Blaise Siwula

What are your first musical memories ?
When I was about 4 my family lived in Detroit MI in a working/middle class black neighborhood - this was in the early 50's. The next door neighbor practised  his sax in the afternoon and would occasionally allow me inside to watch him play.

When did you decided to become a musician ?
When I discovered that there was music I really wanted to play.

Was it easy for you to do this choice ? and what are the musicians who have influenced you at the start of your career ?
The choice isn't as complex as justifying the long term commitment. When I heard John Coltrane's Om in 1969 it became clear that the only real thing to do was play the saxophone. Ornette Coleman, Art Pepper, Pharaoh Sanders, Sun Ra, Blue Mitchell, John Fahey, Alvin Jones and Miles Davis where memorable live performances in the early 70's. Cecil Taylor's recordings with Jimmy Lyons were inspirational although I didn't cross paths with Cecil till much later.

Om wasn't consider like the best John Coltrane's recording. In what is it special for you ?
I recently listened to the CD which was I assume made from the original tape and thought it was wonderful. As I listened to it I was overwhelmed by the inherent structure...whether this was spontaneous composition or pre planned I'm not sure but there was a flow of ideas that seem quite logical to me.
I personally like John's My Favorite Things in the studio and live in Germany with Eric Dolphy equally... ...although the way the improvisations and tune are handled is completely different. If by Best you're referencing the argument that anything John did after My Favorite Things was the wrong direction then I'm sure Wynton would agree.

I like Om too and generally the last John Coltrane's period. I think he was in the good direction (sorry for Wynton !!!) but in fact I just wanted to say that Ascension is considered like an influence more direct for many actual improvisers, perhaps because John has recorded it before Om.
I would have to agree with you regarding Ascension's  place with most free players. What I particularly like about Om is that it is about something outside of the act of playing...it is in a sense a prayer or meditation. At the time I heard Om in 1969 I had been studying a number of world religionsand appreciated the intensity of playing as opposed to what happened later with new age music.

Are you a self taught ? Could you speak to us about your formation ? First meetings with musicians.
I started playing saxophone in the middle school in concert band....studied theory and composition at Wayne State University in Detroit MI but my degrees are in Fine Art as I felt at the time that the formal music education system was about craft not creativity - although I still try to practise 3-5 hours a day whenever possible as I have for the past 30 years. Self taught is an interesting concept. I have felt for years that sign of a good student is to be self taught otherwise nothing has been learned.
My first personal encounters with "Jazz" musicians was around 1971 while living in a Hotel near campus in Detroit. There was a drummer named Doc Watson who had been around for a while living there who had gone back to school to study composition. We spent a number of evenings talking about music, art, Charlie Parker....Rock music had taken over by that point and Jazz musicians were struggling to find gigs. Music had also become internally political at this point...lines had been drawn...who could play what type of music....I got married moved to San Francisco and started playing in coffee houses....free form improvised music....wrote a lot of poetry then....

What are your inspirations ? Art ? Literature ? People ?
I've found the concept of death to be very inspirational........death  is like a wake up call- life is short...death goes on forever. I've found this idea to be in a lot of  Art/Literature/Philosophy/Music and people.
Odilon Redon was an early favorite...especially his charcoal drawings.
Spanish Civil War poets - Miguel Hernandez and Garcia Lorca
French Poets Baudelaire and Rimbaud
Beat Poet Gregory Corso
Hart Crane was an early favorite
W.B. Yeats....
I once read an interview with Harry Partch where he described meeting Yates and discovered that Yates wasn't the tone deaf individual that some had thought him to be but one who heard in just intonation.
I still enjoy the Jackson Pollock collection at MOMA as well as the Matisse room....its like getting recharged just standing in front of their work. I think the surrealist concept of automatic writing opened a lot of doors for me creatively

Could you speak to us about your concerts and commitment for Mumia ? When I read his first book "Live from Death Row", I was very touched by this man and the injustice of his trial.
In 1970 I was a member of an anti war demonstration in Ann Arbor MI with about 300+ demonstrators when a county sheriff car barreled through the crowd at about 40 miles an hour...fortunately no one was injured but nothing was ever done about it. I realized at that point that the law enforcement/judicial system functioned in their own world. Mumia represents to me what is wrong with the legal system in the states and probably a number countries in the world. The judicial system has been a joke - a sham for years...look what happened here last November when G. W. Bush got elected by the Supreme Court.Stan Nishimura- a trombonist that I work with on occasions - gave me a copy of Mumia's book "Live from Death Row". I was overwhelmed by Mumia's intelligence and talent. Mumia never received a fair trial and probably will never receive one. Stan has organized a number of concerts/benefits for Mumia that I have been a part of....I think it is wonderful when  Art can be political and there is nothing quite like improvising pure emotion. Doing a concert incorporating the writings of Mumia will not free Mumia but does re enforce the cause. There has been such a media bias regarding the cause to free Mumia that the grass roots phenomenon is quite wonderful......my wife went to Philadelphia last year for a March for Mumia that filled the streets for blocks and the main stream press totally ignored it. This isn't unusual in the states but tiring......which is why I'm totally committed to the internet which is becoming the new information highway.

