01/17/08     Rob Mullins Interview by Jazz Square Magazine
 
I had the chance to sit down with international jazz star Rob Mullins while he was on tour in Moscow on January 5 2008. I spoke to Rob in his dressing room at the end of his 3rd night of shows at the UC Club. He was in a good mood, joking with the musicians, signing autographs, and telling stories to his fans and visitors.
 
Jazz Square: - Hi, Rob. How do you like it here in Moscow?
Rob Mullins: Moscow is a very exciting city because of the new economy, great architecture, interesting people and great jazz scene.
Jazz Square: You played 3 nights of shows at the Union of Composers Club, what are your impressions?
R.M.: I was very happy to see the UC club sold out by the 3rd night of my engagement, which I think is very exciting because of holidays in Moscow. Often during a big holiday week, clubs don’t expect much of a crowd because people are at home with their families, but a lot of people came to see me play, and in very very cold weather I might add. My band was scheduled to be a  quartet  - with Oleg Kireyev on sax, but unfortunately he was ill all three nights. So I performed as a trio, and I had some help from great Russian musicians.
Jazz Square: You performed originals and standards, you promoted your “Standards and More” album here. How did you get along with Russian musicians?
R.M.: I really enjoyed playing with Vladmir Koltsov on bass and Igor Ignatav on drums. It was exciting and a nice surprise for me to find them to be great musicians. first Oleg Butman, drummer from NYC, and vocalist Natasha Smirnova of the Ukraine became special guests in my show, and the biggest surprise for me was Igor Butman, Russia’s most famous jazz musician on sax performed with me on Friday night.
I was surprised to see him and welcome him to the stage, because I know of him by reputation only. I  had never had a chance to play music with him,
Jazz Square: What you think about playing together with them?
R.M.; It was really fun to perform my “Bb Major Etude “ with Igor and Oleg, This song is based on a jazz standard compositional  form called “rhythm changes”, and it is something familiar to all jazz musicians. But my melody line over the chord changes can be very challenging for sax. Igor played my piece with great ease, and I was pleased with his intensity and unique improvisational style.  His brother Oleg was smiling big smiles and playing great, interplay style with my piano comping, and the audience was feeling high energy, and great excitement from the surprise guests stars.
A really nice surprise was the vocal talent Natasha Smirnova. I have been teaching at a  Moscow jazz college, and  I was dissapointed at a lever of talent of Russian singers. But when I heard Natasha  Smirnova,  I could see that she has the highest talent’s level of any singer I met in Moscow so far. She is  a young singer, that needs  more time to be developed her skills, but I think she will be a rising star on a Moscow music scene.
Jazz Square: Can you tell me about your impressions - how is it to play with Russian musicians when jazz culture is not root culture here.
R.M. : It is really case by case, I think it comes down to individual situations. I have been in many countries around the world, it is same in most countries. What I mean by that - there are great jazz musicians all over the world., I think it is very individual. But I enjoy meeting local musicians and teaching them more about jazz music. so they can become better musicians.
A/G:  What can you me about your style? How do you define it?
R.M. : I am bringing a world concept to the jazz idea. My influences in the past years have been  middle eastern music, classical music, hip hop, Los Angeles life, and traditional jazz. So I would say that my style is a culmination of different sounds working together.
Jazz Square: Is it this sound and style going to be the same on next album? We did not hear it yet and we are so excited to hear!
R.M. - I think the new album “Storyteller” is an expansion on my past jazz tradition plus the new influences of my recent and past life experiences are included in this album.  I produced a world music album for female singer in LA. I listened a lot of Beethoven and Joe Zawinul for influences on my new album. As a recording artist I feel it is very important to stay in touch with the different musical sounds developing around the world.
Jazz Square:  Is it a trio or quartet?
R.M.: It is a trio album with added color from keyboards and percussion. On this album I played drums myself.
Jazz Square: I know that you had stopped you career as a drummer. Was it hard to play again?
R.M.: I had to go to the practice room for several weeks to develop my approach for drumming, so that I could create the right style for the album.
Jazz Square: Do you involve any musicians to record this album?
R.M.: I had Larry Antonino join me on acoustic bass. Larry and I have played together many years. He was an important choice for the Storyteller project, because he is a highly adaptable bass player.
Jazz Square: What do you mean by highly adaptable  bass player?
R.M.: Larry is capable of swing, R&B, rock, pop, and he can follow my lead into new musical directions which was important for hits new musical project.
Jazz Square: I know that you had recorded many albums by yourself. Why?
R.M.: I think it is natural for the pianist to be record alone, because it is a great sound to record a solo piano record.
