Intervista a Tony Levin

In occasione del concerto pratese di Tony Levin (13 ottobre, teatro Politeama, Prato) il Popolo del Blues presenta in esclusiva un’intervista realizzata da Maurizio Storai in collaborazione con gli organizzatori della tournee

1) This is the first time that the TLB embarks on an European tour, and the Italian public knows you mainly for your long-time collaboration with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson: how would you describe your group and your music to a hypothetical member of the audience at your forthcoming
concerts?

TL: First, let me say that this is a very exciting tour for me. I have wanted to come to Europe, and especially to Italy, for years. It's not easy to get the tours to happen the way you want, and I am grateful that it is finally coming true. It's my hope that this will be the first of many trips to Italy to play my own music. And my band feels the same - it's unanimous in our group that, though we
travel all around the world, Italy is our favorite place. As for describing the group and the music, I have been making my own albums (quietly) for quite a few years. And we've had a fun touring band for a long time, with some of my buddies from the old Peter Gabriel Band. (Larry Fast and Jerry Marotta.) We play mostly the music from my previous albums (and some from my upcoming CD) but we can't resist playing some of the Peter Gabriel songs we had fun with so long ago, and usually a King Crimson song or two. In addition, I like to have Larry Fast do one of his Synergy pieces, and we'll prepare a few other surprises for this tour. The thing that audiences will find is that we in the band have a lot of fun in our show - playing the music we love to play, being with friends, and enjoying the audience too. (Hey, just like in the tours with Peter Gabriel!)


2) Your solo career has started quite late, if we think about your long-time experience as a session musician and as a member of many bands. Why did it took so much time to give your compositions an airing and eventually publish them?

TL: I have done a lot of "collaborative" writing through the years. Not just with King Crimson, but with Bozzio Levin Stevens, Liquid Tension Experiment, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities, and some others (including a very special song co-written with Ivano Fosatti.) So I think it was inevitable that I would someday want to a CD and tour of my own music. What has been a big challenge for me is this latest album (not released yet) where there is singing on most of the material. I have had some songs, and some poetry, for years, but had never put them on my records. It is also interesting that, while some players love to be the "front man" in the band, that has never been important to me. I love making, and being part of great music. Whether I am in the back, quietly playing the right bass part, or part of an equal group, sharing the attention, or in front at the microphone, telling stories between songs... it's all equally fun for me because it is the music, and the magic of a live concert, that makes it special to me.


3) You wrote on your website that your brother Pete had become a member of the TLB (He has already collaborated with you in writing many group compositions). Given that Pete is basically a jazz musician, will this bring a change in the band’s style?

I brought Pete in for one song (a duet) on an album two years ago. Later when we toured, he would sometimes drop by a show and sit in, to do that duet with me. This year, for recording my new material, I wanted a lot of Hammond (B3) organ playing, and Pete was the perfect player to do those tracks. Then it seemed just a logical idea to have him join the touring band, playing piano, organ, and sharing the synth duties with Larry. Also, for some of the new songs, I wanted three background voices, so Pete can help with that. (I hope someday to get Larry Fast to sing, but it hasn't happened yet!!) The band's style won't change at all - Pete has played both rock and jazz, though he's better known for his jazz playing - but we only play rock, and that is what the style will be.

4) You surely are the one who made the Chapman Stick famous among prog music lovers, but how did you discover this instrument?

I started playing the Stick a long time ago - I think it was 1976, when we were just recording Peter Gabriel's first solo album. What attracted me to the instrument was it's unusual sound, and the attack of each note that it's new technique (hammering on each note) created. I heard possibilites for me to have a different approach to the texture of some of my bass parts. Also, it's unusual tuning helped me come up with creative bass parts (it's an effort to keep being innovative when you've always got the same four strings under your fingers.) Through the years the Stick has helped me to have new textures in my playing, and in writing music it gives me many more options (with its 12
strings) than the bass. I think I was one of the first to use the instrument in rock bands, but there were other excellent players when I first got the instrument. And now more than ever, there are a lot of great players, doing things on the Stick that are beyond my technical ability on it. One of those
players, Tom Greisgraber, will be playing in our shows in Italy – along with Jerry Marotta. The duo will be the opening act in our shows.


