Peter Evans Octet is due to play on the 8th of August 2013 in Lisbon, while on the 30th edition of Jazz in August (Jazz em Agosto) in Gulbenkian Foundation. Pedro Tavares exchanged a few familiar words with the musician.
This octet comes from your quintet, Brandon Seabrook, Dan Peck and Ian Antonio coming in. What are you trying to achieve and/or explore with this addition and with these musicians?
This group is mostly about featuring incredible personalities and musical voices - all of these guys are so unique. I can say about all of the players that they are extreme “characters”, in some cases complete lunatics. So the idea is to provide a situation where their sounds and styles can be combined and unleashed on the general public. My goal is to explore and experiment with composing for and improvising with these musicians and allowing everyone to explore their full range. Almost everyone is playing multiple instruments.
Tell me about the importance of Mark Gould and Evan Parker in your work as a musician.
Both are important mentors and influences at my entry into creative music making!
Who are your favorite trumpeters?
Here is a short list of some of my favorites: Roy Eldridge, Kenny Wheeler, Woody Shaw, Axel Dörner, Mongezi Feza, Nate Wooley.
