Sounding Potential: Benoît Delbecq Speaks

Photo by Lukasz Rajchert.

French Pianist Benoît Delbecq has a distinct ability to look beyond the tools at his disposal. Instead of writing scores using Western notation, he finds new insight by using a method of his own creation. At least at their initial conception, notes and rests are cast aside in favor of circles and calligrams. Similarly, in performing on the piano, Delbecq looks beyond its normal 88 tones. He readily employs prepared piano techniques, placing various items inside the instrument to create unearthly sounds. . 

This week, Delbecq will return to The Jazz Gallery for the first time in almost two decades as a member of the quartet Illegal Crowns. With cornettist Taylor Ho Bynum, guitarist Mary Halvorson, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, Delbecq has an ideal group of collaborators with which to explore curious shapes and sounds. We caught up with Delbecq to talk about the group, his origins at the piano, and the mentorship of Alan Silva.

The Jazz Gallery: It has been a long time since you last performed at The Jazz Gallery.

Benoît Delbecq: Yes, it has been almost seventeen years. The first, and only time, I performed at The Jazz Gallery previously was back in October 2005. It was my first solo piano gig in the United States. Ethan Iverson had introduced me to Rio [Sakairi], who made the performance possible. It felt great to play for a full house on both sets that evening. It is nice to be back. 

But this may be my last time as well. It has become incredibly difficult for foreigners to get a permit to visit the United States. The [Federal] government used to issue three-year permits but now issues them for only three weeks at a time. The permit process is outrageously costly and humiliating. There is a strong possibility that if things don’t change in the United States regarding permits, it may be the last time I perform there. It is not a fair system, and I'm surprised there are not more American musicians trying to change it. We are also planning to record at Firehouse 12 on June 20th, so even those not lucky enough to make it to our performance at The Jazz Gallery can hopefully hear the group someday. 

TJG: Presumably, the possibility of your appearance at The Jazz Gallery being among your last performances in the United States may give some more power to the evening. But there is already a lot of firepower in Illegal Crowns. How did the group come together? 

BD: Well, Taylor [Ho Bynum] was the first person I knew from the group. We met when we toured together in François Houle's sextet, Genera. Taylor and I got along so well during our tour and I was excited to work with him again. I also met Mary [Halvorson] before forming Illegal Crowns when I saw her perform at the Jazz Gallery with John Hébert, and Kris Davis, who are musician friends of mine. By 2013 or 2014, Tomas [Fujiwara], Mary, and Taylor were all in Paris playing in a project led by the great Chicago-based drummer, Mike Reed. They each had a day off in Paris and came to our Bureau de Son studio. I spent the day with Tomas, Mary, and Taylor. The four of us played together, hung out, and recorded a little. [Record Producer] Michel Dorbon from RogueArt heard bits of this first session and proposed that we record for his label, which we did the next time we got together in Paris. 

TJG: And that presumably resulted in Illegal Crowns’ first, self-titled, album in 2016. Three years later, the quartet released a second record, The No-Nosed Puppet (RogueArt, 2019). How do you feel the quartet may have changed over the three years since 2019?

BD: It’s hard to say. I think what we all went through with the pandemic changed the musical community. Maybe we artists will realize now, more than ever, the privilege we have to be musicians. And, in that sense, perhaps Illegal Crowns will sound different than it did three years ago. I’m excited to see what will happen. 

TJG: A significant feature of much of your music is its use of prepared piano. How much prepared piano do you use in Illegal Crowns?

BD: Not much, but some. I wrote three tunes for the new repertoire. One uses a prepared piano as a special rhythmic fabric. The other two use prepared sounds only sparingly. I’m currently learning tunes written by others in the group, and I may also propose adding some prepared piano to some of those pieces during our rehearsal. Generally speaking, the amount of prepared piano I use in a particular setting depends on the drummer’s role in the music. Because the prepared piano is not very loud, the louder the drumming gets, the more likely that the prepared piano will be overshadowed by the drums. Because Tomas has a strong understanding of what I do and we seem to fit well together, playing with him opens up more opportunities to use the prepared piano. 

TJG: When you do play prepared piano, how do you prepare it?

