Pianist and composer Mark Isaacs is busy. He has just released a new album, Visions, a collection of ’60s and ’70s pop tunes reworked for a jazz trio, and has embarked on a national tour to promote it. Mark also recently curated a successful series of jazz concerts at the Brisbane Powerhouse and will soon record again in L.A.
How did you select the material for your new album, Visions? Were they all old favourites or did you trawl back through your collection looking for suitable songs?
They were old favourites. My experiences in playing jazz on the templates of popular songs began very early. In my late teens and early twenties as a jobbing pianist I would accompany singers, often not truly jazz singers, in piano bars and the like. If they called a tune like All the Things You Are it was obviously an opportunity for me to play jazz. However this was the late 1970s and singers in those situations were obliged also to sing the popular music of that time and the 10-15 years preceding it. I found there were many of those tunes that I had just as much fun playing jazz on (I don’t mean “playing jazz” only in terms of linear solos, but also as an accompanist reharmonising the melodies as they are sung). I remember well the tunes (like Fool on the Hill and Both Sides Now) and always thought it would make a satisfying CD project to tackle this repertoire.
Can you say something about how you approached the task of arranging the material for the trio?
In terms of pre-setting I worked out reharmonisations in some tunes, so the bass would be playing the right notes with me. I also worked out what general texture I wanted from the drums (mallets, sticks, brushes, hands and sometimes a combination thereof across different sections of the one piece) and I planned it so there would be variety of drum textures from track to track. I chose what harmonic template the improvisations would be over (only in one case is this the actual harmonic sequence of the song) and I worked out some of the introductions and codas and a few other motifs and things. The rest is a large amount of co-arrangement with the other two players that occurs spontaneously in performance. Did you enjoy working with Ben Waples and James Hauptmann?
Very much so. They’re a lot younger that me, neither have turned 25 (I’m 47). So they bring youthful energy, spontaneity and malleability to the project. And they’re just brilliant. Ben, a genuinely arresting musical stalwart, has been my permanent bassist for my Australian projects for the last three years. James joined the trio for the Visions project – his sensitivity and warmth was particularly valuable on this project. It’s going to be fun being on the road with those guys.
There has been quite a bit of discussion about the comparative quality of the older popular material – tunes associated with the American songbook – and more recent songs. What are your thoughts having investigated the harmonic and melodic structures of the latter for your album?
A great song is a great song is a great song whether it’s by Schubert, Cole Porter or Joni Mitchell
Why did you choose to record at the Eugene Goossens Hall?
For the 9′ Steinway Model D concert grand (choice of two in fact) and for the very live reverberant ambience that does not suit many kinds of jazz but suited and greatly enhanced this limpid project with a drummer like James who doesn’t need to bash to prove he’s an artist. We recorded direct to stereo (no mix), all the tunes were done in a single day. The project was originally commissioned by Mal Stanley’s Jazztrack program on ABC Classic FM.
Are you happy with the result?
Yes. And I am prepared for the mixed reviews I will get. Some jazz critics can’t seem to accept that a jazz CD need not contain fast swinging music. They suggest that you should have included what you deliberately excluded. You know, don’t follow your own vision, follow this formula. Also this music gets disparagingly referred to as cocktail piano because of its rounded edges, but there is a long history of using the sound world of more functional music forms while deepening the material (for those who care to listen). The French composers did that with cafe music and other composers did it with other kinds of salon music. Concert composers write pieces that draw on a film music ethos. I’m happy to be elevating what some might see as cocktail piano with what I hope is a keen jazz sensibility on this CD.
Your national tour took in Darwin, a place not often associated with jazz. Have you played there before?
Yes, I played there in 2004. And Paul Grabowsky has had a lot to do with the place. So maybe it’s time for that perception to change. I find Darwin far more responsive to interstate proposals to mount jazz performances than Adelaide or Hobart.
The Hot Nights Cool Jazz series at Brisbane’s Powerhouse follows a successful festival last year. What is your role as curator of the event? I choose and initially engage the talent and oversee the marketing materials and generally assist with promotion. The Powerhouse are amazing at what they do so I don’t have to be across every detail by any means. We just did Hot Nights Cool Jazz there Feb 10-12 and every concert sold out. I didn’t play but I attended and was MC for the concerts.
What were you trying to achieve when drawing up your program?
Artistic integrity across a wide range of genres. We travelled a huge distance in the last festival between our opening show – the Lynne Arrialle Trio from the USA – to Scott Tinkler’s quartet on closing night with Grabowsky, Rex and Edie. The mandate is to feature international, national and local Brisbane talent.
Do you think it is important for jazz to be presented in this more formal way?
Well, we also have a jazz club scene set up at the Powerhouse’s Spark Bar that’s pretty informal and bands play there before and after the main theatre events. I think it’s important in jazz to do both, but never informal to the point of people talking over the music, even in a bar. Not on my watch.
I understand you are going to LA to record an album. Can you say something about the project?
The recording has been assisted generously by a $20,000 Project Fellowship from the Australia Council, though that is in fact insufficient to cover the costs and I will have to invest funds of my own. It will be a CD of my originals (after releasing two CDs of standards in succession). The band will be a combination of Australian and American players. The Aussies are myself and guitarist James Muller; the Americans are drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Jay Anderson and saxophonist Steve Tavaglione. The engineer will be Bernie Kirsh who, amongst others, recorded just about all the Chick Corea albums in the last 30 years or so. And the studio will be Chick’s Mad Hatter Studios.
Visit www.markisaacs.com for details of Mark’s activities, including gig information.
