New Beginnings: Alexandra Ridout Speaks
Photo courtesy of the artist.
by Sarah Thomas
Originally from London, England, trumpeter and composer Alexandra Ridout makes her Jazz Gallery debut this week with her new sextet, featuring both recent and long-time collaborators. We caught up with her to chat about music she’s been composing for the show, what it’s been like bringing the sextet together, and other recent projects.
The Jazz Gallery: You wrote a lot of music specifically for your show coming up at the Gallery. I’d love to hear about that.
Alexandra Ridout: Absolutely. I've always been doing different projects. I've had a trio. I've had a quintet. But when Rio gave me this gig at the Gallery, I wanted to do something I hadn't done before because the Gallery is so great like that. You can just do whatever you want.
Playing vibraphone on the show is Sasha Berliner, who I know now that I’ve asked her to do the gig, but I didn't know her too well before. I've always really loved the way she plays and the stuff she is doing. So I really wanted to have her in this band along with the other players, who I have played with in other situations. For me, it was the instrumentation and the individual people—I thought, “Oh, this will be amazing together.”
I had some music I'd started writing, and I realized it would work better in this instrumentation. It was one of those moments where I could really imagine how I wanted it to sound, and then just go for it rather than having to cater or twist it for the context. It was very much stuff that I've been hearing in my head.
TJG: What do you feel the sextet allows you to do that the other smaller ensembles you’ve written for have not?
AR: For me, I like the idea of the vibraphone and the guitar together in moments. Sometimes something I've written doesn't necessarily come out in the way I think I'm going to hear it. For instance, I'll write harmony and then I'll write two melodies, and that will sound a bit too chaotic in a smaller ensemble.
But this sextet is all the things I'm hearing orchestration-wise. I can use the texture of the vibraphone and the guitar along with two horns. It's not so much that I'm going to write four separate things for those instruments. It's more that if I write something, it can be heard on the vibraphone and on the guitar, or it can be heard on the vibraphone and one of the horns. Those sounds do come out in a different way that I'm really excited to perform.
TJG: It seems like this particular instrument combination has a lot of potential for richness of sound.
AR: Yeah. It's been really fun to think about it that way rather than thinking, “Oh, I have to get rid of this because it might not sound right.” I don't think of myself as much of an arranger, per se. I've done it, but I'm not particularly good at long, big arrangements. If I write something, even if it's quite a short form, it's about having that extra sound and the extra textures to really make it come out.
TJG: You mentioned there was music you had started writing, then realized it would be a perfect fit for the sextet. Is there also music you started writing specifically for this group?
AR: Definitely. It's been a mixture of stuff that I started writing and realized is perfect for what I'm going to do with the sextet, as well as things I started from scratch. So it's been a real mix. But it really feels like the stuff I've been working on has led up to this gig, essentially.
TJG: You said you've played with almost everyone in the sextet before, right? Can you tell me more about them?
AR: Like I said, this is my first time working with Sasha. We've hung out now a few times, but never played together officially—maybe on a jam session. But I've been going to see her and listening to her albums for a long time. I'm an admirer of her playing.
The guitarist, Iver [Cardas], is someone I met when I moved to New York. We have been playing loads together ever since we met, in New York and around Europe. We're playing all the time. He's one of those musicians that when we first met and started playing together, it all just made sense. When I came to New York, I was starting my master's at Manhattan School of Music and so was he. Neither of us had any friends, so we just played every day. It was perfect. So we've done loads together now.
The tenor sax player, Tal [Kalman], I met about a year ago. Again, it was one of those moments when we played together for the first time that I just knew he was someone I wanted to play with. It felt really good blending with him and I love everything that he plays. Also, I really like all these people as individuals, as well. That always helps. It's hard to explain how people play, but everything Tal plays makes sense to me. It's like, “Oh, that's what I wanted to hear in that exact moment.”
Then the bass player, Rafael [Enciso], is also someone I studied with at Manhattan School of Music. We’ve played a few gigs together, and it's been great developing with him. We played together in different scenarios while studying together, and I've watched him grow in a way that’s been amazing. I love playing with him, and I think he's an incredible musician.
Finally, Miguel [Russell] is on drums. I don't want to say the word prodigy because it sounds silly, but he is a bit of a prodigy. We actually played at The Jazz Gallery together a couple of times with Dana Stevens. Miguel is an incredible drummer and incredible musician, and is great to play with. I've never seen a drummer play music for the first time and just get it right instantly. Whether it's your originals or whether it's someone else's originals, he just gets the vibe, he gets all the details, and it sounds amazing instantly. So that's someone you want to play with.
TJG: I always love hearing people talk about their bandmates—it’s very inspiring and makes me excited for the music that’s going to happen. Also, it’s great that you’re able to bring people together who you've worked with in different contexts. Do they also work together in other settings?
AR: Rafael and Miguel play together quite a bit. In different contexts, you’ll find them doing different things. But we're all quite early in our careers and just starting our journey. For us, it's really nice to work together and it's just the beginning.
TJG: Do you have other things you want to do with this group?
AR: I haven't really thought about it yet, but I would love to do more. I think anything I'm doing right now is stuff that I want to keep going with. So if it all goes well, and I'm sure it will be great, I'd definitely love to do more gigs with this band. It's hard to organize six people—it’s not the easiest thing. I feel like I'm at the start of knowing what I want to do and where I want to take it. Before, it was that idea of throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks. But now I know what I really like doing. So I definitely want to keep going with it, especially with all this music I'm writing.
TJG: I love what you said about the things you're doing now being things that you want to keep doing. That's such a good and exciting place to be in. What other things have you been up to recently other than the sextet?
AR: I have a trio with the guitarist, Iver, and with a bass player, Will Sach, who is based in the UK. We did a few gigs in New York and a few gigs around Europe, so that’s something I was taking very seriously for a while. We played at the London Jazz Festival and the Festival of New Trumpet Music which Dave Douglas curates, which was really cool. Then a few months ago, we had a gig here in New York which Rafael played with us because my bass player couldn’t make it. The bass player is in the UK. He's actually from New York, but he lives in the UK. So that’s a funny connection, since I'm from the UK and I live in New York.
So that trio is something I was doing for a while. It's a specific sound, because it's a trio without drums. It's going in a specific direction which I want to keep doing at some point. It's not something I've stopped doing necessarily, but it's hard when Will is over in the UK. The guitarist, Iver, lives in New York but is from Norway. So it’s also nice because we have a way to go to many different places.
I also have a quintet that I've done a couple of gigs with, and I had a quintet back home too. But for now, the trio and this sextet are the things I've been thinking the most about. Those are the most solid things I'm writing for.
TJG: Is there anything else you want people to know about coming up?
AR: Just check out what everyone else in the sextet is doing, because everyone is doing great stuff. And come to the Gallery!
Alexandra Ridout plays The Jazz Gallery on Thursday, September 21 with her sextet. The group features Alexandra Ridout on trumpet, Tal Kalman on tenor sax, Sasha Berliner on vibraphone, Iver Cardas on guitar, Rafael Enciso on bass, and Miguel Russell on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. ET. $20 general admission (FREE for members), $30 cabaret seating ($20 for members), $20 Livestream (FREE for members). Purchase tickets here.