton. I played with him a couple of weeks ago. I always find it inspiring. Always.

AAJ: Who are some of your favorites, among your contemporaries?

BW: Well...bass players? I like Reginald Veal a lot, who played with Wynton Marsalis before me. He really has his own personality. I like that. There are a lot of guys. Peter Washington's great. There are things about a lot of people that I like. But to be honest with you, I don't think about it that much. I mean, I could list a bunch of my contemporaries. Christian McBride, obviously—he's a wizard on the bass. I could name a bunch of them. But I don't really think about it that much. I don't go out to hear people play that much.

AAJ: Do you spend a lot of time listening to records?

BW: I do and I don't. I've been listening to Jacqueline Du Pre playing the Elgar Cello Concerto. Man...I listen to that, and it just brings a tear to my eye. It's incredible. I find little things like that, listen to them one or two times, they knock me out, and then I just think about them. I listen when I'm on the road, more. I put the radio on once in awhile, just to see what's on. Recently, I've been listening to Wagner, the Ring... It knocks me out. Right now, I'm thinking about this piece I'm going to write. Since I'm writing for a cello player and an opera singer, I'm listening to some opera singers, just to hear it, and to get it into my head. Not to imitate what they're doing, but to hear what some of the possibilities are.

I listen sometimes for inspiration; but to be honest, I have a hard time finding stuff that knocks me out. I find stuff that I like, but I like the idea of putting something on and just being blown away, and just wanting to run to the piano. I have a hard time finding that. I think I've got to start exploring more. Maybe classical music. I grew up listening to jazz. I used to listen to it nonstop. I don't do that so much anymore. I probably should; who knows? I kind of do things my own way. Sometimes I practice a lot for a period, and then I won't practice that much. And I wish I would. When I practice, I play much better. Practicing works, no doubt about it. I go in spurts. I know people who just constantly practice. That's their life. I wish I was like that, but I'm not. So I'm always fighting it.

AAJ: Is that what it was like when you were a kid, that stuff would just blow you away?

BW: Yeah, it would. It was exciting. It was like going to a new world—like, "OK, now I get to go in there again." It was like an amusement park. Jazz, man...it was like, "Wow." They were like people to me. Paul Chambers was a person. I still listen to him that way, and he knocks me out. Philly Joe Jones, Red Garland...all my heroes, it was like I got to see them, like people. Now, at 38, I listen to Paul Chambers, and he's still that same person. He's only like 21. He was a kid. And I had such an incredible impression of him. I still see him as like a character. It's amazing, that you can create that through records. It's not even real. There's no actual, real connection between me and those people, at all. Nothing actual. It's bizarre.

AAJ: However deeply Chambers or Mingus or whomever may have influenced you, you still have a very individual sound.

BW: I don't want to sound like anybody. I don't want to be an imitator. I think that's an easy way out. It's a good way to learn but an easy way out. I love writing music, I love playing the bass. I love playing the piano, and I love playing music. But it becomes harder. When you first start playing, just the sound of the instrument was enough. You were so excited to do it. "Wow, I'm playing. I'm making music." And then it becomes, "Wow. This sounds like shit." It's no fun. To me, if it doesn't sound good, it's not fun—which makes me think it's not even about fun. If the music's not really happening in a certain way, I don't enjoy it that much. But when I do enjoy it, it's a much grander enjoyment.

AAJ: So what's it about?

BW: I think if you're playing with other people, it's about connecting. Like when Wynton used to talk about swing, the term he used a lot was "coordination." When you get musicians together, and you really are playing together, it takes on a life of its own. It's very interesting to be part of it, and to witness it, at the same time. That sounds abstract, but music is very abstract. To me, that's very enjoyable. I love when it's right. I'd rather strive for that than just try to go up there and have a lot of laughs. ...Which I do, too. I'm not preaching. I'm guilty of all the crimes I accuse people of committing.

AAJ: I hate to end with a cliched question, but what's next for you? You seem to have a lot of ambitions—film scoring, bandleading... What would you like to focus on next?

BW: I'd like to do both, as much as possible. I'd love to score a film; I wish I could start working on it tomorrow. I would love to continue writing these string pieces I'm working on, until they're finished. I'm going to compose this piece for this concert on December 28 in Portland. I want to do all those things. I want to play gigs with my band. I want to write for films. I want to make recordings. I want to write music, and I want to play the bass. I want to do all the things. Because for me, when I'm doing them all, then I'm me. I'm not...broken off. To me, it's all the same. It's like they go together; they feed each other, in a sense. When I write the songs, I know them. I know the inside of them. It's like I create my own little world to be in.

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