| | | An Interview with Henry Kaiser
Roberto Zorzi and Henry Kaiser
10/05/99 Roberto Zorzi: May you speak about your devolepment in music? In other words, how is developted your guitar style from the begiginning to today? Henry Kaiser: I began to play guitar at age 20. I had never done music before that. I had strong ideas about what I wnated to do; which was to play the way I do today. So my style has been the same since the first day I bought a guitar. I hope that I have improved and gotten better at that style....but the concept has always been the same. So: no development in concept - just improvement in technique. RZ: In your carrier you played in many differents situations (rock, improvised music, world music and so on): which is the element that joined all these kinds of music? In others words, can you describe your musical approach? HK: My approach is experimental. I like to try things that noboday has tried before and see what happens. I love improvisation, which is, I think, experimental by definition. So: I am am an experimental musican who prefers to improvise most of the time. This is true in whatever idiom I play: jazz, rock, folk or blues or world or whatever. That is the common denominator in all my work. RZ: Which were the most important influences in the beginning of your career? HK: Derek Bailey, Eliott Ingber, John French, Cecil Taylor, Evan Parker, Bill Harkleroad, Robbie Basho, John Fahey, Hubert Sumlin, Terry Riley, Robert Pete Williams, Pete Cosey, Harvey Mandel, Jerry Garcia, Toru Takemitsu, Anthony Braxton, Bob Wills, etc. RZ: How is changed your equipment from the beginning to today? HK: I still have my first guitar and amp. Fender telecaster and Fender Champ. I still use them. Over the years I added digital delays and harmonizers and other amps and guitars. Abouit 10 years ago I began playing acoustic guitar more seriously. Now I have many acoustic guitars and I work more on getting sophisticated about that. My electric equipment has not changed much in the last 10 years. RZ: May you describe your usual equipment (guitars, pickups, effects, amplifiers)? HK: PRIMARY ELECTRIC GUITARS: Danny Ransom Strat, Steve Klein Custom Electric, Moonstone M-80, Tom Anderson Classic & Cobra, James Mapson 7-string.
PRIMARY ACOUSTIC GUITARS: John Monteleone Eclipse & 7-string Radio Flyer, Joseph Bohmann pre-1900 12-fret guitar, Dupont Maccaferri-type, Stefan Sobell, Santa Cruz koa D, Ralph Bown 12-fret, Rick Turner Custom Antarctic Guitar.
PRIMARY PICKUPS: Alembic Activator, Bartolini, Harmonic Design.
PRIMARY EFFECTS: Eventide 3500 & amp; 4000 Harmonizers, Lexicon PCM-42, TC Electronics 2290, Zvex fuzz factory, Mesa V-Front, Colorsound wah pedal, Q-Tron envelope folower.
PRIMARY AMPS: Dumble Overdrive Special & Steel String Singer, Fender Superchamp, K & M 50 watt overdrive (this is a great amp similar to the Dumble; website = www.two-rock.com), ADA Cobra.
(I have too much equipment, I think. More than 40 guitars and 10 amps. I've listed what I use most above) RZ: Frequently you played and play with another guitar player (for example Fred Frith, Sonny Sharrock, Eugene Chadbourne, David Lindley, Roberto Zorzi). Which is the reason of this choice? HK: I love guitar. I think guitar is the easiest other instrument for most guitarists to work with. RZ: May you speak about the purposes and the contents of your video ECLECTIC ELECTRIC? HK: To inspire people to aspire to sound like themselves, to be unique and fearless and to encourage experimentation and improvisation. Also to explain how I do what I do on guitar for those who are curious. RZ: One of your most interesting projects is in my opinion the record about the electric Miles Davis, YO MILES!. How did you conceived this particular work? HK: I've always loved Miles' work in the '73-'75 period the most. I've always been surprised that nobody has since tried to go through the magical, musical door that Miles opened in that period. When I found that my old friend Leo Smith also enjoyed that period of Miles the most - then it was natural for us to want to explore it together and we did. RZ: May you speak about your future projects? HK: New CDs recorded and currently in post-production: 1.Quartet with Kiyohiko Semba, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Masahiro Uemura
2.Quintet with Raoul Bjorkenheim, Mike Keneally, Michael Manring, Alex Cline.
