Giovanni Durst: Here we are, I’ve got some questions, but first… let me tell you, this is some great work. Great musicians and really nice music.

Simon Mas: Thank you. It was my first album as a leader and it wouldn’t have turned the success that it is without everyone’s help.

Giovanni: Tell me more about the process. I’m particularly interested about the direction of the sound and the arrangements. Did you work alone, or there was some kind of input from the band?

Simon: Unfortunately, when the project started, there was no band at all… so the band input was very limited and came in the latest stages, just before recording.

Precious as it was (and it was!), I think the chance to work on the arrangements under the supervision of professor John Mills of the University of Texas in Austin was much more important to shape the album.

Giovanni: Supervision?

Simon: Yes. What happened was that the project changed halfway.

Initially, I had gone to Austin to gather some old songs, revise them, write new material, and arrange the albums. I had the idea of a cool jazz album in mind, but I just wanted to write a pile of charts, to be recorded somewhere else, at a later date. Professor Mills, who I knew from my year at UT, agreed to give me some advice on the material. He corrected some mistakes and gave me food for thought that helped me put the album together, a new way to thinking about the musical ideas I had.

Then, in the midst of things… I think it was actually him saying: “Why don’t you record it here?” It turned out that it was possible to get together a good band and since the material was almost done, I thought it was worth to work extra hours and actually finish the album in Austin.

Giovanni: I see. How did the change of direction affect the work?

Simon: Well… it went from the initial “I’ll take a little vacation in Austin” to “Ok, I’ll work mornings” to spending working about 12 hours a day almost every day! I remember my housemates joking on it, saying I was going to take roots at my desk.

On a level, it was a mistake. If I had planned the work to be recorded from day one, I could’ve taken better notes on key issues that would have come up in the studio, and organize the work better. At the end of the process, I was really nervous and over-anxious and I didn’t enjoy the recording process as much as I should have.

But I did come home with an album that would have taken forever to record in Italy, so I was definitely worth it.

Giovanni: Why do you think it would have been harder to record in Italy?

Simon: Perhaps it’s just me, but I have the impression that European jazz musicians can be a bit more… I would say conservative. In U.S. jazz is part of their musical heritage, and I found easier to find people who “play with the idiom” so to speak. The are more willing to try something new, even if it’s not “proper jazz”… whatever that is.

My experience in Europe, and particularly in Italy, is that jazz musicians at my level are less willing to “break the rules”. I think they fear to be judged insincere or unprofessional if they don’t stick to the tenets of classic jazz idiom.

Pieces like Jamaica Junction, There It Is, or Outside are not classic jazz. People might have put on a fuss or tried to offer wise advice on how to “make them better”, and the whole process would have been a real drag.

Instead, it’s been much easier: everyone knew it wasn’t “pure” jazz (it can’t be!) , everyone tried to learn the music and contribute with their own personality. We had two or three of takes for each tune, listened to them, and chose what seemed best. A real breeze.

Giovanni: Why do you say your music can’t be “pure” jazz?

Simon: If “pure” jazz is Duke Ellington’s or Count Basie’s or even Charlie Parker’s… it’s not the 1940s anymore. You turn on the radio and there’s hip hop, rock, metal… it all goes into the music you compose, whether you like it or not. The newer genres also change the expectations of the listeners, the way music communicates an emotion… so you can’t just ignore what is going on around you in other genres. Jazz itself has gone a long way, moving on from that kind of approach and sound: think of fusion, think of non-American jazz.

Some people think we should stick to what the greats have given us, but it’s pointless: music has to stay fresh and relevant, in order to be exciting.

Giovanni: What about your musical references, then?

Simon: I love Miles Davis, especially the 1950s… but also his early fusion period. On the other hand, I come from rock and pop, and I am not ashamed of it. In Valentine, you get What Is It? which (to me) is a tune that might not have sounded out of place in one of those 1950s jazz albums; Outside which is a sophisticated ballad; Jamaica Juction with its Fellini-like sonorities… but it also somewhat reminds me of 1970s Alberto Sordi flicks; Scene 71, instead, would be ok as a soundtrack for a pastice of studio Hollywood melodrama; the King Crimisonesque There You Have It, all angular and acidic; and finally Valentine, which is a straight pop tune.

Giovanni: So, it’s all about your personal experiences. Was it fundamental to spend time oversea to get where you are now?

Simon: No single experience makes or breaks a person. I think that the basic shape of a person (and so, that of a musician) is not dictated by where you studied and who you met. Musically speaking, I think one has a good idea of where his music is heading, even at the start of his career. Some characteristics are too ingrained to be changed. In my case… I’ve always loved a strong melody. In most music I write, you will find a strong melody, regardless of the rest. So, I guess it really depends on how someone perceives the evolution of a composer.

Giovanni: One last question: did the lyrics take cue from real experiences? Are they just fantasies?

Simon: There’s a healthy mix of reality and fantasy. Outside deals with a night out with my girlfriend at the time, but there are some references to a couple of Montale’s Ossi di Seppia poems. Jamaica Junction deals with a real fight on a subway train in New York: I guess it’s the most real life song in the album. Valentine, instead, is the least realistic. It started as a song for a girl I liked a long time ago… but I never managed to properly finish it until I reviewed the song for the album, a good decade later.

Giovanni: Well, that’s it for now. Thank you.

Simon: Thank you.