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"Krantz has versatility, taste, and improvisational eloquence....
[This is] one of the top five records of the year." -- Jazziz"Fiery passion and stellar technical facility." -- Fanfare
"Indefinable, unfettered excellence." -- Musician
"A strikingly fresh approach to 20th century guitar...distinctive to the point of singularity...essential listening...Record of the year." -- Jazz Magazine
"Krantz plays wicked, sassy, edgy, funky and always musically....astounding sense of phrasing, note choice and dramatic tension. Rich, meaningful and soul-stirring, with the integrity to stand the test of time." -- Guitar Player
"Hold on to your hat." -- Downbeat
Wayne Krantz. Guitarist for Steely Dan, Michael Brecker, Billy Cobham, solo artist, composer, bandleader. These all apply. But beyond those terms lies a unique musical force. Krantz's strong, percussive, rhythmic voice seems to have a life of its own. It's as if his development took the concept of chord/melody "comping" (accompaniment) from the backup position to the forefront, and with it the simultaneous responsibility for harmony, melody, rhythm, and the improvisation of all three. Not that he isn't ably supported and challenged by the talents of drummer Keith Carlock and bassist Tim Lefebvre; their presence allows Krantz to dispense with the added weight and stretch like few musicians can.
As evidenced by his side work and three solo releases, "Signals," "Long to Be Loose," and "Two Drink Minimum," Krantz has progressed steadily towards freedom from the usual constraints that contain lesser musicians. His steady Thursday trio gig at (Mike Stern's) 55 Bar in New York's Greenwich Village or at The Knitting Factory displays his amazing solo chops, sensitivity, and all-out, burn-on steady basis.
This true guitar original was kind enough to grant us an interview via e-mail. If you're in New York soon, try to catch him in the club environment before you no longer can.
CJ - Who were your influences, and why did you choose guitar?
WK - That's a hard question to answer, because I've deliberately turned away from my influences for so long that now it seems misleading to mention anyone specifically. At various times the following were important: Sons of Champlin, Santana, the first Woodstock album, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Joe Pass, George Benson, Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, Prince, Steely Dan, Beatles, Monkees...I'm forgetting some.
CJ - You went to Berklee [College of Music, Boston], right? For how long? How has it helped you?
WK - I went for three years and graduated. It was just something to do after high school. There were some good people there, but I would've traded it in a second for some decent life experience.
CJ - What makes you say that? You did an in artist-in-residence teaching situation there not long ago, and I remember seeing you do a clinic with Leni (Stern) there, too. You played some great tunes, and it was a great experience.
WK - I'm just talking about the feeling I had when I was a student there; most of the time I was pretty disappointed with the experience artistically. I like doing clinics--trying to give inspiration to people who might feel less than inspired by the inevitable, built-in shortcomings of a formalized music education.
CJ - And you studied with (pianist/teacher/musician's inspiration) Charlie Banacos. How did he affect your playing and writing concepts?
WK - Indirectly. He mostly affected how I practice. From him I got the idea that anything musical can be broken down into something that can be practiced efficiently, no matter how nebulous it seems initially. That's what enables me now to feel like I'm developing continually under my own steam, following my ideas where they'll lead me.
CJ - The past two recordings seem less structured than "Signals" and seem to have you stretching out quite a bit. Regarding the new CD: How did you do the writing, and how much did you improvise this time?
WK - Actually, "Long To Be Loose" was by far the most structured record I've done so far. The writing I do for my current band is the most minimal so far; it's sort of the last of a series of three...a fulfillment of the aforementioned longing to be loose, although I didn't really plan it that way. The new record is almost all improvised, with some creative editing to delineate things. I sifted through about a hundred hours of tape and came up with some of my favorite moments of spontaneity, then tried to make sense of them as a whole.
CJ - What gave those certain moments more value to you? And how are you expecting things to change following the new release?
WK - The same thing that makes anyone like anything; I chose things that made me feel something. Records are always catalysts of change for me. Once they're done, I can move on to the next thing that's in the air.
CJ - How did the Steely Dan gig come about for you, and do you know if you'll be on an upcoming release?
WK - They called me because they needed somebody, and they liked my records. As far as I know, I'm not on their new one, unfortunately.
CJ - How do you feel your sound and concept fit with that band?
WK - Generally I don't feel all that comfortable playing other people's music. With them, it was quite the opposite--although it kicked my ass. It just happened to be a really good combination of people that year.
CJ - What did they expect of you? How was it playing live with a cultural icon?
WK -They expected me to improvise and play with good time. I really had one of the great times of my life--I'll never forget it.
CJ - Regarding the standing Thursday gig at the 55 bar: how has it evolved for you, and what specifically has playing a regular, small club done for your direction and concept?
WK - I can't say enough about it. It's how I've achieved what's most important to me--to have a real band, as opposed to a rotating collection of talented sidemen. That's one of the biggest downfalls of jazz, I think--the lack of bands. It's an economic thing, of course...most jazz people can't afford not to do as many gigs as possible. With steady people, over time powerful things begin happening that you can't get any other way, no matter how talented the sidemen. You start developing your own language, and that's a tangible thing that translates really well to an audience.
CJ - It's also a luxury to have a set band. I know we all usually have to take whatever gigs--and accompanying experience--we can get.
WK - It's a luxury that's earned by virtue of the work the bandleader has to do to keep things profitable either musically and/or economically for the sidepeople.
