A Modern Masterpiece: Chris Potter on Recording Lift

FRANZ A. MATZNER,

Franz A. Matzner

Columnist since 2002

Franz Matzner has contributed interviews and coverage from the Kennedy Center since 2002.

Recent articles (179 total)

Published: July 28, 2004

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AAJ: Do you see any connection between the visual aspects and your music?

CP: Yeah, oh yeah. When you are improvising, hopefully you can keep a big enough picture in mind that you realize with every note you play, with every phrase your choosing you are painting a picture. You're saying, 'I'm gonna put this here, and I'm gonna put this here, and I'm gonna balance this off with this.' A very similar type of thing to 'It's very busy in the right hand corner over here so I'm going to do something in the opposite corner to balance that and maybe cool things out in the middle.' It's that same type of process. Art seems to tend to all boil down to that same type of thing, to express human experience.

AAJ: O.K. I think its time to shift things outside of music for the last few minutes.

CP: Shoot.

AAJ: How do you unwind?

CP: Hang out. Make some food. Go to a movie. Probably what everyone else does. I went on a nice bike-ride today.

AAJ: Favorite book?

CP: No. It's always impossible for me to choose a favorite anything. The book I read most recently that I found really interesting was this book called "Guns, Germs, and Steel".

AAJ: Favorite T.V. show?

CP: I don't watch enough TV to have a favorite. I can't really remember—I guess I watch it when I'm on the road sometimes and fall asleep.

AAJ: O.K. Good endorsement for T.V.! 'I use it as a sleep aid.'

Do you have an album or a song that influenced you the most because it was so awful you never wanted to sound like that?

CP: (Laughing) Wow. My least favorite tune. That's a great question. It's funny, if there's ever anything that really turned me off that much, if I went back and listened to it again there might be something I kind of liked about it. I remember everyone hated the Bee-Gees, you know? Now when I listen back to some of it, there's something I kind of like about it? It's extremely cheesy, I know this...

AAJ: O.K. I'm putting that answer down as, 'the Bee-Gees, but I kind of like it'.

CP: Fair enough.

AAJ: If you were a Looney Tunes character, who would you be?

CP: I'd want to be Bugs. I always kind of related.

Related Link
Chris Potter Fan Site

Photo Credit
www.jazzwest.com

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