Peter Wockner's Q&A with guitarist/band leader John Hardaker 22 September 2010

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

Peter Wockner:

How did the idea of a tribute to Kind of Blue come about and what has the level of interest been to date?

John Hardaker:

I had been doing arrangements of 3 of the 5 tunes from the album already in my band – The John Hardaker Direction – so I thought it would be cool to do the remaining 2 and perform the whole thing in order. The arrangements of the pieces are my expression of these pieces, not facsimile performances or even purely “jazz” performances. I have tried to express the pieces through the prism of Miles’s attitude and influence, so they take in funk, reggae, blues and psychedelic rock. Definitely not for the purists! (I have always found it amusing that purists will co-opt Miles Davis who was definitely one of the great purist-baiters of our time). The level of interest has grown as the Kind of Kind of Blue shows have grown. We are onto our fourth one now, and the audiences have grown each time – and so has the band! We are up to 14 pieces and it sounds great.

PW:

We are talking about probably the definitive jazz album of all time, how difficult was it to choose the artists for this tribute?

John Hardaker:

It hasn’t worried me that it is such an iconic and almost holy work in jazz history. As I say, I have messed with the tunes and not been precious about it at all – I feel it would be arrogant to try and replicate the pieces closely to the originals; the inference being to try to improve on or even match their brilliance, which of course would be impossible. I have taken them as 5 absolutely wonderfully realised entities and reworked them. Like Beatles tunes, they can stand anything! That said, it was very important to grab strong soloists for the project. Since it is a Miles Davis thing, a really good trumpet soloist was essential and I am very glad we have Eamon Dilworth with us for this show. Anyone who has heard him knows how deep his roots go in the tradition of jazz and yet he is a free and modern thinker. I really am looking forward to hearing him fly on these pieces. We also have the effervescent Harriet Harding, from the fantastic Sirens Big Band on tenor and sopranino and Justin Buckingham who has played with me before, on alto – a really soulful player.

PW:

As the guitarist and leader in the group who have been your major influences in jazz?

John Hardaker:

For attitude and vision, Miles Davis obviously, who like all the greats, is a universe. For guitar playing, Pat Martino, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, Joe Beck and Barney Kessel – all guys who didn’t mind mixing it with rock or blues.

PW:

What is your musical ‘ethos’ when it comes to paying tribute versus unfettered originality in music?

John Hardaker:

Because we are playing original arrangements of the Kind of Blue tunes I am not as bugged by the ‘tribute’ tag as if we were doing straight covers. In jazz, what is original? Is a 16 bar Cole Porter head followed by 128 bars of improvisation still a Cole Porter tune? Jazz uses compositions as musical material for blowing, in the main. Grist for the soloists’ mill. I didn’t compose So What but I compose my solo over those 2 clever chords as I play. Even though I have composed a few pieces, I also think that there are so many wonderful, rich compositions out there it is an arrogance to think you can add to the canon unless you really have the gift.

PW:

What was it about the album Kind of Blue that captured both critical and popular appeal?

John Hardaker:

It’s a mystery, really. And, as with all great art, that’s what makes its popularity fascinating. It is of course the one album that people who don’t like jazz always have. On one level, it is non-confronting, non-brain scrambling music which keeps the lid on throughout, holding itself to a cool dynamic area on all the tunes. But of course, on another level, it is very deep stuff, quietly revolutionary, a work that changed music forever, a flower that keeps unfolding the more you listen.

PW:

What can Miles Davis and Kind of Blue fans expect from this shows?

John Hardaker:

They can expect a skronkin’ 14 piece band with a bunch of hot soloists giving them Miles, Miles and more Miles – all the tunes from Kind of Blue as well as a bunch of Miles-flavoured delights – Bitches Brew, Stuff, In a Silent Way and more. Also great support from the very cool jazz vocalist, Crystal Barreca. What they should not expect is a pale, academic reading of these pieces – iconic as they are. It will be very different; which is why we call it Kind of Kind of Blue.