Just Jazz Guitar No. 54 February 2008.
Trefor:
You’ve been involved in putting on jazz guitar festivals for many
years.
Yes, I’ve co-organised with Maureen Hopkins the North Wales International Jazz Guitar Summer School/Festival for seven years.
How did this get started and when did it begin?
The organisation side of me started back in 1975 when I discovered that jazz was the musical direction I wanted to follow. At that time I had been playing the guitar for around 15 years. I realised that if I was to progress as a jazz player I had to have the right environment, so, a few other guys and I formed a jazz club. It was named the Bangor Jazz Club, (Bangor North Wales), and, with two bands every Wednesday, it ran for approximately eight years. It later became the North Wales Jazz Society. We now put on seventy five jazz events a year featuring all instruments and including jazz guitar weekends and the jazz guitar summer school/festival.
Has the event grown over the years?
Yes, it has grown. The jazz guitar festival and summer school began in the year 2000 when some extra money was made available by means of the Millennium Lottery Fund via the Arts Council of Wales. The event has two strands, the summer school and the festival. The audience attendance on the festival side has increased over the years. The festival has eight concerts all with a focus on jazz guitar and all are open to the public. On the summer school side we started off with approx.50 students, one American tutor, Jimmy Bruno, and three British, and we really didn’t know what to expect. The following year we had more students, two American tutors and two British and the year after that we had even more students, three American tutors and one British. In addition to the tutors, we have had guests from Europe and America performing masterclasses.
Who do you structure the festival for in terms of clinics?
It is aimed at everyone who is interested in jazz guitar whether it’s for listening or learning. On the teaching side we cater for all levels of ability with four tutor groups - beginners in jazz - intermediate - intermediate/advanced and advanced.
Who are some of the performers who been there?
The list reads like a Who’s Who of jazz guitar and is now pretty long, American’s first, Mundell Lowe, Johnny Smith, Al Viola, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pisano, Gene Bertoncini, Jimmy Bruno, Jack Wilkins, Randy Johnson, Howard Alden, Corey Christiansen, Anthony Wilson, Sid Jacobs, Ned Boynton and Mimi Fox. There must be some I’ve left out. Europeans: Martin Taylor, who is our president, Louis Stewart, Bireli Lagrene, Ulf Wakinius, Jim Mullen, John Etheridge, Gary Potter, Robin Nolan, Andreas Oberg. Oh, and there’s Andy Summers!
Incidentally, Randall Kremer from the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC has been hosting the event over the past few years.
Where are they held?
Currently the event is held in the NEWI, (North East Wales Institute), Campus in Wrexham. Wrexham is the biggest town in North Wales and is easily accessible by train and a short distance from both Manchester and Liverpool airports. This year is the first time for us at NEWI. Previous 6 years we were at Yale College of Wrexham. NEWI is a very pleasant college with many excellent facilities, some very sizeable classrooms and an excellent concert hall.
Who were your teachers?
I never had formal guitar lessons, there was nobody around where I lived. In the early to mid seventies I managed to make contact with some established London based players such as Ike Isaacs, Ernie Cranenburgh and Tony Marshall and it was at this time that I first met Martin Taylor. I used to hang with these guys, go to their gigs and listen and observe. I was not a professional musician at this time. From 1969 to 1982 I had a music shop selling records guitars amps etc. To make a living I sold all the commercial stuff but I always had a collection of nice archtops for sale. So I was often in London either on business or at trade shows and it was through trade shows that I first made contact with these guys.
Can you discuss your early years in studying the guitar such as your practice schedule and what books you used?
