BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Joanna Wallfisch was born to a family of classical musicians.
Her father was a cellist, older brother an opera singer and younger a composer, and her mother a Baroque violinist. That’s not to mention the pianists and oboists in her extended family. But it didn’t stop the Australian/British musician from turning to jazz, and across her career she’s worked with some of the biggest names from Wynton Marsalis to Fred Hersch.
In January, the New York based singer and composer hits Tasmania for the first time when she gives a debut solo tour to celebrate latest album ‘The Origin of Adjustable Things’. Ahead of her gigs at MONA and The Republic Bar, the Joanna talks us through her musical upbringing and her new release – including a collaboration with acclaimed jazz pianist Dan Tepfer.
How did you first get into jazz? Your mother was a Baroque violinist – was there pressure to do music, and to do her ‘type’ of music when you were young?
Music was everywhere, I couldn’t escape. Not that I wanted to. However, the classical route was never for me. I first got into jazz when I was about 11. My older brother Simon used to love to play from the American Songbook for fun, crooning away to himself like a young Frank Sinatra. One day, he called me into the music room to join him. The first song he taught me was ‘Polka Dots and Moonbeams’. We sang it as a duet, harmonizing naturally at the bridge. As we went through more repertoire, ‘Embraceable You’, ‘Fever’, and ‘Fly Me To The Moon’, he said: “Joey, you sound like Ella Fitzgerald!”. At the time, I had no idea who he was referring to, until that summer when I came across an Ella and Joe Pass record. On first listening to ‘My Old Flame’, I was in love. That was the beginning of my journey into jazz. I spent my teenage years listening obsessively to Ella, Sarah, and Nina, trying to get their every vocal nuance and phrasing under my skin and into my soul.
You moved to New York from your home of London. Was it purely for personal interest, or do you consider America to be a home of jazz?
During my masters in jazz at the Guildhall School of Music in London, there was a huge emphasis on the fact that jazz was born of America, and New York City was the hub of hubs for jazz and for so many of the great musicians we revere today. My curiosity was piqued and so I decided, more or less on a whim, to travel out to the Big Apple and see what all the fuss was about for myself. It didn’t take long for me to understand and, just as I got instantly hooked on the music when I was 11, I got hooked on New York. The atmosphere, the openness, the standard of musicianship and the sheer wealth of it too was like nothing I’ve experienced before. Not just that, but I found myself welcomed into the bosom of a city that really does never sleep. Yes, London is also an amazing city with plenty of opportunity, but it was the vibe of New York that drew me in and kept me there. I often describe it to people as a highly addictive drug – the highs so high, and the lows the perfect mirror. Or as of that of an illicit lover — too good to give up on, but always a struggle.
For me, the city has been a source of great inspiration. In the five years since my first visit, I have learnt more than I ever did during my studies, both musically and personally. It is a city that tests and pushes you to the limits and so far, I have thrived off that. Being put through a vice each day somehow fuels my creativity. I’ve seen New York as my muse in both my songwriting, but also for my career I think. By being in the heart of it all I have had the opportunity to meet and work with some amazing people including Wynton Marsalis, Lee Kontitz and Fred Hersch — I had once seen these musicians as almost mythical creatures when studying back in London, and now I know them personally. In New York, everything and everyone is at your finger tips. You just have to be open to it and let the wild and wonderful serendipity of the place wash over and through you.
It’s been a while since your 2011 debut ‘Wild Swan’ and your new 2015 release ‘The Origin of Adjustable Things’. Why the wait for your new album?
Yes, I guess there were four years between my first two albums. Time flies! My debut ‘Wild Swan’ was made in an unheard-of short amount of time. The idea for that record was born in August 2011 after I’d spent a month in New York meeting many musicians there. All music written between August and December, in collaboration with my drummer Rob Garcia. We recorded in December and then, not really knowing how the record business worked, I self-released in March on Bandcamp. A whirlwind experience, it was a result of blissful ignorance as to how records “should be made”. I would say that I started work on the music for ‘The Origin of Adjustable Things’ in September 2012, shortly after moving to New York full time.
‘Satin Grey’ was the first song I wrote there, and has since become what I would call my “post-card” song of New York. From that point, I knew I wanted to make a second album but, with my new-found knowledge of what could go into making an album, I found myself at times stuck and overwhelmed. I never had writer’s block, but I did have which-direction-do-I-want-to-go-in block. So, after all, it was about two years in the making. The songs and also the production – size of the band, etc. – changed many times, from jazzy trio to a more pop/rock line up with an accordion and strings, and then siphoned down again to just voice and piano duo. I found, in the end, that this incredibly paired down and intimate format enabled me to really allow the songs to speak for themselves, and for me to tell my stories as if I were a narrator.
