Ahead of upcoming tour dates in Spain, France and Switzerland, Daniel García spoke to Rosa Sawer about his most recent album, ‘Wonderland’ (ACT, 2024) cooking, his own Hero’s Journey and looks forward to his next solo album with piano and electronics.….
UK Jazz News: What are you most looking forward to with the next few gigs on your tour?
DG: It’s the first time that the original trio is going to play since last November, because the gigs that we had this year were with Shayan Fathi, who I love playing with. This music is going to sound super fresh.
UK Jazz News: Do you prefer playing with smaller groups or larger ensembles?
DG: All of them have their own ups and downs. What I love about the trio is the freedom and the spontaneity. But what I love about the sextet is the different textures and sounds you can create with a larger group of instruments. With the solo concert, I love the absolute freedom that I don’t know what I’m going to play.
UK Jazz News: How do you leave that space for improvisation and spontaneity?
DG: It takes a lot of confidence to create spaces and trust that what the musicians are going to do is worth it. But it’s beautiful. I always say that music is my personal therapist because it forces me to look inside and reflect on my fears.
UK Jazz News: There’s an influence of flamenco in your work as well as classical, jazz, pop, Caribbean….The list goes on. How do you meld these styles together?
DG: When I compose I don’t think about what I want to pull into my composition, it just happens naturally. You just let all these influences come in and I think it represents me very well. That way of not putting barriers on what you want to do. In a way it makes your music not have a purpose. It’s a reflection of what you are and of the time that you wrote it. The composition process takes quite a lot of time for me because I need to rest ideas.They have to feel natural and unpretentious.
UK Jazz News: Do you have a writing process that you like to go through every time?
DG: Usually what I do is I start improvising and I record myself. I let it rest and maybe I go back to it one week later or one month later or three months later. Then it’s like I’m hearing it for the first time as a spectator, as an audience. I let the music speak for itself without prejudices from my side.
UK Jazz News: Are you writing at the moment or are you too busy with the tour?
DG: I’m writing music for my next album which will be a solo album with piano and electronics. I’m in the process of composing it right now. It’s something that I’ve been looking to do for a while and it’s quite intense.
UK Jazz News: Was there any particular inspiration for this album?
DG: It will talk about the Hero’s Journey which is an archetype of human culture in a way. It has very specific stages that repeat in every tale. It’s a sort of concept album. I really relate to the Hero’s Journey: it’s about facing your own fears and overcoming them. Every life is full of little hero journeys and little opportunities, when you are at a crossroads and you have to decide what to do.
UK Jazz News: How does music help in your own life?
DG: Music helps me to know myself better. Through music I’ve learned how to look at myself in the mirror and accept the things that I don’t like and then try to improve them.
UK Jazz News: You quote the psychologist Carl Jung on your liner notes. How does psychology influence your work?
DG: I’m interested in psychology because of what it means to know yourself. I see a lot of people blaming other people or situations outside of themselves for their own pain. I think quite the opposite of that. If you can start creating a nice environment around you and then repeat that with every person, the consequence is that the world will be a better place.
UK Jazz News: Where does this positive outlook on life come from?
DG: That’s a good question. I would say that it comes from my mother because she is like that. She is the most amazing person I know. She has this spirit that no matter what happens you keep your smile. She says something that my grandmother used to say: “Each day brings its own destiny.” It means that no matter the plans you make, each day has its own thing going on. I am so thankful for her. She is my greatest inspiration.
UK Jazz News: You were under the mentorship of Danilo Pérez. How did that shape you as a musician?
DG: I’m so grateful for him. He listened to my music and he told me to go on. And he not only encouraged me through work, but through action. He invited me to the Panama International Jazz Festival where he’s a director. He gave me my first gig with the trio in an international jazz festival in a very big hall.
UK Jazz News: Would you ever, or do you, mentor your own students?
DG: I would love to teach, but I don’t have the time right now. Eventually I will teach for sure. I have a big respect for the “teacher role” in every sense. The fact that you are responsible for that person to develop his or her craft. You want to be in the right frame of mind at the time of your life because there’s nothing worse that breaking a talented person. We create a life of frustrated people, which is what is happening now. When you find people with a calling, that’s a treasure. You have to nurture that.
UK Jazz News: Did you ever think that you would do something else in your life?
DG: Not really! But you know, the other thing that I love to do is cook. I don’t have the time to do it as well as I would like, but I really enjoy cooking. I find a lot of similarities between music and cooking in the sense that it forces you to be in the moment and present and be creative.
UK Jazz News: Do you think that the jazz scene in Madrid is growing?
DG: That’s a good question because I think my generation of musicians is very good. I think it’s probably the best generation here in Madrid so far. The younger generation is smaller and some of the jam session clubs that we enjoyed in our time have closed. But there are some amazing musicians in the younger generation, too.
