Soultrainonline.de 03-06-2016
Originaltext auf Deutsch: Geh zu
soultrainonline.de
Thanks to Michael Arens of
soultrainonline.de who took so much effort to write this big big article! We had a very nice phone conversation. It's very rare that I talk to a journalist who knows so much about soul and funk and combines passion and quality. SOUL TRAIN is unique in countries where german is spoken.
English:
Susanne Alt - Saxified Soul
by Michael Arens
Latest album: Saxify (Venus Tunes/Phonector)
Saxophone belongs to soul and funk like electrical guitar to rock, trumpet to jazz or the bass drum in club culture.
Very often saxophone and saxophone solos are present in more or less popular music styles and especially in the 80’s of the last century it became a practically always present part of pop culture. At the same time it’s inseperably connected with Bebop (jazz) free improvisation and socalled “E-Musik” (German word for art music): The protectionists of puristic freethinker jazz - the jazz police - sending their regards.
But sometimes, really very occasionally, there are artists who bring something new to the instrument or at least show alternative, astonishing and entertaining ways: Stephen “Doc” Kupka of Tower Of Power, Grover Washington Jr., David Sanborn, Greg Osby, Gatp Barbieri, Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis, Maceo Parker or Jan Garbarek, the legendary E-Street Band legend Clarence Clemons, Dutch lady Candy Dulfer, the ensouled guys of Hot 8 Brass Band or the a bit more spirited side of countless smooth jazz icons like Najee, Richard Elliot, Tom Scott, Dave Koz, Gerald Albright or unforgotten George Howard (SOUL TRAIN has been writing about them before), just to call a few.
Susanne Alt, born in Würzburg, living in the Netherlands, belongs to this manageable small circle of 100 years of popular music history.
1996 she won the SIemens award for young talnt, studied at Conservatory of Hilversum/Amsterdam and University of the Arts in Berlin.
Since 1998 she’s been playing with Rosa King, Soul Catchers, Bundesjugendjazzorchester, Amsterdam Jazz Orchestra, Fred Wesley. The style of her first own musical enterprises are mainstream jazz: highbrow, bebop and improvisation. Her debut album has been released in 2004: “Nocturne”, with Thijs Cuppen (piano, Svn Schuster (double bass) and Klaas van Donkersgoed (drums).
Not long after, her musical orientation changs more and more, especially with hr 2012 album “How to kiss”, which includes crsipy funk and soul elements and clear danceable structures and frees new energies - a slow but steady change which makes her sound shine and since then makes it shine (seen from SOUL TRAIN perspective).
Besides soprano, alto and tenor sax also plays flute. Another professional passion of this talented allround musician - who writes her albums herself, composes and produces - is the a
Amsterdam based collaboration with House and electronic music DJ’s like Hardsoul Productions, Piglife, Roog, Ronald Molendijk, Marc van Dale und Erick E, DJ Maestro, Wicked Jazz Sounds or Graham B just to call a few.
Her latest work has a wonderful harmonious and programmatic title “Saxify”. It has been recorded in her hometown by choice, Amsterdam.
A wedge of melodies, harmonies, soul, funk, sometimes smooth jazz and jazz fusion is drifted into her own sound identification and even has “saxy” latin moments. “Saxify” is buzzing and grooving and beats the wrinkles out of one’s ear canal.
Susanne Alt, for sure one of Europe’s best saxophonists of the present, is watching over high musicality and playful chords. Not too perfect and not sterile. No “oversouling” (overproducing of music). Alt manages to sail around it with great flair, knowledge of her own abilities and full-blooded musician charme and even with a -nowadays unusual- portion self-irony.
“Saxify” contains a dozen outrageously entertaining and amusing songs full of soul, funk and powerful structured jazz which sometimes remembers me of Candy Dulfer’s sound. Is it a coincidence that Candy’s father, Dutch saxophone legend Hans Dulfer, mentor and paternal friend of Susanne Alt, is guest on “Saxify”? More in the interview..