CJ - How does the trio format transfer from club to concert/festival stages?
WK - It's tough. At this point we've got the small club thing wired, and we're still a little inexperienced with bigger stages. But we're starting to get more opportunities along those lines, so I know we'll crack it.
CJ - Do larger stages feel different, to the point that it affects the way you play or respond both to the rhythm section and the audience?
WK - Of course. Everything affects us, and becomes part of the performance; it's never a static, self-contained event. I wouldn't want it to be, though that makes us more vulnerable. But that's where the relevance of a performance comes from. Otherwise it's just a display.
CJ - What, if anything, do you do to warm up before a gig?
WK - I like to practice for an hour or two before I play, mostly to break in new strings but also just to get my hands going. If I played more gigs I probably wouldn't think much about it.
CJ - Do you ever perform (jazz) standards on gigs?
WK - Playing other people's music on a gig would seem like a cop out to me--like, "Hey folks; we didn't care enough about this show to prepare anything." I have no attachment to jazz standards, no fondness for them. I practiced them as a kid because people told me to. I still practice playing over those kinds of chords, because I want to be more literate, harmonically. If you play long enough, it eventually seems kind of silly not to be able to deal with that stuff...I'm speaking for myself, of course. Most great music I've heard has been played by people who couldn't begin to play over changes.
CJ - Really? Like Metheny, Stern, Mclaughlin, Pass, Benson? Those last two statements could be taken as incongruous unless you're talking about the rock influences.
WK - The people you mention, and their kin - wonderful and valuable as they are - make up a very small part of what's going on musically in the world. When I say "great music" I'm not talking specifically about any idiom. Relatively speaking, the number of musicians who play over jazz changes is small.
CJ - Do you consider what you do to be jazz?
WK - Only when I have to talk about it. I don't think that way.
CJ - Regarding writing music: what does it take? What brings about a good new tune?
WK - Lately, after years of sweating over bars of music for days and weeks, I've gotten into the habit of writing a new bit of music the night before, or sometimes the day of, our weekly rehearsal. We go over it once and then start playing it on the gig the next day. Having a regular band makes this possible; they know how to fill in the blanks the right way, most of the time. We change the tunes in performance drastically all the time. It keeps people coming back to the gig week after week. At this point, the songs are simply excuses to improvise.
CJ - You have some unique chord voicings you favor. How are they derived?
WK - I try not to favor chord voicings; I'm trying to generate them spontaneously, just like the lines. That's where the vitality is, for me. If I find a chord that has a certain kind of feeling to it, I'll make a song out of it, stuff it, and put it on the mantelpiece, so to speak. Otherwise I just let 'em go and think of another one.
CJ - There's a thing you do where you separate the bass, chords and lead embellishments so (rhythmically) convincingly that it appears that two or more different instruments are present. How did that technique come about?
WK - Someone described the guitar as "an orchestra"; I can see that. For "Signals" I wrote some solo guitar pieces that way, and people seemed to appreciate them, so when I put a trio together, I tried to expand the solo concept to accommodate it.
CJ - Regarding the left hand tapping that you do: how and when did this come about? Was it something that developed organically on its own or a planned thing?
WK - I was just trying to figure out how to get the effect of faster lines, without particularly changing my picking technique. After deciding how I didn't want to go about it (sweeping, Van Halen tapping, etc...), all that was left is what you're talking about.
CJ - Your right hand independence makes it sometimes hard to discern the use of a pick...
WK - I always use a pick. But I also use the other three fingers on my right hand, which gives it the sound you're talking about. I started doing it in 1980, mostly 'cause it was the only way I could approximate Prince's keyboard parts, which I was digging at the time. It ended up suiting my rhythmic ideas really well. It frees me up expressively in ways the pick, by itself, could never do.
CJ - That's interesting that you would want to isolate and articulate keyboard parts on guitar.
WK - I'm attracted to anything that grooves.
CJ - I understand Will Lee's on the new disc. Who else is on it, and what are their backgrounds?
WK - Tim Lefebvre, the bass player, has been in the band for three or four years now. He also has his own band, Boomish, which is big on the drum 'n bass scene in New York. Keith Carlock, the drummer, has played with us for two years, and also plays with the Blues Brothers. They both do lots of other things. I'm lucky they make time for me.
CJ - How did you come to find them and decide they were suitable, coming from the diverse backgrounds you describe?
WK - My old drummer Zach Danziger introduced me to Tim. Keith started calling me as soon as he moved to New York, and I just happened to be looking for a drummer at that time. I look for people who can be creative in the context of a groove, and who can keep track of form and phrasing no matter how convoluted we get, rhythmically.
CJ - You've done some side projects such as those with Leni Stern, Victor Bailey, Mike Formanek, etc. What side things are next for you?
WK - I don't really get called as a sideman much anymore. I said "no" too many times when I was getting my band together. Although I did just play on Victor Bailey's new record, which was a lot of fun. You never know what'll come up.
CJ - I recall (Austin guitarist) Eric Johnson voicing that sentiment. Do you regret losing some of that side of things?
WK -- My accountant regrets it more than I do.
CJ - Are there particular players you'd like to work with in the future?
WK - Almost anyone who knows what I do and likes it.
CJ - So, is there a release date or working title for the new one?
WK - It's called "Greenwich Mean." And I hope it'll be done very, very soon!
CJ - Cool title, thanks for your time and best of luck with it, Wayne.