5) It seems that you really care about your fans, since, despite all your countless activities, you personally update your website and your online diary, and answering questions on your guestbook. How do you manage to do all that?

I don't know about fans, but I have come to treasure the connection between musicians and the listeners of their music. There is some kind of magic that happens at a special live concert, which will be remembered by the audience as well as the players - it's hard to put that experience into words, but I think that for many of us it makes us feel connected in some way. The internet has provided a way for me to stay a little in touch with those who care about my music - it has torn down a little of the wall that exists between performer and audience (though, alas, some separation has to be there - I cannot talk on the phone to everyone who might want to talk about the music!) Anyway, I have had an active web site for some time, and on it I have tried to give a sense of what it's like for us on the road and in the studio, not with some special stories, but with the everyday reality in diaries, and photos. I also try to put up lots of photos of the audiences - not so people can find themselves (although they do,) but so people can get a sense of how exciting the Audience is at a concert, and how much a part they are of the magic that will pass between the musicians and listeners. This is especially fun for me on Peter Gabriel's tours, where I can take photos while Peter is talking to the audience, and I can spend the first hours back at the hotel uploading the diaries and photos. Frankly it is a lot harder when it's my own band - I am too busy playing and talking to take many photos, and I am pretty exhausted late at night - not so easy to do the uploads then.


6) The recent Grammy Awards nomination for your album “Pieces Of The Sun” has been a welcome acknowledgement for your whole career, and your fans really liked that. What did it meant for you?

I have mixed feelings about the Grammy Awards. I was surprised and pleased that enough people knew of my music, and liked it, for the nomination. It's an honor. But I get a little squeamish (do you have that word in Italian?) (maybe 'un po incommodo') about anybody's music being voted as "best". There is so much great music being made, surely it's not possible for there to really be a best one, of any category. Well, the reality of that award program, in the U.S, is that it gets you some publicity, and that is a chance to let the public know about your music. When you make records like mine - mostly instrumental, progressive, and not ideal for American pop radio play - it's a challenge to get some publicity for it at all. So I welcomed the nomination, and happily did the 10 or 20 interviews that came from it.

7) You wrote on your website that there is going to be a customized Tony Levin bass. We are very curious about your instruments and the equipment, and we are sure that also Italian bass players are!

It's out now, and may be in stores. It is a "signature model" in that it's got my name on it, (and a little silhouette of my bald head!) What the company tried to do is make a close copy of the bass I usually play (a 5 string Music Man Stingray - I have the very early version of that, in an interesting color that was discontinued) - but they have also tried to make it a much lower cost instrument. So, it is a lot cheaper than the Music Man Stingray. Of course, with cheaper parts, and being made in China, it is really a different bass than the other. But I worked with them on the sound and feel of the bass, (insuring, for example, that it has the humbucking alnico pickup of my old bass ... a bit different than the usual pickups nowadays) and I think it's a very good, and versatile bass, especially for it's price. I use the one I have quite a lot. In a funny way, I am very comfortable with the 'tony levin signature' bass being a low price one. It's because I always favored what are called mid-price range instruments - the ones with a 'bolt on neck' and wood that's not fancy, but that have a solid rock sound. I have done a lot of very good albums and concerts on that type of bass, and I
wouldn't want some very expensive instrument to have my name on it.*


8) The bass is the instrument that defines the structure of a musical composition, and in the four decades of your career you had plenty of experiences and collaborations. You experienced a wide range of musical styles, which is the one that stimulates your curiosity nowadays?

There are a lot of music styles that interest me. What gets my attention is when the quality of the music is high - no matter what kind of music it is. There is always pleasure to be had in listening to music that is good - and always, for a musician like me, something to learn from it. Maybe the way the melody is put together, or the arrangement, or the character of the voice, or the way the bass player found his part. There are so many kinds of music being played now (though they are not all played on the radio) it is a great time to enjoy music and find what players all of the world are up to.



9) Robert Fripp once said that, among his many collaborators, you possess the most striking musical sensibility. You said repeatedly that you don want to become “sick” with technique,but you must know that you are universally regarded as a great virtuoso of your instrument. Which is your secret recipe for creating the right mix between sensibility and sheer technique?