Two other guests on the long player illustrate the merging of the best of jazz and soul and especially funk: the previously mentioned Über-trombonist Fred Wesley and The S.O.S. Band drummer Jamal Thomas - Tasty names for the SOUL TRAIN readers and the retrospective and soul groove addicted.
The list of all participating greats of funk, soul and jazz (exactly in this order)on this incredibly entertaining album is impressive anyway: Besides the previously mentioned, the wonderfully fresh voices of SaraLee Vos, Mavis Acquah, Jorscan, Michael Payne and Berenice van Leer, the soprano sax of Scott Mayo, horn experienced Gary Winters, Odei AL-Magut and Robert Glass or the guitar of Reggie Ward, just to call a few of the legendary funk and p-funk co-musicians. (SOUL TRAIN has been writing about them before many times). The participation of such multi-layered and inspiring musicians was a real affair of the heart by the very empathic Susanne Alt. In the following conversation this fact is very important to her - music like this is not made in a day. “Music is complicated” Alt summarizes within the interview.
Of course Susanne Alt releases “Saxify” not only on CD and digitally, but also on 180g vinyl as a double album including download code and also 7-inch singles.
The optical quality of the album cannot be questioned, Susanne has got feeling for design artistic on all fronts.
SOUL TRAIN talked to an openhearted, direct and sympathic and uncomplicated Susanne Alt in an exclusive interview about past, present and future of her career, her musical universe, her affinity to her present home the Netherlands, and last but not least her new studio album “Saxify”, which carries the genius and spirit of its main protagonist…
Michael Arens:
Your new album “Saxify” is dream! Finally some structured jazz, woring with melodies and harmonies and not cerebral and introverted. For me it’s very delightful because it really celebrates funk and soul. Since you have been living in the Netherlands for so many years, you recorded your album there and many musicians are Dutch, of course I have to think of Candy Dulfer. Are you honoured or do you get stomachache? Candy’s father Hans Dulfer is also guest on “Saxify”.
Susanne Alt:
Well, Candy is a famous female saophone. Her father Hans has been an important jazz musician in the Nethrlands. He’s intelligent and strategic; when he was young he even used to sell cars that’s why he’s very sharp probably. Being inventive by nature, he always has been searching for wider acceptance of jazz within jazz and towards audiences, also caring for more danceable jazz styles. He co-founded Bimhuis and Paradiso. I’ve known him for 20 years now and probably he thought of me as a cool girl. He always has been supportive to me, inviting me for gigs and jamming. I’ve never had so much to do with Candy (yet). She’s a very professional colleague we all can learn from. I know her father better and longer and that’s why he’s on this album.
Michael Arens:
Let’s stay in this area, where contemporary jazz meets soul and funk. Im very interested in your collab with The S.O.S. Band drummer Jamal Thomas. ‘Sugar Sweet” even contains the hookline of the The S.O.S. Band hookline “Take Your Time (Do It Right)”.
Susanne Alt:
Yes, Jamal wrote the lyrics. First, all tracks were instrumental compositions. Then I decided to have vocals on all tracks because otherwise it would become perceived as “only” jazz. So I asked some of my vocal friends to write lyrics, amongst them Jamal; we know each other for 22 years. I knew that Jamal (who plays the drums on all tracks) also sings; he has the “Jamal Thomas Band” where he plays drums and sings.
Michael Arens:
While talking about Jamal Thomas, we also cannot miss another guest: Fred Wesley. The dreamlike beautiful “Tudo Bem” hits my ear. It reminds me of the unforgotten trombone player Peter Herbolzheimer. Also, interestingly, the vocals are not in English, tell me more!
Susanne Alt:
There’s Dutch singer Lex Empress who worked a lot with DJ’s and can improvise incredibly well. She sometimes asks the audience for three words and then improvises with it freely. Sometimes even in other languages, besides English also Portuguese, Spanish, Italian. Because “Tudo Bem” has a bit of a Brasilian rhythm I asked her to write portuguese lyrics. I like latin jazz fusion funk things..
Michael Arens:
Me too, and that’s why I like your album so much. You use melodies and harmonies, something which should be obvious, but is often missing in contemporary jazz. What about that?