Do you consider you are a committed musician ?
There are probably some people who would like to commit me for what I do musically......but I would have to say I am dedicated to making creative music.

How many time did you live in California ? Could you speak to us about the California's scene ?
I lived in CA from about 1972 to 1976...that was the only time. I visited CA a couple of times in 1999 and 2000 to do performances in the Bay Area...I had a nice time. There is an active scene of dedicated improvisors with the number of performance spaces changing on a regular basis. The Bay area has a tradition of being somewhat insular probably as a result of the geography, fog and lack of any real warmth in SF. I haven't really checked out LA but I have met several improvisors from there who have been active through the years. The Knitting Factory opened a performance space there recently - which still puzzles me. San Diego has a very active scene from what i can tell..but small.

When and why did you decided to go to NYC ?
My arrival in NY was somewhat of an accident. In 1989.  I had left for Europe with my family to start a new life after having had our existence almost extinguished by the Detroit Police and a crazy but powerful Pediatrician. Detroit had been a 13 year struggle to survive as an artist in an environment almost totally inhospitable to the arts. I mostly did street musician work while in Europe making enough money for everyone to eat and drink with a little left over for museum's and movies. Europe was a bit more logistically complex then we had imagined and we returned to the states - NY after 3 months of traveling around.

Do you think there is differences between the two scenes ?
Since the rent is about the same between CA and NY I would have to say mostly the population size. If you live in NY you have a dense population belt from Boston down past Washington DC. If you live in SF then its an 8 hour drive to LA another 4 to San Diego and probably 8 up to Portland. 6 hours by air to NY and another 6 to Europe...the logistics are staggering when you think about playing a gig and making $50. Playing wise I don't thing there is much difference...everyone's heard the same CD's and 78's....performers are nomadic by nature and ideas have been spread, The internet has closed the space between regions lately and a new world sound is developing. I think I can play a little louder and faster in NY though ....something about being bombarded by sound 24/7. I've heard people say that it's easier to meet other musicians in NY and just play music.. Sort of like everyone's trying something new or different. Recently though I've felt that the economic crunch has resulted in more conservative tastes and was happy to find some wonderful players and audience in the Southern states.

I read in your website you played with Ernesto Diaz-Infante (I did his interview in a past issue of JazzoSphere) who is more interested by the contemporary classical music, are you interested too by the avant garde classical music ? Do you think it could be interesting to explore the improvisation in this way ?
I've worked with a number improvisors who have primarily classical roots...Matt Sullivan (oboe), Bruce Gremo (flute/Max), Tan Dun, Cecil Taylor, Maria de Alvear, Theo Jorgesmann (clar) .......I've noticed that European Improvisors are referred to as being classical. I'm never quite sure what all the connotations are expected of "classical improvised music". I think that in the past 30 years there has been a decline in Avant Garde Classical Music presentation on a big scale with major symphonies. Ernesto came to NY with his prepared acoustic guitar and we had a great time playing although there was some discernment from classically trained musicians regarding lack of true(?) pitch. I think classical music has been handicapped since 1918 when A was officially set somewhere from 438 to 442...In the states 440 seems to be official...depending on Barometric pressure of course. I've found that musicians who come from primarily a classical background have more trouble improvising in a free manner. Part of the reason for this seems to be economical....improvising musicians earn a lot less then classical musicians who play Bach 5 nights a week. Once you start to enjoy making unique sounds and interpreting written scores in unorthodox ways playing something the same can become from my perspective feel like a factory job.

Could you speak to us about your first years in NYC ? (first contacts with musicians, first projects.)
When I first came to NYC I was fortunate in meeting musicians/dancers and poets and had a busy schedule. I hooked up with the Amica Bunker group that was presenting free improvised music shows at Gen Ken's record store on E. 3rd st in a small store front - I first met William Hooker there, we were both doing a solo set and ended up having a wonderful duet. Pianist Evan Gallagher and I  began having sessions on a regular basis in his apartment and did shows as the BE Duet at St Peters, University Settlement, Cave Canem and several others.  PS 122 had Saturday morning Dance/Music improv sessions. There were so many places to play in NY then...small and large...things were happening....so many of those places are gone or become something else.....life changes. I think that within the first 6 month's I had played in - asked to be a part of a performance- in most of the downtown spaces in Manhattan....like Roulette, Knitting Factory, CBGB's, Gargoyle Mechanique, Rapp Art Center, Gas Station, Brownies..... A number of these projects were what would considered performance art...combining movement, costume, dialog and music.

