Oren Marshall (UK) in an interview at ZomerJazzFietsTour (ZJFT) 2018, August 25th. Location of this interview: Garnwerd, Headquarter of the ZJFT.
With many thanks to Oren Marshall, Marcel Roelofs, everyone at ZJFT, especially the nice people at the Headquarter and my team on tour: Maria Palomeque and Siebelt Süßmilch.
During the ZomerJazzFietsTour (ZJFT) (SummerJazzCyclingTour) 2018, I had the very special chance to interview some really fascinating musicians. This very unique festival, located in the northern country side of Groningen/The Netherlands, has developed into one of the treasures of the Dutch Jazz Festival landscape. The festival’s music is programmed by Marcel Roelofs, a legend, whose signature of musical taste is fabulously here.
On this festival the visitors are invited to pick their cycling routes in the beautiful Reitdiep valley and at least try to grab some of 29 concerts in medieval churches and farmer’s barns, with music featuring the latest trends in jazz and improvised music from The Netherlands and abroad.
In the past years I already had the big pleasure to interview artists like: Joe McPhee, Lucien Dubuis and Regula Schwab. This year the tuba players Oren Marshall and Michel Godard, the multi instrumentalist Eugene Chadbourne and baritone saxophone player, composer and educator Giuseppe Doronzo.
Very special for me was to meet the tuba-duo with Oren Marshall (UK) and Michel Godard (FR). All happened in the Headquarter Garnwerd of the ZomerJazzFietsTour, where many of the musicians of this festival met for refreshment and socializing between their performances. After my interviews with Giuseppe Doronzo (IT) and Eugene Chadbourne (US), I got postive feedback on my further interview requests from Michel Godard and Oren Marshall. Just directly after their last concert, which took place in the small church of the village Ezinge, we met for our talks in the evening, really relaxed while the festival already ended slowly. I was very happy to get both of them, they were very positive, charming, talkative and interested.
"Oren Marshall is a pioneering player of acoustic tuba and electric tuba who, crossing between classical, jazz, improvised and world music, has collaborated with the likes of Derek Bailey, Charlie Haden, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Moondog, Radiohead, Hermeto Pascoal, The Pan-African Orchestra and the London Philharmonic.
He has played with every major orchestra in London as well as with the Bolshoi Theatre Soloists, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Ballet. As a member of London Brass (whom he joined in 1987) he has made numerous recordings, toured worldwide several times, played 6 Proms concerts and performed for The Queen, Prince Charles, the German Chancellor, the President of China and The Pope.
Amongst the many Duos Oren has played are performances with Jazz pianist John Taylor, New York Beatboxer Adam Matta, UK Beatboxers Shlomo and Hobbit, Prepared-Piano player Hauschka, Percussionist Evelyn Glennie and multi award-winning vocalist, Bobby Mcferrin.
As a solo artist, Oren has played all over the world and his ground-breaking solo work lead to multiple nominations for the BBC Innovation in Jazz Award.
He has also shared the stage with artists such as Gil Scott Heron, Roy Ayers, Moby, Vinicio Caposella, Murcoff, Tomasz Stanko and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
He leads and writes for the Charming Transport Band, bringing together master musicians from Ghana and Nigeria and innovators from London’s jazz and improvised music scenes.
Oren is currently Head of Brass Studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London and teaches on the Leadership course at the Guildhall School of Music and on the Jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music.
“A rambunctious young man” Gunther Schuller
“I ain’t ever heard a Tuba being played like that before” Bobby McFerrin
“The Jimi Hendrix of the Tuba” John Fordham
“Beautiful Tuba! Lindo, lindo, lindo!” Hermeto Pascoal"
Source: www.orenmarshall.com
Cover picture: Owen Marshall with Michel Godard live at ZomerJazzFietsTour 2018, by Maarten Kerkhof.