Madrid’in gözde jazz kulüplerinden Sala Clamores’de (http://salaclamores.es/) gerçekleştirdiği konser sonrasında multi enstrümancı kontrabascı Adam Ben Ezra ile dergimiz için görüştük.
Avusturya’da ‘Little Big Big Studios’da canlı seyirciler ile kaydedilen çıkış albümü ‘Pin Drop’da Türk ezgilerini de kullanan Adam Ben Ezra, etrafını 360 derece çevreleyen dinleyici ve seyircilerle albüm kaydetmenin nasıl bir deneyim olduğunu bizlerle paylaştı.
(Aşağıdaki linkte kayıttan bir örnek görebilirsiniz).
Being a multi- instrumentalist, can you tell us your journey from the childhood with the instruments? And Why you decided to be more associated with contrabass at the end?
My whole life is a journey of exploring sounds where i try to express the most of me as best as I can. My first instrument was the violin at the age of 5. Through the violin I learnt the basics of classical music which really shaped the foundation of my musical perspective. Alongside, I was drifted to the piano in our living room and started to play it on my own with the help of my mother who had put stickers with the note’s names on the keyboard.
Few years later as a young teenager I started to listen to more updated music like Rock and pop and this led me to switch from the violin to guitar.
It took me a few years to understand that the guitar is not the right instrument for me, I was a more introvert person back then and I felt more comfortable to deliver the supportive and accompanying roll in music so the electric bass felt more natural for me.
At the age of 16 I started to listen to Jazz and the warm sound of the double bass enchanted me so I started to play it! With time I discovered the vast variety of sounds that I can produce with this instrument; Bass, percussion, guitar chords, strings, oud and with additional effects it gets even more crazy!
Who were the musicians that inspire you? And what you get from each of them?
There are a lot of musicians from all kinds of genres that I’m inspired by. Bach is definitely one of them. The way he combines different contrapuntal melodies together is divine. I have learnt alot from his solo pieces, how to play different melody lines that accompany and complete each other with only one instrument. I also listened a great deal to Chick Corea and Avishai Cohen and was inspired by the middle eastern and Spanish elements and how they are combined in Jazz and western music in general. Another idol of mine is Sting who composes such beautiful songs with rich and interesting arrangements, and of course he is a great bass player. Other bass players who have shaped my playing are Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Eddie Gomez and Renaud Garcia Fons.
You have travelling between genres, which genre do you think fits you the most and why?
Just like I enjoy trying out and learning to play all kinds of instruments, I’ve always been interested in many different music styles. Throughout my musical journey I have played almost everything: Classical, Jazz, Latin, Rock, Pop, Arabic music and much more. In my music I try not to stick to one genre, I love to use all kinds of different elements from different styles and I always try to create a new distinctive sound. Right now I feel most connected to the middle eastern style of music, the arabic sounds have always been around me since a young age, infact all of my grandparents come from different arabic countries like Iraq, Yemen and even Turkey.
Adam Ben Ezra (Photo: Ezra Gogo Mansur)
Your latest debut album ‘Pin Drop’ has been recorded live with audiences in 360 circle, how did you come up with this idea? And what you experienced through this recording?
After recording my first album – “Can’t Stop Running” which was recorded with my trio over several days, with different takes and editing like most albums are made, I wanted to experience something different in my second album.
I found “Little Big Beat Studios” who are doing this kind of 360 degree live recording with audiences and I really liked it! I liked the challenge of coming to the studio and delivering the best take I can for each song. It really focused me and taught me a great lesson of being in the moment. Every note was played with such meaningfulness. On top of that, the presence of the audience created such a powerful intensity in the room. Every one of them listened to the “Show” with headphones and tried to be as silent as possible. It was electrifying, you could really hear a pin drop in the room.
Can you tell us about the “Silk Road” and especially where you stop with the tune “Prayer” and what Ottoman-Turkish music you listened to influence you?
My whole musical journey is inspired by walking back and forth in my imagination on the silk road from east to west, collecting all kinds of cultural and musical elements I meet along the way.
Making my bass sound like a Tabla in the song “India Time” or like an Oud in “Prayer” are just a few of the elements I have found whilst exploring the silk road. I really like to listen to the turkish kind of playing on the Clarinet which inspired my clarinet playing in “Lord of forgiveness”
What would you like to say to the Turkish audience?
I love your music, I love your culture and it would be an honour to come to play for you soon!
itunes: https://itun.es/tr/DoPKib
