Celebrated and award winning jazz guitarist David Occhipinti will be at the KW Jazz Room this Saturday and I am really looking forward to his appearance because this is the type of top notch composition and guitar playing I really enjoy. You can tell he is a musician of great depth by the way he answered the questions below. By giving us some thoughtful and focused answers, it feels almost like having a personal conversation with him. Enjoy!!!
WHEN:
September 7, 2013 @ 8:30 pm – 11:30 pm
WHERE:
The Jazz Room @ The Huether Hotel
1. What guitars and amps do you own?
I’ve been playing my Ibanez AS-80 for almost 30 years. During the last year I’ve been playing an AS-50, mainly because it is lighter. My shoulder is much happier. Both guitars are from the early 80’s and made in Japan. I like that period of Ibanez guitars.
People are you usually very surprised how heavy my AS-80 is. I think it weighs more than a Les Paul.
I have a Ramirez classical that has a cut-away. It has a nice sound and records well. I have a Guild acoustic that I’ve used on some recordings too.
I do own and experiment with other guitars, but those are my main ones.
I have 2 Fender Princeton Amps. One is from 1965 and the other is from 1978, I believe.
2. What will be your set up this weekend?
The Ibanez AS-50 going through some effects into the 2 Princetons.
3. How do you believe you achieve your tone?(strings, pick, hands, effects, etc)
I think any individuality comes from the players’ experiences, the hands, and the intention of what one hears in their head. The gear choices help to enhance the tone, but only play a very small part of the sound.
4. Tell us about your original music?
I am trying to communicate as directly as I can, and tell stories with my music.
I have been writing music almost as long as I’ve been playing guitar. The two seem to go hand-in-hand for me.
I have recently been combining elements of chamber music along with improvisation. My influences are quite varied, and I feel my latest project is a truer representation of who I am as a musician, and as a person, than some other projects I’ve done in the past.
It is also nice for me to have a wide palette of tonal colours to draw from, and include instruments such as violin, bassoon and marimba into my music.
5. Tell us about your approach to playing standards?
I like to know the standard very well, and want to be able to get inside the music. I prefer to play standards that really mean something to me.
Either because the lyric is something I can identify with, or because of something, or someone, the standard reminds me of. I am also aware of the fact that it is 2013, and I would like to reflect that in my approach.
6. What are your favourite songs to play?
At the risk of sounding Narcissistic, I like to play my own music. I just feel I have a deeper connection to it, than I do to other peoples music.
I like to play all sorts of things though… The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, classical guitar, standards. All enjoyable.
One of my favourite melodies is Here, There and Everywhere by the Beatles. Paul McCartney wrote a great, concise melody with that one.
I also love reading through the Sonatas and Partitas, for solo violin, by JS Bach.
7. Do you have a favourite scale or lick that you play? Or what was the jazz scale that really changed your playing?
I would recommend the Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns by Nicolas Slonimsky to everyone.
That book definitely changed my approach to music. It got me out of thinking of just major and minor modes, and got me thinking about music in terms of intervals. Slonimsky was quite a character too. There are some great interviews with him online. He and Frank Zappa were apparently friends.
8. What guitarist, song or album inspires you?
There are many guitarists that inspire me…
Jim Hall is probably my biggest influence. He was combining chamber music and improv on his CD, Textures. I tried to capture some of his spirit on my Camera CD.
Jim Hall LIve is a classic! There are many of his albums that I love.
Lately, I’ve been listening to Ben Monder’s latest, called Hydra. It’s really great, and some of his finest work.
There’s a Frank Zappa CD I listen to quite a bit called the Yellow Shark. I think it is fantastic.
I have a Stravinsky box set that I listen to quite a bit too.
9. What do you do to practice technique?
I work on playing on one string quite a bit. I get students to learn melodies on one string. It really changes how you phrase, and gets students out of that ‘boxy’ way of playing on the guitar.
I put my metronome on 20 or 30 (the app metronomes go as low as 10 or 1!) and try to play scales dividing the beat from 1-16. Most people play divisions of 2 and 3 (eighths, triplets, sixteenths etc) but it’s nice to play some other groupings too (quintuplets, septuplets etc).
10. What can the audience expect to hear next Saturday?
I’m playing music from my latest CD, called Camera. Camera in Italian means chamber. The music combines elements of chamber music, and because all of the musicians also improvise, the audience will also hear some improvisations and solos.
I’m playing with some wonderful musicians:
Michael Davidson – marimba
Aline Homzy – violin
Peter Lutek – clarinet/ bassoon
Soren Nissen – bass
we will have a special guest appearance by Anna Atkinson on vocals.
I’ve also arranged a few of my older tunes for this ensemble. It’s a really fun group to be a part of.
Hope to see you there on Saturday.
David Occhipinti
Stephen Zurakowsky(www.anumi.ca) is a graduate from The University of Toronto.
He has studied with Norbert Kraft, Eli Kasner, David Russell, Stepan Rak and Phil Nimmons.
Recently he has been awarded an International CD Distribution grant from The SOCAN Foundation, which will oversee the airplay of "Four Trees In Winter" in 135 radio markets worldwide.
Stephen has enjoyed substantial support from the Ukrainian arts community across Canada, having been featured in numerous magazines, newspapers and radio programs. He performs chamber concerts as a soloist and has written works for electric classical guitar and choir.
A Zurakowsky concert encompasses a sense of deep passion, as you feel invited to experience his love for composing and how his Ukrainian heritage has an influence on his creativity. His music has been featured on Canada's CBC and was reviewed in Toronto's The Wholenote Magazine as a favourable pick amongst classical independents.
Stephen Zurakowsky Classical Guitarist 
I can’t wait to be in the audience to hear this music. David O is one of the Jazz Room favourites and this interview illustrates why.