A sonic exploration and tonal analysis of contemporary creative music in a myriad of improvisational/composed settings, textures, and expressions.
Welcome to Sound Projections
I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.
Thus this magazine will strive to critically question and go beyond the conventional imposed notions
and categories of what constitutes the generic and stylistic definitions of ‘Jazz’, ‘classical music’, ‘Blues.’
'Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Pop’, ‘Funk’, ‘Hip Hop’, etc. in order to search for what individual
artists and ensembles do cretively to challenge and transform our ingrained ideas and attitudes of what
music is and could be.
So please join me in this ongoing visceral, investigative, and cerebral quest to explore, enjoy, and pay
homage to the endlessly creative and uniquely magisterial dimensions of MUSIC in all of its guises and expressive identities.
Saturday, August 7, 2021
Victor Gould: Outstanding, versatile, and innovative musician, composer, arranger, ensemble leader, producer, and teacher
Victor Gould, a pianist from Los Angeles, began playing piano at the
young age of four. He was fortunate to grow up in a household where his
parents supported him wholeheartedly. His undergraduate degree was
completed at Berklee College of Music where he was a recipient of the
Herbie Hancock Presidential Scholarship. Immediately after he graduated
from Berklee, Victor attended the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute
of Jazz and received his Masters Degree. Gould's honors include the 2009
ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award, and in 2006 He was a
semifinalist in The Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. As a
member of the Donald Harrison Quartet, Gould recorded three CD's and a
DVD, and toured the United States and Europe. He has performed with
Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Branford Marsalis, Nicholas
Payton, Ralph Peterson, Wallace Roney and many others. Victor is
currently residing in New York and has been a member of the Wallace
Roney Quintet for over a year. In that time he has recorded 2 albums
with him. Victor will began recording his debut album in March 2014.
Born
in Los Angeles and residing in New York City, Victor Gould began
playing piano at the young age of four. Gould began his career as one of
the first ever recipients of the Herbie Hancock Presidential
Scholarship at Berklee College of Music. After completing his bachelor's
degree there, Gould studied at the prestigious Thelonious Monk
Institute of Jazz at Loyola University, where he received a Master's in
Music. Gould's honors include the 2009 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz
Composer Award and 2006 semi-finalist in The Thelonious Monk
International Piano Competition. Victor has performed and/or recorded
with Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Branford Marsalis, Nicholas
Payton, Ralph Peterson, Wallace Roney, Donald Harrison, Buster Williams
and many others. Victor's debut album, Clockwork was voted number 1 debut Jazz album in NPR Music's 2016 Jazz Critics Poll. Gould followed up was his sophomore project Earthlings, and is set to release his third project Thoughts Become Things in
spring 2019. Victor currently tours with Jazzmeia Horn and Jeremy Pelt
and is set to begin touring his with trio following the release of Thoughts.
Not a stranger to The Jazz Gallery, Victor has graced our stage with the likes of Godwin Louis and Kyle Poole .
On Thursday, January 30th, 2014 as part of the Gallery’s “Thursday
Night Debut Series”, we’ll present Victor Gould as a leader of his own
trio, supported by Ben Williams on bass and John Davis
on drums in addition to a special guest. Victor will be presenting some
compositions he has prepared for the upcoming album. He was kind
enough to sit down with us this January in a Brooklyn coffee house and
share a bit about himself.
The Jazz Gallery: You grew up in Los Angeles – how did you
get involved in music and what kind of opportunities did you take hold
of in your youth? Is there a memorable musical experience you had during
that period?
Victor Gould: I started most of my jazz studies at The Colburn School
in downtown Los Angeles through an after-school program—there they did
private lessons and ensembles. I also studied with a great Israeli
pianist named Tamir Hendelman starting when I was 12 years old. Also, the high school I went to—L.A. County High School for the Arts—had a great jazz program led by Jason Goldman
and that was a great opportunity to be a part of. My father plays jazz
flute and he just wanted someone to play with I guess. He got me into
the piano when I was about four years old.
