GWILYM SIMCOCK - The Genesis Of The Gentlemen
Interview by Euan Dixon
Photographs of The Impossible Gentlemen by David Forman
Photograph of Adam Nussbaum by Neil Swanson
For the sixth concert of their current tour The Impossible Gentlemen returned to Zefferelli’s , the Lake District venue based in Ambleside comprising a jazz bar, restaurant and cinema complex which thanks to
the enterprise of owner Derek Hook, Cumbria’s very own Norman Granz has featured some of the world’s most famous jazz performers in a uniquely intimate setting. Despite having made an arduous car journey from the south –Ambleside isn’t the easiest place to get to – Gwilym Simcock, pianist, composer and founder member of the group made time to talk to me before the sound check. I wanted to know how the group came into being given that Anglo –American collaborations are not all that common given the obvious logistical constraints. How did these `International l Recognised Aliens`, a term used by the American immigration authorities which they utilised as the title for the latest album, get together. For the record `The Impossible Gentlemen` are Mike Walker (guitar) who hails from Manchester, Bangor born Gwilym Simcock (piano & keys) and three American legends, Steve Swallow (electric bass) Steve Rodby (acoustic & electric bass) and Adam Nussbaum (drums).
Photographs of The Impossible Gentlemen by David Forman
Photograph of Adam Nussbaum by Neil Swanson
For the sixth concert of their current tour The Impossible Gentlemen returned to Zefferelli’s , the Lake District venue based in Ambleside comprising a jazz bar, restaurant and cinema complex which thanks to
the enterprise of owner Derek Hook, Cumbria’s very own Norman Granz has featured some of the world’s most famous jazz performers in a uniquely intimate setting. Despite having made an arduous car journey from the south –Ambleside isn’t the easiest place to get to – Gwilym Simcock, pianist, composer and founder member of the group made time to talk to me before the sound check. I wanted to know how the group came into being given that Anglo –American collaborations are not all that common given the obvious logistical constraints. How did these `International l Recognised Aliens`, a term used by the American immigration authorities which they utilised as the title for the latest album, get together. For the record `The Impossible Gentlemen` are Mike Walker (guitar) who hails from Manchester, Bangor born Gwilym Simcock (piano & keys) and three American legends, Steve Swallow (electric bass) Steve Rodby (acoustic & electric bass) and Adam Nussbaum (drums).
Euan Dixon: Who or what was the prime mover in bringing the group together. Was it an A&R led project or simply a gentlemanly agreement?
Gwilym Simcock:. It was Mike Walker’s idea actually. Mike had played with Steve Swallow and Adam
Nussbaum before and obviously massively enjoyed that experience and I’d played in a project with Adam and Tim Garland. Me and Mike did a little tour together and hit it off right away and through that Mike got the idea that doing the four of us together as a quartet would be an interesting sound.
ED: Did Mike have a preconceived idea of the sound he was looking for?
GS: Oh definitely. We’ve talked about this quite a lot between us because the idea came from Mike and on the first album his compositional contributions worked a lot better than I feel honestly that mine did. He had a stronger idea of what it was about in his head having played with Steve and Adam before. I’d heard a lot of Steve Swallow’s music and listened to Adam’s playing before writing the music but it’s never quite the same quite the same as knowing what it’s like to play with people. Mike had that whereas I hadn’t so I do genuinely feel on this second album that we’ve done ,from a personal point of view, I’m so much happier with my contribution because I feel that the sound of the band has come to fruition, it’s got to a place where we know what it’s about now . We have also done a bit of co-writing which is a very interesting process though it can be a very difficult one as a musician but because me and Mike have such a great relationship together and there is a lot of trust between us it has been easier.
ED: How do you see the music developing? Are you going to stick with what is clearly a winning formula in order to fulfil audience expectations or would you find this artistically limiting?
