JESSICA PAVONE INTERVIEW
Composer/string instrumentalist Jessica Pavone is “one of the busiest young performers on the city’s creative music scene,”. Here at Roulette on Tuesday, November 10th she celebrates the Tzadik release of “Songs of Synastry and Solitude”; a collection of songs for string quartet influenced by an interest in the simple beauty of folk songs, the ghosts of all things lost and Leonard Cohen’s encouragement to live outside this world.
ROULETTE: Tell us as about the work you’ll be doing at Roulette.
JESSICA PAVONE: I began composing the pieces in the fall of 2007. Four pieces were composed in September and October 2007 for a MATA interval concert. I composed four more in January and February of 2008. The completed eight pieces were presented at Issue Project Room in March of 2008. The last three were composed in December of 2008 and January of 2009 for a concert at The Kitchen in April of 2009. That was the premier of the complete set of songs. Folk music was on the brain and that, of course, could mean many things. I was also thinking of myself as a song writer in addition to being a composer. The influences for the pieces weren’t coming from traditional forms for string quartet, sonata form etc.. but from folk songs and other influences. There is a lot of arpeggiation of chords throughout the ensemble – emulating a finger picked guitar, there is chorus / verse structure, there is an emphasis on simplicity. I find that most of the music that I am drawn to is rather simple when I break it down and transcribe it. Those are specific qualities of folk music that I appreciate. I met Erin, the viola player of The Toomai Quintet, at a show we were both performing in. The string quartet music was already in mind but I hadn’t started composing yet. Just hours before I met her, I received a call from MATA do present a piece in their Interval series. Somehow, Erin and I started talking about this and she said she had just started working regularly with a string quintet with double bass ad they were looking for new repertoire. I took her contact information, we did a reading together, they were fantastic.
R: Are there working artists today with whose work you identify, or rather, who do you consider to be your peers?
JP: Yes. I am blessed to have a wonderful group of close friends that I have made over the years who are musicians and with whom I work.
R: What was the last music you listened to?
JP: Ornette Coleman, Skies of America
R: Chocolate, Vanilla or Rocky Road?
JP: Chocolate – even better with peanut butter or chocolate chips
in it.
R: What is music?
JP: A vibration, many vibrations
R: Do you consider yourself more a composer or a performer?
JP: I am most certainly both.
R: Who do you see as instrumental in your development as an artist?
JP: Time. One learns by doing – learning from their mistakes and successes.
R: What is interesting to you about your own work?
JP: How it develops over time.
R: Do you do other things aside from music?
JP: Yes, of course. Some favorite past times are; going to the gym – I have too much energy – must be expelled, walking – again an energy issue – I pace up and down the subway platform so i tend to walk instead of take the train quite often, reading, listening to music, painting, watching movies, studying astrology, cooking when I’m not being lazy about it, going to the beach – especially in winter.
R: Other thoughts?
JP: Be true to your intention.
