Jazzism interview (may/june 2016)

Nederlands Jazz ArchiefEnglish:Saxophonist Susanne Alt hails from Germany but has long been a part of our jazz scene. Royalty For Real has the aura of a prestigious product. It is also a tribute to the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Hargrove was fond of participating in the after-hours sessions at North Sea Jazz; Alt occasionally played alongside him there – hence Bel Air Bop, one of the seven tracks. The saxophonist/flutist wrote five of the tracks herself, in addition to The Nearness of You and Roy Allan by Hargrove. The album was recorded in February 2022 in New York with pianist James Hurt, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Willie Jones III. - Thank you Jazzism for dedicating your space for my story! Special thanks to Angelique van Os for realizing it!English:Susanne Alt Funks awayShe feels very lucky, after more than 8 years Susanne Alt’s funk album Saxify with 36 guest musicians is finished, heroes like Fred Wesley, Jamal Thomas, Gary Winters and Rodney “Skeet” Curtis. “These are musicians I have a special connection with.”“It was a dream for a long time to make a funk album where all my heroes play on. I wouldn’t have thought that they all would agree on participating or having time for it. This idea for “Saxify” came up when I worked on other projects, around 2008. The first recordings were in 2010, I had to start early because everyone has a full agenda. At the same time I wanted to release a live album with my jazz band (Live At Bimhuis, 2011). And I took part in a coaching project by Muziekcentrum Nederland of which the recording of my fifth jazz album “How to kiss” (2012) was part of. Because of releasing the live album Saxify became a precious project because the productions were partly at the same time. I am lucky I could manage financially, thanks to all the performances along with dj’s.”Technology“I am a big fan of 70’s and 80’s big funk bands like Parliament Funkadelic, The S.O.S. Band, Tower Of Power, Maceo Parker and George Clinton. Clinton for example always had a lot of tracks which have been recorded by diverse musicians. That’s how he built a big archive of tracks. That’s really cool, that way you get diverse records and not so much a band sound but an exciting, varied sound. Modern technology allows musicians to record in their own time. One musician recorded in Los Angeles; Maceo Parker’s guitar player Bruno Speight recorded at night in The Hague after a show and another time on a free day in Amsterdam. I had two proper studio days with drummer Jamal Thomas and two percussionists, one studio day for horns with Fred Wesley and Gary Winters. Yes, there are many vocals on my album. During the process I found out that all of my favourite 70’s funk albums have vocals. So I decided to have some kind of vocals in every track!”Spade work“Patience and logistics were the biggest challenges. Because I wrote and produced everything I had moments where I thought it never would be finished. I often was editing for hours and hours. Despite the spade work and persisting I trusted that it would eventually lead to a good result. The fact that some of the best musicians play on it, put som pressure on me, of course also the Dutch musicians. The recordings should reflect everyone’s abilities and the guys should be happy about the result. Until now, everyone was pleased and even touched. I also found it important that some people should be heard on Saxify who deserve more recognition like keyboard wizard Ewald Ebing and Lars Karakusevic. Those guys are incredibly funky. I have a special connection with everyone in this album and most of the people I’ve known for may years. It was important for me to release Saxify on vinyl but it’s also available on cd. It’s a rare item with fantastic musicians; that makes me feel blissful.” (Angelique van Os)