THE TRUMPET HAS BEEN DRINKING
Jazzman makes Tom Waits’ music his own
Before Aaron Shragge took up the trumpet and began playing jazz, he was already a Tom Waits fan.
As a 10-year-old growing up in Montreal, Shragge discovered Waits’ music and fell under the sway of its poignant themes, marginalized characters and gravel-voiced delivery. A few years later, Shragge began his own plunge into music-making.
These days, the Brooklynbased musician plays two exotic instruments — a custom-made “dragon mouth” trumpet and shakuhachi, a Japanese flute — to help him pay tribute to Tom Waits. His quintet plays jazz versions of Waits’ music Saturday night at the Avant-Garde Bar on Besserer Street.
Shragge discusses his singular musical path below.
Q Tell me about your first steps in music.
A I started playing trumpet when I was 12 and jazz when I was about 16. In high school I played in McGill conservatory jazz combos and then the CJAD big band led by Denny Christianson when I was at Vanier College. Improvisation has always been what pulled me towards jazz. I left Vanier early and finished a BFA in jazz and contemporary music at The New School in New York. I then got a masters in music therapy from New York University.
Q What’s the appeal of Tom Waits’ music to you?
A I started listening to the music of Tom Waits when I was about 10 years old. As I grew up, I developed deep personal connections to his songs as they were there for me during difficult times.
I’m attracted to Waits’ music because of its unique sound and personality. It has the ability to maintain that unique sound across many styles (country, rock, blues, jazz) without losing any of its distinct Waits sound. I’m also very drawn to the sound of Waits’ voice. As often developed thematically in his lyrics, Waits’ voice expresses to me an ability to explore and accept difficult and broken places with humour, love and grace.
Q When you decided to make his music the basis of your project, what were some of your considerations?
A One thing that has always been a priority is being able to approach each song in a creative way without losing its essence and character. This means refraining from arrangements that become over-complicated and showcase virtuosity over depth of expression.
Q What thought did you give to the band’s instrumentation?
A I definitely have an affinity toward the blend between tenor sax and trumpet. I also generally prefer small and mid-sized ensembles because there can be more direct interaction between players.
Q Was it always going to be an instrumental project, or did including a vocalist ever come to mind?
A It’s been an instrumental project from the beginning. From time to time I’ve thought about inviting a vocalist but I’ve rarely heard any that really do Waits’ songs justice. I really enjoyed Holly Cole’s interpretation of Waits’ music on her 1995 album Temptation.
Q Is it fair to say that you’re paying tribute to Tom Waits, but that you’re also playing a very personal jazz?
A Yes. In paying tribute and drawing on my personal connection to the music I hope to further deepen my experience of Waits’ music.
Q Let’s talk shakuhachi. How did that come your into musical arsenal?
A I started playing shakuhachi shortly after moving to New York in 2003 when searching for a link between music and Zen Buddhism (which I’ve been practising for about 15 years). I was actually just planning on learning about the Zen repertoire for the shakuhachi and trying to apply that to my trumpet playing but ended up learning when I first connected with my teacher, Ronnie Seldin. Playing shakuhachi came somewhat naturally to me and I soon was performing regularly at times in formal Zen retreats.
Q Why do you add it to the mix in this band?
A After playing the shakuhachi for some time it really became part of my musical personality and I began incorporating it into most my own projects on some level. That said, I think it works particularly well with Tom Waits’ melodies because of its husky tone and ability to emulate the inflections of the human voice.
Q For that matter, what’s a dragon mouth trumpet and why do you play it?
A The dragon mouth trumpet is a custom instrument I had made by New York City trumpet maker Josh Landress. It’s based in part off of the Firebird that was made for Maynard Ferguson by Holton. The horn has both a seven-position slide like a soprano trombone as well as valves.
I developed the horn to emulate the vocal embellishments found in North Indian classical music (which I’ve been studying for 10 years with Mashkoor Ali Khan) as well as the music of the shakuhachi. It works particularly well for emulating the expressive quality of Tom Waits’ vocals.