GS: I quite like the idea of maintaining a group sound. While I love doing lots of different things and I embrace that because that’s an important part of growing as a musician, the idea of doing a band that’s got an identity, something you can build on in a familiar way is something that really excites me. I grew up listening to the Pat Metheny group and Weather Report and things like that with a very strong group concept that people could buy into. It’s very different from some of the other things I do. Musically `The Gentleman` has a much more rock oriented
sound and on this tour I’ve started playing Hammond which you’ll hear later on. This is a first for me and makes a refreshing change from the
piano.
We are already talking about what we are going to do for the next album and might do something that is a bit more layered and more
produced.
Gwilym Simcock:. It was Mike Walker’s idea actually. Mike had played with Steve Swallow and Adam
Nussbaum before and obviously massively enjoyed that experience and I’d played in a project with Adam and Tim Garland. Me and Mike did a little tour together and hit it off right away and through that Mike got the idea that doing the four of us together as a quartet would be an interesting sound.
ED: Did Mike have a preconceived idea of the sound he was looking for?
GS: Oh definitely. We’ve talked about this quite a lot between us because the idea came from Mike and on the first album his compositional contributions worked a lot better than I feel honestly that mine did. He had a stronger idea of what it was about in his head having played with Steve and Adam before. I’d heard a lot of Steve Swallow’s music and listened to Adam’s playing before writing the music but it’s never quite the same quite the same as knowing what it’s like to play with people. Mike had that whereas I hadn’t so I do genuinely feel on this second album that we’ve done ,from a personal point of view, I’m so much happier with my contribution because I feel that the sound of the band has come to fruition, it’s got to a place where we know what it’s about now . We have also done a bit of co-writing which is a very interesting process though it can be a very difficult one as a musician but because me and Mike have such a great relationship together and there is a lot of trust between us it has been easier.
ED: How do you see the music developing? Are you going to stick with what is clearly a winning formula in order to fulfil audience expectations or would you find this artistically limiting?
GS: I quite like the idea of maintaining a group sound. While I love doing lots of different things and I embrace that because that’s an important part of growing as a musician, the idea of doing a band that’s got an identity, something you can build on in a familiar way is something that really excites me. I grew up listening to the Pat Metheny group and Weather Report and things like that with a very strong group concept that people could buy into. It’s very different from some of the other things I do. Musically `The Gentleman` has a much more rock oriented
sound and on this tour I’ve started playing Hammond which you’ll hear later on. This is a first for me and makes a refreshing change from the
piano.
We are already talking about what we are going to do for the next album and might do something that is a bit more layered and more
produced.
ED: Now that you have Steve Rodby onboard do you envisage replicating something like those grand,
almost symphonic projects , like `Imaginary Day` and `The Way Up`` that he worked on with Pat Metheny?
GS: Quite possibly, we all love that sound and fits in with my liking for through composed music. We’ve actually already moved in the direction of Pat Metheny in the way we’ve been playing in the last few weeks, a bit more open and groove oriented, and Steve Rodby is a fantastic and amazingly inventive musician. He has spent 25
years playing with Pat Metheny where he has had quite a specific role as the bass player in which he has done amazingly well but he particularly likes having the freedom and challenge of being involved in a new group.
ED: On your latest record you deploy two basses on some tracks. Is this a transitional thing marking a handover from one Steve to another? Does it herald the exit of Steve Swallow?
GS: Not necessarily but because Steve Swallow spends half his year holidaying on a Caribbean island with his wife Carla Bley - something that is alluded to in the album (ref. `Crank of Cam Bay`) it means he has limited time to tour and a lot of that time is taken up with his own projects playing with Carla and maybe John Schofield so although he has been quite genuine in saying he really loves being involved with `The Gentlemen` his own music has to take priority. We had a couple of tours that Swallow couldn’t fit in and we thought well we need someone of a similar high profile and technique who had a little more time to commit to our schedule and I’d met Steve Rodby, funnily enough also through Tim Garland, on a little recording we did in America a couple of years ago and, as I said, having
grown up with the music of Pat Metheny I was already familiar with his work. One of the things that got me into jazz was the album` Travels` and Steve’s bass playing on that album really changed my life so to be able to call him a friend and make music with him is hugely satisfying
emotionally and personally. I thought he would fit the bill for the band so when it came to making the second album and seemed only right that he should be featured given that he had played a lot of the gigs.