BD: I mostly use wood twigs that I curve and adapt to the distance between strings. Sometimes, I also attach things to the twigs that will softly rattle when the strings vibrate. Other than those, I also use reeds and blue tack putty. 

TJG: How did you start using a prepared piano, and what do you like most about it?

BD: I started when I was 11 or 12. It happened spontaneously. I built a special felt hammer to play directly on the strings of my family’s upright piano. What I loved most about it then is the same thing that fascinates me now: the potential for new sounds.

TJG: Since you are manipulating standard piano tones by preparing the piano, how much of what comes out is preplanned and how much is left to chance?

BD: Well, all of the preparations themselves are preplanned. The set of preparations used is closely linked to the compositions and some very special fingerings that I use. There is some chance in the performance because no piano reacts precisely the same to a set of preparations. I always stay open to new options. But I also have an intuition of how certain preparations will sound. 

TJG: Going back a little, you mentioned that you composed three new pieces for Illegal Crowns. One thing that stands out about your compositions is your use of graphic score notations. Do you use these notations for the pieces you mentioned?

BD: In one of the pieces I brought for our tour, we read some of my graphic notations. We also previously recorded one of my compositions on The No-Nosed Puppet that uses the notations. The track, called “Two Blue Circles” was dedicated to Muhal Richard Abrams. Usually, I use my graphics to conceive scores but then end up making them look like typical sheet music notations. “Two Blue Circles” was different because I had the band read them using my language. They did an amazing job with the score. 

BD: How did you start using graphic score notations?

BD: I think I started thinking about my notation system when I was sharing ideas with Alan Silva. Alan gave me a piano lesson every couple of months, and, as part of those, I needed to bring ideas to feed the improvisation process. My composition teacher, during the same period, showed me many different graphic notations. So, I started drawing out the music. Later I realized my system looked a little like [composer György] Kurtág’s notations for piano! 

TJG: How do your notations work in terms of translating them to music?

BD: My graphic notations are very simple, although it took me a long time to figure them out. They are graphic metaphors for the rhythm of language, whatever that language may be. Using graphic scores also led me to become much more interested in linguistics, handwriting, and literature as they all share these same rhythmic characteristics with music. 

My notations give a particular pace and attention to the linguistics of music. They come from transcriptions I made of some Aka pygmy chants and dances and some solos by Ornette and Coltrane that I had transcribed. The notations indicate whether a particular sound is long or short or fast or slow. But the use of accents is essential. Accents make a language live. Also, I use the observation of proportions which works well with having circles and calligrams mingled together. 

The graphic notations also provide me a way to compose something without relying on the piano. I never use the piano in the first stage of a new work. Instead, I compose while sitting in my study. I first think of objects, kind of multi-dimensional objects, and I then reflect them in my graphic notation. My graphic notations, in a way, provide me with a garden of shapes and flowers of my own choosing that I can then arrange into a bouquet of sound.

TJG: Related to the connection you see between musical notation and linguistics of literature, you have also contributed to many multi-disciplinary productions of theater, dance, cinema, and music. Do you see a connection between these various art forms as well?

BD: They each bring different forms of action, freedom and ideas, drama, and rhythm. It is a nurturing experience to share creativity and collective vibes with people in other fields. I call it a displacement. By displacing your focus on music into other disciplines, you always discover new directions for your work.

TJG: And going back to Alan Silva for a moment, what do you feel you learned the most from your studies with him?

BD: The primary thing I learned from Alan was how to be curious about music notation and develop your own way. The ideas of artists like Butch Morris, [Anthony] Braxton, or Cecil Taylor were always present in Alan's teaching. Alan also spoke a lot about the Schillinger System [of musical notations] and the Lydian Concept. I cannot say I followed a prepared course with Alan in an academic sense. Our lessons were always spontaneous sessions. I also played in his workshop, and later in the Celestrial Communication Orchestra, starting when I was 17 or 18. The freedom and trust he gave to us musicians in his large band of improvisers was a great gift. The time I worked with Alan is very memorable for me. I also met some very special artists in Alan's IACP [Institute for Art, Culture and Perception] school. We were quite a clique of free-minded musicians in the school. It was incredible for me, as a young man, to dive into that scene, and I loved it.

