Jenni Alpert vous vous souvenez ? Si vous êtes un(e) fidèle d'ericnroll.com, vous ne l'avez certainement pas oublié ! Jenni m'avait délicieusement chatouillé les oreilles avec (entre autres) son album "pieces" et son étonnante capacité à se ballader entre Folk, jazz et soul... Depuis, j'ai écouté, que dis-je, savouré toute sa discothèque.. pas moins de 5 albums sans compter toute une série de maquettes... Aucun doute, Jenni ne manque pas d'inspiration ni de créativité.. Du coup, j'ai eu envie de faire plus ample connaissance en lui posant une ou deux questions... Je n'ai pas été déçu, Jenni est une bavarde !... Je vous laisse apprécier..
Eric : Hey Jenni, how are you today ?
Jenni : hey there - doin pretty good these days... can't believe it is almost the summer again.
Where are you from and how did you fall in Music ?
I am from los angeles california. i didn't fall in music music fell in me. i was born with fate of a defineless future. music is my muse and i am on a mapless journey of unexpected adventures, twists and turns never to be prepared for, but it is the journey to enjoy not the destination nanyhow since we never really arrive now do we?
Do you remember an album or an artist in particular when you were child ?
Guns and roses were the first band i followed and loved. indigo girls were the second. i dunno....... i have never been much for one genera over another...... i just like music that makes me feel.
When did you start to develop your own musical identity ?
It was around the age of 10 that I started to develop my own musical identity. By this time I already had been playing piano for a couple of years and fighting off any classical pieces I had to learn. It was also about this time that I discovered that I had innate talent to hear pop songs on the radio like 'Right Here Waiting for You' by Richard Marks and could play them back by ear. I specifically remember my first head set and tapes given to me at Hanukkah. My tape collection was Michael Jackson 'Thriller', Madonna 'Immaculate Collection', Cindi Lauper 'Girls just want to have fun' and a random tape I found in my brother's room by the band Quiet Riot. I was the type of listener who would put on a tape or simply a song and listen to it over and over again based on the way it made me feel. I was not a music nerd or music snob really - rather just an open book.
Was there anyone in your life that effected your music choices ?
My strongest memory ever for biggest musical influential moment was meeting this girl Mariah Weeks in 5th grade who was 'the bad girl' in class. She forced me to listen to and eventually passionately love Gun's and Roses. They were the first band I remember absolutely loving everything they did. I remember their music videos and only their music videos. I remember the way I felt jumping up and down to 'Welcome to the Jungle' and Sweet Child of Mine'. I may never know what kind of impact this music had on little 'soul-folk-rock-me' but I do know that this was a significant mark in my music listening. From here I started to collect music from other peers albums of bands like Red Hot Chill Peppers and Metalica it was still thought at this time I only generated an interest in music that was given to me. Shortly there after receiving these albums I went to a sleep away camp where the Indigo Girls were the hottest best thing ever. For me the sound of folk guitar, story telling songs and harmonies really inspired me. The Indigo Girls became the second band next to Gun n Roses that I began collecting album after album just because nothing either one of those bands did turned me off. It wasn't until way later that I gained inspiration and motivation to research music on my own.
Where there any significant moments that you remember that influenced your musical path ?
