“I BELIEVE MUSIC IS PART OF THE UNIVERSE AS WE ARE...”
Coffee n’ conversation, Lu Cozma interviews Alex Harding.
Bari Sax is not a name of a person! Well there might be someone out there, somewhere by that name but in this instance Baritone Saxophone is, as I’ve only recently discovered, the most amazingly beautiful sounding instrument. And in the hands of NY’s adopted son, the most highly esteemed and talented, Alex Harding, ‘bari sax’ is at its most magnificent.
A recent tour with the New York, cult, underground funk band ‘DEFUNKT’ brought Alex to Europe where he first played Prague, Germany and then the Netherlands, from April 19th. Bucharest brought some much needed ‘down time’ from his busy schedule - by hanging out and performing concerts with his musician friends in the city. With the likes of Cristian Soleanu (alto sax) and Vlad Popescu (drums) he set forth on an exploration of his new musical concept ‘The Afro/Brazilian, Afro/Cuban Project’, which he performed at Clubul Taranului, GreenHours (both in Bucharest) and also Brasov, before his return home to NY.
Live, the show was a mesmerising display of sound and technique, a flume of energising musical passion. Brazilian, Cuban and Jazz wouldn’t be what you’d normally hear moulded together in one evening under the same roof, anywhere on this planet. With Alex Harding & Friends at the helm I was definitely sailing through an evening full of unchartered waters and in their capable hands the adventure was a good one.
Catching up with Alex one lunch time during the last leg of his tour in Bucharest was sheer joy. His chilled out personality and sense of humour was infectious. It was one of those occasions when time just vanished. Before realising it, a couple of hours had wandered by without us noticing!
LC – You’ve come to Romania quite regularly since 2005.
AH – Yeah, definitely once a year sometimes twice.
LC – When you travel with your music do you notice differences in audiences?
AH – Yeah I think there’s a real openness. One thing I like about Europe is that people you’ll find going to see a heavy metal concert or a rock concert would be interested to still see what’s going on with what we’re doin’. So you get this kinda cross, music taste... that’s a good thing. A lot more open mindedness.
LC – Is that less so in America?
AH – Yeah, I will have to say yes unfortunately, because I think it’s the programming.... it’s like, ok well, you have to be put in a certain box.
LC – A box? In commerciality terms?
AH – Exactly. The whole commercial aspect of it is... ok, ‘put this in this box’ and you’re not supposed to go over to that box, so stay in your box now. It’s not really encouraged to seek out and check out other aspects...
LC – So you see it as a kind of marketing safety valve rather than an artistic exploration of different genres?
AH – Yeah. I’m sure. When people do hear my music and I tell them about things I’m doing, they hear it, they say ‘whoa, that was pretty cool’, but you know it just never occurred to them to go. They’ve been kinda shuttled around almost like sheep in a way...
LC – Has that caused you great frustration with your projects?
AH – Well in a way but you know you just can’t get frustrated. Just play the music.... sincere and true.
LC – How did you come up with the conceptions of your past recordings? Do they represent different phases of your life, personally and artistically?
AH – Of course yeah. Nothing is separate... it’s all connected. So with this ‘Afro/Cuban, Afro Brazilian Project’, I didn’t know what to do and I said well, I want to come there (Bucharest), cos I was on tour with another band and I thought once I finish that part of the tour I’ll go over to Romania and hang out with some friends and play some music and stuff and I said ‘ what do I wanna do?’ and I really, really enjoy music of south America and Cuba and stuff.
LC - ... have you been there?
AH – I have. I haven’t been to Cuba. I’ve been throughout the Caribbean. I’ve been to Brazil, to Bahia which is like the Mecca of where that music comes from.
LC – Did you make alliances there with musicians and get to play?
AH – Unfortunately not cos I wasn’t there long enough to do so...
LC – You were long enough though to absorb it....
AH – Yeah, yeah definitely and plus I had an opportunity in the late ‘80’s, say ’88, to work with a gentleman who contributed to several of the compositions to this project. He had explored African music around the world so that meant all of South America, Caribbean and Africa itself and in America. It was very good, Francisco Mora was his name, so once I started playing with him, ‘wow, this is beautiful, wonderful’. Music you know - brought by the people of Africa, it’s all connected . From that point on I had a real thirst and desire to emulate this sound...
LC – So, with ‘The Afro/Brazilian, Afro/Cuban Project’, you were stimulated by a sound with its cultural content and moved it to your own style ?
AH – Yes, because I’m not from Brazil or Cuba, but you know, the wanting and desire to deal with the music and learn about it and bring my experiences from the States, Detroit to it - an interesting mix. It’s all from the same tree... it’s all coming from Africa.
LC – Tell us a little about yourself, your beginnings and where you’re from...
AH – I’m from Detroit, Michigan, born and raised. The home of Motown...
LC – A really good music foundation...
AH – I didn’t know before I was born, learning was going on when I was in my mother’s stomach I was getting on with all this beautiful music. We always had music on...
LC – Have you siblings?
AH – I’ve four sisters...
LC – And you’re the youngest?
AH – Yeah...
LC – I bet you were so spoilt!
AH – Haha, yes, but my father didn’t allow that to go on. My father said, ‘enough, enough of this’!!!
LC – Are you a close knit family?
AH – Yeah, yeah. Very close.
LC – Wow, you’re mother must be a strong woman... Your family’s still in the States?
AH – She is a real strong woman. Yeah, they’re all in the States. All in Detroit except one’s in Colorado.
LC – Are your family artistic/creative?
AH – One of my sisters Vicky played clarinet and they all played music they liked to listen to...
