{"id":9146,"date":"2014-06-27T13:26:02","date_gmt":"2014-06-27T13:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=9146"},"modified":"2014-06-27T13:26:02","modified_gmt":"2014-06-27T13:26:02","slug":"keith-price-double-quartet-to-perform-all-new-music-live-on-the-rooftop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2014\/06\/27\/keith-price-double-quartet-to-perform-all-new-music-live-on-the-rooftop\/","title":{"rendered":"Keith Price :: Double Quartet to perform Live on the Rooftop"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"_MG_2386\"<\/a>
photo by Lindsey Bond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Phil Enns<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Jazz Winnipeg\u2019s Nu Sounds series last year, local jazz guitarist Keith Price organized a Double Quartet to re-envision Ennio Morricone\u2019s landmark soundtrack for <\/em>The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly in the style of Miles Davis\u2019 late 60s-early 70s \u201celectric period\u201d (the full soundtrack, accompanied by scenes from the film, can be heard on Youtube<\/a>). This year, Price\u2019s Double Quartet is set to perform at\u00a0the Winnipeg Art Gallery\u2019s Live on the Rooftop series on July 3. <\/em>Stylus sat down with Keith to discuss his past work, what currently inspires him, as well as his unique approach to jazz and composition. <\/em><\/p>\n

Stylus: Since the inaugural Double Quartet performance last year, have you had a chance to watch The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly<\/em> with sound?<\/strong>
\nKeith Price:<\/strong> Unfortunately, no. I have a copy of it, and I just haven\u2019t had time to sit down. Cause I want to sit down and really enjoy it with sound. I have a son who\u2019s not yet two, so it\u2019s just been crazy.<\/p>\n

Stylus: It\u2019s funny. I sat down and watched the whole movie before seeing your show there. And then I realized only afterwards that you hadn\u2019t heard the original soundtrack at all!<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> Well, I\u2019m kind of familiar with the theme of it. Someone gifted me with an LP with a bunch of the music from that and other films that Morricone did, so I\u2019m familiar, but I haven\u2019t sat and dug into it. But I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do it, I think, if I had heard it. It\u2019s so. . . renowned, that it would be, I think, probably debilitating if I had heard it.<\/p>\n

Stylus: The description of the next [Double Quartet] show seems a little vague: \u201cthe band. . . will follow the muse wherever it may take them.\u201d I recall a story you told of a show you played in Toronto where you had got a band together and the only instruction you got before playing was, \u201cGo!\u201d Is this the kind of spontaneity you\u2019re hoping to recreate at this show?<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> We\u2019re always kind of doing that to some degree. If it\u2019s a jazz standard, it\u2019s very scripted. There\u2019s the form and you repeat, repeat, you know. Then with the Double Quartet, there\u2019s just sketches. Just trying to guess what Miles Davis was doing with Bitches Brew<\/em>, and whatnot. So I\u2019d say, yeah, we\u2019re always trying for that. It just depends on how much outline has been done. For Bitches Brew<\/em>, [Miles and his band] did a lot of jamming and actually spliced a lot of tape together afterwards. So when I was experimenting with the music for [The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly<\/em>], I was thinking with that in mind: not to write too much. To give a framework, a tempo, a chord or two chords. Just enough information that you could then fill in, like let the muse take it from there. When it\u2019s totally open, it\u2019s almost harder to be creative, because anything could go, and you have eight different senses of what should happen. But with a little framework, then you have eight people collaborating to be creative within that outline.<\/p>\n

Stylus: What is currently inspiring you?<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> I\u2019m really interested in Ali Akbar Khan, who was a sarod player \u2013 which is similar to guitar. He\u2019s playing the music of Northern India, which is like ragas and stuff, so very modal music. So I\u2019ve been listening a lot to his stuff and trying to incorporate what I enjoy about him. I was trying to learn about how to do slide guitar to show a student, and I was watching a Derek Trucks video, and he said that [Khan] was a big inspiration for him, so I checked it out and just loved it. He really takes his time to really dig into a note, and then, like, slide up to that note again. It\u2019s almost like he\u2019s slowly painting. And with the raga, it\u2019s like a scale, you know, but you can\u2019t overplay certain notes. You can\u2019t really balance them either, or else it loses something. So, it\u2019s just a very different way of playing. I\u2019ve been really enjoying the simplicity, but it\u2019s also deep<\/em>. It\u2019s really focusing on a note at a time.<\/p>\n

