Hi, everyone! December has been slow, but my interview with the Baltimore-based free jazz maestro Jarrett Gilgore is surely one you don't want to miss! The twenty-seven year old Gilgore has been regarded as one of the premier jazz musicians in both the Baltimore and Philadelphia scenes, respectively. He is involved with numerous bands around the city, and has performed with a variety of artists, including Dan Deacon, Cass McCombs, Moon Hooch, and Lonnie Holley. In 2019, Jarrett started a new band playing his original songs, called Lilypicker. The project recently hit the ground running, and I was glad I got to find out more about him and the new project in this interview!
bazzreviews: Which artists or albums inspired you to first start a music career in the first place?
Jarrett Gilgore: When I first started playing music, I was really inspired by my dad’s record collection which included records by John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman as well as Earth Wind & Fire, Led Zeppelin, The Who. Musicians like Sun Ra, Charlie Parker and Eric Dolphywere also big influences for me. When I first started playing professionally, I was super into free jazz as well as composers like Stravinsky, Debussy, Bartok, Schoenberg, Xenakis, and rock bands like Portishead, Tortoise, and Battles. The Icelandic composer Skuli Sverrisson has also been a deep inspiration for me. In college I got deeper into music from Africa, particularly Gnawa music from Morocco and Mbalax from Senegal as well as indigenous musics from around the world. Also Watazumi Doso Roshi a Shakuhachi flute master and improvisation wizard. In the last year or so, I haven’t really been listening to much music. I’ve reached a point in my meditation practice where I’ve found myself being really attracted to “silence”... is there such a thing, though? I'm just breathing and listening to my breath. it has a lot of music in it.
br: I know that you’re not only a live musician, but you also teach lessons. Tell me a little bit about the benefits of touring, recording, but also throwing in lessons on the side?
J.G.: For me, it’s all a balance I need to maintain to feel happy and healthy. I love playing a lot of shows, but touring can really take a toll on my body and mind. All of the traveling and late nights can really throw off my mental state. With teaching, I want to directly affect people’s lives more than I can through performances. Not only do I want them to get better at their instrument, but I want to to change the way they view music and the way they see themselves. I want my students to know that music is an innate part of being human and the distinction between humans and musicians is false. There’s a symphony of vibrations happening inside each of us at every moment. Everything is frequency. A year is a long frequency. A pitch is a faster frequency.
br: What can you me a little bit about your new band, Lilypicker and some of the projects you have in the works for it right now?
J.G.: This new band has been on my mind for years. I’ve been writing music on Ableton for the past few years with the intention of giving birth to these songs off of the computer. You can make awesome music on softwares like Ableton or Logic, but I find myself generally wanting my songs to be birthed by human beings. This band, Lilypicker, is basically a rotating cast of musicians who help breathe life into these. I think the impetus behind this band is coming from recent realizations that come from meditation and introspection and being in therapy. This band is a vehicle for growth. I want this band to make me a stronger, more confident, more vulnerable musician and I want to make music that can be medicine for my spirit as well as yours. Other active projects I’ve had in 2019 are with the free jazz trio, Heart of the Ghost, a new duo with guitarist Anthony Pirog, and a duo with singer-songwriter Anna Roberts-Gevalt. Each one of these groups is working on a new record, so be prepared for some great stuff!
br: I know that you are big in the free jazz scenes in both Baltimore, Chicago, New York and Philly- what city do you prefer performing in?
J.G.: I really enjoy playing in Chicago, and I’ve thought about moving there a few times. I feel a great connection to the history of jazz / free-jazz in Chicago, and my ears gravitate towards certain aesthetics in the modern scene there. At the end of the day, I love playing anywhere, for anyone who is willing to receive the music that I have to give. Right now, my number one city to play in is Mexico City. I'll be playing some shows there this February, there’s some Incredible energy in that city.
br: I know that you guys recently opened for Moon Hooch, what was that experience like?
