Vasco Trilla - Sunday Interview ~ The Free Jazz Collective

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Vasco Trilla - Sunday Interview

Sunday, September 08, 2024 Sunday Interview No comments

What is your greatest joy in improvised music?

To connect instantly in a musical conversation with different people it's something that I still find kind of magical, very difficult to put into words. Also improvising with people you know well and play a lot with is an amazing experience of refining and developing some kind of telepathic communication. Meeting new people and making new friends is also one of the great joys of this music for me.
What quality do you most admire in the musicians you perform with?

I think for me it is clearly curiosity and open-mindedness.
Which historical musician/composer do you admire the most?

That is a difficult question, lately I might say Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski, but that might change any other day you ask me.
If you could resurrect a musician to perform with, who would it be?

Frank Zappa, although I would be terrified and not ready for it. hahaha
What would you still like to achieve musically in your life?

I will be satisfied if I'll keep the joy and curiosity for the upcoming years. I have still a lot to discover in the wonderful world of percussion, so I hope that this will continue driving my passion for developing new sounds and ideas both solo and with new and old collaborations.
Are you interested in popular music and - if yes - what music/artist do you particularly like?

I listen to a lot of Metal and progressive rock. I'm not particularly into Pop music, but of course I can appreciate some stuff made in this area.I would say Frank Zappa, King Crimson, David Sylvian, Led Zeppelin just to name a few…the list is long!
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

That's a never ending work in progress, day by day. I hope I'm on the right path. Organizing myself a bit better is one of the main goals at the moment.
Which of your albums are you most proud of?

I would say my solo album “The Torch in my Ear” was very special for me, it's probably where i thought i was finding my own voice as a solo percussionist, Also the duo records with the great late Mars Williams hold a very special place in my heart.And lately my collaborations with legendary Ra Kalam Bob Moses have been a total blessing, both musically and personally.
Once an album of yours is released, do you still listen to it? And how often?

It's rare that I listen to my records once they are released, the process of every album requires so much attention and listening that it's like closing a chapter every time you finish the album.
Which album (from any musician) have you listened to the most in your life?

I guess it would be either a King Crimson album or some Metallica or Iron Maiden albums when I was a teenager.
What are you listening to at the moment?

I'm always very curious for new music, so this changes all the time, these past days I've been listening a lot to Gerard Grisey's music which i really like, also enjoying a lot the new Ulcerate album (a dissonant avant-garde death metal band from New Zealand) and i would say I've been listening to a lot of King Crimson and Gentle Giant old records from the seventies, as well as Roscoe Mitchell Angel city album that I find really mesmerizing.
What artist outside music inspires you?

I feel very inspired by cinema, so directors like Andrei Tarkovski, Theo Angelopulos, Tsai Ming Liang, Kiarostami, and Parajanov are always an infinite stream of ideas and moods that can be very musical to my ears. Other artists that inspire me lately are writers like Antonio Lobo Antunes, Elias Canetti and old Sufi poetry. Of Course Visual arts, as I have a degree in Art History, are an important influence, just to name some names Gustave Moureau, Arnold Bocklin, Paul Klee, Ciurlionis, Tapies, Klimt, Marc Chagall.