Jazz Square: Do you prefer to play keyboards or acoustic piano?
R.M.: I prefer acoustic piano, because it is much more expressive. People who are familiar with my music know that one of my important musical signatures is the way I use bass lines, particularly under piano chords. And Larry also reads well, so he was able to quickly grasp the unusual bass lines. We even did an interesting improvisation together, when we only have acoustic piano and bass. The song titled “Tears for America”, is one of the most important stories I had to tell on this album. Anyone listening to the song will understand what I am talking about.
Jazz Square: What does it mean “Storyteller”?
R.M.; My goal as a musician is to communicate in a universal way. Music is the most universal form of storytelling, and a well-told story can uplift the human spirit, impart wisdom, evoke emotion, and by extension, improve the world. I wanted to create a new sound with this project that goes far beyond the limits of jazz music and classical music to reflect the growing diversity and awareness that I have for the world. I feel that too many musicians are making too predictable music and that music listeners are getting more and more bored with normal genres.
“Storyteller” is a departure from typical music and is intended to expand people understanding not only of the piano, but of the world in general.
Jazz Square: What do you think about the situation in the music world, particularly in the jazz world? You are not only a performing artist, but teacher, producer, author- so what your thoughts and opinions?
R.M.:  I think that there are strong opinions on both sides of the issue raised by your question.
In my opinion, the music scene in jazz is always going to be changing. In some areas of the world it will improve, while in some areas it will get bad. And in the areas where it is bad, it will eventually improve. To me this is a natural form of cultural movement, and it is important to remember that it is up to every person who loves music of a particular style to support it with their attendance  at concerts and clubs and to continue to buy the music to listen to. Musicians and composers are an important aspect of cultural expression in every society. It is important in the coming years for every society to embrace and support musical culture, because of it's value to life.
When musicians and composers are well supported, societies find commonality and experience, they laugh and cry together, they think new ideas, and gain fresh perspectives about their lives.
Jazz Square: Can you predict the development in jazz music for next two decades? Obviously,  it is hard to predict anything in our days…
R.M.   As human awareness grows, listeners will expect deeper music from composers telling their own stories and it will be the composers telling the most meaningful stories to the listeners who will survive the difficulties of  music industry.
Everyone familiar with jazz music and it's past is waiting for some new sound to arrive because people are getting bored with the old sounds. A good composer can only lead the musical world in new directions when he is expanding his own musical ideas through continued study and exposure to not only existing music and other artists, but to the ideas and situations, present in various cultures around the world.
Jazz Square: The audience really liked your ballads... You have an amazing sound and some special kind of musical language. Who influenced you on your ballad playing?
R.M.:   I play ballads much like a singer sings, and I think on a ballad you can say much more with fewer notes and a stronger lyrical expression. On ballads I also feel my strongest romantic emotions and the experiences of my life. I was happy to see the Russian audience so connected to these songs.
Jazz Square: Okay. What about your goals as a teacher, composer, author?
R.M.: I am well-positioned in the entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles California, I spend much time during the day working with talented musicians and singers, preparing them for careers and music industry. My school is very small, and I do not accept many students, I prefer to work closely with a small amount of students, so as to best improve their skills in every aspect of performance and to prepare them for the challenges they will face as performing and recording artist. As a teacher I bring all of my experience, as a musician, recording artist, book author and traveling composer to each class.
   It is not a traditional academy in many ways. Number one because I am an active performing artist and recording artist at this point in my career and I can shape the talent of the future from  a very broad yet-specialized view. I don’t want to seem egotistical, but I feel I have a very unique set of skills that go far beyond those of many teachers, and I can spot problems that inhibit the success of an artist by working on areas outside of basic technique. For example. For many pianists, rhythm and timing are huge problem, particularly pianists that perform in jazz and rock groups. My experience as a drummer is very valuable and correcting in these problems as piano and keyboard players. Also since Los Angeles is a very important capital of style and culture and part of the life there I can make recommendations to an artist about their public presentation and performance techniques The most important part of this educational system is the satisfaction I receive in watching young talented students of mine go on to success in the entertainment industry. I welcome inquiries about my school and have had many international students.
Jazz Square: Are your students only piano players and singers?
R.M.: I also develop horn players and recording technological students.
Jazz Square: That sounds great. What is the status of your new album then…I know you brought it here to Moscow to show the model to us, but when will it be released and how can we hear it?
R.M.: The  “Storyteller” album will be released in March of 2008. Your readers can get all the details on the release and radio airplay at my website www.planetmullins.com