Entrevista - Jesús Santandreu

At what age did you first get into music? Were you interested in jazz from the very beginning on or were there other musical styles before jazz?
I was around six when my parents first took me to the local academy in my home town Carcaixent. The teachers were musicians that belonged to the local symphonic band which was the usual kind of society that took care of teaching kids by then (and now, indeed). Obviously my first contact with music was through solfege and some recordings that my father used to play in his bar. The music I use to hear was the music in the little books that I was forced to learn at that small academy. Eventually it became a kind of game once I discovered that it was easy for me to read all those little spots on the paper. Jazz came much later. At the beginning, jazz was just a word that became little by little a big meaning to my understanding of music.

Was your family supportive of your career choice?
They did not know much about what I wanted to do, neither did I. I was supposed to have a brilliant classical career and I think they did not understand what jazz was about, so probably they got a little disappointed although my father use to have a more comprehensive attitude (I remember one night he took me to a jazz concert in a pub, everybody smoking joints. After the concert he ask me, “is that what the jazzmen do?”
They did for me all what they could do.
My mother wanted me to join a dance band… no way!!! Despite the fact that she is a musician and an excellent accordion player, I believe she does not like what I do at all. When I show her a recording, most of the time she says “nobody is going to like that.” That’s good in a way; I do my best to improve. The problem is that every time I try new things or I think I am getting somewhere, she likes it even less!!.

What can you tell us about your experiences at the “Berklee College of Music” in Boston? What are some of the memorable experiences that you took from your studies there?
I was preparing that trip for 4 years. I really wanted to go to Boston. Once I got the money and the convenient aids to support my staying there, I left my parent’s house.
In Boston I discovered I was a deaf person in terms of hearing chords. Miguel Mengual helped me to hear so much that I think he has been my real mentor; we were roommates. I switched to tenor and started transcribing seriously (like crazy) and trying to play with records by ear in private sessions with Miguel in our small apartment. About Miguel I must say that the way he played made me feel like listening to the real thing.
The other most important thing was to re-discover classical music. They taught me a lot of very important techniques in counterpoint, traditional harmony and things that you can only understand if you go there.
And of course, becoming a friend of Greg Fritze and Greg Hopkings was great. Actually, I thing during my stay at Boston, I played almost every semester with the big band Mr. Hopkings use to lead at the college.

Who are your strongest musical influences?
Probably Coltrane and Jerry Bergonzi. I remember the first time I listened to Jerry, I could not stop the tape. I heard the recording “Standard Gonz” for 8 or 9 times with no rest. At that moment, I felt that I fully identified with his music. Once in Boston I took lessons from him until I had to stop because of my financial situation. One night at one club where he was playing, he came to me and asked how much I needed. I had the chance to be with his family in his home; I felt like a queen.
With Coltrane it was different. The first recording I officially bought was a Coltrane album and it flipped me up and down. As I was getting into more advanced recordings of his, I became afraid of Coltrane’s music. At some point I could not listen to him. One day I discovered the recording “Transition” and that one still is my hymn of life.

What fascinates you about jazz in general and the saxophone in particular?
Jazz is about communion and expression, this is not anything new. Jazz shows me what the craft of being a musician is. The saxophone (any instrument you like) is just an excuse to affirm what jazz is about.

Your melodic facility and your rich sonority is truly impressing. How did your practice schedule look when you were young and how has it develop over the years?
Thanks. I used to practice under a fig tree. I have always had a little notebook where I am used to writing down every tempo or topic I am in to. At some period of time I had been practicing like crazy all day long. Now I do as much as I can and try to play as many sessions as I can.

If you could only pick one group to play with (a current one or one that no longer exists), who would that be and why?
Probably the “Berliner Philharmoniker” because there is nothing greater than that or The Lincon Center Big Band for the same reason or ACDC for the same reason.

In the Portuguese jazz scene you are noted as an amazing improviser and sideman. Please tell us more about YOUR project as a leader; the music?
My first cd as a leader is yet to be released. All the compositions are original. It is a quartet formed by Vicente Espi on drums, Abe Rabade on piano, Paco Charlin on bass and myself. Never the less now I am preparing the tour for this cd with a completely different band: Iago Fernadez on drums, Albert Palau on piano and Nelson Cascais on bass.

Is there any message behind your music?
Especially behind my low Eb (Db concert). Some times I try to put thoughts on each note and to visualize how those thoughts transfer to the people in the audience in order to make them feel better in their lives. This is an idea but I believe it works.

Who are you listening to today?
Shostakovich, mostly to classical music. I love Russian composers.

You are a prodigious and talented saxophone player; a rising star on the international jazz sky. What are you expecting for the future?
Space ships?

What advice would you give to young musicians and specifically to young saxophone players?
Well, I don’t know. First of all, I should meet them and see whether they want to ask something, other wise I would say nothing.
Yeah! Here it comes:
ASK!

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