Marc Siegel Interview, Part 1: Art Music

Here’s what Wilmington’s jazz scene is like: You haven’t heard — or maybe even heard of — local jazz guitarist Marc Siegel (marcsiegelmusic.com), but he’s one of the premier musicians in the area. He manages to be a busy performer, gigging regularly with Benny Hill, another of the area’s finest jazz musicians; a devotee of improvisation and the “spontaneous composition” many consider a hallmark of the genre (but many others avoid, dislike, or misunderstand); and a scholar of the form at Cape Fear Community College, where he heads the jazz program.

Popular but esoteric, brand new but historically long in tooth — your grandfather’s music. Academic but rule-breaking, individualistic but collaborative. Creative. These are the diverse, almost contrary aspects of jazz music itself, and Siegel seems to do a particularly good job at reconciling them. In this interview, the Grove Project asks Marc to describe what jazz is, how he came to it, how it goes in this area.

I’ve heard you use the term “art music” as a way to describe or define jazz. Is jazz hard to define? Is the phrase a way to distinguish jazz from “jazz” genres like “smooth jazz”? Or hybrids like fusion, “acid jazz”, etc.?

Art Music is a way of talking about music that has an aesthetic goal. Music for music’s sake — music to be listened to and to encourage the higher faculties of our nature. Art music might be contrasted with functional music or music that serves a purpose (like dance music, for example). Jazz did not start out as an erudite pursuit and doesn’t have to categorized as such either. Jazz was in its beginnings functional music as well; music that was the soundtrack for all the pleasures and excitement one would encounter in the New Orleans red light district of the early 1900’s — that era’s version of Sodom and Gomorrah. Like all great art, jazz has shown that it has the power to remain relevant and can successfully speak to the wide array of thoughts and emotions essential to the human profession. Louis Armstrong put it simply (and I’ll paraphrase): “If it’s good [music] don’t mess with it”.

What is the relationship of modern jazz as a kind of art music to historical art music and periods, such as baroque?

Jazz is the American 20th century version of art music. The two have a very close relationship. Without the preceding 100’s of years of Western European art music and its advances in the understanding of theory, musicianship, instrumentation etc… there would not be the opportunity for Jazz to emerge. Jazz like the people who inhabited New Orleans at the turn of the century was a confluence of disparate styles and influences some from the European heritage and some from the West African heritage. The Creole musician trained in the conservatory tradition of Europe and raised in the African American traditions of the new world embodies this often times troubled cross cultural symbiosis. It is telling then that it was the Creole who created jazz.

I believe you’re classically trained as a guitarist – What was that transition like for you to mainly jazz?

What do you mean? You couldn’t tell from my impeccable chops that I was educated in the exacting and pristine art of true guitarmanship?

…Did the highfalutin’ mock indignation come through there?

You are correct, my dear friend, and thank you for the question. The transition as far as technique goes was easier because I had the tools that classical training gave me to modify to this new idiom. I accomplished technical goals much faster than I would have without them. The theory, ear training and the feel was a bit more of a challenge though. Luckily I have a lot of good friends who were already professional jazz musicians at the time and they let me play with them as I “learned on the bandstand”. I am still working out all of these concepts. Ultimately I feel as though I am continuing to transition and learn as a musician.

What got you started on jazz and who were you listening to?

I started to really listen to jazz when I was in school and I was playing in the jazz combos. My first revelation was when I purchased a compilation CD of Miles Davis’ music. It immediately became the most listened to CD in my rotation. Although I was learning to play classical guitar I knew I always wanted to play jazz as well. Later when I had the time to invest to follow my muse it was the great Joe Pass and his Hot Licks videos that helped me the most as a guitarist. Unfortunately Joe had already passed when I started to focus on jazz guitar so I never got a chance to meet him or have a lesson with him. Not only have there been guitarists who have helped me; there have been quite a few other musicians as well. A list could get too long and would probably come off as pretentious (just look at any myspace page!). Will it be sufficient to say that I am the head of Jazz Music at CFCC and I have been teaching Jazz History for over a decade? If not ask me in lesson or out socially and I’ll wax poetic about many great musicians in the jazz tradition.