The Jazz Half

Cincinnati's Jazz Showcase

jh:  So you were born in Tokyo, Japan.  How long did you live there?

SW:  I was there until I was 17 or 18.

jh:  You’ve taken Piano and Trumpet in early on in your childhood years?

SW:  Yeah.  Piano I started when I was 2 or 3.  My grandmother was a piano teacher, and she lived next door, so she would give me lessons.  You know, its really tough when your grandma is teaching you piano, because grandma just can’t be hard on you (laughs).  So that didn’t last very long, maybe a year or two.  And the next time I touched an instrument was in the 5th grade when I started playing the trumpet.

jh:  So around your high school years you started dabbling around with the bass a little bit?

SW:  Yeah.  Actually my Uncle was a huge influence as far as playing jazz goes.  He’s a huge Miles Davis freak (laughs). So as soon as he heard I was playing trumpet, he just flipped out, and laid a whole bunch of Miles Davis on me.  In 5th grade, I really didn’t know what was going on, but it was really cool, to hear all this stuff, you know, music that I have never heard before – I started getting interested in it.  In middle school, I found some buddies that were interested in forming a band, and we did that for 2 years, and that was cool.  But then our bassist left the country, for America.  And we needed a bass player more than a trumpet, and my Uncle had an electric bass, so I said, “Alright.  Well, I’ll just pick it up over the summer and see what happens" and I got into that more, I guess.  Actually, I think it helped me develop on the instrument a lot faster, because I wasn’t really playing it, you know, in school – Well I was playing it in school, but not like in a concert band.  I didn’t feel like I had to practice and get really good; it was fun for me.  So then naturally, since I was having so much fun I was playing all the time, so I got good really fast.

jh:  And at some point you learned to read music?

SW:  That actually came a lot later. I played electric bass, and I didn’t play acoustic bass until really I came to college. I did everything by ear – a lot of songs I wrote, so I really didn’t have to read (laughs).  I came to America in ’99 and I attended Interlochen Arts Academy, which is a school up in Michigan.  I was a composition major there.  At the time I was reading Treble Clef all the time because I played the trumpet; so I was pretty good at that.  But Bass Clef was a completely foreign thing to me but I learned at least what the notes were, because I had to write them.  But, it really wasn’t until College, where I learned to read well.

jh:  In college, were you taking on multiple arrangements by different classmates?

SW:  We did some of that too, but most of the reading was in Big Band. A lot of the charts were pretty easy, and I was pretty good with chord changes.  That was easy for me, because that was how I think.

jh:  So tell me about your experience at Interlochen.

SW:  It was really good.  Attending that Academy, set the direction of my life, for better or for worse (laughs).  I was there living with a bunch of young artists – at a high school age just completely inspired.  I mean there’s nothing more inspiring that, just hanging out with some great musicians.

jh:  I understand in your sophomore year, you received a Louis Armstrong Award.  Can you describe the experience of receiving that, and what was the criteria in the selection of the student?

SW:  Yeah, that was actually in High School back in Japan.  I didn’t even know I was getting it, I was aware of it (the award).  I just thought it was something they just gave to Seniors before they go away.  Some of the names I saw on the list were people who just graduated.  But I wasn’t really thinking about it, you know.  But then they just announced it at some concert and I thought, “so oh, this is where you get it – alright, I guess my name’s up there”  I think it’s the Band Director who picks it.  I was obviously the most active guy doing jazz, you know, at that school.

jh:  After the Academy, you came to study here in Cincinnati at CCM, correct?  Was your major under Jazz Studies, or Jazz Bass, or…

SW:  Originally I was actually a Music Ed. Major.  I was actually very inspired up at Interlochen; there was this great conducting Teacher, and I took a year of conducting with him.  And that made me want to be a Teacher, actually.  He was so good.  My problem was I was a composition major, but I really didn’t keep up with my Trumpet, and I really didn’t have an instrument I could play very well.  The only think I played was the electric bass.  And I was thinking, “how can I get into a Conservatory, if I really don’t play in instrument?”.  So I thought, “Okay, if I can audition in Electric Bass…” because my mind was set on Music Ed. at the time.  So then I thought, “okay, so I’m gonna find schools with a Jazz concentration.  Audition in Electric Bass, and sorta ‘sneek’ my way into a music program somewhere” (laughs).  So that’s what I did.  I came to CCM and auditioned in electric bass, but it was kinda funny – they actually had me audition with an acoustic bass.  So I a little familiar with it; I picked it up, felt my way around it... when they accepted me, I became a Music Ed. major, which I was for about 3 years.  I switched to a double major, I believe in my sophomore year, because I was getting more into the Jazz thing.  And that just took off, actually – I really enjoyed doing it, and I was getting work and I was thinking well, maybe this should be my thing.

jh:  You’ve performed with John Von Ohlen, Jake Reed, Brent Gallaher, and many others.  It seems the common thread here is the CCM “foundation”.  How is the chemistry between all of you, and how did it all get started?