I do not have a 'recipe' for the way to play bass, or any other kind of music. I value the way different players find their own way to approach music, and I realize that there is no correct way for everyone. Sometimes I am inspired by the approach of bass players who think very differently than I do about their playing. To me the thing that is most important, when recording a new piece, is the music itself. If it is a song, then the voice, and the lyrics are the focus, and I will try to fashion a bass part that enhances that. Maybe there will be the need for the bass to step out, for a few bars, and take the attention. Or maybe the best thing I can hear is for the bass to be the foundation of the rhythm, but stay out of the spotlight. Maybe (like in King Crimson) the bass can go completely against the direction of the other instruments, and the result will be an enhancement of the progressive approach. Each situation is different to me, as each piece of music is different.



10) Your experience with B.L.U.E is in my opinion one of the most interesting things you’ve done in the last years, both live and in the studio. Is there going to be another chance for this project?

When forming groups like B.L.U.E, we never know what the future will bring. We had a great time recording our album, and did two tours in the U.S. But we never found another period where all the musicians were free to make another record. That's the problem with a group that isn't the main focus of each player - it may be very good, but it's not easy to find a month when all players are free. That's why I was intent to record a live album (Blue Nights) while we were on tour. Since those tours, Chris Botti has become very popular in the U.S, with his own records and tours. Bill Bruford is always busy, and his Earthworks group is his main focus. David Torn has become in demand for writing film music, and he is usually deep in a project for a movie. And I'm a little busy myself. So, I wish I could tell you we have plans to do more, and we'd like to, but... who knows!

11) With regards to B.L.U.E, can you please tell us about the artistic and professional relationship with such an idiosyncratic musician as David Torn, maybe comparing him to Robert Fripp with whom I believe he shares a lot of artistic aspects?

When I got the idea for B.L.U.E. (Bruford Levin Upper Extremities) my musical sense was that David Torn would be an ideal partner for Bill and me - we had done a groundbreaking album long ago, David's "Cloud About Mercury". David plays in unique and mysterious ways - often you can't even tell if it's a guitar he is playing. And he is adept at other instruments, like the oud, which give different flavors to the music. I should mention that, when forming that group I realized that David, with his avant garde jazz background, would take the music further OUT than Bill and I already have it, and so I chose Chris Botti as the fourth member, knowing that he has a strong melodic sense, and would focus and ground the compositions. Indeed, that's how it turned out, and we were very happy with the compositions (mostly we wrote them together.)


12) Looking back at your past collaborations, one can see that there are many Italian artists. Obviously this makes us proud do you find any similarity between your music and Italian music or any Italian artist in particular?

I have been very lucky to play with the Italian artists I've met. And I am constantly reminding people in other parts of the world what great music is coming out of Italy. (Sometimes it seems even the Italians don't realize that!) I was an opera fan when I was young, and I think
that the tradition of singing in Italy is the grandest of the world - and that has been absorbed into the contemporary music scene. As rhythm sections got better in Italy, the result has been some very special music, which the whole world can admire. As for whether my music is similar to any of the Italian music I've been part of, well, not intentionally. I will admit, that I am influenced by all of the great music I hear - I try not to copy it, but I believe that great music broadens the scope of a musician's ears and opens him up to ideas he may not have tried. There is one example I can think of which does have a strong similarity - I co-wrote a song with Ivano Fossati, playing the background on the Stick, after which he wrote a great song to go over that. Later, on an album of my own, I used a similar chordal approach on the Stick for a quiet intro to a big instrumental piece. (It's called "Ever the Sun Will Rise" - Ivano's is called "L'habito della Sposa") And, let me say in honesty, that I WISH I could copy the great voice ability of Ivano or of Claudio Baglioni, in which case I would without shame! But alas, I am stuck with only my own voice, and I just have to
live with that!


13) I seem to remember that you are not so eager to give bass playing lessons, but do you think that in the future you (or other members of your band) will be able to do some stages or clinics, maybe when touring, and also in our country?

I have avoided giving lessons, mostly because I'm not interested in it (more interested in TAKING lessons, when I see some technique I would like to learn.) Also, I think to be a good teacher, one has to analyze and break down one's playing and approach to music. And I've always been more immersed in the playing itself than in the anaysis of it. (In fact, it is only when answering interview questions like this that I think about my playing at all. It's easier to do it than to describe it.) Clinics are a bit different, because I have found that the players attending them like to know about one's experiences, not only "how to be a great bass player", and I can have fun relating some stories of my life on the road. So perhaps I will some day do some clinics in Italy.