Stylus: I\u2019ve noticed that about your playing, too.<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> Maybe when I heard him it was like, \u201cOh, that\u2019s more<\/em> like what I mean to be doing.\u201d So, there\u2019s that, and then I listen to a lot of electronic music. It\u2019s really about the sounds and the samples. Boards of Canada, especially, and Nicolas Jaar. So not jazz stuff at all lately. Just different palate-cleansing stuff, you know?<\/p>\n

Stylus: You recently made a decision to retire all your previous compositions in favour of new ones. Is this a permanent thing?<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> Well, it\u2019s not easy, but I can see the benefit of it right away: that it\u2019s just forcing me to work and, therefore, get new stuff out. I heard that George Carlin did that and obviously it\u2019s evident that every year he was taping a new special.<\/p>\n

Stylus: And he would never repeat himself?<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> No, like he would tour for a year: he\u2019d write it, tour it, record it, and then start the process again. And I don\u2019t know if he did twenty HBO specials, or maybe more? And like, the last one he did before he passed away was my favourite. He only got better with age. It\u2019s like Ali Akbar Khan. I read a quote [of his] this week that said something like, \u201cAfter ten years as an artist, you may please yourself. After twenty years, you may please your peers. After thirty years,\u201d \u2013 so on and so forth. It\u2019s like, \u201cafter fifty years as an artist, maybe you\u2019ll please God.\u201d We\u2019re so focused on, like \u2013 the culture is so into \u201cthe-kids-on-the-talent-show TV\u201d or whatever. We\u2019re not talking like life-long pursuits, you know? I guess I\u2019m kind of rambling, but I don\u2019t know, I guess I get excited about that kind of stuff, so\u2026 Yeah, I\u2019ll probably have to keep doing this, as sad as it is to throw away all the stuff that you did and maybe enjoyed. But I don\u2019t know. I can always break my rule! But a lot of artists have done that. I mean, Miles [Davis] did it, Coltrane, and, you know, U2 and the Beatles. But I mean it\u2019s a natural thing if you\u2019re an artist. I think if you\u2019re a commercial entity, maybe it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Stylus: You\u2019ve always sort of gravitated towards suites and extended pieces (e.g. Gaia\/Goya<\/em> suite; GB&U<\/em> soundtrack; even Zoom Zoom<\/em> from your first album). Have you always had an interest in that? Where did that influence come from?<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> Well, even with the first album, I really was careful about how I placed the songs; that it should have a flow. I guess I\u2019ve always been interested in \u201cthe album,\u201d not like a single, you know? And if I had to think fast, the first live concert I heard was Pink Floyd. My dad took me, and we sat outside the stadium. At an open-air concert, you could just get a lawn chair and listen, you know. I was really into that stuff, and Dark Side of the Moon<\/em>. And to me, that\u2019s a very suite-based thing. Even to give away a little secret, Gaia\/Goya<\/em> is slightly based on Animals<\/em>, the Pink Floyd album. So I guess it probably comes from Floyd. But at the time I was going to write \u201cGaia\/Goya,\u201d I was with Ron Paley and the RWB. Ron had done this beautiful ballet, A Cinderella Story<\/em>, and I was really paying attention to that, and the way that he was bringing back certain themes and how that whole thing develops, which was a giant undertaking. I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to try something like that. So I guess \u201cGaia\/Goya\u201d was 20-something minutes. The movie thing is longer\u2026<\/p>\n

