“I’ve always been someone who gets goosebumps and shivers easily when things affect me, and I can remember vocal harmonies affecting me in this physical way from very early on. From there, it has always been part of my life, and I am comforted to think that whatever happens, it will stay there for me”
Category: Interviews
Hearing something you have written be brought to life by a group of exceptional performers is about the best experience you can have. It’s that joy that leads you to forget all the difficulties, which then enables you to start the process over again!
“I’ve been an activist in my music for a long time and I’ve been writing about police brutality for a long time, but oddly enough, I have never went near Strange Fruit,” says Vivian Sessoms.
“I like to think of Pickpocket’s repertoire being groove based music with a strong emphasis on melodic development, interesting harmonic and rhythmic interaction and just enough improvisation to keep things fresh and interesting for both the musicians and the audience.”
I just keep doing things I love and playing with musicians I love and my voice shapes itself; if you are an artist, it is part of who you are, I think you are always aware of it.
“The show serves for a moment of escapism, where we get to dress up and play a person that would otherwise no longer exist. The interesting twist though, which makes me realise how far we’ve come since the 1940s, is that an all-female band would never have been dreamed of in that era.”
“I think jazz is the perfect vehicle to explore this historical narrative of the convicts’ journey from slavery to freedom – the founding of Australia was an improvisation in itself, the way that England transplanted itself to the farest corners of the known world, in a land that was foreign to the European surroundings.”
“People will always make remarks about how extraordinary it is to see a female drummer, and there’s sometimes that concern in the back of your mind that you’re getting booked based on something other than just your playing. When it comes to the actual music, I think we all have an equal responsibility to ourselves and to our audiences, and that’s to show up and kick ass and just try to make a contribution to the music.”
“I’m a senior player, but I don’t think retrospectively, because for me it’s still like I’m in the middle of what’s going on. Things are still moving forward, I’m thinking of the future all the time – how can my playing improve, how can my ideas become more sophisticated, or how can I express it better.”
Linda May Han Oh may be considered one of the best jazz bassists of her generation, but the idea that she has ‘made it’ in New York, is not something that she espouses easily. “I haven’t been thinking about it in these terms,” she says. “I’m always growing. I’m always setting the bar higher and higher.”