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Name: Marilyn Mazur
Nationality: Danish
Occupation: Composer, percussionist, improviser
Current release: Rerooting, the current album of Marilyn Mazur's Shamania, is out via Clap Your Hands.

If you enjoyed this interview with Marilyn Mazur, visit her official website for everything you ever wanted to know about her. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook .

Over the course of her career, Marilyn Mazur has worked and recorded with a wide range of artists, including Eivind Aarset, Nils Petter Molvær, and Bugge Wesseltoft.

[Read our Eivind Aarset interview]
[Read our Nils Petter Molvær interview]
[Read our Bugge Wesseltoft interview]
[Read our Bugge Wesseltoft interview about Improvisation]



For many artists, a solitary phase of creative development precedes collaborative work. What was this like for you: How would you describe your own development as an artist and the transition towards your first collaborations?

I grew up playing classical piano, dancing and creating my own compositions alongside, so it was a totally new experience for me as a teenager to start playing with other musicians. In those days, there were no higher educations for improvising musicians in Denmark, so apart from the classical music, I was rather alone and “homemade” with my music and way into jazz.

I made my first band as an unexperienced 18-year-old, and developed from there. Soon I went to the Danish Royal Music Conservatory and there discovered the world of classical drums and percussion.

Not having learned the basic rules of standard jazz and having a lot of musical ideas to realize, it led to me changing my main instrument, as it seemed much easier for me to communicate directly with other jazz musicians as a drummer / percussionist / composer. An extra challenge was my curiosity about playing an instrument that rarely was played by women then. I was lucky enough to quickly get to play with and compose for strong artists and ensembles.

Nowadays, I still have a solitary phase when finding, creating and composing ideas and visions for the musical structures in my bands and projects. Together in the ensembles, we can then further develop these forms.

Tell me a bit, about your current instruments and tools, please. In which way do they support creative exchange and collaborations with others? Are there obstacles and what are potential solutions towards making collaborations easier?

I am a big collector of sounds - bells, gongs, drums, and all kinds of percussion. With my many sounds, I can paint the moods and dynamics in music. The more traditional drum kit can set the basic vibe or groove that the other musicians can “dance” upon.

I use intuitive energy when selecting the people for my bands, and I find good vibes and close friendship important for the music. With an open approach we create space for musical interaction, and react to each other’s individual inputs. Together, we can build colorful musical adventures.

It’s often a question of having a good chemistry in the group, meaning a common understanding of where we desire to go in our creation, curiosity and and a willingness to trust, follow and support each other.

What were some of your earliest collaborations? How do you look back on them with hindsight?

My first group (as a pianist, 1973), Zirenes, was with 2 Swedish female musicians, Katarina Fritzén (flute) and Gunnel Dahlberg (bass and violin), that I met at a summer jazz course. We soon had the great Danish drummer Alex Riel (who’s been a great inspiration to me in my early years) join the trio. Later the group changed to other members, before I also changed my instrument and several new collaborations were formed.

I also started joining other groups, i.e. the Danish Radio-Jazz Group and New Jungle Orch. and visiting improvising festivals, i.e. with members of British Feminist Improvising Group. In the late 70’ies the group Six Winds was formed, where I played a lot of marimba, sang and wrote most of the music.

At the same time I created my Music Theatre Primi Band with 10 female musicians. This group experimented a lot with dance, drumming, sound tableaus, voices, rituals and crazy ideas, and was important for me as a true musical family.

Looking back, those days founded the spectrum of my work and trust in the power of musical unity. Primi Band was recreated in an updated, inter-scandinavian and more professional musical version in the present Shamania.

Besides the aforementioned early collaborations, can you talk about one particular collaboration that was important for you? Why did it feel special to you? When, why and how did you start working on it, what were some of the motivations and ideas behind it?

There’s been so many strong and giving collaborations in my long career. Of course playing with especially Miles Davis (1985, 86 and 88) and Jan Garbarek (1991-2004) have influenced and inspired me. Miles with his power to gather and focus the energy around him, (Miles Davis, Live Around the World, Warner Bros). Jan with his sound of nordic beauty that I felt very connected to.
(Marilyn Mazur w. Jan Garbarek: Elixir, ECM 1962; Jan Garbarek Visible World, ECM1585, Twelve Moons ECM 1500)



Being asked by these great artists, that I had followed musically for years, I of course happily joined their groups, and in those years they were the central part of my musical life. Basically we mainly played together on stage, I used my ears and took part in fulfilling their musical visions. Which to me is - at least partly - different than my own longings.

