The Score Magazine - Archive January 2015 issue! | Page 29

Ananya Ashok
After his artist residency in India early 2014 where he created his new project
"GREENWOMAN", Malcolm Braff did a 5-city tour in India with his band, from November
26th till 30th 2014. The band consists of Swiss natives Malcolm Braff (piano/Fender
Rhodes), Claire Huguenin (vocals), Björn Meyer (electric bass), Alexandre Gaeng
(video), and Austrian native, Lukas Koenig (drums).
Greenwoman’s music can’t be described as Soul, Rock, Jazz, Pop Pop, Electronica, or even
Trance! But the music can be described as eclectic, groove-oriented, funky, driving, intense
and very musical, and very interesting. Those who have heard Greenwoman describe it as a
unique and fantastic experience.
Malcolm Braff has written the band’s music during his artist residency in India early 2014.
Malcolm always strikes his audience with his rigorous sensuality, his volcanic energy and
masterful sense of improvisation. For this new project, he undergoes once more a radical
transformation and reveals a rare bird, a kind of garish quetzal matching jazz, pop and electro
together with his magic ingredient: savory organic grooves. The much-awaited India tour is
in collaboration with Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council and Gatecrash. Score had a chance
to catch up with the busy musician:
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where you were born and how music entered your life.
I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 44 years ago. My father was a missionary for a
christian church in Senegal and so I grew up in Africa. He was also a gospel music singer and
I accompanied him on the piano as soon as i could (I started studying piano at the age of 5).
You did your residency here in 2014. What was the experience like, and what
projects were you a part of during that time?
The experience was intense, I met an incredible number of talented, dedicated and very
inspiring people during my stay in Chennai and Pondicherry. Also the work was very
intense as I was writing about my research on non euclidean rhythms, co-composing music
for a movie with Claire, and starting to compose the music for Greenwoman.
What types of music has largely influenced your life? Who did you listen to
growing up?
Western Classical is the music I studied and listened to as a kid. Also gospel and church music
was a great inspiration. And of course the western african traditional music I was surrounded
by during my childhood in Dakar.
People describe your improvisation as energetic and masterful. How have you
trained yourself over the years to be so adept at playing your instrument?
Well, very simply sitting at the piano and practicing for hours :)
Also i have focused my practice on developing my ears, imagination, fre edom on the
instrument rather than trying to master tricks. I believe that I am the instrument, not the
piano.
What is your process for composing music?
I need deadlines to compose, projects with planned rehearsals, a recording session etc.
Also, I compose exercises for my own practice and those exercises sometimes turn out to be
interesting enough to be shaped a little bit more and become songs or pieces of music which I
then perform on stage.
Where do you draw inspiration from these days?
I am fascinated by poetry. I think poetry is the most evolved form of human language.
What are you most looking forward to during your India tour?
Masala Dosas :-) and of course meeting new and old friends, confronting new audiences with
our music, and playing with my wonderful bandmates.
You’ve played piano on a hot air balloon? Tell us the story behind that!
No, that did not happen! But that was the plan. I finally could not get the authorization from
the Swiss air traffic control. So instead I performed a 24-hour concert, which was much more
interesting because it taught me so much about pushing the boundaries of improvisation.
Where do you see yourself in the future and how do you see your music evolving
over time?
I have no answer for that. There are so many things I am interested in. Among many things I
want to learn how to grow organic food. I guess my music will keep reflecting my experiences
and accompanying my path as it has done for the past 30 years.
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