The most significant moments that I can remember that lead me towards musical independence was during high school. The first happened was when I teamed up with my teacher at my high school to start a choir. This musical director was really the first person who introduced me to understanding show tunes, Broadway music, and Jazzy songs (mainly swing) in an intellectual sort of way. There were always holes in my learning, but because by this time I had already spent years singing in musicals he started to bridge the gaps between the songs I was performing, composers that wrote them, the original recordings they came from, and how they changed when different types of styles were brought to the production of the songs. He also gave me my first introduction to the world of Jazz music, which later ended up landing me a scholarship to attend UCLA as the first Jazz vocal major to be admitted for their new four-year program under the direction of Kenny Burrell. What I discovered at that point really was everything I didn't know yet. The second significant musical moment was shortly after my mom bought me my first guitar. I started writing music again only now it was on both piano and guitar. I was invited in to meet two record producers who proceeded to tell me that a songwriter was no songwriter without knowing who Joni Mitchell was and that they (meaning I) should not attempt to be a musician unless they knew by heart forwards and backwards albums 'Blue ' and 'Court and Spark'. And one of the biggest personal musical growth spurts I had was my first experience meeting other aspiring musicians my age the summer of 95'. I met those three musicians at a sleep away camp the same summer Jerry Gracia died. They made the such a huge impact on my musical development simply by exposing me to a world of music I had never known. Jerry's death was such a big deal to the people around me that I really felt in the dark not knowing who he or 'The Greatful Dead' was let alone other bands from that era were. Those three boys shared with me the best music to my ears and opened up my world to my favorite band 'Led Zeppelin', along with 'Pink Floyd' and 'Phish'. Shortly a year later, two of the three died in an unfortunate car accident. They were such great influences on my musical development however, and became the catalysts for my motivation and inspiration to continue to perform original music.
How do you define yourself as a musician today ?
The musician I am today All the music I pick up defines and marks my musical growth, identity, and development. Having said this I don¹t have a favorite artist, band, record, or song. Rather I love the vast body of emotion that music captures in such a timeless way and I feel that I could ever have enough of a musical vocabulary. I am currently on a path to define and shape my own musical voice and contribution, to capture a moment in time during this era. I am thankful for many musicians both alive and who have past who dared to challenge the spirit and being, co-exsisting with their art, live in a room full of hungry listeners, or maybe simply in the solitude of their own practice spaces challenging the depths of how far the spirit can delve through the vehicle: music, or even riskier yet committing on record a documentation of an unexplainable moment in time - those very same records left for us to experience, grow, and live by. There is no greater love.
Five albums + two live ! You're still young .. how do you do ?
with out a plan....... i had drive, direction, passion, energy, and a real love for what i do.... so i would record music, book tours, and go. just do.
How do you work on your songs ?
it is rare that i will work on a song much more that the first 15 minutes or so that it takes for the song to write itself. there may be times where i may work on the craft of songwriting - practicing in a way - but writing pieces of ideas rather than songs.... the songs themselves..... or the universal ones with the most longevity anyway write themselves when i am free enough and in a special head space to let the energy come through.................
What do you listen to these days ?
i still listen to the same tapes and cds i have always listened to.... i do appreciate a new record everyone in a while but it has to be the kind that i love so much that i can just put it on repeat for days. the last cd that did this for me was emmy lou harris wrecking ball and it wasn't even that new to the rest of the public....... i love zeppelin, neil young, allison krauss.....jeff buckley, billie holiday, .............
If you could choose an artist to work with ?
dead or alive? i don't really know either way. some of the artists i want to work with people haven't heard of anyway.
What are your upcoming projects ? New tracks ? a new album ? Any projects with other artists ?
I am currently working on a body of works with an up and coming young producer who is known mainly for his exccelent engineering skills. i met him by typing in producers in LA one afternoon - setting up interviews - and eventually picking him out of the bunch because he seemed very talented and open minded to new ways of working on music. his name is nathaniel kunkel. thus far we have completed 4 songs with some pretty incredible well established musicians: russ kunkle: drums, viktor krauss: bass, matt rollings: piano, and dean parks: guitar. it is quite the experience.
Any chance to see you perform in France in the not so distant future ?
perhaps. i like france a lot. i have played in small jazz clubs before. setting up a few performances in the right venues is really the only challange. i would love to return.
And finally, is there anything you'd like to say to your French readers/listeners...
It is because of you that the world is small enough for us to share an experience. thank you !
I don't speak french as of yet, but i am curently learning japaneese for the hell of it so nothing is impossible..........
Thank you Jenni !
j'aime La Jenni!!
Rédigé par: miette | 18 octobre 2006 à 01:48