Being a jazz musician but with a classical awareness, how do you approach improvisation across your new release? Is much of the album written or is the bulk of it improvised?
Good question! So, the classical awareness is really through osmosis. I never studied classically, but I was born into it and was surrounded day and night by it. Jazz came later and I latched onto the freedom and joyfulness of it. During my studies, I had to improvise a lot. Though I enjoy improvisation and find I do it across all areas of my life, as I have become more of a singer-songwriter I have paired down on the improvisatory aspect of my own performances in aid of serving the songs and the stories through lyrical and melodic simplicity. However, I continue to collaborate with jazz instrumentalists as I love and also understand the aesthetic, the fluidity that being a jazz musicians allows.
On the album, the lyrics, melodies and harmonies are all composed, yet Dan Tepfer is not one to be tamed when it comes to putting his imprint onto a song. He is a born improviser and refuses to ever play the same thing twice. I have often thought of our collaboration as of a willow tree. At times, he would be the trunk and the roots, and I the branches waving and reaching out, and then we would exchange places – I the stable and grounded point of the song, and he the willow, ever changing and adapting to the environment. It’s worked immensely well so far.
Why did you choose to work with Dan Tepfer, and what was the experience like?
We met in the summer of 2013 and, as you do as a musician in New York, arranged to have a jam session. Something clicked and we started working together a lot. I first hired him to play in my bands, and then our duo collaboration became apparent as something special that we both wanted to invest in.
Working with Dan on the record was quite organic. I was all set to make the record with a full band including Dan on piano. I had a producer on board and we had all just had our first rehearsal. For some reason, I felt in my gut that something wasn’t right about it. The songs were good, and the band sounded amazing – made of New York’s top musicians – but I found my own performance in that setting was lacking. A few days later, Dan and I met up in the park to play catch and also just to catch up. I was expressing my doubts and worries about the whole project and he said, “why don’t we just make a duo record?”. I’ve never considered this. Yet, we had been performing duo by this point and each concert had been a great success, the audience responding in a very special way to our connection on stage. So, we talked some more and, taking a deep breath I decided to call my band and tell them the recording was off (for now), and go ahead with this very intimate project. I brought producer Matt Pierson (Brad Meldau, Becca Stevens) on board to help us out, and it was really a wonderful working experience.
How does your own style change when Dan is thrown in the mix?
My style doesn’t change at all when playing with Dan. I would hope that I am a constant in my artistry, yet also adaptable depending on the environment I am playing in, still ever-evolving and discovering. Working with Dan has been an excellent challenge — he could be quite critical at times, but also very encouraging, presenting me with sometimes extremely difficult compositions but with the faith that I could conquer most anything he presented. I always rose to the challenge and, moreover, appreciated being given the challenge. One of my favorite things is to be musically pushed beyond my own limits. Often, as a composer myself and performing my own material I would, understandably so, find my own levels of comfort and challenge which, are perhaps never at the heights of those that others might present to you.
What can we expect from your MONA performance?
MONA is going to be a very exciting show. Speaking of intimacy and pairing songs down to their bare essentials in order to bring out their stories, I will be performing these concerts with only the sparse accompaniment of double bass and classical guitar. The formidable Sam Anning (bass) will join me from Melbourne and exceptionally talented Alan Gogoll (guitar) is a Hobart native. I myself will also be playing ukulele, piano and using my loop pedal to create expansive vocal soundscapes to accompany the songs. Whilst this is going to be quite a new musical setting for me, and for these guys too, I believe, I just have a wonderful feeling this is a platform where some real magic is going to be made. I will be performing songs from my last and upcoming albums, and also some new arrangements of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen songs that I adore. I can’t wait to experience what is MONA, and to share my music with everybody there.
Any parting words?
My month touring in Australia has been an absolute pleasure! I have been so impressed by the level of musicianship in every city I’ve performed in, the warm attitudes I’ve experienced from the guys I’ve worked with and also the receptiveness from every venue, promoter and radio show I have contacted on my way through. As somebody who is lucky enough to hold both a European and Australian passport I must admit I am sorely tempted to move out here for a while and see what kind of work and inspiration I could garner from this beautiful country.
See Joanna Wallfisch live at MONA on January 3 and 4 and the Republic Bar, January 3. For more information on her new album, click here.
Image supplied.
