Interview: Paul McCandless and Eri Yamamoto and Yves Léveillé
Claude Thibault: I'm Claude Thibault, editor of sautiesjazznights.com and tonight,Thursday,March, 4, Eri and Yves Yamamoto, both on piano, and Paul Mccandless from Oregon on the oboe, the English horn, bass clarinet, soprano and soprano sopranino saxes share the stage of L’Astral in a unique concert here in Montreal. Hi, and welcome to Montreal.
Group: Hi.
Claude Thibault: Yves, tell us about this project and how it became. I know you regularly work with a sextet. You worked with Paul at that sextet and I know you work with Eri and I know you go to Arthur's tavern in New York sometimes.
Yves Léveillé: It happened.
Claude Thibault: So how did this project happen?
Yves Léveillé: You know when I was with my sextet, I decided to invite another musician as a guest. When I was in New York in 2004, I met Eri Yamamoto, and we became friends and I decided when I was back in Montreal to present the show with Eri. First of all I think it with with Paul, sorry, and after that Eri joined us. But it was different show, different concept, of course, my band with Paul and another time my band with Eri and I decided why not to try to do a show, me and my guests but something more like chamber music but just style and groove and two pianos.
Claude Thibault: Hmm. So this is a unique concert tonight because it's the first time that you will be playing together.
Yves Léveillé : I am hoping it will be the beginning of the new super beautiful romance. Haha.
Claude Thibault: And Eri and Paul, what drew you to this project because I'm sure you have tons of offers and you have busy schedules. I know Yves is charming.
Paul McCandless: Oh, I really enjoyed Yves’ music from the past when we've done some projects with a sextet. His music has some flavor of jazz but it also has a lot of other flavors and touches classical music and some world music and some music that seems very French in a way. There's a lot of influences in the music that are very compatible with my background and my specialties, especially the instruments that I play. I play the oboe and English horn and the bass clarinet, which are normally classical instruments and they sound very comfortable in a classical setting. Yves’ music has this particular kind of refinement that works very well with these woodwinds that I play. I also play the saxophone and I felt that we speak the same language in music.
Claude Thibault: Eri, what do you have to say about this project?
Eri Yamamoto: With Yves and Paul, there's no reason to say no.
Claude Thibault: OK. You can't say no. That's a great reason. Motivation.
Yves Léveillé: It's interesting because the first time Eri played with Paul, they had never met before.
Paul McCandless: Yeah, we’d never met before.
Claude Thibault: So it's a full circle kind of thing. Great!
Yves Léveillé :I like that they get together and create something real, something unique.
Claude Thibault: Oh, great, and what should we expect as far as the repertoire? And I now be honest. I think most of the songs are from you and from Eri? Is that correct?
Yves Léveillé: The program tonight is originals of mine Eri. And we asked Paul, I was very confident with Paul, I know he is very skillful to figure out what's going on.
Claude Thibault: OK.
Yves Léveillé: And the music my opinion is less written than usual in my case but you have the tune of course but we have more space for interaction and improvisation. We add two rehearsals before. I'm very confident. It's very interesting what happened.
Claude Thibault: Is it easier and more flexible and in this type of format as opposed to what you're doing with the sextet?
Yves Léveillé: It’s a good challenge. You have to manage how to fit together two pianos and how to share rhythm, harmony, It's the same for Paul. He has to figure out where I can find my place and you know and navigate in this context, but it's fantastic because it's for orchestra and you have like two pianos. It's the orchestra and you have the featuring of woodwinds. I love it. I'm sure the people will like it.
Claude Thibault: This is a question that can have an answer that can last a whole hour, but what's your life and musical inspiration?
Paul McCandless: Because they're kind of all, you know, they're intertwined. I tend to play with people that I get along with and I enjoy as human beings and I often find that the music follows suit. You know, if I enjoyed working with a person in a personal way, I very often like their music. I find some kind of compatibilities that crop up as I developed my relationships with people. So I have I made it an effort to become very adaptable to be able to play this kind of music, that kind of music, and I play so many instruments that each have a different sort of stylistic reference. There's always something I can find that will color the music of bandmates in a special way. I find this very satisfying.
Claude Thibault: And Eri, what's your inspiration in the musical sense?
Eri Yamamoto: The music is for my life. My priority in my life: number one, good sleep. Number two: good food, and the music and I might be able to survive without number three. However, since I with three I started playing piano and then writing music and then since I moved to New York 15 years ago and now I'm playing with fantastic musicians in Montreal. It's fantastic now number three is very necessary. It's the
same as my sleeping and eating. It just gives me so much colors. I personally I'm not good at writing what I feel in my everyday life with actual words but through my music or music I create with other musicians I play with. That is the best way to express what I feel or what I'm thinking and what I hope. So that's my life, and it I'm still alive. So, it’s perfect.
Claude Thibault: Okay, so it's a first concert together. Maybe it will evolve as you were saying into you
know into some there will be other concerts, maybe?
Yves Léveillé: Right. We have, you know. Last year we started a project of duo piano which is already recorded, but we have to release the CD at the May. Of course we want to play and do it but in addition Paul is a fantastic contact for the music. It creates something different and I would
like to promote this concert of the three of us. Who knows what the next project will be? You know step by step you have. It's always like that when you create a new project. Now, when we get together tonight something magic will happen for me. You know, I have Paul I have Eri to play here in Montreal and you know you have to be confident and after this concert you have to figure out what could be the next step. And it's always like that. Step by step, things happen.
