https://manualmagazines.com/ari-joshua-jazzs-lyrical-alchemist/
Ari Joshua: Jazz's Lyrical Alchemist:
by Mercedes Barreto, Manual Magazines
We sat down with guitarist and composer Ari Joshua who is now unveiling his latest: release "Country Stroll" featuring improv masters and jazz icons John Medeski on organ and Billy Martin on drums. Ari Joshua stands as a sonic alchemist, his guitar strings spinning melodies into gold. Much like the way his heroes have, Joshua conjures a musical tapestry that dances between the lines of jazz and rock, painting soundscapes as vivid as a Van Gogh sky.
His music, a kaleidoscope of sound, mirrors the intricate weavings beyond style — where notes float like butterflies, delicate yet profound. Each strum is a stroke of impressionist paint on the canvas of silence, creating symphonies that whisper in the ears of the soul. Joshua's compositions are not just songs; they are sonic odysseys. His guitar, akin to an alchemist's wand, transforms the leaden silence into golden harmonies, as if spinning jazz riffs into rock anthems with the ease of a magician. Joshua's music resonates like a chameleon with the timeless echo — a dialogue of strings and spirit, a dance of shadow and light. His tunes are not merely played; they are sculpted, breath by breath, note by note, into a mosaic of musical wonder.
We read more about this phenomenal latest release in this Q&A interview with the iconic musician, Ari Joshua.
What inspired the beginning of this epic collaboration behind the release of ‘Country Stroll’ with John Medeski & Billy Martin?
I’ve had a dream of this session happening, and it ended up kinda of being pretty natural and organic. The session was among the most special and wonderful recordings I’ve ever been a part of and I am overjoyed to share this music as it comes ready. The inspiration for this track, Country Stroll, was to pay tribute to one of my favorite all time guitarists and artists Bill Frisell. The original title was Zill Fribell’s Country Stroll or something like that. I was just driving up the road from NYC to Woodstock and was listening to some Frisell. I wrote this song while driving up as something I didn’t plan to record, but just for myself. It was like a synesthesia moment. The Catskill Mountains, the meandering streams. I was like, what notes would paint this picture? It’s like a patchwork of farms, old barns, open meadows, that Hudson Valley sky. In the studio, inspiration can be on like a faucet, just in the flow. That was how the whole week was.
Did you resonate with the players in this session?
Yeah. They were really nice people. They were so nice and easy to work with that it increased my respect and admiration for them. Same thing with Chris Bittner the engineer. It felt like we had played together a number of times. In general I find often the best players are pretty fun to work with, when it comes to making art together there’s a common thread there. I felt lifted up by their energies and it was pretty effortless to make the music fly. It was a treat to play with players that take the art so seriously and Billy was really generous with his ideas, it was the best way to learn from players like this just to play. A lot happens by osmosis, it’s possible this may be part of my groundhogs day if I could have one. Mabe on a beach with my family nearby. I could do that every day.
What’s the plan for the music? I see a few works out ‘Let’s Do It Right Now’, ‘Meeting of the Minds’, ‘Dragons Layer’, and the two trio tracks with Jason and Billy. Will there be a project name or an umbrella they all live under?
As for a plan, ideally we will release everything on vinyl as a volume when the time is right and do a ramp up then, it seems like they are pretty busy but it would be a dream to record more or play some live shows, I’ve been getting lots of offers from people. The plan for all my projects is to drop singles as they are ready. It will all go through Music Factory Records which is part of The Music Factory (music school). It just takes a lot of time and resources to produce the music. Billy told me as we were recording I would have more content then I knew what to do with. I love the process of getting art together for each release and sharing the music. That’s where things are now and I am grateful for it.
What if anything did you take away from the experience? Is this a project we can expect to hear more from?
The takeaway is that I felt really at home in this session. I had a few moments as we were working where I thought to myself just how great this was. Sometimes when you work with busy people or higher profile folks they just wanna come in and do their parts and leave, it can feel transactional, but I felt a kinship here, it was the ideal way to make art. I would probably have hung out with these guys in middle school. I listened to all their ideas, and made room to collaborate beyond my expectations. I think everyone is different but this stuff is a big factor. I hope I can attract more situations like this in the next 5-10 years where it just feels like that. I’ve released about just 10% of the material so you will hear more for certain.
The session was split into three sections, day two was a quartet, with bassist Jason Fraticelli (Matisyahu, Cyro Baptista) and the other half was a trio, Medeski on bass. My friend Jason was driving home from a masterclass with Cyro Baptista, and joined us. If you look it up you will find some recordings published of Billy and Jason as a trio, The Garden, and Into the Void, both fully improvised. We played a bit the first night and John joined us the next day, Jason ended up going back to Philadelphia, and we finished up in an organ trio format, which I love. John played organ bass on this one. We played the music down on the first or second take.
How would you describe your musical style or genre to someone discovering you on our platform without hearing your catalog?
