TERRY GROSS, HOST:
That is FRESH AIR. I am Terry Gross. We have now an awesome, entertaining present for you as you head into the vacation weekend. Trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and guitarist Matt Munisteri are going to play and speak concerning the music they make and their band, The EarRegulars – that is E-A-R Regulars. They carry out jazz principally from the ’20s by the ’40s, they usually have a brand new stay album. They spoke with FRESH AIR producer Sam Briger. This is Sam.
SAM BRIGER, BYLINE: Sunday nights I discover myself feeling jealous of New Yorkers. That is as a result of each Sunday evening at a small, previous bar within the West Village known as the Ear Inn, you may hear some actually wonderful music, vibrant and important jazz, despite the fact that a number of the repertoire is 100 years previous. The band, The EarRegulars, was based by our friends Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri and is led by Kellso. The band is often a four-piece combo with associates sitting in. They arrange within the nook of the Ear Inn and go the hat on the set break, which is type of outstanding contemplating that these are a number of the greatest jazz musicians round. I first heard The EarRegulars on YouTube, the place their weekly concert events have been fairly nicely documented, and I used to go to these movies through the pandemic after I wanted a pick-me-up as a result of if you hearken to this band, you may’t assist however smile.
The EarRegulars have simply put out their first stay album. It is known as “Reside At The Ear Inn,” and with the sound of the bar crowd within the background, you may shut your eyes and nearly imagine you are there. Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri based The EarRegulars in 2007, however that band is simply one of many many credit to their names. They’ve each recorded albums underneath their very own names and with their very own bands and seem on numerous artists albums. They’re first-call session musicians each time somebody is recording any type of conventional jazz and different genres of music. They have been form sufficient to deliver their devices as we speak for our dialog. However earlier than we get to that, let’s hear a monitor from their new album. That is “I Double Dare You,” first recorded by Woody Herman in 1937.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE EARREGULARS’ “I DOUBLE DARE YOU”)
BRIGER: That is the tune “I Double Dare You” from The EarRegulars’ new album “Reside At The Ear Inn.” Our friends are the founding members of the band, Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri. Welcome to FRESH AIR.
JON-ERIK KELLSO AND MATT MUNISTERI: Thanks.
BRIGER: So why did you guys need to do a stay album? The final album you probably did was recorded in a studio.
JON-ERIK KELLSO: Properly, I’ve needed to do a stay album actually since we began the gig there, however I’ve all the time been a bit involved that it is likely to be too loud in there at occasions to do a stay album, however, you recognize, typically it is – you may hear a pin drop, and typically, you recognize, now we have some those that go there simply because it is a bar they usually act like folks in a bar. That is my little mantra I inform myself if I begin to get upset about it being noisy.
MATT MUNISTERI: Begin getting…
KELLSO: However…
MUNISTERI: …Notably darkish, yeah.
KELLSO: However yeah, we have been desirous about it for 16 years, and we lastly acquired round to it.
MUNISTERI: It additionally – I feel that room sounds actually good.
KELLSO: It positive does, yeah.
MUNISTERI: And we thought that once we used to play there late nights, you recognize, and there could be nobody within the place and it was simply – the room sounds good. It is wooden and numerous knickknacks and I assume beer-soaked floorboards.
BRIGER: And that is good for acoustics…
MUNISTERI: Appears to be.
BRIGER: …Beer-soaked flooring?
KELLSO: Apparently, yeah. Additionally, simply the thought of doing a stay album with this band, it was interesting due to the power that we generate there so far as the spontaneity on this group. It is arduous to recreate that in a studio setting. You already know, you type of can, but it surely’s not the identical as simply, you recognize, the precise bouncing off of one another as we do at The Ear.
BRIGER: Properly, I might prefer to ask you to do a tune. You mentioned that you’d do “No One Else However You,” which is on the – it is the third monitor of the album. What are you able to inform us concerning the tune earlier than you play us it?
KELLSO: It was initially performed by Louis Armstrong, and it is written by Don Redman, who was a widely known arranger and bandleader and composer in these early days. And afterward, it was performed by one in every of our heroes, Ruby Braff, and one other hero, George Barnes, on guitar with their – they’d an awesome quartet, and we type of borrow from – principally from their model of it so far as simply the format.