3.Quartet with Miya Masaoka, G. E. Stinson, Alex Cline.
4.Trio with Greg Goodman, Lukas Ligeti.
5.Quartet with John McCain, Gary Lambert, Mark McQuade-Crawford.
6.TONE HAIKU - 99 guitar solos on 99 different guitars.
Steve Kimock and I are planning an instructional video on GUITAR TONE. After this stuff I think I may retire from doing music full-time and make it more of a part-time hobby. I've made more than 150 records and I don't enjoy touring so much at all anymore. So maybe it's time to retire? RZ: Do you consider yourself an avantgard musician, and innovator or simply a guitar player? HK: None of the above. I consider myself an experimental musician and an improvisor. MY FAN WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO = henrykaiser.net/ RZ: About the influences (original question n. 3). You did not mentioned a great guitar player and great experimental musician: Jimi Hendrix. Why? HK: I never really listened to Hendrix much. He's obviously great. But he was never someone that I listened to. RZ: Sorry, but I do not know who are Bill Harkleroad and Hubert Sumlin. HK: Bill Harkelroad = Zoot Horn Rollo from Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band (Eliott Ingber = Winged Eel Fingerling; John French = Drumbo, both from the Magic Band) RZ: About your technical approach to the instrument. Do you use pick or no? And do you use particular techniques, like tapping for example? HK: I use a pick and fingers. Like Richard Thompson or James Burton or Gerry McGee. I don't tap very often - but I can. I play a lot of harmonics. RZ: I have two your old solo records: OUTSIDE PLEASURE (Metalanguage 111) and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Metalanguage 124). Listening to these two records is possible to find some differencies not only in the equipment but probably in the construcion and conception of the sound. What do you think? HK: They seem the same to me. Probably they are different like Milano and Roma are differetnt - but both in Italia? RZ: About the two albums with Fred Frith, recently reiussed on one CD. These two albums are very differents: the first is totally improvised and the second is more composed. Are these records two faces of the same music or are two differents ways in music? HK: Two different ways. Both experimental. RZ: Which are in your opionion your own most representative records? HK: PERSONAL FAVORITES
***ECLECTIC ELECTRIC, Backstage Pass GVK-600 (guitar instructional video). HK is very proud of this. It's sort of like the SPINAL TAP of guitar instruction videos. Very odd. With Andy West, Scott Colby, Jin Hi Kim, Howard Dumble; John French. Covers exotic effects and fingerboard techniques, unusual approaches to playing the blues, Derek Bailey; Beefheart guitar stylings, world music influences for guitar and more. Text for its booklet available elsewhere at this website.
!***LEMON FISH TWEEZER, Cuneiform RUNE 45. A compilation history of HK's solo guitar work. HK's best single, solo guitar release.
!***RE-MARRYING FOR MONEY, SST 222. Free improvised experimental rock with many guest guitarists. Beloved by HK.
!***THE FIVE HEAVENLY TRUTHS, FOT 03193. Various, more experimental group and solo pieces. The live title track is HK's favorite single guitar solo.
!***A WORLD OUT OF TIME, with David Lindley, Shanachie 64041. One of the best-selling true roots music CDs of all time. The first CD of Malagasy music released in the USA. Really, really, really great! So are Vols. 2 & 3. Highly recommended!!! They guys in Madagascar get all the $$ from these WOOT releases. HK & DL don't take any $$$. So those of you who feel guilty about your past purchases of Paul Simon and David Byrne CDs can go out and buy this with a clear conscience.
!***THE MISTAKES, Immune IMM 1009. Strange improvised and composed rock songs with Andy West, Prairie Prince and Mike Keneally. Planning a second CD from this band in '99 with Chris Cutler replacing Prairie Prince on drums.
!***THE SWEET SUNNY NORTH, with David Lindley, Shanachie 64057. Like Madagascar, but in Norway. Will really surprise most listeners who don't know what to expect from Norway. This is also higly recommended.
