Agustí Fernandez, A Portrait In Words For An Artist Of Sounds: a discussion with Ken Vandermark

KV: What are your future plans Agustí, long term and in the near future?  Are there new groups, the continuation of ongoing ensembles, new aesthetics or creative strategies you want to develop as an individual, in collaboration?

AF: My plans are to keep playing, as much as possible. Just to next Christmas [2015]: I will be a member of a new ensemble that Barry Guy is putting together next November in Krakow, with a new piece he composed last summer, “The Blue Shroud”, about the Guernica painting of Pablo Picasso. There is a new trio with Frances-Marie Uitti (cello) and Joel Ryan (electronics) starting next October in Warsaw. I will play four concerts at the Ad Lib festival in Warsaw, because this year I’m turning 60 and I’ve been invited; one of them will be with an ensemble of Polish musicians. There are also some solo concerts, one of  them at the Barcelona Jazz Festival, where I’m presenting the recording “El laberint de la memòria” (Mbari, 2011) for the first time in Spain. This recording shows a more traditional face of me, meaning that I play mostly on the keyboard, as a standard pianist, playing melodies and harmonies. The compositions are original and based on the Spanish classical piano music of the XXth century. I also have a couple of concerts with Peter Evans in Huddersfield and San Sebastián.  I’ll go to IRCAM, Paris, and also to Tallin, Estonia, for workshops on improvisation. There will also be some trio concerts with Ivo Sans (drums) and Sònia Sánchez (flamenco dancer) that I’m very excited about. And I’ll join Mats Gustafsson in Vienna this October for his 50th birthday. So, all in all, busy times.

There are always new strategies that I’d like to develop and deepen. I think I can improve my solo playing, my vocabulary, and my piano playing in general. I only need time to practice the ideas I have in mind. And also there are always new ways to collaborate or play with other musicians. I’m very much concerned about the different levels of interaction and I’d like to work a little bit on that. Of course, all this will bring new esthetics issues, etc.

Ah! and I don’t forget all the recordings that are coming out soon or later, hahaha.  And in the long term I’m thinking of making some new solo recordings (completing the Pianoactivity series), some projects with big ensembles and, if possible, to retire at 70.

Credit for translation into Spanish: Bárbara Mingo Costales

Originally published at http://www.elestadomental.com/paywall/retrato-de-un-artista-del-sonido