Presentarvi in maniera sintetica Alexa non è un compito facile. Non si finisce di approfondire circa una delle sue molteplici attività, che Alexa ne ha inventate altre due o tre. La gara ad inseguimento con Alexa è una gara persa. Chi vuole approfondire quale sia il vastissimo range delle sue attività, trova tutto sul SUO SITO WEB , molto articolato, che da metà luglio è stato completamente rinnovato. Ma per darvi un'idea, vi consiglio caldamente la visione di questo filmato, preso dal sito di Alexa, che descrive una sua "ordinaria giornata di straordinaria follia". Poi passerò all'inglese, perchè questa è una intervista ad Alexa, e domande e risposte saranno ovviamente espresse nell'unica lingua che ci accomuna.
An (extra)ordinary day in the life of Alexa Tarantino
-b) you were the youngest member of the orchestra;
-c) you were playng an instrument not so usual within women
Grazie Antonio, for asking me to do the interview, and for supporting and following my career. I am 26 years old. I was born in Hartford, Connecticut. I grew up spending time in West Hartford, CT and Rockport, Massachusetts, which is where I direct my summer jazz program, Rockport Jazz Workshop
-02) I have already asked you whether your family's name has something to do with Italy, and you told me that your family comes from "an Italian town called Taranto". May I ask you which generation of your family moved from Taranto to the US? Your father? Your grandfather?My great-grandfather, I think his name was Elio Tarantino, moved from Italy to the US. My grandfather was born in Connecticut, and my father was born in Washington, D.C. However, my family went back to Italy every other year when I was a little girl. All of the Tarantino family would travel and spend three weeks there together. Those are some of my favorite memories!
-03) Is italian still in your family?
Unfortunately, no. We still use some of our favorite words and phrases, but nobody is really fluent. I spoke my best Italian as a little girl when we would travel back and forth. I studied it in college for two years to keep up with it, but wish I could say I was fluent!
-04) Tell us about the first time you put your lips on a sax. How old were you? It was a sort of thunderbolt, or somebody pushed you? Who? and did HE or SHE had to push strong, or were you happy to receive that push? Did you start with the alto-sax, or with something else?
I believe I was 9 or 10 years old when I first played a saxophone. I was in the fourth grade of elementary school. It was definitely a “thunderbolt”, as you put it. I was inspired by a live performance that I had seen. There was a young woman playing the saxophone and I just knew I had to play it too. Nobody had to push me. In fact, my parents bought me the saxophone and then told me, “we are not going to push you to practice or audition or anything, this is all up to you.” They wanted me to love it and to work at it myself. That was the best thing they could have done for me. They made me responsible for my own success and fulfillment. I started on alto saxophone but also played piano pretty seriously until high school, where I decided to focus only on saxophone.
-05) I guess that you went to a regular music school later. At what age? How long? And did this happen in your birth-place (the Connecticut), or in NY?
My high school in Connecticut was a very serious jazz school, although it was just a normal public high school. It happened to have a great jazz program with great educators. When I was 18, I moved to Rochester, New York (about 6 hours from New York City) to study at a music conservatory called the Eastman School of Music. I stayed here for five years, and I received my Bachelor of Music in Jazz Saxophone Performance and Music Education.
-06) Tell us about "you first dollar" earned going on stage to play jazz. How old were you? Were did this happen? And do you remember how "high" (or low) was your first cachet?
I think that my first dollars were earned when I was busking (playing on the streets) in Rockport, Massachusetts during the summer. Rockport is a small, quaint beach town. It’s very safe and everyone knows everyone. When I was in middle or high school, I went to Town Hall to buy a license to perform on the street. I used to stand out there and play songs, with a bucket for tips. I would make anywhere from $60-80 per hour!! It was amazing! The town is a big tourist attraction, so tour buses would unload maybe 50-100 people, and that would be what brought me the most money. I have to thank my family too…aunts, uncles, grandmother, cousins…I am sure that they would throw in maybe $5 to $20 at times.
-07) As far as I remember, I saw you playing alto and contralto sax, clarinet, flute, and maybe I saw you also playing a bariton-sax bigger than you. Did I forget something? Have you ever played what I consider to be the sax "by default", i.e. the tenor sax? (I felt in love with it when I listened to the super solo of John Coltrane playing "Violet for your furs")
I started on the alto saxophone, which really is my preferred saxophone. I also play the soprano saxophone, which is my second favorite. Those two are my strongest. I did play tenor saxophone rather seriously in college big bands, but I prefer to only play it on more commercial gigs/recordings. I prefer to improvise on either alto or soprano, because I think that my musical mind just hears things comfortably on those horns. I played baritone for the first time this year. It was a lot of fun! But it is not my voice. So, I CAN play those instruments, but for creative improvising, I prefer to stick to alto or soprano. I also play flute, piccolo, and clarinet regularly. At the Umbria Jazz Festival in 2012 I played these instruments: alto saxophone, piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, and bassoon. However, I do not own a bass clarinet, oboe, or bassoon, and I learned them for a very specific project. I would need to take serious time to get them up to that performance level again.