Susanne Alt:
I studied music in diverse schools. My first albums were stylistically more modern jazz but always also contained more entertaining and funky things. Somehow my bandmembers never got into the funk and soul stuff but wanted to stay in jazz and more intellectual spheres, sometimes I got mad about it (laughing). On the other side there are people like Brad Mehldau who actually can funk, too. I always wondered why we couldn’t play like Joshua Redman in the beginning of his career? To me it was one of the best jazz bands, with Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride and Brian Blade, straight ahead but very funky and souljazz. When writing “Saxify” I told myself to really talk enough time and ask people in my network and to do everything differently.
Michael Arens:
You are an individualist, does everything by yourself: writing, composing, playing, singing, producing, leads the whole creative process. How important is that for you?
Susanne Alt:
It is important to me. Previously I have been lead my others which is okay if you play in an band. But it was time to get this statement out and exactly the way I wanted it, it had to be out.
Michael Arens:
I understand. How did you start this?
Susanne Alt:
During the last years I wrote a whol pile of tunes, started recording some of them with different musicians and in the end I had 11-12 tunes. I wanted to do everything right. 5-6 tunes I already recorded with Jamal Thomas on drums. Bit by bit, I recorded the rest, electric bass, then replacing provisory recordings. I always considered what was missing at that moment and who I could ask for that. Very simple and practical. When writing, I often write in midi. I am not really a keyboard player and play a bit to slow, so that’s why I turned to midi. It frees me from silly sheet music when composing. In the end, when I have musicians recording it, of course sheet music comes in handy again. In the studio you can work faster with sheet music. Horn arrangements for example wer written down very carefully, I only had one studio day with Fred..
Michael Arens:
Fred Wesley?
Susanne Alt:
Yes, I wanted to record as much as possible with him and I knew that it depended on his current chops as a not so young brass player and how fit he is at that moment. Then it helps when you write down things properly. You get less mistakes, misunderstandings and it can be quickly recorded without irritations, relaxed.
Michael Arens:
Relaxed is the correct keyword for the kind of music you have on “Saxify”. There’s too much music out which is perceived by head and ears and to little music for belly, heart and feet.
Susanne Alt:
Exactly. There are so many musicians who are playing interesting and it stays very mathematically. It can be fascinating like “Giant Steps” (SOUL TRAIN mentions it often), which is the ultimate exercise for improvising. I doubt if it is the most beautiful piece of all times. He practised it for 3 years before he recorded it. Musicians often don’t make a difference what’s interesting for them and how it’s perceived by the audience. For “Saxify” I didn’t want to make any compromises, it comes all out of my heart.
Michael Arens:
.. which brings us back to you new album “Saxify”. What also caught my ear was the dreamlike beautiful voice of Lorrèn Rettich..
Susanne Alt:
Lorrèn is just 24 years old, grew up in Israel and moved to Holland with her parents and sister when she was 8. Her mother is fashion designer, her father is violinist, so she has an artistic background. I met her during working with dj’s. I don’t know anybody with a voice like this. The voice has rock in it, but also something very own. Vey raw, funk-like.
All women who contribute vocals to the albums I know from performing together with dj’s. We improvise along the dj-sets which is a very common thing to do in the Netherlands. Actually this is my main occupation.
Besides playing with dj’s: I just finished a spring theatre tour with Motown music and an oldfashioned band thoughout the Netherlands and Belgium.
Michael Arens:
The Netherlands have a closer connection to Soul and Funk than Germany. Is this also the reason that brought you to Amsterdam, also personally?
Susanne Alt:
I studied 3 years in Berlin and its not that funky. it’s a big centre for techno but not for house. In Holland there’s house, funk, jazz, dep hous, drum music. In Germany there’s Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne. Real funk is only in Amsterdam. I feel very comfortable there. Also, Amsterdam always used to be more international than Berlin, but Berlin changed a lot during the last decade.
Michael Arens:
What are you hoping for from this interview?
Susanne Alt:
I would like when people bcome curious about my music and about the musicians who contributed. Maybe people get on Google and check out Susanne Alt and all the musicians…
on 12/06/2016
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