Could you speak to us about the ABC No Rio (creation and evolution of these structure) ?
ABC No-Rio is a unique situation and probably the last of its kind in NY. About 15 years ago a group of artists presented a show protesting the warehousing of apartments by the landlords in an abandoned store front on Delancey St. Of course the police closed it down but the media had picked up on it so the city offered them 156 Rivington st for a small monthly rent. After about 11-12 years of struggling with the city to maintain use of the building ABC No-Rio was offered the building if they could come up with the money to renovate it. ABC No-Rio has been a non-profit organization for a number of years so they accepted the offer. Unfortunately every time ABC got close to the amount the city would raise it. It's now about 4 times the original amount. ABC No-Rio offers the community a location for alternative philosophies to meet and thrive. Presently there is a computer room on the 4th floor with 10 computers networked to the internet. A print room pamphlets, flyers and art books. The 3rd floor has a dark room and media room. The second floor has a kitchen for Food Not Bombs and a zine library. The first floor has a gallery/performance space. Hard Core/ Poetry/ Theatre/ Dance/Improvised Music/Open Mic all happen on different nights through different organizers. I was offered the opportunity to present improvised music again at ABC 3 years ago... I had booked Amica Bunker shows there in 1991-92....and C.O.M.A. was created. Almost every Sunday at 8:00 there is some type of improvised music assembly performing creative music with an open session after. The door is quite low but the spirits are high. Once a year there is benefit/festival where 100+ musicians gather and make music on all the floors/roof and garden for 5-6 hours.

You have recorded recently "Badlands - Exposition of Freedom. Now !" with the great Vattel Cherry and Jeff Arnal. Could you speak to us about this project ? Could you say some words about these two musicians ?
Expositions of Freedom ...Now! is a wonderful improvising trio that has a potential for growth beyond any pre-existing trio that I know of. Both Vattel and Jeff are serious musicians who have very large ears. I met Vattel during the Cecil Taylor extravaganza and immediately was drawn to his sound. We didn't actually meet again until the first High Zero festival in Baltimore MD and we had been dropped into one of the arranged groups. Jeff had appeared about the same time and I felt that those two guys would be a real treat together and the rest is history....Jeff has an amazing dynamic range that keeps everything synched plus rhythmic revelations that flow like water. Vattel's sense of harmony is light years ahead of what most free bass players even want to consider. This trio can fly and it does.  Expositions of Freedom ...Now! did a tour through the south this spring to celebrate the release of Badlands and had a great time....we're looking to an expanded tour this fall.

In your recording "Badlands" you include five solo pieces, you have recorded also, more recently, "Watch Out !" in January, is the sax solo very important for you and why ?
The solo recordings are kind of a return to my beginning as a performer...they're also an interesting perspective on where one's core sound is......there is a challenge to playing- improvising solo on a single note instrument that can't be denied. I guess you have to really like pressure. Playing solo is like spontaneously writing poetry...ideas can flow totally free. Playing- improvising in an ensemble is like a spontaneous play. It's nice to have both. The Badlands Cd was put together by Bob Rusch  at Cadence Jazz from tracks I had sent up to him.

What changes do you see in your music since you began ?
When I started exploring music as an art form I was interested in experimentation....what happened when I tried different ways to make a sound....what would be the result of reed types, tunings, etc...I still do that and I'm always surprised what happens.

What are your projects for the future ?
There are several groups that I'm trying to maintain like...Expositions of Freedom...Now! and Dialing Privileges....as well as electro- acoustic projects with Donald Miller, Doug Walker and Ambibat. The C.O.M.A. series at ABC No-Rio presented me with the opportunity to meet and play with a number players that are new to me and this will hopefully continue into the next season.I'd like to get some tours set up to Europe and around the states but things seem quiet at the moment although there are several possibilities in the planning stage. At the moment I'm just happy to make music whenever and wherever I can.

Interview by Sebastien Moig

Discographie

Siwula/Miller - Live at The Knitting Factory - Liquid Audio/KF - 1999
Duet - coma - 2000
Fancy Dancer - coma - 2000
Sax Solo Sax - coma - 2000
Dialing Privilege - CIMP - 2000
Watch Out - 2001
Badlands; (Exposition of Freedom... Now) - CJR - 2001