In my early days I don’t think I had a practise schedule, I just played the guitar as much as I could. I was brought up in a very musical family. My mother was a very fine pianist and church organist. There was always singing going on in the house. My earliest recollection of swing was my mother swinging some Welsh airs. At the age of eight I wanted a guitar as my Christmas present, to this day I don’t know why, I’d never seen one. My parents managed to buy a ukulele banjo, wrong shape for a start, and a guitar tutor book. When I opened the book there were two photographs, a flat top and an archtop. I immediately fell in love with the archtop shape and it’s been like that ever since. I got a guitar some ten years later after the skiffle boom started. I saw an ad in a newspaper selling guitars on mail order. My grandmother got it for me, I think it cost £10. Until I got that guitar I still hadn’t physically handled a guitar. I still had my guitar tutor book, I think it was by a guy called Tim Bell, then I got some other guitar methods that were available at the time The only other tutor books I could get were Ivor Mairants methods, a Book Of Daily Exercises, and a couple of his chord melody books. One of those books had an arrangement of Johnny Smith’s Moonlight in Vermont with all those stretch chords. There was nobody around to tell me that was difficult, so I just got on with it! At this time, late fifties early sixties I looked up an old school teacher, I remembered he played banjo. He then introduced me to other banjo players who lived about fifty miles away, and I remember that one of the first things they advised me on was right hand technique. These guys took me to London for the first time and introduced me to B.M.G. That was a magazine covering Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar. That was a great organisation which brought stringed instrument players together. They also had B.M.G Festivals. Later on I entered some of those festivals and won a couple of cups.
Were you always interested in jazz?
I must have been, even though in my early playing days I didn’t know what jazz was. However, I was aware of a certain sound in my head, but without knowing what I was hearing. I can only guess the radio was on in the house when I was a kid and at that time there was a lot of jazz being played. I was playing Moonlight in Vermont and I’d never heard of Johnny Smith. I was trained as an electronics engineer and around the age of twenty one I was working in research and development when one day the chief engineer called me into his office and said he was forming a Benny Goodman style band and said he was looking for a guitar player. I’d never heard of Benny Goodman! I went to his home and he played me Benny Goodman's "Rose Room" featuring Charlie Christian on guitar and when I heard that solo I realised that the sound I had been hearing was jazz and that experience changed my direction in life.
Did you set out to be a professional musician? What did your parents think of the idea?
As I said before I was brought up in a very musical family, so my parents were very supportive in the sense that I did something musical. They gave me piano and singing lessons at an early age. You have to remember that I was born and brought up on the Isle of Anglesey, an island off the North West coast of Wales. It was very primitive, one telephone and one car in the village. We didn’t have electricity until the mid fifties and I was educated through the medium of Welsh. It was after the age of ten that I learnt to speak English and it was late fifties when things started to take off in that part of the world. At that time I didn’t know that there were such things as professional musicians.
Were there specific musicians that sparked your interest in jazz?
I don’t know what sparked my interest in jazz, but when I heard Charlie Christian for the first time, that opened a whole new world for me and the search for knowledge was on. Apart from reel to reel tapes of Charlie Christian the only other album I managed to get at that time was Kessel Plays Standards. One day I walked into a record shop in Bangor and saw this display sleeve, it was a picture of the back of an archtop guitar. I said to the guy "Can you order me that". A week later it arrived and it was Johnny Smith’s Moods. I still did not connect him with Moonlight in Vermont, it was years later when I got to hear that recording. After that I found Wes, Tal Farlow, Mundell, Howard Roberts, Joe Pass, George Benson, Hank Garland, Pat Martino and eventually every other guitar player that had recorded. I used to get Guitar Player magazine and I made a point of seeking out everybody that was mentioned or reviewed. I listened to all those guys.
Did you play other instruments?
I can play a few chords on piano for teaching purposes, but no.
Did you learn to read early on in your career?
I learned to read when I had piano lessons, that’s the only thing I got from those lessons.
How are your reading skills?
At the moment poor, I don’t do reading gigs anymore. If I was to do a reading gig then I would have to do some practise. Throughout the seventies I did a lot of commercial work, I played in various groups, backed cabaret, pit work, some sessions and dance bands. To do that kind of work you have to be able to read.
Do you think it is important to be able to read?
The guitar is a very difficult instrument to read on. So in my opinion it depends what you mean by reading. I think there‘s a misunderstanding about reading. Whenever reading is mentioned everyone thinks of a player being able to sight read whatever is put in front of him. If you only want to learn the melody of a standard, learn a jazz lick or learn to play a chord melody arrangement, you do not have to be a fluent sight reader. It depends on what your musical direction is. If you work on the commercial side of the business, then you need to be a reader. On the other hand if your interest is jazz, that’s ear music, so reading is not important. I encourage my students to learn melodies by ear.
What’s your feeling about the use of tab in guitar notation?
If it gets the job done, I don’t see anything wrong with it.
Did you go through the r and r phase before jazz?