Of my own most important creations/collaborations, I will mention Future Song, my main group for 20 years, founded in 1989 + a revival in 2015. This international band was my dream band. After finally leaving Miles Davis group, I was seeking to create a collective musical unity, focusing on human and spiritual - rather than technical - development and communication.



Making space together for each individual to shine, and also to have a 7-piece sound palette to compose for.

Future Song released 4 albums through the years and were also a part of my Jazzpar ensemble 2001 (CD: Marilyn Mazur, All the Birds - Stunt Rec. STUCD02072). Marilyn Mazur’s Future Song (Intuition / Verabra rec. INT 2105 2 / vBr 2105 2; Small Labyrinths ECM Records 1559; Daylight Stories, Stunt Rec. STUCD04082; Live Reflections, Stunt ret. STUCD 20082)

What are some of the things you learned from your collaborations over the years?

To take responsibility of the music and be clear about the concepts. To listen and receive, but also to contribute actively. To work hard to reach ones dreams.

How do you feel your sense of identity influences your collaborations? Do you feel as though you are able to express yourself more fully in solo mode or, conversely, through the interaction with other musicians? Are you “gaining” or “sacrificing” something in a collaboration?

It’s like in marriage or living single, all life is full of various compromises, there is “gaining” and“sacrificing” in both playing solo and in groups. I guess I have a need for both “modes” of living and playing, “interacting and meditating” complement each other!

Improvising together tends to get more complicated, the more musicians that are participating.

There are many potential models for collaboration, from live performances and jamming via producing in the same room together up to file sharing. Which of these do you prefer – and why?

Live performance of music is the most fulfilling, but to make recordings is also nice, because the music lasts and can be re-experienced.

Is there typically a planning phase for your collaborations? If so, what happens in this phase and how does it contribute to the results?

I like envisioning what a coming group can do together, which then often becomes a composition or impro-structure. Giving musical guidelines to show us some directions can encourage the creativity, involvement and playfulness.

What tend to be the best collaborations in your opinion – those with artists you have a lot in common with or those where you have more differences? What happens when another musician take you outside of your comfort zone?

I like challenges, as long as I like the resulting music.

A collaboration is best when there is a certain freedom to shape the music, and to feel we are on the same wave-length.

Do you need to have a good relationship with your collaborator? Or can there be a benefit to working with someone you may not get along with on a personal level?

For me it’s very important to have a close and almost family-like relation to the musicians in my groups. But it’s also exciting and inspiring to make new connections.

In the end, it’s OK to just connect musically - without being friends, as long as there’s no cause for bad energy, that would disturb the musical flow. But sometimes art can transform I.e. aggression into powerful beauty.

Some artists feel as though the creative process should not be a democratic one. What are your thoughts on the interaction with other musicians, the need for compromise and the decision making process?

It’s very important for me that there’s space for all musicians in my groups to present there own expression and contribute with there personal powers and ideas.

But It’s also a good thing that I can take initiative and make final decisions.

What's your take on cross-over collaborations between different genres?

My music is already kind of boarderless. I don’t think in genres, and I love the colors of all the different instruments, music cultures and also other art forms, so I go for multi - music !

It can sometimes be difficult coming from different approaches, but as I actually have a rather classical way of thinking music, I love to have a wide palet of sounds and styles.

In a live situation, decisions between creatives often work without words. How does this process work – and how does it change your performance compared to a solo performance?

It’s a question of responding to each other and having wide open ears, a kind of telepathy and understanding. Playing alone is similar - here just as an interaction with ones own sounds and the audience.

There are many descriptions of the ideal state of mind for being creative. What is it like for you as part of a collaboration? In which way is it different between your solo work and collaborations?

It’s ideal to experience leaving the conscious thoughts and purely blend into the collective music mind, being present in the energy of the moment, both as a solo-player and in a group.

Collaborating with one's heroes can be a thrill or a cause for panic. Do you have any practical experience with this and what was it like?

Playing with the greats that I’ve been appreciating from early on felt like coming home and concluding circles in life.