Q:How did your meeting Yusef Lateef at Hampshire College come about?

A:I was a first-year student there, I wanted to study film. I studied voice all through high school and had had enough of music. Yusef was offering this class in "free" improvisation. I took it on a whim and was hooked. He's a Libra, his birthday 3 days after mine, so we got on really well. He liked my
passion - I went to college with a lot of burnouts, and here I was this city kid making funny faces when I sang. I think it got his  attention.

Q:Yusef many consider part of the post-bop era, tho he is one  who constantly redefines what we call jazz in general. Is that how both of you are linked, considering your growing presence in the 'antifolk' genre?

A: I never really consider my music "Jazz". I came to the piano  late, and jazz was a way to learn the skills I needed to write tunes. I was always interested in writing songs, first and foremost. I think that's my connection to the antifolk scene. Apart from the gimmickery and sarcasm, antifolk is really about songwriting. I felt connected to them, even though
my music is, I think, very different. Plus when I started out, Sidewalk Cafe had the best open mic. As long as you were good, you could get an audience there. And even if you weren't good, you could.

Q:You started with your piano and trumpet. What prompted the decision to grow the sound instrument-wise to the present sextet?

A: When I'm writing I always hear other sounds in my head. Bringing in more instruments seemed like a natural progression. Violin came about only because of the player - I like the way  Roland Satterwhite played, liked what he brought to my music, so I asked him to play. It's sorta gone that way with all the guys in my group - I like what they do with my music. Plus they're the bomb to hang with. They make me feel cool.

Q:Any stories behind the pictures on the site? I like the one  with you in a grassy field, Manhattan skyline in back, daytime.

A: I did this photo shoot in Williamsburg, with my friend and photographer, Jessie Chehak. We thought it would look cool. I think it does. Plus I'm from originally from Manhattan, not like all those other guys who take pictures against the skyline. Ryan Adams better watch out.

Q: Most of your songs seem to have these inner conversations on why love works and sometimes why it never does. Does this resemble what you intend to come across with in your songwriting?

A: I don't intend much of anything. I'm a real believer in the unconscious. In fact I sometimes go so far to say thought is bullsh*t. Anything you think about isn't what you really want. I try to write without thinking, and oddly enough, all my tunes come out about love. I don't think they're about a love
with another person necessarily. More like love with yourself, God, society, whatever. Love is a great model for feeling incomplete. Whatever that means.

Q: While first hearing the new "Make Me Feel" CD, my highlight is the jazz-like intro into the Michael Jackson cover. “Sugar and Spice” sounds just like the studio version from “nitetime”..would fit nice into a soundtrack somewhere. What are
your highlights from this CD? What about the soundtrack angle?

A: MJ is, without a doubt, the highlight. There is something about covers - you relax into them cause it's not your own, it's not as close to you. I wish I could  sing all my songs like they were covers, to have that kind of faith in the material. I'd be interested in hearing other people cover them, really see if they hold up. Though I think I write, more and more these days, for my
voice. I'd love to do a soundtrack sometime, write music from beginning to end a la Badly Drawn Boy did with the Hugh Grant flick (“About A Boy”), or Bernard Hermann did with any awesome movie from the 1970’s.


Q: I like the conceptual works you have also. What hooked me a long time ago was hearing "How I Became A Pirate". Are you going to compose more of those pieces?

A: "Pirate"  is from a larger piece I did called "Songs For My Sister". It came out of a dramatic contex, a song cycle. I love tunes that work that way. Unfortunately with pop music, it's hard to pull it off. Only in musicials, but that genre has been shunned that for the last 30 years. I'm a hugh Sondheim fan.
I'm very interested in trying something conceptual, but I don't want it too conceived.

Q: Also on the “Make Me Feel” CD is what I would say is your best version of "Musta' Been Somebody Else" yet, a song Tom Waits could have written. Have you heard Tom's last 2 CDs?

A: Yeah. I dig most of "Alice" and not much of "Blood Money". "Mule Variations" is a masterpiece, at times. I'm hot and cold with Waits. He does a lot of great stuff, and a lot of crap (i.e.  stuff I don't like).

Q: Tell me about the mic positioning. Sounds like you  had one right at center of bass drum, sounds awesome! Trumpet seemed a bit faint. Was there anything challenging on getting the 6 of you to sound clear for this CD?

A: That's the engineer's problem. Ha! Mark Frankel (also my drummer) did a superb job with this disc

Q: You're a prolific producer of discs. Is this by design, or are the ideas coming so quickly they have to go to CD, or is there another reason?

A: It's just worked  out that way. I think the next disc will be a more focused effort, perhaps with a label. As long as the tunes keep coming, I'll keep recording. Guess I've been busy.