!***ETERNITY BLUE, Shanachie 6016. Tribute/appreciation for Jerry Garcia put togehter shortly after his death. A benefit for The Eyes of Chaos Foundation, of which HK is a board member. Dark Star, Mason's Children, A Love Supreme, Blues for Allah, Brokedown Palace, High Time, Blue Eternity, Cold Rain & Snow.
!**ONE EYE ON THE PAST, ONE EYE ON THE FUTURE, Rossy, Shanachie 64046. HK plays guitar on one track of this CD by one of the greatest Malagasy bands. Ghost produced by HK. Great Band. Great Music.
!***THE SWEET SUNNY NORTH VOL.2 with David Lindley, Shanachie 64061. More great Norway tracks. Some recorded on USA tour that are especially nice & collaborative. Maybe even better than vol. 1 of the Norway collaborations.
!***WIRE FORKS, with Derek Bailey, Shanachie 5011. HK's personal favorite of all his collaborations. This is a guitar duo of HK and his biggest musical hero: the incredible Derek Bailey. Ultra-audiophile recording.
!***A WORLD OUT OF TIME VOL. 2, with David Lindley, Shanachie 64048. More great stuff from HK & DL's 1991 expedition to Madagascar.
!***A WORLD OUT OF TIME VOL. 3, Shanachie 64069 Still more Madagascar with some new stuff and live recordings.
!***POPULAR SCIENCE, with Sergei Kuriokhin, Rykodisc RCD20118. A computer keyboard duet CD with the late (he died in '96 of heart cancer) Russian keyboard genius.
!***TOMORROW KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE, with Jim O'Rourke, Victo CD014. A special favorite of HK's, this guitar duo CD really explores new, undefined terratory. Really great.
!***WITH ENEMIES LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS FRIENDS, with Fred Frith, SST 147. A compilation of HK's best duo work with Frith.
!***LIVE, LOVE, LARF & LOAF, French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson, Shanachie 5711. An odd supergroup. Lots of fun.
!***INVISIBLE MEANS, French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson, Windham Hill WH-1094. Second CD by the odd supergroup. Most people don't like this as much as the first. Maybe HK sequenced it poorly? He thinks it's just as fun and good as the first.
!***THE LONG WAY HOME, Dama & D'Gary, Shanachie. Great Malagasy guitar CD, produced by HK, with HK guesting on a few tracks. ABSOLUTLEY AMAZING guitarwork from D'Gary. On the track I ALAMINO, is the best acoustic guitar sound that HK has ever heard on any recording.
!***OUTSIDE ALOHA PLEASURE, Dexter's Cigar DX-7. HK solo guitar form 1979-80. Pioneering in its day. Intense &original.
!**IMPROVISED: VANCOUVER, with John Oswald, Incus CD 26. Documenting the two decades of collaboration between musical pals.
!***THE SEANCE, with Miya Masaoka & Danielle DeGruttola, Vexed Media VEXED 9601. Koto, cello, & acoustic guitar. Acoustic free improvisation.
!***THE SIAMESE STEP BROTHERS with Tom Constanten, Bruce Anderson, Lukas Ligeti, Dale Sopheiea, Cuneiform RUNE 72. 21st Century Psychedelic Music that doesn't care to be funky but likes to be scary and surprising. And pretty much succeeds. One nice tribute track to HK's late friend Sonny Sharrock. Whom HK misses and loved very much.
!*** O SOLO DRUMBO, John French, Avant --------. Fantastic drum solo CD by the best and original Beefheart Magic Band drummer. We worked really hard on this and it ame out better than our wildest expectations. Very highly recommended.
!*** WHITE ELEPHANTS & GOLDEN DUCKS, various Burmese artists, Shanachie 64087 Recorded by Rick Heizman in Burma and mixed and co-produced by HK, this is a wonderful collection of sounds that Western ears have never heard before. Dig the Burmese slide guitar master! 4 more CDs were completed in this Burma series - HK is hoping that Shanachie will release them as a box set.
