Recently, JazzBluesNews.com released an interview with composer and Brazos Valley Jazz Society member, Peter Lieuwen.
Excerpt below:
Jazz interview with jazz pianist and composer Peter Lieuwen. An interview by email in writing.
JazzBluesNews.com: – When you improvise, you know where you’re going. It’s a matter of taking certain paths and certain directions?
Peter Lieuwen: – As a composer, I tend to think ahead musically to arrival points or cadences in the tune in order to create a solo that has an interesting shape. The style of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and many other great jazz musicians who followed their innovations is much more free and fluid. What makes a good solo is to love every note you play.
JBN: – Do you ever get the feeling that music majors, and particularly people who are going into jazz, are being cranked out much like business majors? That they are not really able to express themselves as jazz musicians?
PL: – I think that being able to express yourself comes in large part from playing a lot of gigs in different situations with different ensembles. Familiarity with not only the music, but the experience of playing live are both conducive to freedom of expression. I have played with many jazz musicians who seem to get unnecessarily hung up on the theory and at the expense of expression.
JBN: – What about somebody who is really gifted and puts together a band and just gets upset to the point of quitting because of the business aspects-the agents and the clubs?
PL: – It is important to get beyond the unpredictability of the club scene. The Be-boppers, for example, knew very well about paying the price for artistic freedom. If you have a good with musicians that you enjoy playing with, do what you have to do the keep the band together and good things will happen.
To read the full interview, please visit: <a href=”http://jazzbluesnews.com/2020/01/20/peter-lieuwen/”>JazzBluesNews.com</a>