Name: Yosef-Gutman Levitt
Nationality: South African
Occupation: Bass guitarist, improviser, composer
Current release: Yosef-Gutman Levitt's Upside Down Mountain is out now.

If you enjoyed this interview with Yosef-Gutman Levitt and would like to know more about his work, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.



When did you first start getting interested in musical improvisation?  

I first got started improvising when I was about 17 and heard the band Weather Report. I was in Africa and living on a farm without very much access to music (certainly nothing like the availability today!) and much of my time was spent exploring my instrument.

Which artists, approaches, albums or performances involving prominent use of improvisation captured your imagination in the beginning?

In the beginning, I listened to and learned from local African music - South African music - and slowly made my way to albums like Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer, Mick Goodrick’s In Passing and Bill Evans’ From Right to Left.

I found the sheer “life” in improvised music on those albums to be so natural and open!

Focusing on improvisation can be an incisive transition. Aside from musical considerations, there can also be personal motivations for looking for alternatives. Was this the case for you, and if so, in which way?

It’s hard to hide as an improviser. It’s hard to hide from one’s self. I’m seriously challenged by having to reconsider and refresh the way I improvise (which is really a form of composing in the moment).

The challenge of being fluid on one’s instrument, responding and making music to what’s happening in the moment and finally the fact that you can’t go back represents to me a key musical consideration: life. I want to hear life in music and that means taking chances and falling down on occasion.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to improvisation? Do you see yourself as part of a tradition or historic lineage?

As I see it, our purpose - each and every one of us - is given a chance in this world to reveal something we were born to share, not for our egocentric purpose but to bring light into the world and to those around us. It’s the way we get to be and feel like ourselves.

My tradition is a channel by which my soul-song needs to be sung in order to fully capture what I’m trying to say musically. There is a lot of trial and error in finding that pathway to expression and it’s dynamic: it’s always a moving target. My focus and love for the substance and real wisdom in my tradition is key to me making simple music that’s alive and honest and focused.

Without accepting and embracing who I am, I would always be comparing myself to who I’m not and that comes through in improvised music.

What was your own learning curve / creative development like when it comes to improvisation - what were challenges and breakthroughs?

I took ten years off from playing my instrument. It was circumstantial and not because I necessarily believe that that’s a good idea, but in that time, I accepted who I was and who I was not. When returning to my instrument I had far less of an inclination o be like “this” or like “that”.

I would also say that recording music with good players and a good producer who can help shape the way the improvised parts happen, is a key to getting out of my comfort zone, forcing me to be open to outside ideas and being able to integrate them.

There are breakthroughs but you can’t see them when you’re too close to them in the “moment”. They only really appear clearly when you look back.

Tell me about your instrument and/or tools, please. How would you describe the relationship with it? What are its most important qualities and how do they influence the musical results and your own performance?  

I currently have two instruments: one, an acoustic bass guitar with a unique design by Harvey Citron and Steve Swallow. It resonates in a pretty way and that resonate completely influences the way I play.

Just like we “play to the room”, using the qualities of the room or the environment to create music that’s beautiful to hear so too the voice of the instruments or tools I use become part of the musical creation - and it’s not me imposing riffs, motives and lines on the instrument. It - and the room - have a major part in the music.

Can you talk about a work, event or performance in your career that's particularly dear to you? Why does 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?

I will always recall performing at the North Sea Jazz festival with Lionel Loueke. I was the band leader and the feeling of pure joy was what I remember. “People are here - thousands - and they’re enjoying what I have to share”. The connections with other people and power of making music when it is appreciated is profound.

My most recent work, Upside Down Mountain is also dear to me. It was played live and is very human and real. It felt and feels like a celebration of life and music in a real sense, and that feels special.

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?

I think that collaboration is a necessity and as a composer or co-composer or band leader with a vision, it’s also necessary to form a vision that’s your own and execute it as a solo artist.

Collaboration is an inspiring way to be exposed to new ideas and new angles. Both modes are full of gain and the trade-offs are worth it. :)

Derek Bailey defined improvising as the search for material which is endlessly transformable. Regardless of whether or not you agree with his perspective, what kind of materials have turned to be particularly transformable and stimulating for you?

I find improvising - particularly “hearing” and capturing phrases - in the moment to be a window into the soul, the person. It captures a moment in time that you can look at and be endlessly transformed: transformed into who you were with all the potential you had then.

When you're improvising, does it actually feel like you're inventing something on the spot – or are you inventively re-arranging patterns from preparations, practise or previous performances?

On a good day, the former - and on a bad day, the latter. It’s only on occasion that true inspiration hits and I can invent something. The key is to keep trying.

Most improvised music is bound by patterns, formulas and pre-played ideas. I find that when I play with good musicians, I can invent more.

To you, are there rules in improvisation? If so, what kind of rules are these?

The rule is me, don’t play too much. I try to stay away from jazz vocabulary and other go-to havens to fill space with notes. I want my improvised lines to be expressive, lyrical and relatable. Not dark and self-centered. Enough rules? :)

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?

In a live situation, I let myself go. Lots of risks, lots of decisions and ideally lots of fun. When there is a weak player it’s more challenging but with strong players it’s a pleasure!

The process for me works when I listen. Both to the players and also to the energy of the audience, the room and the aesthetic context; what I’m here to create.

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

The ideal state of mind for being creative is being “empty” and feeling amused or playful.

Sometimes collaborating can make the “emptying the mind” phase impossible but if there’s love and gratitude and joy in the room, beautiful things will very likely happen.

How do you see the relationship between sound, space and performance and what are some of your strategies and approaches of working with them?

I know that in my own projects I’m always trying to cut out sound and make room for space. Players like to play. After all we didn’t become musicians to be on mute.

At the same time on a silent backdrop, notes ring and resonate with far more depth and sparkle. It’s where the work of a good producer is critical: to guard the space and silence of the music. Without that awareness, music can become noise, no matter how well it’s executed.

In a way, improvisations remind us of the transitory nature of life. What, do you feel, can music and improvisation express and reveal about life and death?

Improvisation is an expression of life and feeling and soul searching.

The death kind of improvisation doesn’t feel to me to be an enduring direction even though so much improvised music is darkly colored.