!***SOUL OF THE SAROD, Ali Akbar Khan, Oriental ORI/AAMS CD 128. HK loves North Indian Classical Music. Khansahib is one of its greatest masters. This is one of his best recordings - especially Raga Lalit.
**LUKAS LIGETI & BETA FOLY, Intuition INT 32162. Lukas is the son of HK's hero Gyorgi Ligeti. This is a very strange project involving a band from the Ivory Coast that Lukas somehow got to play an unlikely mixture of extreme experimental and African traditional and pop music. Rhythmically out there. HK plays on about 1/2 the tracks. Recorded in Africa.
!***MALAGASY GUITAR, D'Gary, Shanachie 65009. HK's favorite single production job. Guitar solo magic from Madagascar. Everyone should buy this.
!**ACOUSTICS, with John Oswald, Mari Kimura & Jim O'Rourke, Victo 025. Nice acoustic free improvisation with particularly great violin and alto sax from Kimura and Oswald.
!**DEVIL IN THE DRAIN, SST 118. Still in print from SST. Synclavier experiments and the title track features HK reading a Daniel Pinkwater story with guitar accompaniment.
*THE PARACHUTE YEARS 1977-1980 (TWINS/LA CROSSE CD), John Zorn, Tzadik TZ 7316-1. HK needs to relate an anecdote about this product: Eugene Chadbourne told me that he had written great historical notes for this documentry CD of the group TWINS recorded back in 1977. He told me that I would really enjoy them. Then when I got my copy I was surprised that the notes were not printed in the CD. I wondered why and asked Chadbourne. He said that Zorn thought I would be offended by the notes and and so he didn't include them. I was telling this to ROVA's Larry Ochs and he said: no, that was wrong. Zorn didn't print the notes because Chadbourne took too much credit for Zorn's ideas. ...Oh well .....some things never do change.........I emailed Eugene and asked to see the censored notes. But he had lost them.
MOST FAVORITE INDIVIDUAL TRACKS ON CDS AND LPS HK'S FAVORITE SOLO GUITAR IMPROVISATIONS
THE FIVE HEAVENLY TRUTHS on THE FIVE HEAVENLY TRUTHS.
AQUIRAX AIDA on LEMON FISH TWEEZER, OUTSIDE PLEASURE, & OUTSIDE ALOHA PLEASURE.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE on IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE & LEMON FISH TWEEZER.
THE BEST OF TIMES on THE FIVE HEAVENLY TRUTHS.
INFORMATION MECHANICS on LEMON FISH TWEEZER, OUTSIDE PLEASURE, & OUTSIDE ALOHA PLEASURE.
OUT TACO SAUCE on POPULAR SCIENCE & LEMON FISH TWEEZER.
BORN ON SNOWSHOES on TOMORROW KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE.
MEET THE FLINTSTONES on LEMON FISH TWEEZER.
TRIBUTE TO JOHN FRENCH on LEMON FISH TWEEZER.
THE NIGHT OF DEPARTURE on THE SEANCE.
DEVIL IN THE DRAIN on DEVIL IN THE DRAIN.
ECONOMY OF SCALE on OUTSIDE PLEASURE & OUTSIDE ALOHA PLEASURE.
NOVELTY ACT on LEMON FISH TWEEZER.
WINDHAM HELL on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
RED SHADOWS on LEMON FISH TWEEZER.
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, I GOTTA GET A NEW HAT on CRAZY-BACKWARDS ALPHABET.
HK'S FAVORTIE ENSEMBLE FREE IMPROVIATIONS
ALL ABOARD FOR FUTURESVILLE! on TOMORROW KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE.
THE SOCIAL SET on THE SOCIAL SET.
THE BIG CLOCK on MARRYING FOR MONEY & RE-MARRYING FOR MONEY.
FLIGHTS on WIRE FORKS.
HURUM on INVITE THE SPIRIT.
LOGICAL TYPES on HEAVY META.
REINDEER AGAINST THE WIND on THE SWEET SUNNY NORTH.
