As part of the Moravia Music Fest on 16 November the group Organic Quartet with Ondřej Pivec will be performing in Brno’s Metro Music Bar. This organist of Czech origin, who has lived in New York since 2009, has in recent years worked with the major signer Gregory Porter, and for his work on his album Take Me To The Alley even won a Grammy. In Brno he is presenting his new album Terms And Conditions Apply, which he recorded with his former Czech fellow players – the guitarist Libor Šmoldas, the drummer Tomáš Hobzek and the saxophonist Jakub Doležal.
Ondřej, at the start of this year you got a Grammy for your work on the Gregory Porter album Take Me To The Alley. What was your immediate reaction? Where you there for the awards ceremony?
I wasn’t there. It took place on a Sunday when I was on duty in the church where I play the organ. But as soon as I got home I played the several-hour-long broadcast on the internet. At the moment when they began to announce the category of Best Vocal Jazz Album, in which Gregory Porter was nominated, I dropped my meal. Of course I was overjoyed that Gregory won. I then got a certificate to show that I also won the prize.
Another major theme for this year is the new album from your Organic Quartet, a Czech group with which you celebrated great success before you departure to the United States. How did it happen that you issued something new with Organic Quartet after a decade?
Already for some time I had been talking with the guitarist Libor Šmoldas about how we should resuscitate Organic Quartet. We had planned a smaller tour for April 2016, we had agreed some dates, but in March I got a call from Gregory Porter’s manager, asking if I could go in April on a tour in England. And he was thinking of the whole month. So I compromised – I went on tour with Gregory, but there was also some playing with Organic. One of these concerts took place in Prague at Jazz Dock and we invited Petr Ostrouchov, director of Animal Music. After the concert he came to me and said: “It looks like after all these years you don’t get on each other’s nerves. And you are still playing well. Wouldn’t you like to bring out a new album on the occasion of the tenth birthday of Animal Music?” We were taken with the idea, and we also liked another of Petr’s proposals, that we should record on tape, like it used to be.
I was interested in the idea that you do not get on each other’s nerves. How was it to play together after so many years? In the meantime in America you had gained a lot of experience and the other players must also have progressed.
It was great and perhaps better than before, because none of us was under any kind of economic pressure. Previously I was financially depended on playing the organ with Organic, but that is not the case today for any of us. We are all in the group of our own free will and for the joy of it and we were even surprised how well it went. Last year in April we mainly played our old hits and we realised that we still have it under our skin. We did not even have to rehearse, as we still remembered everything.
Your new album Terms And Conditions Apply contains a new repertoire. I was interested to see that all four of you participated in it. You are the main writer but you did less than half of the pieces overall.
We agreed that beforehand. From the start Organic Quartet was a group linked with me, but in this case we all wrote new pieces directly for this disk. We sent each other scores and demo versions by E-mail. So when we got together for the first rehearsal we already knew it all. Earlier when someone brought something new to Organic it took a while before we decided how it should ideally sound. Today we all know straight away the author’s intentions.
How and where do you normally compose?
I don’t have any specific approach. Sometimes it’s the rhythm that comes to me first, and at others the melody and harmony, and yet others it is the harmonic progression and on that I build the melody. I think I somehow naturally learned how to shift into creative mode. When I have to I can come up with something. When I had to write pieces for the new disc, I sat down and had two works ready in one morning. Before I had various creative blocks, but now I am more open and the muse is kind to me.
While on older albums there is Ondřej Pivec & Organic Quartet, this time your name is absent from the front cover. Why?
I wanted it like that. I am not spending as much time in Czechia as before and I wanted the album to help us all to the same extent. So we decided that the album would carry portraits of all four of us.
How did analogue recording on tape work for you?
Given that it is a jazz group, it was simpler. We did not have to cut anything. All of us took it as a challenge and we recorded it in such a way that it was practically impossible to correct anything. We had to play well. And I think we did play well and the disc came out great.
How is the resulting sound?
It is different than with digital recording. I recognise it because recently a lot of studio work has been devoted to it. It can easily be seen already when mixing. We recorded it on twenty four tracks and from there we mixed it straight to left and right. When you mix sound digitally you deal with every decibel and it can be heard. In analogue it can be heard as well, but somehow it all sounds good. Tape softens everything and the result is a very pleasant sound. We brought out the album also on vinyl. When you play it you have a guarantee that during the whole process there was not even a hint of digital technology. And I recommend it to everyone – it is a super experience.
You listen to vinyl at home?
Yes, I have a lot of discs – Aretha Franklin, old Tower of Power, George Benson, Off The Wall by Michael Jackson. It sounds really good from vinyl.
You mentioned the cover of your new album. How important for digitally propagated music is the cover to you?
The album itself and its cover are bound together, even if obviously the music comes first. I always liked covers, as I liked looking at the pictures. We were particularly concerned with the cover for the vinyl version. We also included there notes for all the pieces. And as far as our four portraits on the album cover are concerned, we agreed that every ten years we will bring out a new disc with a similar cover.
In mid-November you will once more be going on a short Czech tour with Organic Quartet. What can fan look forward to?
A new repertoire, lots of energy and four handsome guys … (laughs)
How is your cooperation with Gregory Porter going?
Very productive. We had agreed that next year I am going on tour with him from the end of March to the end of April and a few days ago that was extended to from mid-March to mid-May.
Currently you are bringing out a disc with the American group Kennedy Administration. What can you tell me about it?
It is a very important project for me. I made a strong contribution to the disc as an author and producer and I am really happy with the result. It came out in Germany as a gramophone record and CD and in Japan on CD. It looks like we will be flying to Tokyo in February.
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