After the deep Appleblueseagreen, ArtistCongratz spotted an Identified Flying Object and its intriguing navigator.
His hunger to improvise makes this piano virtuoso eager to constantly reinvent himself as a musician. Never a dull moment during our inspiring talk with Alex Koo.
Just last month he streamed his music live during Brussels Jazz Festival.
Alex Koo: It was a new experience for me but actually fun. A lot depends on the venue. This was in the big hall of Flagey in Brussels. The room gives you some energy. Obviously a concert is always the coolest setting but for a lifestream this was really fun. There was a nice vibe and energy. It’s just strange not to have any applause. I did some live streams before but this one was very well organized. There were like 8 cameras and a crew of 10 people.
AC: Without Corona you were going to be artist in residence here while playing with a very famous jazzmusician…
Alex: Ah yes Craig Taborn, he is my ultimate hero. He’s the god of contemporary and improvisation. He’s doing stuff that I still think is impossible. A true soundwizard.
“I actually have to split my brain in half”
AC: How would you describe your evolution from Appleblueseagreen to Identified Flying Objects, which you made with Hungarian Attila Gyàrfas ?
Alex: Attila is from Budapest, he also lives there. We actually studied in The Hague together. I think there is no musician that I know better than Attila. As one of my best friends but also as a musician.
Myself I’m evolving more towards -I don’t want to say minimalism, because that’s not true- but for sure improvisation on the moment.
In jazz as you know, a big part of the concert is improvised. But it can still contain certain rules and harmony structures of songs. I tend to drift away more and more from that. You can play a concert and have up to eight songs in your set list.
I am growing towards projects with two or three songs in the set list, so I still have to fill up the entire rest with improvisation without discussing anything.
AC: Sounds exciting. Not knowing where you start or where you’re going to end up.
Alex: Exactly, to answer your question, I think I’m going more and more into a direction where I want to make it as uncomfortable for myself as possible to play.
That’s why I also like playing without a bassist. It’s giving me different ideas, playing with drums, using electronics and play a lot of the bass parts. In my left hand on the keyboard on top of the piano, so it’s much more demanding. I have to be more virtuoso on the piano because I can’t just play my cords or my melodies.
I actually have to split my brain in half. Which is also very interesting. At the same time everything that’s happening is still spontaneous and there’s a lot of improvisation on the spot. Although sometimes very confronting. I feel like I’m more discontent with myself lately. After the live stream, I really doubted myself, not the band. I wasn’t completely happy but then I listened back to it and I thought wauw! This is one of the nicest concerts I did so far. So I think it pushes me on an edge of being uncertain. It’s confronting but I like it.
AC: You are constantly challenging yourselves.
Alex: Indeed, we don’t just want to play free jazz. Eventhough we sometimes play more noisy free jazz and very atonal stuff, we do end up going there as well but it’s just part of many soundscapes we like to explore.
“An improvisation is based on emotion and energy”
Alex: When I started to play classical piano at a young age, I knew I wanted to become a musician. With my brother playing violin, it was kind of clear that music ran in the family.
My mother was the one with the ultimate music vibe. She encouraged us to play music.
AC: Let’s talk about the album, the songs go from pure improvisation to precomposed melodies.
Alex: Aurora is completely improvised and part of a larger improvisation. We were just playing with sounds and listening to each other. From start to finish, the whole track is an improvisation moment. So is Maenads, it’s all based on emotion, the moment, an energy. It was a little more danceable, that’s why we named it Maenads, referring to the dancing fairies (mythological figures ed.)
Nebula is not improvised, it has a melody. We improvise over the actual harmony of the song.
In that sense, a big part is written out. That also applied for Ready, Set, Go and Levitate.
The first three tracks are pretty much pre composed in a sense that they have a theme, a melody and a harmony.
In the improvisations, we bend the rules a little bit. Ready Set Go has a very particular theme, it’s like high energy, b bop.
We played a theme but at the end we replayed another so there is this whole middle part where there are no rules basically. When we compose music at least we try to stick to an idea and make it come out really strong. And then see where it goes from there. I tend to like that way of making music more and more.
Looking for a soundtrack?
AC: Do you see yourself compose for film?
Alex: I think so, it would be fun, but so far the opportunity hasn’t come yet. I think it’s difficult if you’re not in the scene.
AC: A director just might pick this up…
Alex: (laughs) You can mention that for sure, I would love to do that. I’m actually a huge fan of film music. A lot of my music and the way I improvise is based on films. Books as well. I tend to have a strong personal taste.
AC: What genre would be on top of your wishlist to compose for?