Stylus: Your latest release, Solo Guitar<\/em>, was influenced by your involvement playing through \u201cArtists in Healthcare.\u201d<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> It\u2019s been about seven years now that I\u2019ve been doing that stuff. Right from the get-go, it was really heavy. I started out in the hospice, playing for the terminally ill, and I was not prepared for that; just dealing with the heavy emotions that are around that. But it was a learning experience to see how music could deeply affect people. It shows the value of music and of human connection. It\u2019s deeper than music, I guess. [Also,] I guess I wouldn\u2019t have been able to figure out how to do any of that stuff if it wasn\u2019t for all the hours spent in the hospital playing. Some of the things on the solo album are a bit dark. Like, I didn\u2019t play them at the hospital, but they definitely developed there. It was nice to be simple. Guitar is not easy to play solo, so I mean, I picked up chops, but. . . jazz musicians are always so complicated and so technical. It\u2019s been freeing just to play simple melodies and just enjoy that. I think that comes out of the hospital [experience]. You know, you don\u2019t need all the fanciness or whatever. I\u2019ve been trying to distance myself from that pursuit as much as possible. I feel like it\u2019s limiting. But it\u2019s always in the back of my mind \u2013 the jazz audience, are they judging that I\u2019m not playing fancy?<\/p>\n

Stylus: So, you\u2019re almost a little bit like \u201cJazz for the Common Man.\u201d<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> All the other genres of music, or most of them, their central focus is like a connection; an emotion. You know, like a singer-songwriter or a punk rock band. All these genres, to me, share something, and I\u2019ve tried to bring that into jazz and make that the focus. [Before writing \u201cGaia\/Goya,\u201d] I was reading a lot of Gary Snyder, and I love the way he writes haiku. So much is said with just a few things. So I try to keep the melodies \u2013 not really like haikus, but in the spirit of haiku.<\/p>\n

Stylus: You recently became a father. How has parenthood affected your creative output?<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> Well, it\u2019s shown me that being an artist takes a lot of selfish energy, in a way, whether you\u2019re doing it ultimately for yourself or for others. And a young parent doesn\u2019t get a lot of \u201cselfish\u201d time. It\u2019s a perspective changer. Now, it\u2019s like serious time management. But at the same time it\u2019s inspiring. It\u2019s amazing to be there as someone grows. I feel like maybe once he starts going to daycare or to school, then I\u2019m going to have a lot to say creatively. There\u2019s so many moments, but then, you\u2019re so exhausted, and there\u2019s no time to really put it down, you know? Like, I got to get the diapers, I got to do the dinner\u2026 those are the things that have got to happen now.<\/p>\n

Stylus: This year at Jazz Fest, you played a free show at the Cube. Could you talk a bit about your experience with Jazz Fest overall?<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> I really enjoy the energy it brings to the city and particularly the Exchange District. It’s really fun to have a lot of great music happening within a few city blocks. As a local artist, it gives me an event to work towards and a chance to showcase my music and my progress as an artist. It’s also great to hear so many of Winnipeg’s talented musicians and to get a chance to bump into them and catch up.<\/p>\n

Stylus: You tend to play a lot of the smaller venues at Jazz Fest. Are there plans in the works\/have you ever been approached to play a larger theatre show?<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> No, I haven\u2019t. I mean, it\u2019s not something I ever really think about. I mean, we have played the West End opening for [Robert] Glasper and before the Bad Plus, but. . . some guy who writes haikus and just threw out his back catalogue\u2014I mean, you\u2019re not going to put that on the main stage, right? But I don\u2019t mean that in any negative way. It\u2019s not even part of my equation, like, worrying about it. I mean, one day it would be wonderful if they ever asked!<\/p>\n

Stylus: Maybe fifty years down the line, when people are covering your retired material, then you\u2019ll be asked.<\/strong>
\nKP:<\/strong> If I\u2019m lucky, I guess.<\/p>\n

Don’t miss Keith Price\u2019s Double Quartet at\u00a0the Winnipeg Art Gallery\u2019s Live on the Rooftop series on July 3.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Phil Enns For Jazz Winnipeg\u2019s Nu Sounds series last year, local jazz guitarist Keith Price organized a Double Quartet to re-envision Ennio Morricone\u2019s landmark soundtrack for The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly in the style of Miles Davis\u2019 late 60s-early 70s \u201celectric period\u201d (the full soundtrack, accompanied by scenes from the film, can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[38,471,516,558],"class_list":["post-9146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-all-that-jazz","tag-jazz","tag-keith-price","tag-live-on-the-rooftop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}