Gilad Hekselman returns to Seoul to crush it playing jazz guitar

A virtuoso of jazz guitar who’s been on the jazz scene for almost two decades is returning to Korea for the fifth time to perform. Israeli-born, New York City-based Gilad Hekselman, 40, is performing as a trio along with bassist Matt Brewer and...

Gilad Hekselman [MUSICAL PARK]

A virtuoso of jazz guitar who’s been on the jazz scene for almost two decades is returning to Korea for the fifth time to perform.

Israeli-born, New York City-based Gilad Hekselman, 40, is performing as a trio along with bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Joe Dyson at the Kwanglim Arts Center in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, this Friday.

Over the years, Hekselman has frequently collaborated with other acclaimed jazz artists like Fred Hersch, Mark Turner, Anat Cohen and Esperanza Spalding. Hekselman has been praised for playing in polyphony, which refers to being able to play two or more independent melodies simultaneously.

His latest album was “Far Star” (2022), which will be performed at the show along with some older songs.

Last week, the Korea JoongAng Daily spoke with Hekselman on the phone about his philosophy as a jazz artist and what he looks forward to in his Korean show.

The following are edited excerpts from the interview.

Gilad Hekselman [MUSICAL PARK]

Q. You're coming to Korea next week to perform. Are you looking forward to it?

A. I'm always excited to play in Korea. I like the country but I especially like the audiences in Korea. I find that it's always like a gig combination, and there's a lot of respect for the art and a lot of enthusiasm too. People are really eager to participate and it's always nice to bring my music to different places.

What would you say is different about this upcoming show? Every show is different. We're improvisers, so in jazz music, you play in the moment. So even though some of the song selections will be the same, the way we play them is always different. You want to create it like it’s the first time you play it, every time.

I really don't like to be overprepared for shows because I want to be surprised together with the audience. If it's surprising for me, then it's fun for the audience. If I know exactly what’s going to happen, then maybe the audience is going to feel like even though it sounded good it wasn't as exciting. There's something very exciting about this energy when you don't have things worked out beforehand.

For this show, you're performing with Brewer and Dyson. How would you describe your teamwork?

I've played with both of them a lot but this is the first time we are playing as a trio. But knowing the musicians that they are, I'm sure the teamwork will be amazing because both of them are the greatest musicians in the field and besides that, in the teamwork element, they're both very open-hearted people.

When we play, it’s like we're having a conversation and you know how in a conversation if somebody doesn't listen to you, it's not very fun. But these guys are such great listeners and they care so much about the music and about what everyone in the band has to say that I'm sure that there will be a beautiful exchange of information.

Gilad Hekselman [MUSICAL PARK]

How do you define jazz?

Essentially, the way that I see it, it's a music art form that is closer to comedy or to things that are in the moment as opposed to, like, theater, where you must perfect that performance. To me, I almost feel like I'm watching a great conversation between three very interesting people in jazz.

When you have a good conversation, what happens is that everybody elevates each other. The fact that there are several people saying interesting things and that they bring ideas elevates everything because of this conversation. It's a beautiful thing when it happens; it's like this power that wasn't there before. It's like one plus one equals three — you could say that an extra element happened because of that.

Music has always been a part of your life. Of all the genres, what got you into jazz and what influenced you to become a jazz guitarist?

I started as a rock player when I was young and when I was playing rock, like already then, people always spoke of jazz musicians as the highest level of musicianship. I was very set on playing rock but then slowly I started listening to some more, let's say, progressive rock, and I got more open to the idea of more sophisticated harmonies and rhythms.

And then the thing that really made the biggest change is that I applied to this high school when I was 14, that had a jazz program and they called it jazz contemporary music. So I was interested to check it out. Then I got accepted and people told me, “You have to go, it's a great opportunity.”

So I went and it turned out to be a great opportunity. I had really good teachers that showed me how to listen to this music and how to play and I fell in love with the spirit, the sound and the feeling of it. It's like it became this delicious thing that I just wanted to eat all the time.

Could you recommend some songs from your discography to first-time listeners?

“Verona” is one of my songs that is more known and people seem to like it, and then there are songs that are more rock-oriented like “Do Re Mi Fa Sol” and there are ones that are like, more loose, like “Far Star” for example.

Where do you get inspiration when composing your songs?

I think that most musical ideas come from other music. It's like a continuation so maybe it's a collection of a few different musical ideas from different places but essentially, I think that it all comes to me from all the things that I've listened to all my life and all the things that are around me. I'll try to listen to anything and my only criteria is if the music will make me feel something.

Gilad Hekselman [MUSICAL PARK]

How do you name your songs, considering that your music doesn’t have lyrics?

For me, I try to come up with something that feels right.

For example, for the song “Verona,” I wrote it when I was in Verona. For “Do Re Mi Fa Sol” I called it that because I was making a joke about how it's the wrong notes, and it kind of worked with the melody. And then “Far Star” was like a description of the place that I go to when I close my eyes and try to imagine sounds, like a song or a melody or even something like traveling to a far star.

And what about “Seoul Crushing”? Were you in Seoul when you wrote that? It came from the term soul-crushing, like it means something is really upsetting, but also crushing in music terms means that you play really hard; like you're smashing the instruments and playing really, really hard. So yeah, there were some life events that were soul-crushing and I was in Seoul and the song was crushing all at the same time.

What are some of your goals for the future? I don't know if I have specific goals except doing what I've been doing or trying to improve as a musician. I guess a goal of mine right now is just to expand the circle of people that I play with. I would like to collaborate with more artists and create more sounds in my music and explore different orchestrations. Career-wise, that's always my goal; to make better music and elevate people's lives.

Is there a possibility that you may transition to another genre in the future?

I think I'm going to stick with jazz in this lifetime, but who knows? When I was a rock player, I remember I went to buy a guitar and the salesperson in the store told my dad that this guitar is good because if you ever want to play other genres, it's more flexible. And I remember thinking to myself, “Man, what are you talking about? I'm going to play rock forever.” (laughs) So, you know, like, who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll be done with jazz and I’ll play flamenco. I’m open to everything.

I try not to predetermine things too much, and that's kind of why I love jazz because jazz is actually the only genre that I know that lets you do that. For any other genre, if you decide to change the beat of the song, all of a sudden people would look at you like, “What are you doing?” But in jazz, it's okay to do that so I guess that's why I love it so much and feel that it’s hard for me to see myself playing other genres but again, who knows? Life takes you in different directions than you expect that's for sure.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]