BRIGER: OK. Properly, we will hear “No One Else However You” with my friends guitarist Matt Munisteri and trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso. They usually additionally play this on their new album, “Reside At The Ear Inn” with their band, The EarRegulars. So let’s hear it.
MUNISTERI: One, two. One, two, three.
KELLSO AND MUNISTERI: (Enjoying trumpet and guitar).
BRIGER: That was nice. That was the tune “No One Else However You” from Jon-Erik Kellso on trumpet and Matt Munisteri on guitar. That is on their album with their band, The EarRegulars. The brand new album is known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.” Once I was listening to that, there was some extent within the tune the place, Jon, you have been doing this, like, descending line, and Matt, you performed chords that type of descended together with them. Do you know he was going to do this, or did you simply hear it within the second and observe alongside?
MUNISTERI: Sure, I knew. I want – that is – I really feel like that is asking a magician how he does his tips. We do not actually have very many preparations. However that is – it is type of the melody of the tune, and it is also taken, as Jon mentioned, largely – on that association, we have been actually borrowing from our two heroes Ruby Braff and George Barnes’ model.
BRIGER: Proper. Proper. So let me ask you about Ruby Braff and George Barnes. I feel, Jon, you knew Ruby Braff, proper?
KELLSO: Sure. Yeah, I acquired to know him. It was a reasonably wonderful factor for me. That was one in every of my heroes.
BRIGER: Is there something specifically that you simply might need talked with him about, that he talked to you about how he performed the trumpet that is influenced the way in which you play?
KELLSO: Properly, he did not actually – he wasn’t making an attempt to show me something particularly about the right way to play the trumpet. And, you recognize, he would sit down on the piano. He was really a reasonably first rate piano participant for a cornet participant. And he would say – hey, are you aware this tune? – and begin to play one thing. And I might say, no. And he says, good, I’ll train it to you proper now. So he would present me songs, and he would present me chords that he discovered from a number of the masters, like Teddy Wilson. He’d say, I lastly discovered what Teddy Wilson is doing on the bridge to “Candy Lorraine,” and he’d present it to me. So he taught me in these type of methods. And principally, we have been simply – frolicked, and I listened to him inform his nice anecdotes and, you recognize – simply numerous enjoyable.
BRIGER: Properly, though you are admitting that the piece you simply did has some preparations, I imply, one of many wonderful issues concerning the preparations on the brand new album is that they’re actually not preparations. Like, you guys are taking part in collectively. The horns are doing collective improvisation within the type of model, I assume, that was originated in New Orleans. And I simply needed to listen to a few of that from the album. I used to be pondering that we might play a part of the tune “I am Coming Virginia.” And we will lower in a bit bit to the monitor. Matt, you begin taking part in rhythm, after which one of many EarRegulars, Scott Robinson, is available in with one thing, to begin with, that appears like a clarinet, but it surely’s not, proper? He likes to play numerous type of odder devices. What’s that instrument he is taking part in?
KELLSO: It is known as a tarogato, and I am undecided I am announcing it completely completely, but it surely’s a Hungarian folks instrument, principally, used primarily in Hungarian folks music. And I like to consider it as type of like a picket soprano sax – like, a kinder, gentler soprano sax. At the very least in Scott’s palms, it’s. It is type of scary in most individuals’s palms ‘trigger it is not a factory-made, type of exact instrument. It is like, it’s important to know a man up on the hill to get one which – you recognize.
MUNISTERI: Yeah. And, you recognize, there really is an actual connection to conventional jazz historical past and the tarogato. And Jon, you might need to appropriate me on this, however was Scott’s first tarogato one which he acquired from Joe Muranyi? He was…
KELLSO: That is proper.
MUNISTERI: Yeah, that is what I believed. So Joe Muranyi was a Hungarian American clarinetist who performed with Louis Armstrong’s All Stars within the Fifties.
KELLSO: ’60s.
MUNISTERI: ’60s, OK.
KELLSO: He was in his final model of the All Stars, yeah.
MUNISTERI: OK, yeah. And all of us knew Muranyi additionally. And Scott and he have been shut, and I feel he turned Scott on to the tarogato. And he is since had a number of made in Hungary.
KELLSO: Together with a contrabass tarogato, which…
BRIGER: That have to be quite giant.
KELLSO: …Is possibly the – it is possibly the one one in existence, so far as we all know.
