Burning Ambulance Podcast

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Matt Hollenberg Dec 08, 2017

Show notes

Episode 5 of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with guitarist Matt Hollenberg. He’s one of the most adventurous players around right now, and he’s got a lot going on. He’s a member of John Zorn's trio Simulacrum, along with organist John Medeski and drummer Kenny Grohowski; we interviewed all three of them a few years ago. He’s also a member of the band John Frum, with Liam Wilson of the Dillinger Escape Plan and some other underground metal folks; we reviewed their debut album earlier this year. He’s also just launched a new instrumental metal fusion project called Shardik , and his longest-running band is Cleric. They’ve been around for more than a dozen years, but they’ve only released two albums, one of which, Retrocausal, just came out. Apparently, though, they’ve got two other records in the can, one of which is entirely made up of Zorn compositions, from the Masada songbook.

Matt has a lot to say in our interview about Cleric, about Simulacrum and working with Zorn, about Shardik and John Frum, and about the state of metal in general. He also talks about a very bad accident he suffered earlier this year, which made it impossible for him to play for several months. It’s a really interesting conversation, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Roswell Rudd Nov 24, 2017

Show notes

Episode 4 of the Burning Ambulance podcast features the final interview with trombonist Roswell Rudd before his death in December 2017. Rudd was one of the pioneering figures of the jazz avant-garde; though he started out in a Dixieland band, by 1960, he was working with Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, and Steve Lacy. He was a member of the ensemble that recorded the legendary ESP-Disk’ album New York Eye & Ear Control, alongside Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray; along with Tchicai, drummer Milford Graves, and several different bassists, he formed the New York Art Quartet, whose debut album, also on ESP-Disk’, is a landmark of the free jazz era. He and Lacy collaborated for years, interpreting Thelonious Monk's music without a pianist; he was also on multiple Shepp albums in the ’60s, and appeared on the Jazz Composers Orchestra album Communications. In the 2000s, Rudd explored music beyond jazz, recording albums with Mongolian musicians and with Puerto Rican guitarist and cuatro player Yomo Toro. His latest releases include Strength and Power, a collaboration with keyboardist Jamie Saft , bassist Trevor Dunn , and drummer Balazs Pandi, and Embrace, with singer Fay Victor, pianist Lafayette Harris, and bassist Ken Filiano.

Rudd was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, and battled the disease until his death in December 2017, but maintained as busy a recording and performing schedule as he could until the end. It’s easy to tell, in this conversation, that he was in poor health; he spoke softly and slowly. But I think it’s still a very interesting interview, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Myra Melford Nov 10, 2017

Show notes

The third episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with pianist Myra Melford. Melford has been a prominent figure on the jazz avant-garde since the late 1980s, having worked with numerous figures affiliated with the AACM, including Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Nicole Mitchell, and Leroy Jenkins. She’s also led several of her own groups, including Trio M with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson; the Myra Melford Trio with bassist Lindsey Horner and drummer Reggie Nicholson, which later became the Myra Melford Expanded Ensemble with the addition of trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Marty Ehrlich; Be Bread, which explored a blend of jazz and traditional Indian music, which Melford has studied extensively; and Snowy Egret, which includes guitarist Liberty Ellman, cornet player Ron Miles, bassist Stomu Takeishi, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and with whom she just recorded a new album, due out in 2018. She’s got many other projects going as well, many of which are explored in this interview.

Melford also discusses her early studies and her path to becoming a professional musician; her exploration of Indian music; her role as a professor at UC Berkeley; her participation in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's “Handful of Keys” salute to jazz piano history; and much more. It’s a fascinating, nearly hour-long conversation I hope you’ll enjoy.

Matthew Shipp Oct 27, 2017

Show notes

Episode 2 of the Burning Ambulance Podcast features an interview with pianist Matthew Shipp. Shipp has been one of avant-garde jazz’s most compelling figures since coming to public attention in the early 1990s. He frequently releases multiple albums in a year, mixing solo performances with ones by his current trio, which features bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker. In 2017 alone, he has released a trio album, Piano Song; a solo album, Invisible Touch at Taktlos Zürich; Vessel in Orbit, a collaboration with drummer Whit Dickey and violinist Mat Maneri; This is Beautiful Because We are Beautiful People, a collaboration with saxophonist Mat Walerian and bassist William Parker; Magnetism(s), a reissue of a 1999 disc with Parker and saxophonist Rob Brown, paired with a brand-new live performance by the same group; and an astonishing 11 albums in collaboration with saxophonist Ivo Perelman.

In this interview, Shipp discusses his earliest days and how he decided to become a professional musician; his current activities, including his creative relationship with Perelman and his decision to leave the Thirsty Ear label after a nearly 20-year partnership; and his newfound political activism, particularly his vehement opposition to Donald Trump.

Roscoe Mitchell Oct 13, 2017

Show notes

The first episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with legendary saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell. Mitchell co-founded both the AACM and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and has been one of jazz’s most forward-looking and inspiring figures since the 1960s. His latest album, Discussions (get it from Amazon), features large-ensemble interpretations of music originally improvised by a trio featuring Mitchell himself, Craig Taborn on keyboards, and Kikanju Baku on percussion. About a week after this interview was recorded, Mitchell led a new incarnation of the Art Ensemble of Chicago in their first New York performance since 2004. The group featured Hugh Ragin on trumpet, Tomeka Reid on cello, Jaribu Shahid and Junius Paul on basses, and Famoudou Don Moye on drums, and former AEOC member Joseph Jarman made a special appearance, reading his poetry accompanied by the others.

The interview runs about 45 minutes; Mitchell talks about the Art Ensemble, his composition “Nonaah,” his other solo works, and much more. Stream it or download it below.

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