Feature
Not Quite 20 Questions with Blue Cranes
Portland, Oregon's, jazz-based instrumentalists Blue Cranes were kind enough to answer a few questions while they were on the road. Keep an eye out for their upcoming release 'Observatories' this summer. If it's anything like their earlier releases, it'll be stupifyingly beautiful.
HL: Can you introduce the band members and talk about how the Blue Cranes started?
Reed: Blue Cranes started as a trio in 2004. Ji and I had been playing together since 1994, and we got together with Keith, who I had played with in a few different groups, to perform some songs I had written on a four-track. Becca joined in 2006, and Sly Pig in 2007. I think from the beginning our goal has been to play honestly from our hearts, pulling from the variety of places we draw musical inspiration, but without really trying to "be" something in particular.
HL: Since you're on the road, where are you headed? What sort of places
do you find Blue Cranes playing in?
Reed: We are headed down the coast to Los Angeles and back. This
tour we are playing a lot of house shows. House concerts have become
an intimate and fulfilling way for us play for the first time in a city.
We're also playing at more traditional venues, which vary from rock clubs to jazz clubs to coffee houses. Last tour we played at a punk festival on an
organic goat farm outside of Ashland, which was amazing.
HL: Do you find yourself playing with jazz bands? Does that matter to you?
Rebecca: We do play with jazz bands, but I like it best when we play shows
with other kinds of music. It gives the audience something different for
their ears. Too many similar bands on a bill can be exhausting to listen to.
Also, when we play with rock/punk/noise bands, it tends to give us all
permission to push every boundary and, as they say, "go for it."
HL: Who do you think will be the first to crack from the pressure of touring and how will it manifest?
Rebecca: The person who will crack under the pressure of tour will be ME! And I think it will manifest in the delightful form of double pneumonia.... Also, keep the pita bread away from me.
HL: Can you talk a bit about your composing style? Does someone usually bring in the melody/chord progression? Do you all contribute? Is it a mixed bag?
Reed: The way it usually works right now is that one of us will bring a song that is somewhere between a sketch and a finished composition to a rehearsal, and we will work it over and come up with an arrangement as a group. Lately we've been moving more and more towards a collaborative approach to composition. We recorded a song for a split 7" with the Davis, CA post-punk band Elders last year. Sly Pig had a beautiful sketch of a song, and we took it to the nine person double group and everyone contributed parts and melodies to bring it to completion. On the horizon for us is a band retreat to focus on composing together for a few days.
HL: I really like the mix of traditional elements with noise skronk and rock/fusion beats as well as some post-rock leanings. Could you talk about what influences you in terms of music?
Rebecca: These aren't albums or anything, but I feel like a huge musical influence on the band has been the acquisition of both the toy piano and especially "The Baldwin Discoverer." When we started using the little analog synth on a lot of the tunes, it was impossible to go back. The Discoverer really defined how we hear the chords swell, and it provides textures that the soloists can use as another kind of springboard. Plus, it's so damn cute. I'm serious, it has the best color scheme of any keyboard I've seen.
Reed: It's hard to make a master list of our influences for the whole band—we all have different tastes in music that we gravitate towards. I think this variety is nice-- everyone brings something different and unique to the table.
HL: How do you see the Portland jazz experience [I really don't want to use the word scene, but that's what I'm getting at] as compared to other cities?
Reed: Speaking in broad terms, I think there is a lot of collaborative energy in Portland, including in the music world. There are many people here that are down to get together and work on songs or on a new project that someone has an idea for. This isn't unique to Portland, but I do think it is one of this city's strong points.
HL: What are you passing right now?
Ritchie Bros. large equipment auctioneers.
HL: Who would you defend more, Wayne Shorter or Wayne Horvitz? Philly Joe Jones or Spike Jones/Jonze [I'll let you pick between the band leader and director]?
Ji: Defend? I'd fight all of them... at once.
HL: Any other tours/projects you'd like the readers to know about?
Reed: We are releasing our new album, 'Observatories,' late this summer, and will be doing regional and national touring to promote it. It features some great guest musicians, including Timothy Young on guitar from Wayne Horvitz's groups, Anna Fritz from the Portland Cello Project, Kyleen King (viola), Marilee Hord (violin), and Mary Sue Tobin (alto sax) / Chad
Hensel (bass clarinet) from the avant-jazz group Paxselin. We've been working on this for so long-- I'm excited to bring it to completion.
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