ED: But you don’t preclude the possibility of Steve Swallow returning in future.
GS: Not at all, but it all depends on schedules and commitments. What a wonderful situation to be in, though, having access to two stellar bass players. When I speak to Steve Rodby on Skype to arrange things I can see his 13 Grammys on the mantelpiece behind him and you know you’re dealing with someone pretty serious. 13 Grammys, that’s incredible. One of my life’s ambitions is to hopefully to get a single
Grammy some day, that’s on my list of things to do. When I see Steve there with his 13 it is pretty impressive and you know I find in my experience that the best musicians are some of the nicest people. Both Steve Swallow and Steve Rodby are wonderful people to spend time with and we really enjoy ourselves playing the music. When we are travelling together and I hear Steve and Adam talking about playing with legends like Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard for example, as the youngest guy in the band I feel really privileged to be part of that jazz family.
ED: This is a question that often irritates musicians but given that jazz fans are notoriously sectarian in their tastes and are always preoccupied with classifications where would you place your `Impossible Gentleman` music within the jazz canon?
GS: I suppose more and more towards the rockier side of things and on the last couple of gigs we’ve opened out into more spacious areas. Both Mike and I love to write `through composed` music as I said before but finding the balance between composition and expression through improvisation is always a challenge. Adam Nussbaum has a particular impact on the group sound, he’s a real character both as a person and
the way he plays drums and of course through his work with musicians of the calibre of Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker he is a significant figure in the development of jazz; the way he throws accents and `bombs` acts as a catalyst which keeps the music really fresh which is really beautiful. This way the communication between us is spontaneous.
almost symphonic projects , like `Imaginary Day` and `The Way Up`` that he worked on with Pat Metheny?
GS: Quite possibly, we all love that sound and fits in with my liking for through composed music. We’ve actually already moved in the direction of Pat Metheny in the way we’ve been playing in the last few weeks, a bit more open and groove oriented, and Steve Rodby is a fantastic and amazingly inventive musician. He has spent 25
years playing with Pat Metheny where he has had quite a specific role as the bass player in which he has done amazingly well but he particularly likes having the freedom and challenge of being involved in a new group.
ED: On your latest record you deploy two basses on some tracks. Is this a transitional thing marking a handover from one Steve to another? Does it herald the exit of Steve Swallow?
GS: Not necessarily but because Steve Swallow spends half his year holidaying on a Caribbean island with his wife Carla Bley - something that is alluded to in the album (ref. `Crank of Cam Bay`) it means he has limited time to tour and a lot of that time is taken up with his own projects playing with Carla and maybe John Schofield so although he has been quite genuine in saying he really loves being involved with `The Gentlemen` his own music has to take priority. We had a couple of tours that Swallow couldn’t fit in and we thought well we need someone of a similar high profile and technique who had a little more time to commit to our schedule and I’d met Steve Rodby, funnily enough also through Tim Garland, on a little recording we did in America a couple of years ago and, as I said, having
grown up with the music of Pat Metheny I was already familiar with his work. One of the things that got me into jazz was the album` Travels` and Steve’s bass playing on that album really changed my life so to be able to call him a friend and make music with him is hugely satisfying
emotionally and personally. I thought he would fit the bill for the band so when it came to making the second album and seemed only right that he should be featured given that he had played a lot of the gigs.
ED: But you don’t preclude the possibility of Steve Swallow returning in future.
GS: Not at all, but it all depends on schedules and commitments. What a wonderful situation to be in, though, having access to two stellar bass players. When I speak to Steve Rodby on Skype to arrange things I can see his 13 Grammys on the mantelpiece behind him and you know you’re dealing with someone pretty serious. 13 Grammys, that’s incredible. One of my life’s ambitions is to hopefully to get a single
Grammy some day, that’s on my list of things to do. When I see Steve there with his 13 it is pretty impressive and you know I find in my experience that the best musicians are some of the nicest people. Both Steve Swallow and Steve Rodby are wonderful people to spend time with and we really enjoy ourselves playing the music. When we are travelling together and I hear Steve and Adam talking about playing with legends like Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard for example, as the youngest guy in the band I feel really privileged to be part of that jazz family.
