Music
Sunday, 30 August 2009 06:08
Written by Jenn Chan Lyman

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Local guitarist, principal, and all-around mellow kinda guy is not too cool for school.

photo by Huang Xi

A pillar of the Shanghai jazz scene, Lawrence Ku is one of those artists that you might call a musician’s musician. Down-to-earth and I suspect somewhat shy, Lawrence isn’t one to toot his own horn (or guitar) and make a big splash as he walks into the room. His sunny California upbringing shines in a mellow kind of way, rather than a ‘smiley face emblazoned on tie-dye T-shirt’ kind of way. Lawrence first came to China to study Mandarin in Beijing after college and has been back and forth from the States ever since. He settled in Shanghai with his family in 2005 and describes his Mandarin as “semi-fluent”. Other than performing and composing, he’s also been quite active as a teacher (MIDI School in Beijing and Beijing Contemporary Music Institute) and is currently the Principal of the JZ School.

Over a glass of Reisling (me) and a carrot apple juice (him), we sat down for a quiet chat at Globus Wine in Ferguson Lane. In an unassuming voice garnished with his dry sense of humor, Lawrence discusses his influences, his compositions, and sheds a bit of light on his dark side. A regular at JZ, he graces the stage on Tuesdays with JQ Whitcomb, Thursdays with Alec Haavik’s Friction Seven, and Saturdays with Nicholas Bouloukos and the JZ Big Band. As of this summer, he can also be found on Saturdays from 6:30-9:30pm at the Factory’s Jazz Supper Sessions. Lawrence is looking forward to performing in the JZ Big Band with Dee Dee Bridgewater at the JZ Music Festival, as well as in his own group, the Red Groove Project (a local funk jazz collective, also featuring Whitcomb and Haavik, among others).

Q: Can you pinpoint the moment when that first musical seed was planted?

A: I don’t know if I can really pinpoint it. I took piano lessons, but that wasn’t it (chuckles). I started guitar when I was twelve, but I can’t remember what I was into first (pauses thoughtfully). The first huge influence was Hendrix for sure, in the beginning of high school. That’s when I really started getting into music in terms of learning how to play stuff he was playing. The first year, year and a half [of learning guitar] it just sucks, because you can’t play anything. But then at some point, you’re finally able to play some stuff. Maybe Zeppelin too, that was another one.

Q: What’s one track or album that has had a major impact on you as a musician?

A: Hendrix’s 'Voodoo Child.'

Q: Is there one thought or driver that always keeps you motivated in your career?

A: The music. Playing music with people. That’s the good thing about jazz because you can play with people and have it always be fresh each time.

Q: When did you start getting into jazz?

A: That was at the end of high school. A friend of mine, a drummer in the alternative band that I was in, gave me a cassette of Friday Night Live, with John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Paco DeLucia, that was really like the first time I heard guitar played at that level, beyond anything I’d heard before. At that time I was listening to Smiths, David Bowie, Bauhaus, Jane’s Addiction. But that was the first time I’d heard that kind of stuff, a live record of three guitarists. Then I started working backwards, with Wes Montgomery and modern guitarists like John Scofield, Pat Metheny, then to older ones like Grant Green. Also, the Miles stuff. I even played trumpet for a couple of years.

Beginning in the seventies, John Scofield’s illustrious career includes collaborating with everyone from Charles Mingus to Miles Davis to Herbie Hancock. More recently, he released Out Louder in 2006 with jazz fusion trio Medeski Martin & Wood, and gospel album Piety Street this past March. For those Prison Break fans out there, he bears no relation whatsover to Michael Scofield. Sigh.

Q: What do you think is the toughest part of the career that you’ve chosen?

A: Obviously, there’s so much work that goes into it. All the effort is not necessarily reciprocated as far as appreciation, but I don’t know if that’s a huge issue for me. Playing at crappy gigs [is also tough]. Playing at JZ or the Festival is great, but sometimes you have to play at these corporate gigs just to make money. Sometimes they’re nice, but sometimes they suck. But as long as it’s with a good band, good musicians, it’s fine. You do run into some people who are running the event that are assholes though. And that’s a drag, but it’s not too big of a deal.