14) Each time you tour Japan you are met with warm audiences and a perfect organization, and you always respond with great performances. Which aspects of Japan make that country such a pleasant place for you to tour?

This is an unusual question for an Italian tour! Before describing Japan I can say that a lot of places have their own nature as an audience. Things like the sophistication, the passion, the openness to
new ideas... they vary a lot between countries, and even cities. So anyone who tours a lot knows that in, for example, New York and Los Angeles, and London, you shouldn't expect as much excitement from the crowd - though they might love your show, they "see it all" and are used to expecting great shows. The opposite happens when you go to some part of the world that doesn't get a lot of concerts - Eastern Europe for example - there is a reaction of being grateful that you came, that adds to the excitement about the music. Then, there are some areas where people are just passionate about music - Italy is certainly one of those. Okay, now, to talk about Japan; it is fun to go there because it is so different from other places we travel. Everything, the food, the traffic, the politeness, the hotels... it's all unique. Wherever I travel, I enjoy just wandering around, seeing what may be there. In Japan (though of course I can't understand any of the signs) there is a lot to see in any area, and the city of Tokyo is so huge, you can stay in a different part on each visit.


15) If you think at your solo career as a whole, how do you rate your musical journey, from World Diary in 1996 to Double Espresso in 2002? And where would you put your forthcoming album in this context?


I dont' think much about my career - like most musicians, I focus on the music I am doing at the present time. (The only time I need to compare that to the past is when I am doing an interview like this!) But I have been lucky, with my solo albums, to do each time the kind of music that my heart asks me to make. The first solo album I did, World Diary, was all instrumental duets, with great players I had met around the world. Next for me came a trio album, recorded, just for fun, inside a cave. (That was called "From the Caves of the Iron Mountain") Then a quartet album - though I didn't call it my own album, "Bruford Levin Upper Extremities" was really the third project that I did on my own, and for my own record label. Since then I have recorded every few years, the music that's in my head. Mostly I use "my band", by which I mean the players I tour with. They're great, but sometimes I also have other guest players. The biggest departure for me, and a great challenge, has been this new upcoming CD (which will not be released until 2006, even though it's almost done.) This is the first non-instrumental album for me, so it has involved song writing, lyrics, and (hardest of all) singing with the quality of a lead vocalist. I've sung backup in most of the bands I've been in, but being the main singer is quite different. So I've been working much longer on this album than in my earlier ones. I hope the results are worth it!! (We will do a few of the new pieces on the Italian tour, of course!)

16) Your great experience in collaborations and other musiciansÕ live sets allows you to choose the artists you want to play with. What are the criteria, the main reasons for your choices?

For an album, you can bring in just about anyone to play the part you want. But for touring, you need players who will devote themselves to your projects, and be available for you when you need. This is especially complicated when the tours don't make much money, so you can't pay the players what they might get elsewhere. I am very lucky to have great players who are also close friends, and share with me the ups and downs of our touring as the Tony Levin Band. Also, because they're so talented, I can feature them each in the show - so you have in our show, segments with Jerry Marotta singing lead, or talking to the audience. Lots of solos by Jesse Gress, and we usually do one of Larry Fast's Synergy compositions too. All this makes doing the show a lot more fun for me - I would be bored by just Tony Levin being featured on every song!



17) Adrian Belew’s “Side One/Two” project shows great subtlety and plenty of ideas: it seems that Ade is full of creativity and energy, and this leads us to believe that another King Crimson project will be a great thing. Belew is not a youngster, and like you he is extremely respected and sought after by fellow musicians. This clearly shows how musicians born in the first half of the last century are still a leading power in the contemporary musical scenario. What do you think about the past, present and future contribution to the musical scene offered by the artists of your generation?

Well, that is another of those things that we don't think about much... too busy making music. I think I will wait until I'm really OLD, and then I will devote some thought to what the generations of players have added to the music world, and how I fit into that. Until then, I'm busy playing, and I try to have the attitude of a young player going out for his first time to play his music for the world.