Fleurine....

How or when did you first “discover” jazz?
My father has been an avid jazz collector since his college-days. Among his favorites: Miles, Cannonball , Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Clifford Brown, Charlie Parker, Ray Brown, Coltrane, Art Blakey - too many to name here. Vocalists too, especially Sarah , Billie and Ella. As a kid Ella somehow grabbed me the most. Her songbooks, and especially her albums with Louis Armstrong were among my strong early favorites alongside the Beatles, Schubert & Chopin (which my Mom played whenever she could get a little space in between my Dad's dominating listening pleasures). As a younger child (elementary school) I did not take to all of my Dad's tastes. I loved Miles and Oscar, but Billie somehow made me sad, and Coltrane and Charlie Parker's music made me feel 'nervous' ... only to enjoy them all the more later in life. Jazz is my musical roots. It is what was played around our house continuously all throughout my childhood.
Do you remember the first recording you ever purchased?
Earth, Wind & Fire"Gratitude" was the first LP I owned. (And, I still love it!)

Name one of your greatest creative influences and why?
I've had various influences during different periods of my musical development but for the past decade I would have to credit Brad Mehldau for the incredibly sensitive way he phrases a melody, makes his piano 'sing' and the way he spins out the melody when building up a solo - his amazing sense of form and time and the freedom he finds within it. He has the ability to put you in a mood, but not just one mood: his playing can make you deliriously happy as well as infinitely melancholy. It's very emotional and intellectual at once- it's magic! But I'm equally heavily indebted to Shirley Horn, Herbie Hancock, Elis Regina, Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, E,W & F, and many more.

What made you decide to become a musician?
Listening to music is the second greatest pleasure, but being inside the music and actually creating it felt better then anything I had ever done (at an early age) and it still is one of the best things to do anytime today.

Tell us about your recording FIRE.
"Fire" is partially my attempt to infuse the music I heard as a child on the radio with the music we played at home. I've tried to put a jazz- slant on various pop-tunes from my school days. Funny enough, I wasn't necessarily a big fan of those tunes during that time, but when I hear them now they fill me with a certain nostalgia that makes me remember those times intensly. I also recorded some original compostitions, a song from the classical era and Brazilian-tinged songs on "Fire." I really don't like to think in categories or labels too much; it's all music I feel passionate about and it becomes connected through the way I've arranged it and the sound we've developed with the band featuring Jeff Ballard (d) Jesse van Ruller (g) Brad Mehldau (p) Seamus Blake (s) Johan Plomp (b) and Gil Goldstein (accordion).

Name one recording that you cannot live without.
Herbie Hancock "Speak Like A Child" or Antonio Carlos Jobim "Tom & Elis" can't decide - both are superb and have great sentimental value for me. It is not that they are the "best"recordings I know, they are just among many other beautiful records - very personal and thus indispensable.

What is the best thing about playing jazz?
That feeling of freedom that anything can happen - whatever comes up in your head - just going for it and always being in the moment.

What is in your CD player right now?
Nellie McKay, "Get Away From Me!" - I saw her perform live in Central Park this summer and she just baffled me with her wit and wisdom at her age (only 21)! Her music is just as wacky, truly in tune with her personality. I think she's very talented, and nicely uncategorizable!.

What is the last movie you saw?
"We Don't Live Here Anymore" (starring Mark Ruffalo and Naomi Watts) - Intriguing film about infidelity. Great original soundtrack too!

What is the last book you read?
Paul Auster, The Book of Illusions is the last American novel I have read. It was a fast read but somehow not completely satisfying. But before that I started a book that I still haven't finished and that I found very interesting. It's called The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Though I'm hardly a New Age fanatic, this book offers some insights that should speak to jazz adepts - it's about being in the 'now' (which is something you naturally do when you make music or do anything that you're truly into).

What is your favorite escape?
Playing ... in every sense of the word
http://www.jazzonln.com/qanda.asp