Q: How do you choose which musicians to collaborate with?

A: Well obviously in Shanghai there isn’t a huge pool, and I’ve pretty much been working with the same group of people. There are people who come in and out, like Theo [Croker], and it’s great when he’s here. Lots of guys from Oberlin have been coming through, great players. It’s a small scene and everyone knows everyone, so it’s the same group of musicians playing in different configurations.

Read our recent interview with trumpeter Theo Croker here.

Q: Was it like that in Beijing?

A: Yeah, it’s also a small scene up there, even smaller than Shanghai. There aren’t as many jazz musicians there.

Q: What first brought you to Shanghai from Beijing four years ago?

A: I was coming here regularly, once a month, to do the Red Groove Project at JZ. I’d met all the musicians here, and there was stronger musicianship here for the stuff that I was writing. There were more opportunities here in terms of gigs and the JZ Club was also a huge part of my decision.

Q: How would you describe jazz to someone who has never heard it before?

A: I guess I would say the most important thing to know is the spirit of improvisation and communicating with the other musicians. So when I go see jazz, I’m ready to hear something new. Even if they’ve played the song before, the moment won’t happen again, it won’t be recreated. It’s always fresh.

Q: How about your own music? For example, on your album Process.

A: That stuff is more composed, but they have sections where people have solos. Especially the horns, which were written out. The rhythm section is a little bit looser. When you do a jazz arrangement, it’s always like some of it’s written out.

Process is credited to the Lawrence Ku Septet and features Lawrence’s original compositions. He also wrote certain tracks, such as ‘Prince of The Appletowns’ on the Far East Quintet’s album Something Real. Both can be purchased at the JZ Club.

Q: You were trained in composition, right?

A: Yeah, at Longy School of Music. I got my Masters in classical composition. I used to compose post-tonal stuff, but I’ve sort of been channeling that into jazz now.

The Longy School of Music is located near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Q: Do you play gigs in genres other than jazz right now?

A: Yeah, I was just in Taiwan playing a pop gig with Shunza. She’s great, the best pop singer I’ve ever played with. She’s a singer, versus some other pop stars that I’ve worked with who can’t sing.

Shunza 順子 is a Beijing-based pop star who’s famous for her song ‘Hui Jia’ (‘回家’ Come Home).

Q: Are there any changes you make to your gig when performing in Shanghai, for example, what you say during the gig or choosing the songs based on the audience?

A: Sometimes. It depends on the venue. Sometimes it’s a more educational concert, where you might want to explain more, whereas at JZ I might not want to talk too much.

Q: It seems that you quite like the music scene in Shanghai.

A: It’s great. It’s getting a lot better. It’s growing, and a lot of core musicians are interested in coming through here and you get to play with really great musicians that you might not have a chance to if you were in the States. For example, Chris Washburne and saxophonist Ole Mathisen, are incredible musicians, so they came here and did some concerts and I got to play with them. And David Friesen, a bass player. Sometimes people come without their bands, so they play with the bands here.

Trombonist Chris Washburne has performed with a random selection of artists in his time, from Tito Puente to Justin Timberlake to Gloria Estefan to Bjork. He’s also an assistant professor in Ethnomusicology at New York’s Columbia University.

Ethnomusicology is the scientific study of the music of a particular region or people from the viewpoint of its social or cultural implications.

Q: What part do you think Shanghai could play in the future of jazz?

A: In the future of global jazz (laughs)?

Q: A few musicians I’ve spoken to have mentioned that here you can really push the envelope and not be constrained like you might be in more established scenes.

A: I guess because it’s a small scene and there’s a small group that dominates the scene it gives us the kind of freedom to do what we want. Whereas in New York, there are a zillion incredible musicians. There’s more competition. So yeah, in that way, it’s great. We’re kind of spoiled here and we get a lot of gigs.

Q: What about in the type of music that you get to play? Is it more free here?