Alex: Interesting question. I think a movie with a lot of different landscapes and planets so probably a space movie. Actually there’s a new movie of Dune coming out…
AC: That leads us back to Identified Flying Object. We’re intrigued by the titles you choose for your songs. “Source of the 10.000 things f.I.
Alex: That was one of the last moments of the recording. I remember we were very tired and with the last energy we had left we tried to go into the inner core of ourselves to improvise something very profound and trying to say a lot with very little words.
“The only thing you worry about is “can everyone make it in the same room””
Alex: Our recording was postponed twice. We were lucky to be in our studio bubble in September. Everyone flew here, but then the whole country shut down. We had a tour in March last year just when Corona started. We rescheduled and cancelled again. The third rebooking in September actually was the one. That’s also why this record is so special since this is the very first time the three of us play together. I played with Ralph and Attila separately before but since this was our first encounter as a unit of three, it brought a kind of playfullness, freshness and curiosity in the album.
When you have all these travel restrictions, the only thing to worry about is “Can everyone make it in the same room” will the plane arrive? Once we started to play, all the worries went away. It was one of the most liberating moments I felt in a sense that you don’t worry about the music. Usually we do. Like making sure the guy who places the mics arrives on time. But you just don’t care anymore given the fact it’s a miracle everyone is here. That feeling gave a boost to the music I never experienced before. I hope we are going to appreciate that in the future as well. Oh woaw, everyone’s here, that’s great, let’s play.
I think we clearly know what we want and we’re confident in what we do. This really worked well from the start.
AC: I hope you will be able to play live soon.
Alex: Our tour that was scheduled in January is now programmed for May. That’s still a bit edgy but some of the concerts are in open air so let’s wait and see…
AC: In the mean time you continue livestreams?
Alex: I like to keep my engin empty in terms of projects, I have some solo piano stuff I really want to focus on. There was a concert that I had to do in Bozar which was also cancelled. I was going to present all my solo music. So I’m trying to keep that in shape. I’m trying to compose and sing a lot.
“Adrenaline junkie”
AC: You say that your nomadic life taught you a lot.
Alex: I think there’s only one moment in your life when you can actually afford to be nomadic. Basically when you don’t have much money (laughs), and not too many worries, for sure no kids.
In general you have to watch out when you stop being nomadic because at some point you will have too many obligations.
Until a few years ago I wasn’t teaching or doing anything steady. My girlfriend, now my wife, we lived in different cities and countries, The Hague, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, New York…If I hadn’t done that, I feel like I would have been missing a lot of experiences and encounters with other musicians.
A few years ago I moved to Brussels. I still wanted to live in an urban environment. A lot of stuff is happening here.
The leading magazine Downbeat Jazz reported in favorable terms about Alex’s music.
A lot of music lovers are very difficult to reach, US is not New York. We like to think of it as the Mecca of jazz. But the US represent a humongous country of 300 million people. A lot of them jazz lovers, scattered all over small towns, checking the internet for good music.
Alex: I’m very happy to receive international attention. Apple Blue Sea Green was well received. Especially in the States, where the most copy’s of the album are still being sold today. It’s nice to have an audience there.
AC: What do you remember most about your time in New York?
Alex: I met a lot of my musical heroes there. I got to rehearse with them more often. I took some lessons with Craig Taborn and we had coffee a couple of times. You can build a different kind of relationship. The biggest lessons for me? New York is really fast. In Europe and especially in Belgium people have too much time to rehearse. I have friends who rehearse like 6 times before they do a concert. In New York that’s impossible. Before the concert you have 20 minutes to go through the songs. There’s a high level of skill involved. You can do a lot of things with a lot of people in one week. In Belgium we are a bit too comfortable with the way things are. Let’s not take this for granted and just take a risk to play the music with some mistakes. At least we won’t play it in a way that’s too comfortable.
I hate being on a stage and knowing what’s going to happen. In a way I feel like an adrenaline junkie.
I can’t afford to jump from a plane. so I just try to do as much improvisation as possible (Laughs). But for sure I like that aspect of not being in control but to deal with things on the spot.
“Our brain works in mysterious ways”
AC: You’re composing🎶 songs as we speak?
Alex: I do it very instinctively. Yesterday I composed part of a new song because I was watching a live concert of Craig Taburn on YouTube. He has a song I was practicing today. It’s super crazy what he does. And suddenly in the middle of the practice I get inspired. I never plan. It just happens and I write it down. When I’m in the car, I need to take my phone and record. I start singing; the baseline, the harmony, the notes🎵… it’s like a baby seeing something for the first time. And If you don’t catch it, it goes away. That’s how our memory works.