When I first started I just wanted to play guitar, so I played whatever music was around - learning from Bert Weedon, The Shadows, The Ventures, again not knowing that Johnny Smith composed Walk Don’t Run. There was a lot of Skiffle on TV in the early sixties, and I would always watch the guy behind the singer playing the fill ins, the singer was of no interest to me. So to answer your question - I guess I did go through the R & R thing but I still had that jazz thing in my head. There was a lot of good guitar music on the radio in the fifties to early sixties. I used to listen, on my home made radio, late at night to a programme called String Along, which featured Jack Toogood, a very fine guitarist, he had the Django and the Christian thing down, and then there was BBC Guitar Club which featured Ike Isaacs and many others. Unfortunately for me I only got to know about this programme late on, just before it was taken off the air.
What was your first guitar?
You don’t want to know! I progressed to a Hofner President and then to a Hofner Committee. In the early sixties Hofner seemed to be the only archtop around. I later learnt about others but they were not in my area. Around 1963 I got my first American guitar, a Guild Capri from Ivor Mairants Music Centre.
Your key guitars now? Amp/strings?
About ten years ago I talked to many luthiers about my ideas for an anti feedback device built into the guitar, but none of them wanted to know. They all suggested that I use a 335 type guitar. Then I met Jim Mapson at the NAMM Show in Anaheim. At that time Jim was very much the new kid in the block, but was showing some beautiful archtops. We got talking and shared some ideas, and, to cut a long story short, Jim built me a guitar. The ideas worked out great and it turned out to be a fantastic instrument. (See Jim Mapson’s website under "Product Review", for details of this instrument). Unfortunately, Jim doesn’t produce guitars at the moment. Hopefully he will again in the not too distant future.
I currently use a Stefan Sonntag guitar with a Charlie Christian bar p/u. (Colin Cosimini, a UK based guitarist, and has gone to great lengths to reproduce the C.C. p/u as near to the original as possible). The Sonntag guitar has been built to my specification. Stefan Sonntag has made me two guitars built to my specification. He also makes great guitars and is a luthier who is willing to listen and try out new things.
Strings:
I endorse Thomastik-Infeld Strings. They provide custom sets for me.
Amps:
I have been using Evans amps for over ten years and I think they are fantastic. I recently got a Redstone Audio speaker cabinet, simply the best cabinet I’ve ever played through, those guys really know what they are talking about. Another great amp is the Henriksen Jazzamp which I’ve acquired recently.
What guitars have you owned over the years?
Hundreds, mostly Gibson L5 variants. I had a nice Koontz at one time. I currently have two Sonntags, a Mapson, a 1975 Ibanez L5 CES copy and a 1963 Gibson L5c with a gold De Armond p/u.
Are there enough venues to perform in your area?
We do our bit in the North Wales Jazz Society, but generally no, there aren’t many good jazz clubs around the North West.
If so do you play as a solo or duo etc?
I only play solo for my own amusement. I love playing guitar duos, that means you are interacting with another musician and I can do my bass line thing, which to me is very important. I also have a trio, quartet and quintet.
Are you teaching now? Privately or in school?
Both.
What books/methods do you use?
I use my own method which is unique and gets results. I have over twenty study packs, each one dealing with different aspects of jazz guitar playing.
Has the level of students changed over the years with the advent of ideos and DVD teaching materials?
In my twenty five years of teaching at different colleges, with all that stuff that’s out there I find that the standard of student has declined. In my early days teaching at Leeds College of Music the majority of the students were eager to learn and hungry for knowledge. In the last few years most of them can’t be bothered to turn up for lessons. However, there are always exceptions, for example Andy Hulme, my ace student. There are some other good young players around like Anthony Ormesher, Sam Dunn and John Kelly who either have studied with me or have been featured in our Focus on Youth at the North Wales International Jazz Guitar Festival.
How has the computer age impacted the music profession?
I think it’s good, it has enabled me to write my studies with notated and tab examples. The Internet I think is great, it enables a musician to sell himself through websites and you can get so much information about anything including music. Computers are a great aid, as long as they are never allowed to take over
Can a solo musician survive and make a living today without many clubs or gigs available?
Possibly in the London area, certainly not in the North West without having a day job or teaching.
Any memorable gigs- good or bad?