A: Yeah (hesitantly). Like I said, obviously because we have more gigs, so for example, whatever project I want to put together I can do it at JZ. Whereas in New York a thousand people are probably trying to get the same gig.

Q: So what made you decide to come to China in the first place?

A: I came to China after I graduated from college in San Diego, and I came to Beijing because I wanted to study Chinese. So I was playing and teaching there for two years, then I went to Longy for graduate school, came back, then went back to Boston again for a degree in jazz at the New England Conservatory.

Q: How was it at the New England Conservatory?

A: That was probably the best thing for my playing. Just because I was practicing for eight, ten hours a day. Before I was writing mostly. Now I try to balance the two. For example the past few weeks I’ve just been writing, preparing for the Festival.

Q: What can we look forward to when the Red Groove Project plays at the Festival this year?

A: This will be a fun group. It’s gonna be a pop funk band. Before it was instrumental, but now we’ll have a singer, Erica Li. So now I’m writing original songs with vocals, and we’ll be doing less covers.

Q: Is it a different style from the music on Process?

A: Yeah, it’s the opposite. The stuff on Process is pretty dark, the Red Groove Project is more upbeat. It’s a good balance. You write intensely dark music, and intensely upbeat music, and hopefully you end up somewhere in the middle.

Process has a pensive and thoughtful tone. Take, for example, the cover of Thelonius Monk’s ‘Well You Needn’t,’ which is certainly moodier than other versions.

Q: You also recorded another album, Something Real, as part of the Far East Quintet. Those two albums were from some time ago, is that right?

A: Yeah, those were recorded in 2006. It’s been awhile since I’ve recorded an album.

Q: Why’s that?

A: Mainly because the JZ School has been taking up a lot of my time. I’ve also been playing a lot, not in my own projects but in other people’s, like Alec Haavik’s for example.

Read our recent interview with saxophonist Alec Haavik here.

Q: So when you record your next album, what do you think it’ll sound like?

A: I’ve been trying to record some smaller group stuff, like a trio or quartet. I’ve written some stuff already. The trio I’m thinking of is an organ trio, with Nick McBride on drums and Steinar Nickelsen on the organ. Quartet would include EJ Parker on bass and Willow Neilson on saxophone. It’s going to be like two CDs worth of music so I have to write more (chuckles). We’ll probably be playing some of the stuff on Saturday at the Factory, like a group of songs called Pictures.

Organ trios usually consist of a drummer, an organ (of course), and either a guitar or saxophone.

The Hammond organ is a crazy machine that’s not actually in production anymore. Luckily for us Shanghai-ers, you can witness Steinar Nickelsen handling one with flair on Tuesday nights at JZ. Fans of Monty Python may also remember a nude Terry Gilliam playing one in a couple sketches.

Q: What’s Pictures like?

A: Uh, pretty dark.

Q: So is the Factory gig going to be pretty dark?

A: No, we’ll play some standard tunes also. Well, Pictures is not that dark. Not as dark as Process.

Q: You mentioned that the JZ School is taking up a lot of your time these days. How did that begin?

A: That started out with Ren Yu Qing, it was his idea, and he wanted me to be a part of it. I was still living in Beijing then, so I moved down here around three years ago.

Q: What’s your role there?

A: I guess I’m the Principal (chuckles). I just realized that when I was looking at the website and saw that my title is listed as 'Principal.'

Q: What does that entail?

A: Not too much (jokingly). No, I do a lot of teaching there and try to make good decisions about how the school is run, like the curriculum, content, classes. Figure out who’s teaching what and the schedules.

Q: What’s your vision for the school as the Principal?

A: Right now we’re like a community music school and our students are mostly expats. I would like to see in a few year’s time is a professional full-time program that offers a degree or accreditation. That could take some time.

Q: How does that process work, for the school to be able to give degrees?

A: I’m not too sure, but I think there’s too options. One is to get a domestic accreditation, or some sort of affiliation with schools outside China. A lot of that is handled by Ren. We’ve been building up relationships with other schools, like recently we were contacted by the Codarts School in Rotterdam, and also Sibelius Academy in Finland.