MUNISTERI: Let’s hope.
KELLSO: Let’s hope, sure. No, no, no. We child.
BRIGER: All proper. Properly, let’s hear this. We will hear Jon-Erik Kellso are available in on the melody. And weaving round him doing an improvisation will likely be, on trombone, John Allred and, on the tarogato, Scott Robinson. And the bass participant on that is Neal Miner.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE EARREGULARS’ “I’M COMING VIRGINIA”)
BRIGER: That was the tune “I am Coming Virginia” from the band The EarRegulars. And I am talking with two founding members of the group, Jon-Erik Kellso, who performs trumpet, and Matt Munisteri on guitar. Extra after a break – that is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE EARREGULARS’ “INDIAN SUMMER”)
BRIGER: That is FRESH AIR. Should you’re simply becoming a member of us, we’re talking with jazz musicians Jon-Erik Kellso, who performs trumpet, and Matt Munisteri, who performs guitar. They’ve a brand new album with their band, The EarRegulars. It is known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.” You will discover the band each Sunday evening on the very previous West Village bar the Ear Inn.
Matt, once we have been type of buying and selling emails, speaking about doing this interview, you wrote one thing that I needed to speak about. You mentioned, the custom of collective improvisation is central to the EarRegulars, and the position of the trumpet is decisive in any profitable efficiency on this model. Jon is a grasp of shepherding the construction and really feel of every efficiency by his musical cues. A few of this language is well-established custom, however some is derived from Jon’s private vocabulary. Are you able to speak a bit bit about what these cues are – like, how that works on the stage?
MUNISTERI: I began taking part in with Jon in ’96, I feel. Sometimes we’d play in the identical bands. After which I began having Jon on a few of my very own gigs after I was main once more within the ’90s. And I am going to simply say, one factor that occurs typically with Jon is, even when there’s one other chief, Jon will anticipate that, like, persons are going to observe the trumpet. So I wasn’t acquainted, once we began taking part in collectively, with type of the trumpet’s position in conventional jazz and the way the trumpet actually determines the construction of a tune. And I used to be like, no, I am figuring out the construction as a result of I am the singer and I am telling you what is going on to occur on stage. And he’d be like, no.
KELLSO: (Laughter).
MUNISTERI: And typically there’d be prepare wrecks that may occur on this different band that we performed, and Jon would get actually mad and simply be like, hearken to the trumpet.
KELLSO: (Laughter).
MUNISTERI: And I used to be like, nicely, dude, you are not telling us what to do. However, you recognize, the reality is, he is proper. Like, when you perceive that it’s a language and that the trumpet is definitely – if it is performed accurately on this model of music, it is giving all the data that you simply want to have the ability to observe alongside. I do know his vocabulary and his repertoire very nicely. If I am listening to the radio and Jon’s even, like, in a band someplace within the combine, I can select his sound. Like all soloist that I like, any jazz musician that I like, if I am listening to a document and immediately that soloist comes on, it is like a very good buddy simply walked into the room. And so I really feel like that is what I meant by the mix of stuff that is, like, very conventional and established after which your individual actually type of distinctive sense of play and your individual cues that everyone knows.
BRIGER: Properly, Jon, are you able to give an instance of a cue that you simply would possibly give to the opposite horn gamers?
KELLSO: Yeah. One of many methods I describe it to folks once they ask about these items is I say that by default, typically the trumpet participant in sure kinds of jazz bands is just like the site visitors cop or just like the quarterback. I just like the site visitors cop analogy in that the trumpet type of directs the order of the solos typically, or he’ll cue what number of ensemble choruses are to start with or within the center or on the finish. He is typically the one that may provoke improvised background figures or riffs. And it’s important to do it in a approach that the others, to begin with, know that you simply’re making an attempt to get their consideration after which play one thing clear that they will latch on to and that lends itself to both harmonization or no matter it’s you are going for.
And in addition with the endings, typically the trumpet will type of lead which kind of ending, whether or not there is a tag on the finish or whether or not there is a retard the place it slows down and there is a maintain or, you recognize, that type of factor. And in addition with the dynamics as nicely, whether or not you are going to play a loud one after which a tender one after which a medium one – you recognize, typically he’ll do issues like that and hope that persons are paying consideration so that you simply’re all on the identical web page.
