Why did you choose to participate in the Interplay project?
It is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate and share music with new musicians from another part of the world, and from a range of different cultures. Although I’ve worked with Denys and Yazz in the UK, it has been in completely different settings from the one in which I find myself now. So it’s very new, a little bit challenging (in a good way) and very exciting.
What do you expect of this rehearsal week and the upcoming concerts?
I’m anticipating getting to know all of the musicians better, learn from their music practice and experience, and share some of mine with them. It’s the first time in my career that I’ve been able to spend a concentrated period of time focussing exclusively on making music, so it’s a real privilege to be part of this both as a practising musician and as a member of one of the partnering organisations. I also hope to try out new approaches to jazz, broaden my experience overall, and generally just enjoy being able to take time out to work intensively on some new music.
What can the audience expect?
Some wonderful new music! And it’ll be very diverse as we come from very diverse backgrounds. This is what makes it so interesting and exciting – this meeting of cultures and different life experiences. So I think it should be intriguing, exciting and enthralling for the audience. It certainly is for the musicians!
TOMORROW'S WARRIORS 