Saxophonist Sam Braysher will be the 606 Club with New York pianist Michael Kanan on 6 November (booking link below). They had planned to tour back in 2020 but that was cancelled due to the pandemic. Sam did an interview with Michael Kanan at the time to set the context. It is published here for the first time.
UKJN: You are something of an expert on the Great American Songbook, and you obviously love that repertoire. How do you go about learning those songs?
Michael Kanan: I don’t consider myself an expert, but I have a deep passion for it. When I’m learning a song, I usually try to start with sheet music. That way I know I’ll be getting the least adulterated version of the song. I start by singing the melody and the words over and over until I memorise them both. Often I can’t retain the lyrics unless I play that song many times with a singer. But having started with the lyrics, I know that I’m getting the phrasing and rhythms of the melody accurately.
Next I start to read the written-out piano score. This gives me a sense of how the harmonic underpinning of the song moves. The score reveals harmonies that jazz players often overlook or flatten out in favour of bebop vocabulary. Sometimes the sheet music harmony sounds very good, but is too unwieldy for a jazz performance. So I go through the score alternating between a jazz musician’s approach and a composer’s approach.
When I first started approaching songs in this fashion I thought it was important to try to recreate all of the composer’s harmonies as closely as possible, but now I don’t do that. I try to get the melody of the song accurately, then interpret the harmony as I like. Only at that point do I consult the multitude of jazz recordings to hear how the great players and arrangers have interpreted the harmony. I also listen to the great singers to hear how they interpret the melody. Out of all of that I come to my own interpretation of the song.
UKJN: Who are your favourite Songbook composers and why?
MK: This is a tough question! I love so many, but I’ll highlight three.
George Gershwin is The Architect. His songs are so beautifully constructed that it’s hard to change a note. Nothing is wasted, and he has a great feeling for swing. He was one of the composers who loved jazz. Not all of them did.
Richard Rodgers is The Melodist. He wrote beautiful and lyrical melodies that often have a sweeping romantic quality. His harmonies often require a good deal of interpretation, but his melodies seem to come singing right out of the piano.
Harold Arlen is master of Mysterious Blues. So much of his work has a melancholic blues feeling. But he approached composing in such an iconoclastic way. His songs have a great internal logic, but they are so unique to him. In that way he reminds me of Billy Strayhorn or Thelonious Monk. I think his songs touch me the most deeply.
UKJN: One of the things you are known for is accompanying singers. How did you get into that world and is it something you specifically practised a lot? Playing with Jimmy Scott must have been quite an experience…
MK: When I got into jazz I just wanted to be an improviser. In the early 1990s I dated a singer for a few years. She taught me a lot of songs, gave me an appreciation for lyrics. A few years later I started working with singers in New York. That was just the work that was available to me. Gradually I learned what it meant to accompany – to set aside my own agenda and ego in order support a singer. I suppose it fitted my personality.
It was really in the 2000s that I realised I have to work at it. My long friendship and working relationship with Jane Monheit has been invaluable to me. She let me make mistakes while I was figuring things out, but continued to work with me consistently.
I worked with Jimmy Scott for about five years. That was a great privilege, far more than I deserved at the time. I’ve never encountered any musician since who has the depth of expression and honesty that Jimmy had. Every time he walked on stage – even before singing a single note – he transformed the whole room with his presence. He was majestic, loving, humble, and generous. He appealed to so many people, reaching across barriers of race, age, sex, and style.
UKJN: How has your approach to improvising changed over the years? I know that the Lennie Tristano-school used to be a big influence on you; is it fair to say that your playing has less of that flavour now?
MK: My first jazz teacher, Harvey Diamond, had studied with Tristano. I got deeply into Lennie’s style and also Sal Mosca whom I later studied with for about a year. I tried to imitate their playing. After moving to NY in 1991, I started to understand that I hadn’t paid attention to some basic elements of playing music. I really needed to improve my ears and my ability to play time.
UKJN: How do you approach accompanying in a duo setting, in comparison to when you are playing as part of a rhythm section with bass and drums?
MK: If I’m accompanying a singer in a duo context, I try to think in a more orchestral way. The bass lines are fuller, I tend to play rather than imply the time in order to support the singer. If I’m playing duo with a horn player, I feel at liberty to leave more space and share the rhythm duties.
UKJN: Tell us about your own New York-based trio with Greg Ruggiero and Neal Miner.
MK: This group is very special to me, and I think it’s the best I’ve ever had. We have a lot of chemistry together and a lot of trust. I had no intention of putting together a Nat Cole style band (even though I love Nat). Greg, Neal and I came together because we all have similar values: a desire to swing, to play with clarity, lyricism, simplicity, and a good sound.
