It is as much of a pleasure to talk to Julian Joseph as it is to listen to his music, writes Charles Leonard
There must be a factory where they make guys like young British jazz pianist, Julian Joseph. He is the third bright young(ish) thing I’ve interviewed on visits to South Africa facilitated by the British Council. Like saxophonists Courtney Pine and Andy Sheppard, the interview with the 32-year-old Joseph is one of the nicest I’ve ever done.
All three can actually talk intelligently and eloquently about their music. And in all three cases, their types of music, albeit different, are similar to the artists: great. There’s another peculiar thing about Joseph (that’s when judged against the stereotype one has of hard- playin’ jazz musos).
When I arrived at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton where they were staying for the Johannesburg leg of their tour, I called his brother James, who’s his manager. He said that Julian had just come back from the gym. I thought all the years of loud headphone music must have messed up my ears and that I had misheard.
“I was indeed in the gym,” said Joseph with a smile. So what about sex, drugs and hard- bop?
“Most jazz musicians I know are clean- living, especially in the States,” says Joseph, who is a Berkley graduate and toured the United States and Canada in the company of artists like Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin and Joe Williams. “In fact, they’re so respectable, it makes one sick. I hardly come across any drugs too. Musicians hardly drink, maybe only cognac and champagne.”
Joseph’s quartet opened for Gil Scott- Herron on Saturday night at Mega Music in Johannesburg. Joseph was dressed preppy style, with a jacket and button-down shirt and no Jack Daniels bottle for the regular swig in sight. He says his lifestyle has to do with being a professional musician. “In order to play properly, I think it is not good to cloud your mind.”
He started playing piano when he was seven. He came back from school one afternoon and his mother had bought a piano. “All of you are going to learn,” she told him and his two brothers. She clearly plays a major part in his life. Although by the time he was 11 he started playing jazz, he continued under his mother’s influence to qualify at the highest level in classical music.
At that age he discovered Oscar Peterson. Seeing him on television made the young Joseph wonder why jazz musicians like Peterson were so special. “They interpret and absorb music and then improvise it – that certainly attracted me.”
The technically magnificent pianist is modest about his playing: “I am feeling I’m getting ever closer. You reach a certain level, but that’s just the doorway to the next level.”
His playing on Saturday didn’t impress some of the folks at the Arts Alive concert. They were talking at the top of their voices while Joseph and his exciting quartet – Olando La Fleming (drums), Mark Mondesir (bass) and Adam Salkeld (guitar) – were playing more traditional acoustic material.
Sipho Mabuse came downstairs to get something at the bar and left in disgust to listen to the band on the top level of Mega Music. “Have these people got no respect for talent?” he asked. When the quartet went electrical and more funky, there was more appreciation.
“Well, I knew there were some South African musicians in the audience and they wanted me to swing,” Joseph says about his more traditional repertoire.
Wouldn’t they have worked better in a place like Melville’s Bassline, which is more intimate and has better acoustics, I wondered.
“Oh, we did a set there on Monday night,” Damn! Hopefully they will be better appreciated at the Baxter in Cape Town, which is more suited for this type of band.
Joseph is not as adventurous as his friend Courtney Pine, who has done the most successful fusion of jazz and hip-hop so far. He won’t use turntables in his music for example. And although he’s not critical of Pine’s approach, it’s not his bag.
“I want to play jazz as it should be played,” he described his sound. “At the same time, I want to break perceived constraints. I want to take the `artist’ part of playing more seriously. I want to exhaust the whole palette of music with the paintbrush of jazz.”
He wants to use influences of soul, gospel, funk, everything in his music. “But I still want to use improvisation – which is my voice in jazz – to make my music unique.”
What about the rich South African jazz tradition? “British jazz musicians are no strangers to your jazz. We’ve always been exposed to musicians like Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Chris McGregor and Bheki Mseleku. It’s almost part of our culture too.”
The factory where they make the Josephs, Pines and Sheppards must be the music version of Rolls Royce. A pleasure to listen and talk to, as it must be a pleasure to drive. Hope there are more coming our way soon.