Heidi M. Rolf
Veteran jazz saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio has set a high bar for himself. His last jazz album, “Quantum Man,” was named a Best of 2017 by Downbeat magazine.
The prospect of following that critical success didn’t give pause, though. Rather, it bolstered Selvaggio to take on a new challenge: his first live record as a band leader. His 11th album, “re:invented – Live at the Bop Stop” comes out Oct. 4.
“I tend to be ambitious,” says the director of the jazz studies program at Kent State University. “Everything’s in real time. That’s the challenge. But it’s also the beautiful thing about doing a live record. Jazz music demands being in the moment. You can really capture that on a live record.”
Ahead of his release, we chat with Selvaggio about trying new things and why he still loves to play jazz after decades.
What was your approach to this album?
BS: I've been thinking about doing a live record, something I had not experienced as a leader before. Musically speaking, this record — more than any other — deals with some personal things and social things. I have a tune on there, I believe it's the last track on the record, called “Too Soon.” That was a song I wrote in dedication to my father who passed away many, many years ago. But it was a song that I thought about him and about people in my life that I lost early.
I'm not a big political person per se. But as we look at the political landscape, there was a phrase that always cracked me up to be honest: “plausible deniability.” It made me laugh because it's such an easy out. So I wrote a tune and titled it “Deniable Plausibility.” I'm always trying to keep a check on my surroundings, and that was the theme for this record more than any other I've really done.
What was it like collaborating with local musicians on this album and how did you choose them?
BS: There's such a good core of younger musicians in this town. Theron Brown. Tommy Lehman. Chris Coles. Zaire Darden. These are all musicians that I've been a part of their growing up in the scene. It's important for me to really take advantage of the good, strong core of young musicians that are part of a creative music movement — musicians that are creating new music in their own right. That inspires me and excites me to use them.
These are all musicians that I've known for many years. They understand a lot of different kinds of jazz music. They understand the process of composing and leading. For me, it's musicians that are leaders and creative, and that's why I like using them.
You’ve been performing on the Northeast Ohio jazz scene for 30 years. What do you still love about playing jazz?
BS: There's two words I use when I'm talking about what brings me to jazz. The first word is freedom. The freedom of what jazz music allows you as a musician, the ability to take something and create it in the moment. Bringing that to people is exciting. That also leads to the second word, which is honesty. The ability to be so free and open in the moment allows everybody to see an honest reaction to everything I do musically. That spontaneous and improvisational nature of jazz music heightens that and really excites me.