SW:  Well, CCM is huge, as far as connections go.  You know, if I didn’t go to CCM, a lot of these people I would have never met.  I was in Phil DeGreg’s band when I was Junior, and that would not have happened.  Now, once you get out of school, I don’t think people really think about that.  I don’t actively think that, you know, I’m playing with these guys because I went to CCM.  BUT, I think definitely that its huge that there’s a network through CCM.  CCM is the one of the reasons why we’re together in.  Like with Jake – you know, we went to school together, and we were all doing the same thing. We’d hang out together, play in combos.  I was in a combo with Anthony Lee for about a year, but our Director, Brad Goode, he had a profound influence on how we played together.  So there’s definitely stuff like that, chemistry that started there.

jh:  What are some of the differences or similarities you’ve observed in music education between Japan and here in the U.S.?

SW:  Well, it’s a little tricky for me because I went to an English-speaking school, and it was actually a very American education system.  All of my classes were in English, and most of my teachers were American.  As far as music education in Japan goes, it is more of a cultural issue.  For better or for worse, there’s… an emphasis placed on respect.  So, what that means is, you always respect your elders and you learn from them, but you don’t take things with a grain of salt when you should.  Because its coming from someone older than you – you know, you’ll just take everything as fact.  So there’s that kind of thing which can hinder growth sometimes.  People assume that younger cats are not very good when they actually are good, just because they’re young.  You know, I usually don’t tell people how old I am in Japan, because they don’t take me seriously when they find out that I’m 25; because the guys I play with are like 40 and 50.  But over here, that’s what I do; I play with older cats, and people here don’t really care about that kind of thing as much.  Having said that, at the same time, because of that, students in Japan learn faster sometimes.  Because when you’re starting out, if you’re studying with the right kind of person, you don’t question anything your teacher says.  So you get good really fast.

jh:  I’ve heard that if someone grows up and learns music and performs music, whenever possible, they should teach it to others – sort of a way of giving back to the art.  Do you think its more important in Jazz, to teach and give back to younger generations in an effort of keeping the music alive?

SW:  One thing, would be that I think there’s a tradition of learning, in ways of learning.  You know, in classical music, it has sort of become the tradition to go to the conservatory, studying with some great Teacher.  And because of the tradition, there a kind of “map” of how one’s career goes.  And it doesn’t always follow that path; but everybody has their own ideal.  With jazz, its interesting, you know, its starting to creep into the University system like that, with Conservatories and a lot of schools are taking up jazz and that’s cool.  What’s more important, is the student.  Because as a Teacher, its really difficult to teach an uninterested student.  And its very easy to become jaded; ‘cause he shows up to the lesson and the kid hasn’t practiced, and you’re like, “Do you really care about this?” (laughs).  And its difficult for somebody who does that for a living – whose life just revolves around the music.  I can kind of understand – because, you know, I mean at first I had trouble understanding why, can’t the student appreciate this.  And I’ve matured as a Teacher, and I realize that; some people just aren’t into it.  Like I’m not into… hockey, but to other people, that’s their life, and that’s cool.  So I think its important for musicians to, um, be open to someone who shows interest, and latching onto that and helping those people out.

jh:  Where do you think jazz in Cincinnati is today, is it where it should be, or what would you like to see in place that could broaden the awareness of jazz here?

SW:  Well, really the most important thing, is to have an audience; and its about, how do you build an audience.  You gotta catch them when they’re young (laughs).  Somehow build a fascination when people are still young.  And it gets trickier and trickier because… the music just isn’t around as much.  Now back in the day, it was just there – it was everywhere.  But nowadays its really a specific kind of thing.  What I’d like to see, is people understanding what the nature of jazz is.  Its not “old music”, you know.  Its this innovative… the tradition of jazz is innovation.  People becoming aware of that… is very important to me, but I really don’t know just how, to spread that message.

jh:  Hmm, I’m sure that thought is shared by other local artists as well.  Steve, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us.