THREE LANGUAGES on WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE & WITH ENEMIES LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS FRIENDS.
THE GREEN CHILD on HEAVY META.
THE TSUCHIGUMI FIVE-WHEEL TECHNIQUE VS. THE SEAGULL SCHOOL on THE WORLD AND THE RAW PEOPLE.
CHRYSANTHEMUMS on WIRE FORKS.
MURDER ONE on MARRYING FOR MONEY & RE-MARRYING FOR MONEY.
THE LAST OF THE FEW on RE-MARRYING FOR MONEY.
BAREY on THE SEANCE.
PRELUDE on THE SEANCE.
VANCOUVER on IMPROVISED and IMPROVISED: VANCOUVER.
THE CHANGING OF NAMES on WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE & WITH ENEMIES LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS FRIENDS
IMPROVISATION 102X on PROTOCOL.
WAR & PIECE on HEAVY META.
HK'S FAVORITE GUITAR SOLOS WITH ENSEMBLES
OBLIGATORY BLUES on SLIDE OF HAND.
HURUM II on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
THE MARCH on UNSETTLED SCORES.
DRAGON IN THE MOUNTAIN on CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC.
THE SET-UP on RE-MARRYING FOR MONEY.
RED HARVEST on RE-MARRYING FOR MONEY.
BLIND WILLIE on THE SIAMESE STEP BROTHERS.
TOWARD BETTY'S DOOR on GHOST BOYS.
PEPPERMINT ROCK on INVISBLE MEANS.
AMBILANAHO ZAHO on WORLD OUT OF TIME.
JAPAN IN A DISHPAN on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
DARK STAR on ETERNITY BLUE & HEART'S DESIRE.
ROCK ON on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
NANCY CALLS COLLECT on TEENAGE SEX THERAPIST PARTY.
CAREER POLITICIANS on THE MISTAKES.
NIGHT COMES IN on THE WORLD IS A WONDERFUL PLACE.
LOBSTER ON THE ROCKS on CRAZY-BACKWARDS ALPHABET.
TSAIKY MBOLY HELY on A WORLD OUT OF TIME VOL. 2.
THE FISHIN' HOLE on HEART'S DESIRE.
THE BLOOD & THE INK on CRAZY-BACKWARDS ALPHABET.
HK'S FAVORITE, ORIGINAL-TO-THE-RECORDING, COMPOSED INSTRUMENTALS
DROPPED D on CRAZY-BACKWARDS ALPHABET.
HURUM II on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
SEEING RED on POPULAR SCIENCE.
SUGIGAKI FOR CONLON on DEVIL IN THE DRAIN.
LOST LUGGAGE on THE MISTAKES.
WE ARE IN CONTROL? on CRAZY-BACKWARDS ALPHABET.
DISPOSIBLE THOUGHTS on LIVE, LOVE, LARF & LOAF.
THE GOLDEN EIGHTIES on WHO NEEDS ENEMIES & WITH ENEMIES LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS FRIENDS.
PROJECT X on THE FIVE HEAVENLY TRUTHS.
HEADLESS HORSEMAN on THE SIAMESE STEPBROTHERS.
104%/COUNTDOWN on THE SIAMESE STEPBROTHERS.
THE SECRET OF THE MARAN DOME on THE SIAMESE STEPBROTHERS.
VILLAGE DANS 8 PAYS on LUKAS LIGETE & BETA FOLY.
GUINEE IMAGINAIRE on LUKAS LIGETI & BETA FOLY.
THE MISTAKES VS. DROPPED D on THE MISTAKES.
HK'S FAVORITE ORIGINAL "SONGS" WITH WORDS
AMBILANAHO ZAHO on WORLD OUT OF TIME.
BIRD IN GOD'S GARDEN on LIVE, LOVE, LARF & LOAF.
GHOST BOYS on GHOST BOYS.
ANNIHILATION IN ALLAH on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY on WE ARE NOT AMUSED.
RABID CRAB BABY on GHOST BOYS.
FALSE LATIN SITUATION on NAME EP.