LC – That must have been to your advantage, because you were listening to all this at home.
AH - Yes, I had all of this stuff going on, which was really good. I guess you could say Vicky was influential, you know, with the instrument. I was like a natural. My first instrument was drums, at 9 or ten yrs.
LC – Why drums? Did you just say to your parents one day, ‘I wanna play drums’?
AH – Yeah, it was just natural... I could just play it! I just knew how to do it. I figured out I must have been a drummer in my past! I must have been cos I didn’t have any lessons up ‘til a certain point and then I did that for about 2 years and then I listened to Grover Washington Jr the saxophone player and I said ‘Man, saxophone, I like this’!!! I was like 11 or so and then that Christmas I had a saxophone.
LC – As a child you had obvious potential and you were encouraged.
AH – Yes I was. Anything that was positive and kept you out of trouble and kept you doing something good.
LC – Is Detroit a difficult city to be brought up in?
AH – I didn’t seem to think so. A lot of families, kids...
LC – With this powerful want and need to express yourself in music, how did you take that further? Did you have formal music education?
AH – Yes, I started saxophone and I started playing in a school band, and you know doing by hand little music notes and then as I got better and my parents saw it they said ‘OK’, then they provided me with lessons. But I had good teachers, which was good. It really nurtures you, because you have such a passion from the teacher just instilled in you.
LC – Who are the most significant artists that put you on your way to become a performer yourself?
AH – Well, of course, Harry Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ellington...
LC – When you approach a new project or write new material, what gets things started?
AH – It depends. I try to be very intuitive with it, to allow it to manifest itself. Same with this project (A/B,A/C project). I believe that music is alive. Music is part of the Universe as we are, so you just have to trust and step to the side a little, let it do what it’s gonna do.
LC – Can you remember the first album or single you bought?
AH – I most certainly can. It was Charlie Parker, Live at Storyville and then I bought John Coltrane’s Countdown album. I was in my mid teens...
LC - From Detroit, why the move to New York?
AH – It was a matter of being around a wider pool of musicians and to have more opportunity. I’ve been there now 16 years.
LC – Did you find the transition easy?
AH – It was difficult, cos at first I hated it. It’s expensive, you know, fast paced crap but what I didn’t realise was, as I stayed there longer and started to get myself introduced to other musicians the networking came into play, then it became ‘oh wow, this is not so bad’. Then I decided after another couple of years, it’s ok. Now I could never go back to Detroit. I go back to visit my folks, but to live, nah. In all honesty there’s only one place in the States to live and that’ll be New York. If and when I get tired of NY I’ll have to leave and probably come to Europe or something.
LC – Is there a place in NY off the beaten track that you’ve discovered that you’d recommend going to see, a less obvious place?
AH – The park is nice, you know Central Park, but I don’t go there that often. There’s another large park in Brooklyn near me, Prospect Park - peaceful there, with a lake... I miss that, you know, my father and I when I was little he had me out hunting, fishing... and I really miss that. I was just talking to a friend of mine who I was on tour with last and he said ‘Man, you need to go fishing with your father’, cos, you know, you can’t get that time back once it’s gone, it’s gone. I was lamenting about how we used to go on these fishing trips once a year, I’d come home and then we’d go up in Canada with some of his friends and neighbours... I was just thinking about that.
LC – Where would be the place of choice for you to go and play... a place you’ve never been before?
AH – I’ve never been to Asia in terms of China, that whole region, India, Africa. I’ve been to Australia, New Zealand I’ve never been to. Canada... I’ve been there but it’s so infrequent, let’s see now, when was the last time I played in Canada? It must have been the Montreal Jazz festival, 9 years ago. (Laughs) I’m due a visit. I’m due a tour, a good strong two week tour of Canada! Yes, yes, it would be delightful...
LC – If you were transported to an unknown planet somewhere in the Universe and you could only take a few belongings with you, what would be the top 2 albums you would bring for your pleasure?
AH – Oh that’s difficult. Ummm... ok, ‘A Love Supreme’ by John Coltrane. (Takes a moment to think, then laughs). Shit...
LC – You know, you’re not being disloyal to any particular artist cos you haven’t chosen their album!
AH – Oh man, there’s a myriad of albums... there’s Ellington, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye... (begins to reel off names of artists)...
LC – OK, OK... how about the first 500 albums you can bring!!!! Then would it be easy?
AH – It would be EASIER...!!!
LC – For a young person who aspires to become a musician of any kind, what would be your main advice to them?
AH – (Laughs) become a lawyer. Go to law school... or become an architect. I mean this shit is... you pay for this. You know, you pay for your freedom to be able to chose; to go and hang out, to do whatever, to tour and shit, cos for the most part as musicians...
LC – ... There’s a sacrifice?
AH - Always. I mean you have to love it like there’s no other choice. I have no choice.
LC – What would be the most prominent sacrifice in your life?
AH – Relationships. It makes relationships difficult because you don’t have what’s deemed as a normal 9 to 5 gig. You’re in town, then out of town. Just because you’re gone doesn’t mean you don’t care about them or not wanna be with them. Professional touring is what being a musician’s about.
LC – Will we expect to see you in Bucharest again?
AH – Absolutely yes. Possibly this summer or early fall.
Alex may be returning to Romania later this year to continue his ‘Afro/Brazilian, Afro/Cuban Project’. There are also possibilities to perform at festivals with his project ‘OrgaNation’. For details of when he’ll next be hitting the limelight here in Bucharest, please log on to www.alexharding.net
Additional sites of interest, http://www.defunktmusic.com & http://joebowie.org
Interview by Lu Cozma / May, ’09.
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