ED: This is a question that often irritates musicians but given that jazz fans are notoriously sectarian in their tastes and are always preoccupied with classifications where would you place your `Impossible Gentleman` music within the jazz canon?
GS: I suppose more and more towards the rockier side of things and on the last couple of gigs we’ve opened out into more spacious areas. Both Mike and I love to write `through composed` music as I said before but finding the balance between composition and expression through improvisation is always a challenge. Adam Nussbaum has a particular impact on the group sound, he’s a real character both as a person and
the way he plays drums and of course through his work with musicians of the calibre of Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker he is a significant figure in the development of jazz; the way he throws accents and `bombs` acts as a catalyst which keeps the music really fresh which is really beautiful. This way the communication between us is spontaneous.
ED: You’ve played Zefferelli’s many times before both as a single and with the group. The last time you were here with `The Gentlemen` you filled the 80 seater Jazz Bar, tonight you’re filling the 180 seater cinema auditorium. That must be very gratifying progress.
GS: It is though it’s always a challenge to get people through the door and put bums on seats and it’s a shame that it is difficult to get more young people to listen to jazz. Any audience is fantastic and although I’m not for a second being disrespectful to any age range I think there is something in this music that should be particularly exciting to young people. When you go to a jazz gig you see something that is completely unique for that night whereas if you go to a Beyonce or Justin Beiber concert you see something that has been choreographed
to the last second. Jazz offers a more spontaneous experience. Of course people often don’t like to be challenged unfortunately and a jazz audience is one that has to be up for a challenge. Certainly in this band we like to play the way we want but we do try and package the music in a way that makes it accessible to as many people as possible. Anyway it is great to be back at Zefferellis ; this place has quite a reputation amongst jazz musicians and Steve Rodby has been looking forward to coming hear having heard such favourable reports from famous colleagues like Dave Holland who have performed here in the past. Stars like Dave appreciate the intimacy you get with the audience in venues like this.
ED: So what happens next in your musical life when this tour ends?
GS: The tour ends on the 26th and then at 4am on the 27th I’m off to Moscow.
At that point I let a very busy gentleman get on with his business which in concert with his illustrious colleagues was to delight the capacity audience already beginning to crowd the foyer.
GS: It is though it’s always a challenge to get people through the door and put bums on seats and it’s a shame that it is difficult to get more young people to listen to jazz. Any audience is fantastic and although I’m not for a second being disrespectful to any age range I think there is something in this music that should be particularly exciting to young people. When you go to a jazz gig you see something that is completely unique for that night whereas if you go to a Beyonce or Justin Beiber concert you see something that has been choreographed
to the last second. Jazz offers a more spontaneous experience. Of course people often don’t like to be challenged unfortunately and a jazz audience is one that has to be up for a challenge. Certainly in this band we like to play the way we want but we do try and package the music in a way that makes it accessible to as many people as possible. Anyway it is great to be back at Zefferellis ; this place has quite a reputation amongst jazz musicians and Steve Rodby has been looking forward to coming hear having heard such favourable reports from famous colleagues like Dave Holland who have performed here in the past. Stars like Dave appreciate the intimacy you get with the audience in venues like this.
ED: So what happens next in your musical life when this tour ends?
GS: The tour ends on the 26th and then at 4am on the 27th I’m off to Moscow.
At that point I let a very busy gentleman get on with his business which in concert with his illustrious colleagues was to delight the capacity audience already beginning to crowd the foyer.
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For our review of the album see September 's CD Reviews.
For more information visit www.impossiblegentlemen.com and www.bashorecords.com To purchase Internationally Recognised Aliens by The Impossible Gentleman visit Jazz CDs. Top of Page |