TJG: Who have been your primary mentors and what has been most valuable about these relationships?
VG: So I guess my definition of a mentor is a teacher
that goes out of their way doing things outside of music, like meeting
for lunch—something that’s extra, beyond the call of duty. Donald
Harrison has definitely been a great mentor to me. He gave me some of my
first experiences on the road. I was part of his band for three years. I
first met him and started playing with him when I was 17 years old in
Boston, attending the Berklee College of Music. I traveled around the
world with him and he taught me a lot. He was really patient with me at a
young age and I really appreciate that.
Ralph Peterson (I played in his band and he took a lot of time with
me) really went out of his way to mention my name a lot and tried to
help me every way he could. I recorded an album with him called The Duality Perspective. Wallace Roney has been a big mentor to me. I’m in his band right now so I definitely consider him a mentor as well. Terri Lyne Carrington (I
played with her a group a bit), she’s invited me over to her house for
parties, given me a lot of advice, contributed in terms of
recommendation letters and things like that. I recorded something with
her that was never released. It was supposed to be a project she was
going to do for Herbie Hancock.
Overall, she’s been a big help and a lot of inspiration. I got to spend
a lot of time with pianist Danilo Perez, both in the classroom and out.
He’s been a great help.
TJG: Considering your studies and professional career thus
far, what experiences have been the most challenging or valuable for
you?
VG: I guess moving to New York has been a challenge in
itself, particularly getting accustomed to the different pace. I lived
in New Orleans right before that so it was completely different. I
believe living in New York is a different experience, especially being a
musician. You have to balance a schedule and get your priorities in
order and stay focused. I feel it’s more challenging to keep an identity
in New York just because there are so many great musicians; it’s really
easy to be influenced too much by others. The biggest challenge is
trying to stay on my own path musically and socially—setting goals and
things of that sort.
TJG: As a musician, having spent considerable time in Boston
and New Orleans in addition to touring the world, how has each locale
had an effect on your musical approach or musical spirit? Do these
cities inspire you in different ways?
VG:I think…more so than the actual cities, it’s
the people that I’ve met in those cities. For example, the great thing
about living here in New York is that they all kind of move here
together—everyone that I’ve met in Boston and known from LA and New
York—they live here now.
TJG: At the Monk Institute you studied under the direction of Terence Blanchard, and with friends like Godwin Louis, Billy Buss, Nicholas Falk (Xplosion). You’ve furthered those musical ties in NYC as well—how has that been?
VG: We’re playing a show with Godwin on January 25th at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Centeras
part of a series that presents the winners of the Thelonious Monk
International Jazz Competition; he was second runner-up. I live with
Nicholas Falk, who’s been my roommate for the past year. Billy Buss… I
see him all the time. We were all really close friends so naturally we
kept in touch.
TJG: Can you tell us about your debut album that you’ll be recording in March 2014? Who will be on that record?
VG:It may be too premature yet to discuss who is
on it but I do have songs composed for it that I’ll be presenting at The
Jazz Gallery. For the upcoming show, I’ll be doing a piece that I
originally wrote for symphony orchestra in 2011 called Side Angle.
TJG: Can you give some commentary around the material’s backstory and inspiration?
VG: All of them have random little backstories and inside
jokes but they don’t usually influence the actual composition
itself—usually its silly little inside jokes but some of them have
significant context. I think I’ll probably go into more detail at the
show.
TJG: Have you been testing out this material already in live contexts?
VG: Yeah, I’ve gotten to play a lot of the music live.
I’m really excited to get to play the music with Ben Williams and John
Davis because I think they inspire different sides of my composition. I
don’t know if they’ll be able to do the record, but I’m really
interested to see how the show turns out because that’s going to
determine a lot of what happens with the record.
TJG: Do you think it’s best to explore music in a live setting before you work it out in the studio?