BRIGER: You are taking part in numerous music from the ’20s and ’30s. That is known as, often, conventional jazz. However typically I feel the phrase conventional provides the improper impression it should be, like, a museum piece. However you are not taking part in staid or boring music. As listeners can hear, like, that is actually vibrant and thrilling. However you are additionally – it sounds to me such as you’re being respectful of the period that the music comes from. Are you able to simply speak a bit bit about discovering that stability?
KELLSO: Certain. I feel the way in which we have come to a type of a mode of our personal on the Ear Inn is a combination of respect for the model and data of the sooner kinds of New Orleans jazz, for lack of a greater time period for it.
MUNISTERI: The terminology is difficult.
KELLSO: Yeah. And it is – sure phrases upset folks. However, you recognize, anyway. So we come from this place of data of the sooner kinds of jazz, after which we are also open-minded and type of discover our pleased medium with whoever is within the quartet du jour there. And…
BRIGER: ‘Trigger that modifications the dynamics and the way you play.
KELLSO: Yeah.
MUNISTERI: Oh, completely.
KELLSO: Relying on who the opposite guys are, it could lean a bit bit extra in the direction of swing, could lean a bit bit extra in the direction of New Orleans, could also be a bit bebop-y. And a few variations of the quartet are extra adventurous so far as it could type of go nearly wherever, you recognize? And I do not attempt to rein anyone in so far as stylistically there.
MUNISTERI: It is also, such as you mentioned, actually depending on the person voices, the – every of the gamers, the horn gamers on that CD – Scott Robinson and Evan Christopher and Jay Rattman and, in fact, John Allred on trombone – are all, like, totally fashioned, sturdy musical personalities, you recognize, who’ve likewise digested a substantial amount of music. And so issues occur, you recognize, when all these personalities come collectively and everybody’s being sincere and had a drink possibly or two, you recognize?
KELLSO: It’s a bar.
MUNISTERI: It’s a bar, in any case. Yeah.
BRIGER: That is honest. That is honest.
That is Matt Munisteri and Jon-Erik Kellso, founding members of the jazz band The EarRegulars. They’ve a brand new album out known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.” We’ll hear extra from them after a break. I am Sam Briger, and that is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUMMER’S “VIGNETTE”)
BRIGER: That is FRESH AIR. I am Sam Briger. My friends are the founding members of the standard jazz band The EarRegulars, Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri, who play trumpet and guitar respectively. They play Sunday nights on the New York bar within the West Village known as the Ear Inn, therefore the band’s title. Do not let the phrase conventional idiot you into believing that that is some type of nostalgia act. Though the songs they play are previous, numerous them from the ’20s and ’30s, their performances are as thrilling and vigorous as something on the market. They’ve a brand new album. It is known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.” They introduced their devices to the studio. Let’s hear a tune they performed for us that is not on the brand new album. It is known as “Tishomingo Blues,” written by Spencer Williams in 1917.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE EARREGULARS PERFORMANCE OF SPENCER WILLIAMS SONG, “TISHOMINGO BLUES”)
BRIGER: That was nice. That was “Tishomingo Blues,” performed by trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri on guitar. They’re right here as a result of they’ve a brand new CD with their band, the EarRegulars. It is known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.” That was actually fantastic. Thanks for enjoying that. I feel it is maybe time to speak about mutes.
KELLSO: Certain.
BRIGER: Listening to that tune…
MUNISTERI: Do not attain for that dial, everyone.
(LAUGHTER)
KELLSO: Mutes? What?
BRIGER: So…
KELLSO: You need to set the mute button on the – on our…
MUNISTERI: Subsequent we will be speaking about mimes.
BRIGER: Trumpet gamers like to decorate. Is not that proper, Jon? You might have all types of stuff you stick on the finish of your trumpet.
KELLSO: Oh, sure. Sure. It is a fetish for trumpet gamers. And for me, it began just about proper after I began taking part in trumpet at age 10. I used to be listening to my mother and father’ previous 78 rpm data from the swing period, and instantly it caught my ear – guys like Cootie Williams with the Duke Ellington band and with the Benny Goodman small bands – that he was utilizing a plunger and, you recognize, making these type of growling sounds and wah-wah (ph) sounds. And that thrilled me to no finish.
BRIGER: Like an precise plunger – like a rest room plunger, proper?
