Interview in Le Soir

A very traditional Belgian scene at Le Pitch-Pin, at Place
Flagey— one of my new favorite places in Brussels.

At the start of the tour the band was interviewed by Jean-Claude Vantroyen for Le Soir, the major French-language newspaper in Belgium. Vantroyen also put a brief little note about the CD on the LS site.

The full piece:

“Todd Bishop habite à Portland, en Oregon. Une ville moyenne aux Etats-Unis : quelque 580.000 habitants. C’est là que vivent Todd Bishop le batteur américain et Weber Iago le pianiste brésilien. « C’est un grand centre musical depuis longtemps, explique Todd. Il attire plein de jeunes de tout le pays. » L’Oregon borde l’Océan Pacifique. La Columbia s’y jette. Portland est établie sur sa rive. Todd et Weber ne sont pas dépaysés quand ils arrivent en Belgique : « C’est le même type de temps : la pluie est souvent au rendez-vous. »

Todd et Weber viennent d’arriver à Bruxelles ce lundi matin. Dès mardi soir, ils jouent. Avec deux Belges : Jean-Paul Estiévenart à la trompette et Olivier Stalon à la basse. Tous quatre sont réunis dans un café, place Flagey. Les résident US sont un peu maqués par levoyage. « Mais c’est un peu notre première répétition », lance Weber Iago.

Todd n’est pas très connu encore chez nous, même s’il est déjà venu en tournée. « Je suis juste un musicien, dit-il, qui fait des disques et essaie de prester des concerts. » Depuis 1985, cet homme né en 1967 joue de la batterie en professionnel. Mais c’est aussi un artiste visuel : peinture et photo. Et il tient un blog : Cruise Ship Drummer où on trouve tout sur le « drumming ». Deux albums à signaler : l’un consacré à la musique de Serge Gainsbourg, l’autre à celle d’Ornette Coleman. Le premier s’appelle « 69 Année érotique », l’autre « Little playes little bird ». Weber Iago joue dans celui-ci. Todd et lui se connaissent de longue date.”

Continued after the break:

Interview on WHPK 88.5 fm Chicago Tuesday @ 7pm

I'll be doing a live interview about the CD on Lofton Emenari's show on WHPK 88.5 fm Chicago Tuesday evening, June 11th.

Stream it live at 7pm Chicago time if you dare.

Visit Lofton's blog for more information about his show.

Interview: Oregon Music News

Tom D'Antoni of Oregon Music News talks to me about my Ornette Coleman project outside the Blue Monk in Portland:

Todd Bishop interview - Jazz Society of Oregon

Todd Bishop Jazz Society of Oregon feature  - September 2010

Interview by Rita Rega

Early Years/Education: Grew up in Eugene, Oregon and went to South Eugene High School. Trumpeter Gregg Hall was the band director at that time, it was a great program. My older brother, John, is also a professional drummer. He must have inspired me. My Dad was a jazz fan, so we had a bunch of 78’s around the house. His collection included a lot of boogie-woogie, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Benny Goodman, etc. My Mom was a musical theater person. I'd say from 1971 to 1988, there was a full-time drummer practicing in the house -- first my brother and then me. After high school I attended the University of Oregon and studied classical percussion with Charles Dowd. From there I went to the University of Southern California on a scholarship and studied jazz drumming with Gregg Field (Count Basie's drummer). I was also pursuing art at that time and got into painting and photography. I eventually dropped out of USC to play music. I was in Los Angeles in 1993 when they had the riots, and I decided it wasn't for me. I moved to Portland in '94 with a tenor friend of mine, Ricky Sweum.

My brother John Bishop started Origin Records (based out of Seattle). He moved there from Eugene. I probably should have moved there too. There were always a lot more people who wanted to play with me up there. Origin does the Ballard Jazz Festival twice a year. I still do photography professionally. I photograph musicians. My strategy is to try and get as close as possible. I usually work without a flash.