Capitulo Uno
A talk with Patricia Grinfeld
June 29, 2017
Patricia Grinfeld‘s new record is entitled Capitulo Uno. The Argentinian guitarist recorded with her organ trio, featuring Alan Zimmerman on organ and Diego Lutteral on drums. We have interviewed the artist on this occasion.
> Iug Mirti
How did you select your companions Alan Zimmerman on keyboards and Diego Lutteral on drums?
Diego Lutteral is the Argentinian drummer I most love. He has a great technical mastery of the instrument and, moreover, he is a fine artist. In an organ trio, guitar and drums need to work very well together and, with Diego, we communicate very well when we have to accompany ourselves, we know each other very well and, therefore, we almost guess what the other is going to play.
Alan Zimmerman is a young and very talented piano and organ player. I think he gets a very interesting contemporary language when it comes to improvisation, which I identify in, based on the spontaneous construction, created on the moment rather than inspired by pre-elaborated patterns.
Diego Lutteral is the Argentinian drummer I most love. He has a great technical mastery of the instrument and, moreover, he is a fine artist. In an organ trio, guitar and drums need to work very well together and, with Diego, we communicate very well when we have to accompany ourselves, we know each other very well and, therefore, we almost guess what the other is going to play.
Alan Zimmerman is a young and very talented piano and organ player. I think he gets a very interesting contemporary language when it comes to improvisation, which I identify in, based on the spontaneous construction, created on the moment rather than inspired by pre-elaborated patterns.
The Hammond organ trio is a classical line-up for guitarists, often utilised by Wes Montgomery and John McLaughlin, for example. Why did you choose this line-up? Did you follow a particular model or, artistically speaking, did you work independently?
This is a type of line-up I’ve always loved, as organ and guitar perfectly complete themselves. This kind of group allows to explore all the possibilities for the guitar and demands a lot of group interaction. Sometimes it transmits a lot of warmth and effusiveness. I’m a big fan of Wes Montgomery’s recordings with Melvin Rhyne, and also Grant Green’s and Larry Young’s, Jimmy Smith’s and Kenny Burrell’s. In the last period, I like the albums that Melvin Rhyne recorded with Peter Bernstein.
All this music, of course, had a great influence on me and was an enormous learning source, but our work is based upon the personal experience each of us is bringing in from his own identity, and upon the positive combination of our personalities.
This is a type of line-up I’ve always loved, as organ and guitar perfectly complete themselves. This kind of group allows to explore all the possibilities for the guitar and demands a lot of group interaction. Sometimes it transmits a lot of warmth and effusiveness. I’m a big fan of Wes Montgomery’s recordings with Melvin Rhyne, and also Grant Green’s and Larry Young’s, Jimmy Smith’s and Kenny Burrell’s. In the last period, I like the albums that Melvin Rhyne recorded with Peter Bernstein.
All this music, of course, had a great influence on me and was an enormous learning source, but our work is based upon the personal experience each of us is bringing in from his own identity, and upon the positive combination of our personalities.
How do you work when you’re composing?
The album tracks are specially conceived for the group. I love to think in terms of “songs” and I always wish my melody to have a strong and defined identity, with a clear aesthetics and a defined idea.
“Valle Hermoso”, the first track, took a lot of time. I wished it had a songlike melody, but sometimes it took surprising paths and it was enough for me to reach this synthesis. But in other themes such as “Criminal” or “My Own Montgomerylike Song” I worked on the immediate idea. The different feelings and rhythms are elaborated by the group and many times they change from a show to another.
The album tracks are specially conceived for the group. I love to think in terms of “songs” and I always wish my melody to have a strong and defined identity, with a clear aesthetics and a defined idea.
“Valle Hermoso”, the first track, took a lot of time. I wished it had a songlike melody, but sometimes it took surprising paths and it was enough for me to reach this synthesis. But in other themes such as “Criminal” or “My Own Montgomerylike Song” I worked on the immediate idea. The different feelings and rhythms are elaborated by the group and many times they change from a show to another.
How did you select the non-original tracks?
I like to sing very much, and I normally choose the tracks for the beauty of the combination between music and words. I always keep in mind the song words when I play the melody. I think that, without wanting it, I can sing by heart some hundreds of songs from The Great American Songbook. I’ve always found the song “Indian Summer” so beautiful from this point of view. “We’ve got a world that swings” has also been chosen because I fell in love with Mel Tormé version.
I like to sing very much, and I normally choose the tracks for the beauty of the combination between music and words. I always keep in mind the song words when I play the melody. I think that, without wanting it, I can sing by heart some hundreds of songs from The Great American Songbook. I’ve always found the song “Indian Summer” so beautiful from this point of view. “We’ve got a world that swings” has also been chosen because I fell in love with Mel Tormé version.
How did you choose the solo guitar tune “Killing Me Softly”?
As for the previous question, it is a sublime and perfect song, for both the beauty in his melody and the story it is about. I have been playing this song for a lot of years alone, at home, since I was a teenage, and it is one of the songs I most love to listen to and sing. I find it moving, each time that I casually listen to it on the radio or in some place, and this effect isn’t fading as long as the years go by.
When we recorded the album I decided to include it, as I thought it was beautiful to play some songs that, even if they’re not in the set normally played by jazz musicians, are an important part of my life.
As for the previous question, it is a sublime and perfect song, for both the beauty in his melody and the story it is about. I have been playing this song for a lot of years alone, at home, since I was a teenage, and it is one of the songs I most love to listen to and sing. I find it moving, each time that I casually listen to it on the radio or in some place, and this effect isn’t fading as long as the years go by.
When we recorded the album I decided to include it, as I thought it was beautiful to play some songs that, even if they’re not in the set normally played by jazz musicians, are an important part of my life.
Capitulo Uno (“Chapter One”) is a lovely title. Are you already thinking of a “Chapter Two”?
I am thinking right now to play this set, so that it can follow its own evolution. There are many contributions from the group and we enjoy it very much to see how the tracks improve when we play them, since each time we take more freedom and more possibilities to express ourselves. So, of course I hope there will be a “Chapter Two” in the future!
I am thinking right now to play this set, so that it can follow its own evolution. There are many contributions from the group and we enjoy it very much to see how the tracks improve when we play them, since each time we take more freedom and more possibilities to express ourselves. So, of course I hope there will be a “Chapter Two” in the future!
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