KELLSO: Yeah, yeah. Like – we prefer to name them sink plungers principally, you recognize?
BRIGER: OK, honest (laughter).
KELLSO: Largely the trumpet makes use of the smaller…
BRIGER: I am hoping they don’t seem to be used, whether or not they’re sink or bathroom plungers.
KELLSO: Nah, nah. Yeah. Possibly I am going to show the little pixie mute by itself and with the plunger and with out the pixie mute, simply so that you perceive what that…
BRIGER: Yeah, that’d be nice.
KELLSO: Would that be good? OK. All proper, so that is taking part in with simply the pixie mute.
(Enjoying trumpet).
OK. So now that is with the pixie mute and the sink plunger.
(Enjoying trumpet).
So that you get the thought of the way you get some totally different tonal…
BRIGER: Yeah.
KELLSO: …Sounds that approach. Oh, and the plunger with out the pixie.
(Enjoying trumpet).
BRIGER: That is actually cool.
KELLSO: Yeah, yeah.
BRIGER: Properly, thanks for doing that.
KELLSO: Certain.
BRIGER: So I needed to speak a bit bit about how every of you bought began. Jon, I might like to start out with you. You grew up in Detroit, proper? What was your loved ones like? What was your own home like there?
KELLSO: Oh, nicely, I grew up in a suburb of Detroit, sure, known as Allen Park, and I had a brother and a sister and my mother and pop. My dad had performed trumpet when he was younger. And it was attention-grabbing ‘trigger I did not know that till after I advised him that I needed to play the trumpet. And he mentioned, oh, actually? You need to play the trumpet? Let me see if I can discover mine, you recognize? So he dug out his horn, and he was my first instructor. And he sounded type of like Harry James, who was his massive idol. And across the identical time, at age 10, I used to be discovering my mother and father’ previous data, these 78 rpm data from the swing period. And so I acquired enthusiastic about that model of music at a really younger age and had a buddy that lived close to me who was doing the identical factor, and we really fashioned a giant band once we have been nonetheless in elementary college on our personal. We put collectively a giant band with ringers from the junior excessive band.
(LAUGHTER)
BRIGER: And would you gig?
KELLSO: We performed at, you recognize, the college concert events, and we performed on the – we did some issues, like, on the PTA conferences and stuff like that.
BRIGER: And was there some extent the place you type of realized, like, oh, I am really fairly good at this, possibly higher than a few of my friends, and possibly I need to make a run at being a musician?
KELLSO: I feel in a approach, sure. I imply, I all the time was pushed. I simply needed to be actually good. Like, I could not stand not sounding good, so I practiced incessantly after I was younger. I used to be simply – you recognize, the band instructor in elementary college would have us fill out this little chart of what number of minutes we practiced every day, after which we – after which our mother and father must preliminary it and convey it in. And I might deliver mine in, and – he really known as my mom, and he mentioned, Jon-Erik is making issues up. He is mendacity. He is saying he practiced 240 minutes on Saturday. No, no, that is proper. That is – yeah. Yeah, that is proper. They needed to inform me to cease working towards ‘trigger it was getting late (laughter).
BRIGER: When did you begin gigging? What – how previous have been you?
KELLSO: My first paying gig, I used to be 12, really.
BRIGER: Wow.
KELLSO: After which my first regular gig – for 2 summers in – after I was in junior excessive and likewise the summer season earlier than going into highschool, I had a gentle gig taking part in at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich., a part of the Henry Ford Museum, with that very same buddy of mine, Mike Karoub. And we had a bit trad band, trad jazz band taking part in outdoors there six days every week, 5 hours a day. In order that was a very good likelihood to study some songs and get some chops.
BRIGER: Yeah. After which when did you resolve to maneuver to New York?
KELLSO: 1989. I used to be 25 years previous, and I acquired known as by Vince Giordano and – of The Nighthawks, and he was searching for any person to affix the band. And he had me come – flew me out to New York, and I performed with the group for every week. And, oddly, the identical month I had a name from a band known as the Dukes of Dixieland in New Orleans, they usually flew me down there for every week. And all this occurred in a single month in 1989. I acquired supplied each gigs, and people have been my two favourite cities on the planet that I had been to. So it was a reasonably thrilling time for me. And I went with the New York possibility and have by no means regretted it.
