Take Five With Clarinet And Composer Kinan Azmeh article @ All About Jazz

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Benny Goodman and Charles Russo. My parents Bachar and Hala, who continued to support me throughout this wonderful journey, are still my biggest influence.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when…

I was around 11 or 12 when I was performing with the Syrian Youth Symphony back in Damascus, and there was a little clarinet solo in the piece “October” from The Seasons by Tchaikovsky that I could not play well. I went home super upset after the rehearsal and picked up the clarinet again and played that part over and over for hours until I got it right and at that very moment, I cried. I think that was the first time that I was moved by my own playing. I will never forget that moment; it marked the beginning of something.

Your sound and approach to music

Music is my way of understanding and communicating with the world. In this context, the most important is the idea you have in your mind. What is it that you want to say? After that, you need a tool to help you express this idea, and in my case it is the clarinet. And finally, you need the skills to use the tool to bring this idea to life. The idea for me is still the most important. My philosophy in composing and performing is rather simple: I compose and I play what I like to hear.

Your teaching approach

I believe that composition and improvisation are both sides of the same coin. For me, some of the best compositions are ones that have a natural flow as if they were improvised, and some of the best improvisations are ones that have a structure and form as if they were composed. The philosophy of improvisations is to practice your freedom to serve an idea within certain restrictions. I think the same principle applies in written music. In fact, for me they are not opposites, but rather complimentary. I would love my students to think beyond the instrument they are using, I want them all to compose, improvise and perform music written by others, to be open to all genres of music.

Your dream band

My dream band is actually the band I currently play with. There is nothing more satisfying than building a longlasting and deep relationship with your friends on and off stage. I have been playing with Kyle, Josh and John for almost 19 years. We have shared some incredible moments together and for that I am very grateful.

Favorite venue

My list of favorite venues continues to expand to include every venue that I return to. It is similar to how we all try to expand our notion of home everywhere we go. When you play in a new venue you plant some roots there and it feels special when you come back to that venue to water these ever-growing trees.

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?

I like to think of music in the most open way possible, and I hope that I contribute a little to that philosophy where music is not bound by genre and geography, and that the composition and improvisation are two sides of the same coin.

The first jazz album I bought was…

”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note (Telarc, 1990).

What is in the near future?

Live in Berlin, my new album, is out and I am excited to tour with it around the world. I am excited also to bring it back to Syria, my home country and where I have not performed since 2011. I am also working on a new clarinet concerto, a solo cello work and a string quartet piece, all to be premiered in the fall of 2025. Additionally, I am excited to start some curatorial work in two wonderful festivals as a guest curator, the Morgenland Festival in Osnabruck, Germany and the Nebraska Crossroads Music Festival. Also this season I am excited to be back to perform again with the London Philharmonic, the Mainz Symphony and the Nova Scotia Symphony

What is your greatest fear when you perform?

My greatest fear is that one day I notice while I am on stage that I am bored or disinterested. Because if that moment comes, it means that I am lying to myself and to my audiences.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

I truly hope it will be on a rainy day and I imagine the soundtrack of my funeral to be “Welcome to the Machine” by

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Pink Floyd.

What is your favorite song to whistle or sing in the shower?

That is usually where lots of my composition ideas come to me.

By Day

When I am not on stage, I enjoy playing soccer (and I injure myself every time so I try to be mindful when I play before a big tour), spending time with friends, family, my wonderful wife

”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Layale Chaker and my beautiful 4-year-old son is what this life is about, so I try to maximize this as much as possible.

If I weren’t a jazz musician, I would be a…

I don’t consider myself to be a Jazz musician really, I am a musician who happens to compose and improvise. If I were not doing what I am doing now, I would have loved to do something in or with nature, a farmer, a fisherman or a windsurfing instructor.

If I could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be and why?

If it is ANYONE from history then I would not choose a musician. I would rather love to have dinner and a chat with any of the prophets if possible, because why not!

What’s the song or piece of music you wish you could hear again for the first time?

Arvo Pärt Tabula Rasa and Mozart’s Requiem.

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