Obviously other people have the same experience. I heard this songwriter in a podcast. He dreamt that he was composing a song. He wakes up and thinks I have to write this down. Me, I’m not so good at controlling myself that I actually write it down, I just go back to sleep because I’m tired. (Laughs)
AC: O no, all those precious ideas gone forever…
Alex: It’s amazing how our brain works in very mysterious ways. You really don’t understand. Intuition and instinct is really a big part of it.
AC: The songs you are composing now are for a next album?
Alex: I’m thinking of doing a solo album. I don’t have a solo piano thing out there. We have to work out a new date for the postponed concert. But for sure that’s happening so I have to polish up that program. And I’m composing also new songs for that. Solo piano based, but they’re a little bit different in a sense that the classical influence is very strong since they are kind of classical études mixed with improvisation. 80% of the set is written down now. Instead of 80 % improvised. It’s a completely different perspective.
I have to become a performer more. I have to go back into the role of the classical pianist rather than only an improviser.
There is still a lot of promotion going on and now I hope to have nothing in my agenda for two months.
I haven’t experienced that since I was 18 basically. I’m gonna try to grow as a pianist. Something that usually takes you three or four years. Because you don’t have the time to practice and you’re always, I don’t want to say disturbed. When you’re playing in a lot of projects, you might lose practicing. I want to be confronted with myself. Be in self isolation for a while.
Atypical in these times I was very busy until January, there was the electronics album called Kimono garden in July. Then the preparations for this album: Identified flying objects. And then we basically recorded that album in two months.
It almost feels like a training bootcamp.
AC: Once COVID is behind us I hope you can tour also outside Belgium. A lot of journalists are talking about the fact that Belgium is too small for Alex Koo?
Without Covid I think we just would have finished our CD release tour. We also had a concert in Budapest. My booking agent had to stop booking concerts because it wasn’t looking good. I don’t know how much more concerts we would have done.
Alex: I hope so too, Especially with travel regulations. I hope that cultural workers and artists are going to be labeled essential. They kind of are now but I hope there’s going to be a clear policy so we can go back to normal as soon as possible.
Heroes and soulmates
AC: The interaction with artists from everywhere like Attila Is probably part of the reason why experts find your sound so international. You connect well with musicians from everywhere.
Alex: I always try to play with the people I admire the most. Once I have a really good connection with them. Of course sometimes you have to make decisions you don’t like. Sometimes I can do one project because I have another in the running. Or I have four projects at the same time and nobody wants to book me (laughs).
I think the international aspect is just because I lived in different places and met cool musicians everywhere. I just want to play with whomever I want.
AC: Who are your Belgian heroes?
Alex: I always looked up a lot to Dre Pallemaerts as a drummer with whom I also play in my Belgian trio. I think he’s one of the few people who really understands the deep importance of groove. Not only the jazz tradition but also the spiritual side of music and jazz. I have a deep respect for him as a human being as well.
I also like to mention Erik Vermeulen. I think he’s someone who doesn’t get enough credit. He is an incredible pianist. Of course there are also a lot of great pianists of my generation. But Erik, part of the generation of musicians who are now in their 60s, Eric is really like world class. I think he deserves more recognition.
On top of Alex’ wishlist of musicians to work with in the future: Jakob Bro from Denmark.
Alex: He influenced me because of the simplicity in composing. He composes straight from the gut. Very instinctively. He has a very hands-on natural approach. And Gerald Cleaver is one of my favorite drummers on the planet. He plays a lot with Craig Taborn as well in his trio. I hope I get to play with him one day. Then there’s Wayne Shorter… just him replying me with one sentence, I would be over the moon. I think he has to be an alien, so gifted, so forward thinking in his composition. His music is not of this world. A lot of people might hate me now but I think the Miles Davis Quintet would not have been where they were without Wayne Shorter. He is actually one of the biggest influences in that quintet. A part from Miles Davis himself of course. Such an energy.
Multi instrumentalist
Alex also has some skills as a drummer and took one year of lessons in the conservatory.
Alex: Then I was Dre’s student but at the same time we were playing concerts together on the piano.
Multi instrumentalist, Alex also played the cello when he was a kid.
AC: Never thought of participating in the Queen Elisabeth contest?
Alex: It takes a lot of time to practice all the concerto’s and unfortunately I don’t have the time, That’s kind of sad because I love playing classical music. I would have to be very specific with classical composers to practice. I don’t have time to practice Mozart. Frankly I’d rather practice Debussy or Messiaen…
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