BRIGER: And so if you moved to New York, have been you taking part in – since you’re taking part in trad jazz, have been you taking part in with numerous musicians who have been older than you who got here from a special era? Like, have been you the younger child?
KELLSO: Precisely. Yeah. And identical with my early years in Detroit, particularly after I was taking part in the older model of jazz. You already know, I used to be taking part in with some those that have been fairly a bit older than me with a number of expertise, and I used to be fortunate to have some nice mentors that – and likewise simply grouchy older gamers who would yell at me and inform me to, you recognize, cease taking part in too many notes or no matter it was I used to be doing improper. So I acquired the robust love, and I used to be pleased to get it.
BRIGER: Let’s take a brief break right here. Should you’re simply becoming a member of us, our friends are trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and guitarist Matt Munisteri. They’ve a brand new album out with their band The EarRegulars. It is known as “Jon-Erik Kellso And The EarRegulars: Reside At The Ear Inn.” Extra after a break. That is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE EARREGULARS’ “BACK O’ TOWN BLUES”)
BRIGER: That is FRESH AIR. Should you’re simply becoming a member of us, we’re talking with jazz musicians Jon-Erik Kellso, who performs trumpet, and Matt Munisteri, who performs guitar. They’ve a brand new album with their band The EarRegulars. It is known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.” You will discover the band each Sunday evening on the very previous West Village bar The Ear Inn.
Matt, what about you? You grew up in Brooklyn. What was your loved ones like? Had been they musical?
MUNISTERI: Yeah. My dad was a giant music lover, and each my mom and my brother type of have been extraordinarily gifted at music. However there was music everywhere both, you recognize, being performed on the document participant or – Sunday dinners have been often over at my grandparents, and I had an aunt that performed piano and accordion, and my grandmother performed piano, and my dad and grandfather sang. And there have been different cousins and aunts and uncles – I had an awesome uncle who performed, you recognize, simply Sicilian songs on an previous guitar, and I inherited that guitar after I was 12. It was an previous Gibson – 1948, L-7. And so, yeah, I used to be round music on a regular basis and type of all the time knew that I needed to play.
BRIGER: And I feel that initially, you went down fairly a darkish path by taking part in bluegrass banjo. Is that appropriate?
MUNISTERI: Sure. I traipsed down that path. Yeah. I imply, I wasn’t positive what instrument I needed to play. I used to be taking part in principally something that got here my approach in elementary college, which is simply, you recognize – this was – New York Metropolis public faculties used to have band applications and music applications, and I feel that that is in all probability not prefer it was once. And so, yeah, I used to be wanting to play any instrument. However after I was in fourth grade, I feel, “Dueling Banjos” was immediately a high 10 hit. And I had a bit AM transistor radio that I might listened to, you recognize, the pop music of the day. And immediately that tune was like – I imply, that phenomenon of a tune simply being on the radio, like, 10 to twenty occasions a day – you recognize, it set my hair on fireplace. I imply, it was simply unimaginable. So I began begging my mother and father to search out me a banjo instructor, they usually lastly did. So, yeah, that was my path for some time.
After which I began taking part in guitar in a summer season camp in fifth grade. I remembered, you recognize, my Uncle John (ph) taking part in guitar and singing the Sicilian songs after I was a child. My nice aunt was all the time saying, if you happen to get good at guitar, I am going to offer you your Uncle John’s guitar. And I am going to simply always remember, like, the scent of that guitar, the look – you recognize, it had simply been sitting in its case since he died. So I practiced the guitar like loopy after that, and she or he gave it to me for my subsequent birthday. And, yeah, like what Jon mentioned, you simply – as a child simply disappear into your room and follow as many hours as you probably can ‘trigger it is the best factor on the planet. It is all the time wonderful to me that individuals, like, must be pressured to follow, you recognize? For me, it was all the time like, there have been different issues – everybody all the time needed me to do different issues. However I used to be like, oh, I might quite simply type of follow.
BRIGER: Was there some extent if you have been like, I’ll give this a go and attempt to be a musician full-time?
MUNISTERI: I by no means thought that I might make a dwelling at it. It was all the time simply the place my head was. I all the time heard music in my head consistently – consistently, consistently. So, no, I by no means thought I might make a dwelling at it. And I did not begin even going out and making an attempt to take a seat in with folks till I used to be approach previous, like 27. I did not – you recognize, I imply, I might been taking part in on a regular basis. However I – not jazz in any respect, nothing linked to jazz. So…
BRIGER: How did that go? How did that – these first few occasions go?