VG: I think that’s ideal. If you can set up that
situation, then it’s great. I’ve set up a mini-process in that vein with
The Jazz Gallery show on January 30th, a TV show on February 10th, and then at Smalls Jazz Club on February 12th.
Along with those three opportunities, hopefully I can get a couple more
things lined up that will keep the momentum going. But if I had the
opportunity to tour first, I would definitely do that. Some of the best
records come out that way.
TJG: Is the music influenced by your teachers and bandleaders?
VG: There are a lot of devices that Terence Blanchard
taught us that I still use, that are a big part of my playing. Terence
talks a lot about motivic development—you see this both throughout his
compositions and his improvisations. He has definitely influenced my
composition in addition to all the people I’ve played with—Ralph
Peterson, Wallace as well.
TJG: Tell us a little bit about your approach to composition?
VG: Usually, it could start with me singing it into my
phone on a subway or sitting at the piano and just playing something.
Ideas grow off of each other so they could start in any random way. I
try to start with the simplest thing and take it from there.
TJG: What is the context of your relationship to the other
musicians you’ll be playing with (Ben Williams & John Davis)? How
did you guys sync up and why have you chosen to perform with them?
VG: I first met them when we did a tour in California with Etienne Charles.
Right away from the first sound check it just felt so natural. Ever
since that tour—I believe it was an eight or nine day tour—I have been
looking for an opportunity to play trio with them as the rhythm section.
Also, Gilad Hekelsman was
on that tour as well. He’s a great player and the way the four of us
played together… it was great. I wish I could get Gilad on some stuff
too.
TJG: Do you have any goals carved out for this trio configuration?
VG: Not quite yet. Ben and John are very busy, and I’m
just really happy they were able to do this. This year, Ben is going to
be gone with Pat Metheny a lot and John will be busy with Lionel Loueke a lot this year, but I would love to do something.
TJG: Outside of jazz, what other music are you influenced by?
VG: I was listening a lot more to other genres when I was
at Berklee and even in New Orleans, but in the past couple of years
I’ve been staying more focused on specific kinds of jazz. I love
listening to, say, R&B, but I just don’t have it on my phone at the
moment. I’ve done a few different R&B gigs since I moved to New
York which have been fun. I did a tour with Nneka when I first moved to New York—she’s great!
TJG: Do you have a preference across electric or acoustic instrumentation?
VG: I’ve been doing a lot of electric stuff with
Wallace’s band because that’s what he’s trying to do. I think with my
own music it’s going to be mostly acoustic. In the studio I’ll probably
be using Fender Rhodes, maybe some other sounds that I’ve learned to use
with Wallace’s band. I’ve been working with delay pedals a lot lately
with the Fender Rhodes and I kind of like that. I might incorporate a
bit of that in the studio, but maybe not live.
TJG: What music are you listening to these days?
VG: Let’s see: Mwandishi by Herbie Hancock, Filles de Kilimanjaroby
Miles Davis—Wallace Roney has been putting me on to a lot of Miles that
I have kind of neglected in the past. I like Danilo Pérez a lot,
particularly Providencia.
The Victor Gould Trio featuring a special guest (TBA) plays The
Jazz Gallery on Thursday, January 30th, at 9 and 11 p.m. The group
features Victor Gould on piano, Ben Williams on bass, and John Davis on drums. First set is $15 general admission ($10 for members). Second Set is $10 general admission ($5 for members). Purchase tickets here.
Kofi Natambu, editor of and contributor to Sound Projections, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has written extensively about music as a critic and historian for many publications, including the Black Scholar, Downbeat, Solid Ground: A New World Journal, Detroit Metro Times, KONCH, the Panopticon Review,Black Renaissance Noire, the Village Voice, the City Sun (NYC), the Poetry Project Newsletter (NYC), and the African American Review. He is the author of a biography Malcolm X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: The Melody Never Stops (Past Tents Press) and Intervals (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of Solid Ground: A New World Journal, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology Nostalgia for the Present (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.
