During the 14th edition of the Cairo Jazz Festival (CJF), the US Embassy in Cairo supported the festival’s activities by sponsoring a Jazz tour in Egypt that was organized by the American University in Cairo’s School of Continuing Education (SCE).
They hosted two impressive and successful Jazz groups to headline across Egypt: Brock/ Sandberg Duo and Dave Meder Trio. SEE News had the chance to chat with the Jazz trio members: Dave Meder, Michael Piolet, and Ben Tiberio about their experience in Egypt, their views on Jazz, and the current music scene.
The first question was about the trio’s experience in Egypt as they toured Cairo and Alexandria, Meder said: “It was great and very enjoyable. All members of the trio have enjoyed the seriousness and the eagerness of the students to learn.”
Next, Meder received a question about the trio’s tour with Brock/Sandberg Duo, he said: “We met for a day and had a trip together to the Pyramids, we had a very good time together.”
Having a Jazz tour in Egypt, the experience was exciting, adding that he met some of the Jazz artists in Egypt he was there and he played some gigs in Egypt.
Regarding the questions they received from the students, the band’s composer revealed that all of them were about improvising which is an essential element of American music, the ways of composing and playing together as a band.
This idea led to another question for Meder which is the concept of the one-man band, and how much is related to the rise of social media and move advanced technologies.
He answered: “I hadn’t experienced a one-man band as playing and communicating with people is something entertaining for me.”
Tiberio added when he was asked to comment: “I think, it gets more common today as we have more resources with technologies, so it became common to see one man produce music.”
He continued: “Communicating with each other is the main reason I do what I do, and I think music is a very social thing.”
One of the issues related to the one-man band work is the usage of the drum machine, Piolet explained that when it comes to live shows, people would like to hear the real sound of drums, of course, musicians can use those pre-recorded samples, but it should be the real presence of drums in live shows.
Moving to the role of the bass, Tiberio expressed that the majority of people care about lyrics, melody, and groove, while, the bass instrument is the main supporter of the rhythm and the melody.
Back to Meder with a question about the link between jazz music and social issues, the composer said that it comes naturally as art is a reflection of society and the return for social communication between all people in the same community.
Regarding the themes of his latest album, Meder added that he was impacted by his studies in college and his major was Spanish, in addition to music, and the timeframe of the album was connected to the period of the 1930s.
On his musical influences, he said that he started his musical career by playing piano in the church which connected him to spiritual music, then he studied classic music, and then he became into Jazz and popular American music.
Regarding their start with music, Tiberio narrated that his father with a saxophone player, so playing music for him was something ordinary in the house. Next, the bassist added that he found his way to guitar and bass, before turning to be a full-time bassist.
On his side, Piolet described that he trained himself to play simple home drums-like since he was three years old, and he began to turn the tones he listened to beats on his homemade drums, before learning to play music in school.
Then, there was a question about how the work in the trio goes, the drummer explained that Meder composes music as a navigator, however, they have the freedom to add their own touches.
Moving to the final part which was the impact of COVID-19, the trio’s Pianist highlighted that the pandemic impacted everyone in a different way, adding: “I composed all the album’s music in the pandemic as I had time to read and to compose, but for other composers may suffer from depression or struggle in the pandemic, it depends what we passed through.”
Piolet added that he lived with his family during the pandemic, and they were together and had times together, which wasn’t the same experience for everyone.
While, Tiberio narrated that he spent this time alone in New York City, and had a fear of the virus. It was crazy to see such a crowded city, and the busiest time in the city, Times Square, was haunting.
In terms of music, Piolet and Tiberio highlighted that they were part of a musical project who worked together virtually, and the leader of the project used to collect their stuff together.
They added that playing in the jazz clubs they used to perform at and there were no fans and crowds.
The trio was happy to see packed and vibrant audiences in Egypt during this 2022 tour that the US Embassy in Egypt sponsored and SCE organized. They hope to return again and explore more of the country’s music legacy.
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