MUNISTERI: Oh, I acquired kicked off a bandstand. I imply it is really like…
BRIGER: You probably did?
MUNISTERI: Yeah. Oh, in fact. I acquired kicked – ‘trigger I believed that, like, jazz was like – I might discovered the right way to play, like, Bob Wills stuff from Western swing, from, you recognize, Russ Barenberg and Richard Lieberson. And, yeah, jazz musicians advised me – I acquired advised to take a seat down and get off bandstands loads of occasions. After which I performed – that is the reality – I sat in at a jam session, and I performed a solo on a blues, and everybody within the place went loopy. And so I took one other refrain, and other people stored on being like, yeah, yeah. And I stored taking part in refrain after refrain. And after that, my telephone began ringing, and I simply began, like, working. However after I acquired off the stage and I used to be listening from the viewers, I spotted they’d been in the important thing of B-flat, and I might performed refrain after refrain after refrain in E. I could not hear the bass. He was on the opposite facet of the stage. And that type of made my profession. Like, Jon, did I ever let you know that? Like, the telephone began ringing after that?
KELLSO: (Laughter).
MUNISTERI: I used to be so hip.
KELLSO: Ah.
BRIGER: So that you have been taking part in out of key, but it surely sounded hip to everybody.
MUNISTERI: Properly, I do not know. It sounded hip to…
KELLSO: All the pieces was a tritone substitution. That is…
MUNISTERI: All the pieces.
BRIGER: Yeah. Let’s not get too nerdy…
KELLSO: Oh, they in all probability…
MUNISTERI: It was a catastrophe. It was horrible. It was terrible.
BRIGER: Properly, Matt, you solo clearly in these exhibits, however your predominant job is taking part in rhythm. There is a bass participant. However there is not any piano. There is no drums. And so that you’re holding down the rhythm chair. And alongside together with your guitar taking part in, you additionally sing – not on this album, however on the one earlier than this, which is known as “In The Land Of Starting Once more.” You sing on a tune, “S’posin’,” which I’ve heard variations of that by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and Fat Waller. Why do not we hear your model of the tune? That is from The EarRegulars’ album “In The Land Of Starting Once more.” That is Matt Munisteri singing on the tune “S’posin’.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “S’POSIN'”)
MUNISTERI: (Singing) S’posin’ that I fell in love with you, do you assume that you can love me too? S’posin’ that I held you and caressed you, wouldn’t it impress you or merely misery you? S’posin’ that I mentioned for you I yearn, would you assume I am talking out of flip? And s’posin’ I declare it, would you’re taking my love and share it? Oh, I am not s’posin’. I am in love with you.
BRIGER: That is the tune “S’posin'” performed by The EarRegulars and sung by one in every of my friends, Matt Munisteri, who can also be a guitarist. And the opposite visitor is Jon-Erik Kellso who performs trumpet. They usually have a band collectively known as The EarRegulars that has a brand new album known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.” Why do not we take a brief break right here? We’ll be again in a second. That is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE EARREGULARS’ “I’M COMING VIRGINIA”)
BRIGER: That is FRESH AIR. Should you’re simply becoming a member of us, I am talking with the founding members of the standard jazz band The EarRegulars, trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and guitarist Matt Munisteri. They’ve a brand new album known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.”
You each do – have accomplished and do numerous session work. Are you able to discuss what that is like within the lifetime of a musician?
MUNISTERI: I got here into city very early this morning for a session. It is making an attempt to slot in – I imply, you recognize, you are making an attempt to suit right into a state of affairs the place you are going to make your complete ensemble sound good. What I used to do quite a bit was then attempt to play type of, like, within the background. And these days after I play on – you recognize, if it is even, like, a jingle or a – somebody’s date or one thing, I attempt to really deliver numerous persona to it – musical persona. So that you’re making an attempt to, you recognize, make somebody’s – work with another person’s imaginative and prescient. And we each work, as – you recognize, if you say session, it is like we work as facet folks with numerous totally different folks in numerous bands and totally different contexts. So that you’re making an attempt to do one thing that is going to assist somebody’s imaginative and prescient. And on the identical time, you are really making an attempt to step up and be a – you recognize, be a recognizable voice one way or the other within the ensemble.