J.G.: That was Lilypicker’s first show, and it was a beautiful experience. Having an audience of close to three hundred people who all like saxophonic music was amazing. The energy in the room was really special, and I think people were really open to what we were doing. Moon Hooch is known for raising the energy of the crowd to huge levels. It was great to witness that and very inspiring. At the end of the show, I came out and did a jam with those guys, which was a beautiful end to the night.
br: Can you describe you process for how you make songs?
J.G.: My process is pretty unexciting. It starts with a note, or a chord, or a phrase. I listen to that, and listen to what comes next. A lot of the songs I’ve been writing lately come from me singing the parts — on saxophone or with my voice. If I feel like I can’t sing the part or if it doesn’t feel natural, I’ll scrap it. My process is a lot like meditating. I just let go of the critic in my head. I stop evaluating. I just listen and respond with another note. When I notice an evaluation I redirect my attention back to the sound. I try to disregard thoughts like, “wow, this sounds really great, or really bad, I suck." I use my ears to guide me, and keep that mentality until the end of the session. I’ll go back and listen to it all, and be like, “what the f--k, how did this happen?” For me, that’s how I know I’m doing it right. I just step out of the way and something comes through me.
br: What can you tell me about the music staff tattoo that you have on your arm?
J.G.: I got that tattoo a few years ago when I was on tour. We were in Providence, Rhode Island, and the woman I was touring with said she wanted to get a tattoo. I considered getting one and realized the only thing I wanted to get was a music staff so that I could write on the go. It first came off sounding like a joke, but my bandmate said he’d be down to get the same one. So, now we both have matching tattoos, and yes, I do use it for working out musical ideas when I don’t have paper… and also for shows where I don’t have the music entirely memorized, you’ll understand why I’m taking prolonged glances at my arm before playing.
br: Out of all the songs you have made or worked on, which ones are you the most proud of?
J.G.: The songs I’ve been working on for Lilypicker have been really satisfying. I’ve had some of these songs in the works dating back to 2014, and the fact that they’ve endured the test of time and turned into something much greater makes me feel very satisfied.
br: What do you want people reading this to know about you and your music?
J.G.: Genre doesn’t exist for me, it’s just sound. It either feels good, or it doesn’t. Music is about celebrating our aliveness. When music is made with ego and fear, it doesn’t feel good. I encourage everyone who reads this, even if they’re not a musician, to explore playing music or writing or drawing or painting. Just make art. It's play. If you're not playing you're doing it wrong. We have this heart beating inside each of us, and it is a drum, and it beats to a different rhythm that is unique for each of us. And this society we live in thrives on our desperation, alienation, and depression. We are constantly told we’ll be happy based on what we consume. It’s not about consumption, it’s about using the tools we have inside of us to facilitate our growth. Giving birth to something bigger than ourselves which comes from being ourselves and healing ourselves. Art can do that. And it can inspire others to do that. It's very important.
br: What music goals do you have for the future?
J.G.: My goal is to share music that feels good to me with as many people as possible. I don’t care about being famous. I care about the pursuit of beauty, and I care about sharing moments with people. I want to touch people with music not only through playing but through teaching as well. Music is spiritual and humans are so much more than our jobs in society. We have a spirit and we have experiences and we need to express something with it. It’s part of healing. It’s part of the work we need to do for ourselves and the planet. Collectively, which begins individually, we need to go deeper and make something that services life, and the world will be a much better place in return.
To hear some of Jarrett's music with Lilypicker, log on to https://lilypicker.bandcamp.com
I want to thank Jarrett for giving me his time for an interview, and I wish him and his new band and the best of luck in the new year. For those of you interested in crazy-good jazz music, be sure to check out his music! Thank you so much for reading this article, and I'd like to address the coming weeks of December:
I'm taking a week off for vacation, so I will mostly be out of office until the waning days of the month. Expect year-end album and song lists, as well as decade-end lists on the page in the next ten days. Additionally, check your Spotify or Apple Podcasts feed for the final bazzcast of the year! It will be business as usual and published within that time frame as well. Thanks again for your continued support and well-wishes of the one year anniversary, and I wish all of you a happy holidays!
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