Update
4-Jul-09 -
Jonathan Freilich does
a greatfour part interview with one of the
masterminds behind Chaz Festival Alex McMurray.
Part 1 - Here Alex talks about the origins of
Chazfest, the Tin Men and their involvement, musical
experience, and the ideas behind Chazfestival.
Part 2 - Alex talks about Chazfestival in
contrast to the New Orleans Jazz and heritage
Festival, the strains of putting on a festival,
general attitudes toward organizing, and the future
of the Chazfestival.
Part 3 - Alex on the criterion for selecting
bands.
Part 4 - Alex remembers what he can about
previous years of the Chazfestival, bending
self-imposed rules, the non-musical elements of the
festival and those pressures, funniest Chazfest
story.
Keyboardist,
Brian Coogan, took some time for an interview on the
day of the Chazfestival.
Part 1: Here he talks about sitting in with Aurora
and Walt at Chazfestival, songwriting and its
relation or distinctness from jazz, being an
audience at Chazfestival, and comparisons with the
Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Part 2: Coogan talks about Chazfestival in relation
to artistic freedom, comparisons between New Orleans
and New York, musician identity, relationship of
songwriting to his viewpoints, funky dance music,
his new band.
Part 3: This section deals with dance music,
Brian's background, the music he came up listening
to, carting around Hammond organs and their role in
New Orleans music, the ironies of nostalgia and
musical anachronisms in New Orleans music,
modernity in music.
"Helen Gillet talks to about her band Wazozo,
Belgian songs, oom-pah, chazfest, and
nostalgia."
Martin Krusche- saxophonist, saxophone repairman,
sailor, plasterer, leader of the magnetic ear.
He played at last years Chazfestival and here
he reflects on that experience, being an audience
member at chazfest, the current magnetic ear,
alternative festivals, sailing and music, and the
bywater audiences' demand for mood variance in music
depending on time and location.
"Phil Degruy plays chazfest this year. Phil
is one of the most fascinating and innovative
instrumentalists from New Orleans. His
creativity is not bound by the guitar- he also
modifies, or maybe corrects, a lot of what falls in
front of him and on him. He even invented and
plays a kind of guitar- the guitarp. Here he
talks about style in his playing, his guitar
influences, alternate lyrics, new orleans guitar
scene history, and converses and hypothesizes about
the problems of music business and herd
mentality."
"Here, the tables turned a little bit. Phil
Degruy interviews Jonathan Freilich about times in
the city, guitar, Naked On The Floor, music
philosophy, music background, and composition."