SUZANNE on INVISIBLE MEANS.
I ALAMINO on THE LONG WAY HOME.
WE ARE NOT AMUSED on WE ARE NOT AMUSED.
NOTHING NOTHING DOG on GHOST BOYS.
LOGIC OF FIRE on THE FIVE HEAVENLY TRUTHS.
LOBSTER ON THE ROCKS on CRAZY-BACKWARDS ALPHABET.
SAFETY IN SPORTS on GHOST BOYS.
NOW THAT I AM DEAD on INVISIBLE MEANS.
KILLING JAR on INVISIBLE MEANS.
DROWNED DOG BLACK NIGHT on LIVE, LOVE, LARF & LOAF.
DARK COMPREHENSIONS on THE FIVE HEAVENLY TRUTHS.
FAVORITE COVER VERSIONS
HAI SAI OJI-SAN on LIVE, LOVE, LARF & LOAF.
DARK STAR on ETERNITY BLUE & HEART'S DESIRE.
O ISA on WORLD OUT OF TIME VOL 2.
ROCK ON on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
JAPAN IN A DISHPAN on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
SARAYUSHKA (LA GRANGE) on CRAZY-BACKWARDS ALPHABET.
DEVIL GOT MY WOMAN on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
THE SAME THING on CRAZY-BACKWARDS ALPHABET.
MIRRORMAN on THOSE WHO KNOW HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.
BAGPIPES (BARTOK VIOLIN DUO #36) on ICE DEATH.
JUST LIKE TOM THUMB'S BLUES on OUTLAW BLUES II.
ODE TO BILLIE JOE on THOSE WHO KNOW HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.
THE JINX BLUES/FUTURE BLUES on ALOHA.
BUDEIESUL on THE SWEET SUNNY NORTH VOL.2.
THE FISHIN' HOLE on HEART'S DESIRE.
FANNITULEN on THE SWEET SUNNY NORTH.
IF 6 WAS 9 on IF 6 WAS 9, A TRIBUTE TO JIMI HENDRIX.
THE BEAUTIFUL MAID ON A MOUNTAIN HIGH on THE SWEET SUNNY NORTH VOL.2.
MASON'S CHILDREN on ETERNITY BLUE.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' on HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION.
RZ: About your video ECLECTIC ELECTRIC (original question n. 7). May you specify the contents of the video. For example. are there in the video some technical examples? HK: There are many technical examples with a book in TAB and notation - but the most improtant points are conceptual: BE YOURSELF. Don't try to be somebody else. Your grandmother should be able to recognize your playing if she heard it on the radio.
TAKE CHANCES. Don't be afraid of risks.
BE ECLECTIC AND BROADEN ALL YOUR HORIZONS. Try new things!
PLAY WITH FEELING AND COMMITMENT. Music is not about notes, it's about feeling.
IMPROVISE!
Besides these main points, I have attempted to completely fill this video with about ten times more information than you would expect to find in any instructional video for guitar. I figure that if you miss something the first time, then I'm sure that you know how to use the rewind button. Most of this specific information is fairly exotic and unconventional. I want to provide you with knowledge that you cannot find in any other book or tape. For the basics of guitar and the conventional music approach, there are hundreds of excellent books and tapes available.</P> RZ: Do you use sometimes computer or never? If yes, please specify the model and the software. HK: I do not use a computer for music. Just for word processing and internet. RZ: May you speak about your conception of improvisation? In other words, do you feel improvisation like jazz improvisation or are you interested in improvisation from others cultures? HK: Improvisation is when music is created in the moment. This happens many different ways and in many different idioms, cultures and traditions. I try to be aware of all these approaches. Free Improvisation - where the rules of the music are improvised as you go along - is my favorite improvisation. RZ: May you speak about TONE HAIKU (Is this the title of the album?) project? HK: This idea started as a parody of my friend David Grisman's TONE POEM CDs. The idea is very short improvisations that display the essence of the different personalities of different instruments. 99 tracks is the greatest number of tracks that you can put on a CD. Copyright 1999 | |