I did a four guitar tour back in 1993, and that was a tour from hell thanks to one individual. I’ve had some very memorable gigs and BBC broadcasts with Mundell Lowe and great tours with Howard Alden. It’s always a pleasure to play at the Classic American Guitar Show, Long Island and Spazios Los Angeles with John Pisano, also Enricos, San Francisco with Ned Boynton. Most of the gigs I do are good, because I only do the gigs that appeal to me.
First paying gig?
I don’t really remember. It was most probably with one of my early groups or bands that I had.
How has your playing changed over the years?
It has changed through a constant search for knowledge. I also try and play with good guys. It’s taken me years to develop it, but I know have a good practise procedure, and hopefully I’ll keep growing musically.
What guitarist would you have liked to have played with that you didn’t?
I’ve been very lucky in my career. I’ve played with most of the leading American and European players, but the one’s I missed out on are Barney, Joe Pass, Howard Roberts and Tal Farlow. I met them but never got to play with them.
Are there some young guitarists you enjoy listening to today?
I don’t know many apart from the four I mentioned before, Andy Hulme, Anthony Ormesher, Sam Dunn and John Kelly, all UK based and all great players. There are a couple of others that studied with me some ten years ago that have now developed into good players, Tom Harland and Andy Ruis Palma. There are probably more in the UK, but they don’t get in touch. You would think they would want to be featured at the North Wales International Jazz Guitar Festival. John Pisano has his Guitar Night at Spazios L.A. and he gets the support of his fellow guitarists young and old, if they are not playing then they are in the audience. You don’t get that kind of support in the UK. My message to them is: "Support the venue and the venue will support you". Try and see the big picture. It is extremely hard to keep a jazz gig going. The more support it gets, the longer it keeps going.
Any projects that you are working on now?
Yes, quite a few. My Hendrix Chord system which I hope to get published soon. Recording DVD’s to accompany my Jazz Guitar studies for distant learning students. My website, that needs some work. Recording two or possibly three CD’s The first off the press will be a duo album with Andy Hulme and later on I hope to record a tribute to Johnny Smith album. With playing, teaching and organising it is very difficult to keep on top of things.
Have you ever had to work a day job?
When I became of an age to start work it was expected that I would get a job, get married and raise a family. As I mentioned before, I never knew that there were such things as professional musicians. I was trained in electronics and I worked in that job until I got my own business, a music shop. In 1982 I sold my business and turned pro. After a short stint in London I came back to Wales and did some radio and TV work and in 1984 got a job as a lecturer at Leeds College of Music and Liverpool Community College.
I know a lot of musicians who think that selling themselves and self promotion are dirty words.
If they are one of these guys that sit by the phone waiting for it ring and are lucky enough to get all the work they need, then I guess they are thinking, "I don’t need to promote myself", but that means that you are always playing in someone else’s band and very often playing some very bad music. On the other hand, if you are serious about your own playing and have your own band, then you must promote yourself. As an organiser I see things from the other side and certainly within the UK many musicians have a bad attitude towards the music they are supposed to love. The very top pros in the UK are very good at self promotion, they have websites and promotional material, but the next level, oh they want the gig, but have nothing to help the promoter sell it. Maureen, my co-organiser, has to call many of these people and extract enough information to put a biography together in order to get editorial coverage in local newspapers. Also, when they turn up at the gig they are very often late, badly dressed and have no communication with the audience. It seems they think that a good gig is the one that pays the most money. I don’t know where it comes from but there just seems to be a very casual approach to jazz amongst many of the musicians I come into contact with. The saying in this country is "The classical guys get the cake and the jazz guys get the crumbs" but I think if jazz is to get more funding in the UK then jazz musicians have to take themselves seriously!
What do you do for promotion?
When I’m putting a tour together I make phone calls and I provide a comprehensive biography and studio photos. I also have a website. I get my private students by recommendation and my website.
If you had one thing you would like to get across to a young student, what would that be?
Listen a lot. Get to as many live gigs as possible, you can learn a lot by listening and observing. Study with the best tutor available and remember not all leading players are good teachers. Teaching is a special gift, some people have it and some don’t. Also, get a good practise schedule together and that is so important.
Ed Benson
Just Jazz Guitar
PO Box 76053
Atlanta, GA 30358
404-250-9298
Fax: 404-250-9951
Email: justjazzguitar@mindspring.com
Web: www.justjazzguitar.com