BRIGER: What about you, Jon? What about your expertise as a sideman or session musician?
KELLSO: Being a sideman and a session musician for me is – has been an actual problem however a enjoyable one. Like, there are some bands I play with and a few conditions I am in the place it is in a recording studio for a soundtrack or one thing the place they’ve a really particular concept of what they need to hear, and it is not essentially simply that they need to hear me doing it the way in which I might do it. You already know, typically it is like we want any person to sound like Miles Davis, you recognize? And one in every of my first jingles – I feel it really was my first jingle in New York, Howard Alden acquired me on this session, and it was, you recognize, one thing like therapeutic Mineral Ice or one thing. They usually mentioned they needed this monitor to sound like Miles Davis’ “All Blues.” And they also type of got here up with a tune that was harking back to that, you recognize, with out really taking part in that tune. And, you recognize, as an adolescent, Miles was one of many guys that I studied fairly arduous. I do not solely hearken to early – earlier gamers, I like listening to all types of stuff. So I had spent a very good period of time, you recognize, making an attempt to repeat him and study from him.
So I assume I did a very good job as a result of they stopped issues at one level, and you can see they’re all having, like, a huddle within the sales space. They usually mentioned, Jon, are you able to sound rather less like Miles Davis? And I took that as a excessive praise. I believed, all proper, nicely, like, OK. I assume I did what I used to be making an attempt to do there. It sounded, you recognize, sufficient like him that they have been anxious that they have been going to get in hassle or one thing, you recognize? However so, yeah, typically the gig is to repeat any person or give a – of – your model of some particular individual or a really particular model. And, you recognize, and typically it is – it’s they simply need you to deliver your taste to the combo, you recognize?
BRIGER: Properly, I needed to finish with a very stunning tune that you simply guys did in your final album, which is “In The Land Of Starting Once more.” It is a tune known as “Smoke Rings,” which I feel was initially accomplished by The Mills Brothers. Is that proper?
KELLSO: I feel it really went again to the Casa Loma…
MUNISTERI: Yeah.
KELLSO: …Band. Glen Grey.
BRIGER: OK.
MUNISTERI: Proper.
BRIGER: You need to say the rest about this tune?
MUNISTERI: I really heard it first – oh, my God, what is the title of the good Canadian nation jazz singer? No matter. I assume the reply, Sam, is will we need to say the rest? No.
(LAUGHTER)
BRIGER: OK. Properly, we’ll let the…
KELLSO: Sure, however I do not know what it’s. I do, however I am unable to.
BRIGER: We’ll let the music converse for itself. Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri, thanks a lot for coming in as we speak. It was an actual deal with.
KELLSO: Thanks, Sam.
MUNISTERI: Thanks for having us.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE EARREGULARS’ “SMOKE RINGS”)
GROSS: Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri are the founding members of the standard jazz band The EarRegulars. Their new album is known as “Reside At The Ear Inn.” They play on the Ear Inn most Sunday nights, however they will not be there New 12 months’s Eve. They spoke with FRESH AIR producer Sam Briger. Kellso and Munisteri joined us from the studios of WNYC in New York. Our because of recording engineer Irene Trudel.
All through this vacation week, we have been that includes a couple of of our favourite interviews of the 12 months. Monday, we’ll have a good time New 12 months’s Day with Barbra Streisand and hear again to the interview I recorded along with her in November after the publication of her memoir. We talked about her two Broadway exhibits and why she determined to by no means do one other, how she discovered the arduous approach that romance together with your main man can spell hassle, the 2 totally different sides of her persona and extra. We additionally performed and talked about a few of her nice recordings. I hope you may be a part of us. To maintain up with what’s on the present and get highlights of our interviews, observe us on Instagram @nprfreshair.
FRESH AIR’s govt producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham, with extra engineering from Adam Staniszewski, Joyce Lieberman and Julian Herzfeld. Our interviews and opinions are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Roberta Shorrock, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Heidi Saman, Therese Madden, Ann Marie Baldonado, Thea Chaloner, Seth Kelley and Susan Nyakundi. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Our co-host is Tonya Mosley. I am Terry Gross. All of us at FRESH AIR want you a wholesome and fulfilling new 12 months.
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