Group: Hi.
Claude Thibault: Yves, tell us about this project and how it became. I know you regularly work with a sextet. You worked with Paul at that sextet and I know you work with Eri and I know you go to Arthur's tavern in New York sometimes.
Yves Léveillé: It happened.
Claude Thibault: So how did this project happen?
Yves Léveillé: You know when I was with my sextet, I decided to invite another musician as a guest. When I was in New York in 2004, I met Eri Yamamoto, and we became friends and I decided when I was back in Montreal to present the show with Eri. First of all I think it with with Paul, sorry, and after that Eri joined us. But it was different show, different concept, of course, my band with Paul and another time my band with Eri and I decided why not to try to do a show, me and my guests but something more like chamber music but just style and groove and two pianos.
Claude Thibault: Hmm. So this is a unique concert tonight because it's the first time that you will be playing together.
Yves Léveillé : I am hoping it will be the beginning of the new super beautiful romance. Haha.
Claude Thibault: And Eri and Paul, what drew you to this project because I'm sure you have tons of offers and you have busy schedules. I know Yves is charming.
Paul McCandless: Oh, I really enjoyed Yves’ music from the past when we've done some projects with a sextet. His music has some flavor of jazz but it also has a lot of other flavors and touches classical music and some world music and some music that seems very French in a way. There's a lot of influences in the music that are very compatible with my background and my specialties, especially the instruments that I play. I play the oboe and English horn and the bass clarinet, which are normally classical instruments and they sound very comfortable in a classical setting. Yves’ music has this particular kind of refinement that works very well with these woodwinds that I play. I also play the saxophone and I felt that we speak the same language in music.
Claude Thibault: Eri, what do you have to say about this project?
Eri Yamamoto: With Yves and Paul, there's no reason to say no.
Claude Thibault: OK. You can't say no. That's a great reason. Motivation.
Yves Léveillé: It's interesting because the first time Eri played with Paul, they had never met before.
Paul McCandless: Yeah, we’d never met before.
Claude Thibault: So it's a full circle kind of thing. Great!
Yves Léveillé :I like that they get together and create something real, something unique.
Claude Thibault: Oh, great, and what should we expect as far as the repertoire? And I now be honest. I think most of the songs are from you and from Eri? Is that correct?
Yves Léveillé: The program tonight is originals of mine Eri. And we asked Paul, I was very confident with Paul, I know he is very skillful to figure out what's going on.
Claude Thibault: OK.
Yves Léveillé: And the music my opinion is less written than usual in my case but you have the tune of course but we have more space for interaction and improvisation. We add two rehearsals before. I'm very confident. It's very interesting what happened.
Claude Thibault: Is it easier and more flexible and in this type of format as opposed to what you're doing with the sextet?
Yves Léveillé: It’s a good challenge. You have to manage how to fit together two pianos and how to share rhythm, harmony, It's the same for Paul. He has to figure out where I can find my place and you know and navigate in this context, but it's fantastic because it's for orchestra and you have like two pianos. It's the orchestra and you have the featuring of woodwinds. I love it. I'm sure the people will like it.
Claude Thibault: This is a question that can have an answer that can last a whole hour, but what's your life and musical inspiration?
Paul McCandless: Because they're kind of all, you know, they're intertwined. I tend to play with people that I get along with and I enjoy as human beings and I often find that the music follows suit. You know, if I enjoyed working with a person in a personal way, I very often like their music. I find some kind of compatibilities that crop up as I developed my relationships with people. So I have I made it an effort to become very adaptable to be able to play this kind of music, that kind of music, and I play so many instruments that each have a different sort of stylistic reference. There's always something I can find that will color the music of bandmates in a special way. I find this very satisfying.
Claude Thibault: And Eri, what's your inspiration in the musical sense?
Eri Yamamoto: The music is for my life. My priority in my life: number one, good sleep. Number two: good food, and the music and I might be able to survive without number three. However, since I with three I started playing piano and then writing music and then since I moved to New York 15 years ago and now I'm playing with fantastic musicians in Montreal. It's fantastic now number three is very necessary. It's the
same as my sleeping and eating. It just gives me so much colors. I personally I'm not good at writing what I feel in my everyday life with actual words but through my music or music I create with other musicians I play with. That is the best way to express what I feel or what I'm thinking and what I hope. So that's my life, and it I'm still alive. So, it’s perfect.
Claude Thibault: Okay, so it's a first concert together. Maybe it will evolve as you were saying into you
know into some there will be other concerts, maybe?
Yves Léveillé: Right. We have, you know. Last year we started a project of duo piano which is already recorded, but we have to release the CD at the May. Of course we want to play and do it but in addition Paul is a fantastic contact for the music. It creates something different and I would
like to promote this concert of the three of us. Who knows what the next project will be? You know step by step you have. It's always like that when you create a new project. Now, when we get together tonight something magic will happen for me. You know, I have Paul I have Eri to play here in Montreal and you know you have to be confident and after this concert you have to figure out what could be the next step. And it's always like that. Step by step, things happen.