I’d say they would do best to take a week or a month to dig through my works, and listen front to back because there are often hidden parts and sections. Without hearing it I would hope they will find a player that can speak the language of several styles of music well enough to create new ideas and new sounds that express unique feelings and emotions through the lessons of the masters. I gravitate to art that has a certain element of mastery and derivatives from the masters, something learned by human feel, and exploration. There are rudiments in physics and chemistry and in the universe that can be boiled down to sound and frequencies. Beyond the sounds I hope a new lister can see the creations as more than just the notes. I like to sit in different places on the beat in that way and mix the wrong notes with the right ones. It’s a feeling. As well as Duke Ellington, and Count Basie and Coltrane and Miles Davis, I also grew up on Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Nirvana, and Soundgarden and all that music. I have some rock n’ roll roots, grunge roots, jazz roots, funk roots, reggae roots, and I tend to like to throw paint at the wall and twist knobs sas well so to speak. That’s why Jerry Garcia and Trey Anastasio always resonated with me so much, as they danced in the middle of all the styles, yet found those moments of pure truth and realness with the non-musician listeners. I think in a way I am more concerned with the crowd’s resonance in and of itself than the style of music it’s consuming. If the crowd is resonant, then I can usually find the right notes and rhythms to play. It’s like a hologram; it just is there.
Do you have a message regarding the importance of production crew when it comes to touring as a musician. Why and how so?
All the team members make a difference. The team is the dream. There are people that LOVE to mix, and love to capture sounds, there are people for all the jobs that go into making a production successful. I think people put too much expectations on artists, and creatives at this time. My message is let’s support the artists you love so they can give these beautiful people jobs, and make the kind of quality productions and art the world really needs right now. If you like the music, visit the sign and buy everything you can, even if it’s just an impulse buy. If you like the art enough it’s probably a result of the artists putting a huge percent of what their bandwidth is into the creative process. The right crew allows the sparks to turn to flames, and the flames to travel and light up the world.
What was the preparation, the pre-production like with the musicians prior to recording ‘Country Stroll’ and do you have any other information about its creation?
There were a few conversations, after John and I found the dates, we were talking about drums and bass options. It was pretty organic, I checked in with him a few times to see. John was like, I can read just about anything. I prepared and sent some files with some charts and demo’s and loops of ideas. He looked it over and was happy with the material. Billy was more about the moment. I learned a good deal from both of them just being a part of this. Billy had some really cool shit to say, I took several profound lessons from him. I sent him some demo’s and charts. He must have checked it out but as an artist he was like, whatever we do, it’s about what’s important to you when we are in the room. He was like I will be there to help you in the moment to realize your visions. He was like prepare all you want, but really all that matters is that moment when we are there in the room about to hit record, what song are we doing? So we would run a song and record the first take. It would start to take on a life of its own. If anything I may address a wrong chord on the page but then it was like how do we wanna approach this song? I also knew I needed to be free to let go. I wrote a bag of material and walked into the room like even if we don't do any of this material, we will still create something special and if we hit 10-25% of these concepts I’ll be ecstatic. Billy was like in the moment if you feel any one song or another that’s where we will be till it’s done. That’s how it was. It all happened moment to moment, and everything was really special. This particular track and the one coming in a few weeks ‘Elephant Walk’ had forms and ideas, but there was also a lot of' let's just close our eyes and make it happen, just free. It was like one chapter to another smooth, in the few dates we were there I think 99.9% of the material will get used in time.
Where can we find more music like ‘Country Stroll’ and why should we do so today?
You can find my music on any streaming service, search; Ari Joshua, Ari Joshua Quartet, Big High, Space Owl, there’s a few other monikers. I keep this linktree (below) updated with interviews, podcasts, and new material. Spotify, Bandcamp, You Tube, Amazon Music, Apple Music, you can find it all there. Also my website www.arijoshua.com or I am updating my linktree as well https://linktr.ee/musicfactoryrecords. If you like as well you can look up MMW, Billy Martin, or John Medeski on any stream.
Is there anything you can add here? Are there any other ways our readers can help?
I hope your readers have a blessed day, month, week, year, and all your family and friends are blessed if you are still reading. There are a lot of ways to support the mission. You can subscribe by paying a monthly fee on my site to support me. You can also sign up for music lessons at my music school, The Music Factory www.musicfactorynw.com/sign-up. One of the best ways to both support the mission, artists, and the next generations is by signing up for lessons for you, a family member, or your kids. Ask for lessons with me or one of our teachers at The Music Factory. I/we can teach online or in person, any age or instrument. We can teach one on one or give lectures or master classes at your school or work. Also you can commission new works for me to make for you or for your needs. Also we can collaborate, why not. If you wanna produce some music for me or with me you can contact us at www.arijoshua.com. If you know a good agent, I am looking for a booking agent. If you remix music, we have stems available to license, or to collaborate on in certain cases. You can also contact us if you want live music at your event. I can fly into any city and put together a band there, or bring one of my bands. You honor me by researching my art, and I am so privileged to have your ear. I hope you experience your life in the best ways you can, that is what I am doing with my art really, healing and experiencing. It’s my soul, people!
"Country Stroll" is available now on all major streaming platforms.
“A breath of fresh air to hear and write about music which sounds so pleasing to the ear in an industry where that kind of music can sometimes be hard to find.” -ManualMagazines.com
Ari Joshua is an award-winning guitarist, composer, and producer with a passion for creating music that transcends genre boundaries. He has released nine albums to date, each showcasing his breadth of blues, jazz, and Americana influences.
arijoshua.com
Ari Joshua - Guitar (Electric) • John Medeski - Electric Organ • Billy Martin - Drums
Original Websiite Link:
https://manualmagazines.com/ari-joshua-jazzs-lyrical-alchemist/