Sibelius Academy is named after Jean Sibelius, famous 20th century Finnish composer whose work was blasted by many a critic back in the day. To that, he responded, “Pay no attention to what critics say. No statue has ever been put up to a critic.” So true. Helsinki has a 24 ton monument dedicated to the composer located in Sibelius Park.

Q: Are there other schools like JZ School here now?

A: No, I don’t think so. I’m sure there are a couple of small local schools. But I would say that the teaching resources that we have are quite different.

Q: What do you think is the toughest part of being a teacher?

A: I guess trying to maintain a sense of continued responsibility to the students, since a lot of us are busy writing our own music and doing other projects. It can be hard if you’re playing at night and you sleep at 3 am or 4 am and you have to wake up for a morning class. But at the JZ School it’s already better. At one point I was teaching at the British International School for a semester and I had to get there by 8:30 am and stay for a full school day after playing late night gigs.

Q: What about in terms of motivating your students?

A: Yeah, that’s difficult, too. Especially when your own motivation is borderline (laughs).

Q: Motivation as a musician or as a teacher?

A: Both (laughs). There’s always doubts about playing. But yeah, it’s always a challenge to keep your students motivated. I have mostly adult students so it’s not that big of an issue. I have some pretty talented twenty-something year old Chinese students who come from other places in China to study.

Q: What are the major challenges for JZ School to become a professional music school?

A: I think a lot of it is...(hesitates) financial. A lot of money needs to go into it. And of course, deciding what path to take, domestic degree or an affiliation. But Ren deals with most of that.

Q: It’s interesting that you mention the doubts that come into play as a musician. Do you think that’s common with all artists?

A: Yeah, I think so. I mean, you can’t really be satisfied with everything you do, otherwise, there’s nowhere to go. I think that’s pretty healthy, thinking that whatever you do sucks and keep trying to get better, or suck less. I studied with probably the greatest guitarist, Ben Monder, and he was always so down on his playing. He was incredible, he could do things that nobody could do.

New York guitarist Ben Monder has appeared as a sideman on over 100 albums since 1992. Just this past February, he released an improv album with Bill McHenry called Bloom. After reading a couple of interviews with Ben Monder, it’s clear that this master’s humility must have influenced the young grasshopper Ku.

Q: So do you think that will be a lifelong thing for you?

A: What, thinking everything sucks?

Q: Yeah (laughing).

A: Probably (chuckles).

Q: What would be your dream gig? Playing with Ben Monder?

A: Well, I wouldn’t want to play next to Ben Monder, because he would just smoke me. I love Brian Blade, the drummer. There’s so many great musicians out there and killer drummers in New York. Just to play with any of them would be awesome.

Q: If you could go back in time, which musical era would you choose and who would you want to collaborate with?

A: I think Miles Davis would be close to the top of the list. Be the guitarist on the Kind of Blue session. And some of the great guitarists like John McLaughlin, Mike Stern. So that would be in the 70s.

Q: What are some inspirations behind your compositions, for example, the ones on Process?

A: Well, sometimes the music is based on an abstract idea, but more often it’s based on a musical idea. For example, on 'Speechless,' I wanted to right more contrapuntal music, so the melody is a simple fugue, where the voices are moving independently. I was listening to a George Bush speech and I thought, how nice would it be if he couldn’t speak at all? ‘Sisters’ was based on my two daughters, but also the musical idea of two voices. Everything is based in pairs, like the melody. It’s the most optimistic track on that record. The first track, 'Toothless,' was dedicated to this toothless, angry homeless guy that I saw in the subway. Yeah, that was for him.

Q: If you had to choose one of your recorded tracks for someone to hear who has never heard you before, which one would you choose?

A: Maybe 'Speechless.' I’m kind of like, sort of proud of that one. It could be a lot better, but...

Q: It’s a process. As you say in your liner notes.

A: Yeah (chuckles).

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