-08) I know that you have been also, once , at the Jazz Festival known worldwide as "Umbria Jazz". How do you rate that festival? Did you have the time to visit something of Umbria Region? Did you like that experience? Do you think you'd like to come again to Umbria Jazz?
The Umbria Jazz Festival is my favorite jazz festival in the world! It was the first jazz festival that I ever attended - ero una bambina! When my family took those long trips to italy, we spent lots of time in Umbria, so I was somewhat familiar with the area. I performed there with Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project. I would love to return to Umbria Jazz, and hope to get there again soon!
-9) A stupid question: after "a day in the life" as the one described in the Julliard clip, when you go back home, do you still have the energy to keep you shoes off?
My days balancing Juilliard with performing, teaching, and touring, are very long. Sometimes it can be hard to make time to relax. I try my best to schedule in time for myself so that I can recharge. I am learning how important it is to recharge so that I can always bring my best to any work that I do.
-10) For a while I didn't know you as a solo player, until I discovered a video of you and your friend Lauren Sevian bariton sax) and of the quintet (LSAT, acronym of "Lauren Sevian and Alexa Tarantino"), in a concert a the Dizzy's Club in NY... Great intro of the theme in sinc between you and Lauren, great solos of both of you, super-great chase of the two sax) Amazing! The tune was "Lamb and Bunny". It would be interesting to hear something about the birth of your association with Lauren. Will this experience go ahead?
LSAT Quintet (Lauren Sevian and Alexa Tarantino)
Thank you! Lauren and I are best friends and absolutely love making music together. I first met Lauren when I was a student at Litchfield Jazz Camp, where she was teaching. We didn’t really reconnect until we performed with Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra as a part of Maurice Hines’ Off-Broadway Show “Tappin’ Thru Life”. We grew very close during this time, because we would play the show multiple times a day for about 6 months and then go on to do various other performances with Maurice Hines. We formed LSAT because we wanted to make music together in a different setting as well. So far, we’ve played at venues such as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, and won the Made in NY Jazz Competition.
-11) And then in April I discovered you as a leader of your own quartet, and as a composer. You already know my opinion: your composition "Breeze" is excellent:
As you know better then me, jazz has a syntax, and when you listen to the great sax players (such as Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Jimmy Heath), after two phrases you can often imagine "what's coming next", and if that happens, you've got what is called "easy listening". The audience feel relaxed because the audience receive just what they expect to receive. You often get out of the narrow syntax, and come out with some surprising passages. This shows courage and talent, but I hope you are aware that this could shrink the number of your fans, but in the mean time you'll get growing appreciation in the segment of the "diggers". Do you have a strategy for the future?
Thank you! I don’t mind taking the “easy listening” approach once in a while. But, I really like to challenge myself and my thoughts and ideas. I am always thinking of how to create fresh and unexpected material. It helps me to grow as a saxophonist and composer. I do not like when I find myself playing the same vocabulary over and over. Even just tweaking things a bit helps me to access a new mindset. I am still working on my composing skills, but I like to take things that are perhaps familiar and then throw in something a little unfamiliar :) Anyone who wants to listen is welcome!
-12) Many people (besides myself) have really appreciated your surprising solo next to the jazz-legend Chick Corea, and Dan Nimmer. You looked relaxed. Were you REALLY relaxed? Did you notice the empaty of Chick during your solo? And what about the surprising double-call of Alexa Tarantino from Wynton Marsalys at the end of the concert? Did this happening strenghten your self-confidence?
Thank you! That week of playing with Chick Corea is certainly a highlight for me. He was so kind and relaxed, very open to letting the music go wherever it wanted to. Before the solo, I was a bit nervous. My dad would always tell me that it was good to be nervous, and that it means that you care. That has always been helpful to remember. I can get a little nervous leading up to something, but once I get on stage, it all goes away. So, when I walked up to play with Chick, I just wanted to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experience, and to really dig in to playing with him and playing the music of Thelonious Monk. I had a blast and I appreciate the warmth and support from both Chick and Wynton.
-13) Last but not least - Dear Alexa, I really appreciate what you do to introduce jazz to young generations, gifting them with a meaningful quota of you free time. Go ahead, please. Give them an opportunity.
Thank you! I appreciate that. I am working to grow and strengthen my program so that we can work with as many eager young jazz musicians as possible. I am grateful to those who have helped me along the way, and am happy to help others however I can.
Thank you for this long interview. I wish you a long, successful love-story with this great music called "jazz". I'm happy to close this interview with something that should represent a very sweet memory for you: your "bachelor" concert at the end of your studies at the "Eastman Music School". Considering that you were only 22 (and not - like now - an old 26 years old lady), I found impressive both your improvvisation fluidity (minute 5) , and your technical skills. Brava, bravissima.
Alexa at the BM Concert at the Eastman School of music - NY
Thank you very much, Antonio. I hope to get back to performing in Italy soon!
Alexa Tarantino
...and so we do... :-)
SOCIAL
Follow @Tafanus