Provence, a land of lavender, herbs, and the azure riviera. On one side, the Southern Alps, on the other, the sea. You don’t want to leave Provence. The smell of bread, the taste of olive oil and wine, simple food, and the views. Whether it’s the mountainsides, the vineyards, or the cicadas, they sing so loudly…
Provence also boasts the famous Mediterranean coast cities of Marseille, Nice, and Antibes – where all the jazz greats came to play great jazz. Provence also boasts Aix en Provance, a lesser-known but very populous town.
When, over 100 B.C. Founded by the Roman consul Sextius Calvin, he didn’t know that one day it would transform from a colony for war veterans into a university town, that the brilliant Paul Cezanne would live there, that another genius, Vincent Van Goch, would visit him there, or that, much later, the famous Hot Brass jazz club would be established there, where Marseillesians would go to hear Chick Corea.
He also didn’t know that the time would come when arguably one of the greatest double bassists not only in France but also in the entire improvisational world would be born there.
Yes, Joelle Leandre comes from Aix En Profance. She plays different music than Esperanza Spalding, Linda Oh, or Nikki Parrott. She’s far from jazz at all, unless we consider jazz synonymous with improvisation. But that’s hardly possible anymore without risking a condescending smile.
Because neither jazz is the only improvisational tradition in world music, nor is improvisation a jazz invention. Ms. Leandre seems to successfully escape any simple, aesthetic categorization. And it’s no wonder, since she used to say:
“All musicians, whether they want to or not, improvise; it’s natural. You celebrate your joy when you pick up an instrument. I’ve always improvised; it’s the first act of starting to play. Improvisation is for expressing yourself, and that’s always yours.”
So, not a jazz musician, yet she likes to point out how much she learned from Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Duke Ellington. Who didn’t learn from them, anyway?
Cecil Taylor considered Ellington one of the greatest composers in music history and occasionally played his compositions. Joelle Leandre doesn’t usually reach for the jazz classics, but she also admits that they educated her in some way.
“My life was and is essentially jazz. You practice this music, you travel, you play concerts, you have a jazz life. You don’t play Handel, Bach, or Mozart. I don’t feel “classical” in any way, it’s just my background, and it’s been very useful to me, because, for example, I’ve mastered my instrument very well.”
It’s hard to disagree that improvisation is what truly makes a musician unique. In Joelle’s case, it wasn’t the double bass from the very beginning. Before deciding to study what is generally considered a very unfeminine instrument, she improvised on the recorder and piano.
It’s also hard to ignore the fact that, before turning her musical life into a constant stream of improvisation, Leandre was genuinely devoted to music that was much more structured within both aesthetic and historical frameworks.
When she was studying at the Paris Conservatory, this was obvious, because ultimately, a traditional education is not only the easiest, but also probably the best way to acquire the necessary instrumental skills.
Later, her interests turned to contemporary music. Here, it’s much harder to talk about aesthetic frameworks. Nevertheless, whatever labels we use, Joelle Leandre’s interests included scores by, for example, the creator of “open form” Earle Brown, works by Giacinto Scelsi, Morton Feldman, and, above all, John Cage.
She had the opportunity to meet all these gentlemen personally during her scholarship in Buffalo, and, inspired by her playing and musical ideas, they soon began writing compositions especially for her.
However, she held and still holds the latter in particular esteem. This is no surprise, as John Cage is one of the most influential minds of 20th-century music. However, Joelle no longer refers to him solely as an inspiration.
“John Cage will always be my spiritual father. He made me listen to the world around me, allowed sound to be what it truly is. He gave me confidence. He was also the first person I saw smile on my face after performing my composition “Taxi” (1981) in the auditorium at Columbia University. I still remember that!”
By giving Joelle Leandre self-confidence, Cage did the music world a great service. With this gesture, he ensured that a group of artists who boldly embraced experimentation, questioning themselves as musicians and creators, gained a truly extraordinary personality. Possessing a fabulous technique, she could, on the one hand, work freely and successfully in such renowned groups as Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble InterContemporain or 2e2iem, and on the other, perhaps even more successfully, exist as one of the most interesting improvisers on the world stage, having created music with arguably all the most important figures, from Anthony Braxton, through Peter Kowald, Irene Schweitzer, William Parker, Carlos Zingaro, to Evan Parker, Steve Lacy, and George Lewis.
Apparently, the breakthrough moment was her encounter with the music of Derek Bailey, a key figure in European improvisation, but some time passed between their discovery and their collaboration. Eventually, such a recording was made, titled “No Waiting,” and released on the now-defunct Potlach Records.
A general examination of Joelle Leandre’s discography would provide impressive insights into the sometimes surprising collaborations this arguably first lady of the double bass chose to pursue and the remarkable results they could produce.
Those who dreamed of collecting her entire discography, however, would face a considerable challenge, as ultimately obtaining over 150 albums, many of which are truly hard to find, is no easy feat, even with Uncle Google as their ally.
To express oneself, to free oneself from “the slog of Handel, Bach, and Mozart,” while simultaneously knowing and appreciating their music, to play what one truly wants and in the way one chooses. Who knows, perhaps this isn’t a good description of what Joelle Leandre wants to tell listeners with her improvised music.
Joelle Leandre is an artist who has managed, as one of the few, to convince the male improvisers that gender is completely irrelevant in matters of art. Perhaps that’s why young girls tearfully turn to her for a written recommendation that would allow them to be accepted into music universities. Apparently, such a situation occurred at a Canadian university.
Although it may seem incomprehensible, the problem is serious. This is probably why more and more organizations are being established around the world to address these issues, organizations uniting women’s creative communities. Joelle Leandre herself is actively involved in one such endeavor.
And I don’t just mean the famous Les Diaboliques, which dazzled the audience at the Art of Improvisation Festival in Wrocław a few years ago, but also the European Women’s Improvising Group, formerly known as the Feminist Improvising Group – the first all-female group in history to play improvised music.