TJG: Bringing together the two themes we’ve discussed of composers and prepared piano, your music has been described as “bringing the soul of jazz to John Cage's prepared piano.” 

BD: Yes, actually, that description came from my friend and peer, Fred Hersch, after he heard my prepared piano. The funny thing is that I discovered Cage's prepared piano works only after I had already started using the prepared piano. 

TJG: Hersch’s quote also suggests that perhaps there is a distance between avant-garde classical and avant-garde jazz. Do you see much of a difference between the two?

BD: I do see a significant difference between the two. First, however, while “avant-garde” is a nice term, as the philosopher Guy Debord noted, “avant-garde is not supposed to last!” I don't think I can define myself as an avant-garde guy, not really. I am not trying to sound avant-garde. I'm just following my intuition and musical dreams and sharing them with my peers.

New ideas come through when artists dig into new forms and practices from all parts of the world, including other art forms or science, and bring them into their music. I perform contemporary classical works but only very rarely. It takes me a hell of a lot of practice to be able to reach a level to perform those types of compositions. I do attend many concerts of newly written music because I like to discover new statements and new attitudes. But the family I feel I belong to does not perform Cage or [composer György] Ligeti in public. I received very little formal education in contemporary classical music. I didn’t start to seriously practice writing classical piano music until I turned 21, which is very late in my development if you think about it. So, I’m not part of that group that grew from composers like Cage or Ligeti. 

But the people in that scene and I share a deep interest in new forms and sounds. I remain very curious about any type of innovation in music, and written contemporary music brings some new ideas that extend the possibilities in music. Jazz does that as well, but so does hip hop or even medieval music or world music. I have certainly studied the craftsmanship behind compositions in contemporary classical music. Those works do influence me, but it’s no different than Mozart. I like to play Mozart at home, sometimes, but it wouldn’t make sense for me to try to release some Mozart sonata recordings. 

The truth is that I have spent way more time studying the jazz maestros than classical ones. I'm an improviser first and foremost. The reason I became a musician is that I “heard” a call from the jazz realm when I was attending concerts of Sun Ra, Ornette [Coleman], [Mal] Waldron, [Steve] Lacy, the AACM giants, Dave Holland’s Quintet with Steve Coleman, and others. I later studied with Waldron and Lacy as well.

Even when I took composition classes for two years with Solange Ancona, a former student of [Oliver] Messiaen, those lessons were broader than the contemporary classical scene. I learned so much from her. She had no cultural or historical barriers in her teaching. “Seek and find” was her motto. And so, just as she did teach me about the contemporary classical composers, she also knew about Thelonious Monk. I also studied with Muhal [Richard Abrams] at Banff, which was fantastic. It lasted only two weeks—I wish it were more—but they were a crucial two weeks for me. I became magnetized to the jazz realm even as my brother-in-law, a composer named David Lacroix, brought me to various contemporary classical concerts and opened me up to that scene. 

Part of what I love about jazz’s history is how its languages continually evolve. Jazz has a fascinating and endless search for new sounds. Most musicians who specialize in contemporary classical music are usually not committed to improvisation on the same level as jazz musicians. Don’t get me wrong, there are musicians today who can be active and relevant in both scenes. Good examples include Cory Smythe and Sylvie Courvoisier.Both have received a steel solid piano education different from my own. I have a profound admiration for them—their version of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with two pianos and electronics along with dancer Israel Galvan was magical—but they seem to be the exception rather than the general rule. It’s the centrality of improvisation in jazz that makes me love it so much. On top of it all, the collective aspect of jazz, sharing and trusting one another's creativity. knowledge, and language in the moment are truly special. I don't think you can convey those qualities of jazz, in any meaningful way, to contemporary classical music. So, while I deeply respect that scene but also enjoy not being a part of it. We could discuss this for hours.

Illegal Crowns (Bynum, Delbecq, Fujiwara, Halvorson) will perform at The Jazz Gallery on Friday, June 17, 2022. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. EDT, $25 general admission ($10 for members), $35 limited cabaret seating ($20 for members). Purchase tickets here.