Interview with Ryan Heinlein

You have to take a picture of him while he's playing or he'll make a funny face.

We'll conclude this workshop's batch of interviews with trombonist Ryan Heinlein. Ryan's band "Project H" will be doing a preview performance as part of this Friday's show at La Esquina. Ryan has established himself as one of the top jazz trombonists in KC and it's been great get him in a Black House workshop.

 

Where are you from and what brought you to Kansas City?

I'm originally from Wichita, Kansas. I was the director of instrumental music for grades 5-12 at a private school in town. My girlfriend (now wife) was planning on moving down there as I was pretty comfortable in Wichita with a decent job and some semi-regular gigging opportunities. She was offered a promotion at her work in Overland Park and I felt that this would be a good opportunity for me to play a little more and try something new career-wise. We got engaged and I moved to Kansas City in May of 2008. 

 

What don't you like about jazz?

Man, Matt and Chris both had so many things to say that I agreed with. This one's kind of tough to offer anything new without sounding completely cliche. I guess maybe I don't like what can be considered the generation gap in jazz. I see a lot of people, not all but a lot, turn their noses at new or younger artists like The Bad Plus, Esperanza Spalding or Robert Glasper because they aren't doing things the "traditional" way. I think they need to look at what this generation has grown up with. We are the MTV generation, the hip hop generation, generations X & Y. Jazz has taken on so many forms over it's duration, why does it need to stop? Why should it be taboo to incorporate what we grew up on into our music? And I hate the answer," Well, it's just not jazz." If you stop calling what we do jazz, then jazz will become stagnant and die. Jazz may never be popular but as long as it gets passed on to future generations and they make it relevant to their society, it will live on in some form. I hope that when our generation becomes the "old guys" we accept whatever the kids are doing with open arms. It will be a different time with different technologies and influences, we can still be loyal to what we do or did and appreciate new things. That being said, I do think it's important to know and appreciate where all this came from. I wouldn't be a jazz musician if it weren't for people like Louis Armstrong, Miles, Mingus, Coltrane or the people that taught me about them. I wouldn't be the type of jazz musician or composer that I am without artists like Radiohead, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bob Marley, The Dead Kennedys or The Roots.

 
What's it like being a trombone player in the KC jazz scene?

For the first couple years here it was pretty tough. I was really fortunate to have met Clint Ashlock through a mutual friend when I moved to town and started playing in his big band, New Jazz Order, but that's really all I did. If there is a guide to networking in a new city, I'm pretty sure I did everything it tells you NOT to do. I was working full-time and not hitting the scene as much as I should have, or at all for that matter. In the last eight months, I have quit my job and am now pursuing music full-time. I'm getting out much more regularly and am trying to be as versatile a musician as possible. I think it's safe to say that if you're open to playing in any setting, there will be more work for you. I work my ass off to find gigs, whether it be with one of my groups or with someone else, because it did me no good sitting at home waiting for the gigs to come to me, it doesn't work like that. I guess the short answer would be, it's good to be a trombone player here if you are willing to work for it.

Who are your biggest influences and why?

I think most trombone players will throw J.J. Johnson and Carl Fontana out there. I think they are probably the two most emulated jazz trombonists and for good reason. I lean towards these three though: Frank Rosolino, Elliot Mason and Dennis Rollins.

I think Frank is the best there ever was. The flexibility he had on his horn is unrivaled. I strive for that sort of range. Guys like Fontana and Bill Watrous are extremely flexible too but their tone thins out so much in the upper register. Not Franks. I love that! His style is just so unapologetic and ballsy (there's that word again) but he still achieves an amazing tone. If there is a sound that I strive for, it's his. 

Elliot Mason is a young guy, I think he's only a few years older than me. I've been fortunate enough to take lessons with him when he comes to KC to work with Mike down at BAC. I have two pages of notes that I took while he talked to me about his harmonic approach to improvising. It's some pretty amazing stuff, and relatively simple at its core. I don't think there is a more technically gifted player out there today. I also don't think there is a better guy at "playing out" than him because he makes it sound so natural, you really have to pay attention! He is doing his own thing and I admire that so much. My jaw is usually on the floor when he solos.

Dennis Rollins is mainly known for his funk and reggae work. He has taken two genres that are generally not as harmonically busy as jazz and really made them exciting through his soloing. Dude can straight up play! He's done a lot of work with Jamiroquai, The Brand New Heavies and Jazz Jamaica. He's heavily influenced by Fred Wesley and was one of my main inspirations when I decided that I wanted to write for myself. 

 How have you felt about your first Black House workshop?

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I got this session's roster in an email. I saw a pretty diverse line up as far as style of playing and writing were concerned and was interested to see what direction the group would go. I have to say that I am very proud to tell people I play in this group and would do it again in a heartbeat if given the chance. There isn't a weak player in the group and everyone is really cool. I love groups that can joke around with each other, have a good time and still get something done. The music is challenging but really fun to play and there's substance behind each piece that we are playing. My only regret is not writing a piece this session. I will change that next time!

What's Project H all about?

The Project H is a group I started in while teaching in Wichita. I was trying to put a jazz band together for my school but had a very small program. The kids were spread so thin there too. For example, one of my two clarinets also played baritone sax, bass clarinet, tenor in the drumline, he played basketball, was in debate, track, scholars bowl, science Olympiad and evidently still did homework somewhere in there because he was a straight "A" student. Anyways, it was extremely hard to find time to rehearse but we came up with 6-9pm on Wednesdays or something like that. I had ten or eleven kids sign up but maybe had three or four regularly show up. Rehearsals usually ended early and I would stay later to take out my frustration on the piano. I started messing around quite a bit with chord progressions, melodies and counter melodies and before I knew it, I had seven complete tunes. I got some local guys together to try them out. It went well so I continued writing and started booking gigs. I started out just writing lead sheet tunes but eventually went to writing more through-composed works. I soon began pulling from other influences, musically, politically and personally. I grew up listening to so much music that wasn't jazz that those influences had to eventually creep into my writing. I started pulling from the funk, rock and old R&B that my parents raised me on, the reggae and ska bands I was around while playing in that type of group and the jazz that I was exposed to in college. My book is now 44 tunes long and is about 90% originals. I like to think that it covers a pretty wide spectrum of genres.

 I released my first recording, "Welcome to April" with the Wichita guys and am getting ready to go into the studio with the Kansas City crew in the next month or two to record my second. I'm really excited about the new stuff! After this next CD is released, I really want to push this group towards a wider audience. I think with as diverse as we can be, we are able to play jazz clubs and rock clubs. I would also like to use this group as an educational outlet. I'd like to go around to area high schools, middle schools and colleges to give masterclasses on creativity and musicianship. I think we could get some positive responses if kids see some younger guys doing what we do. 

What are you currently practicing? 

Right now, I'm mostly focused on getting the songs for this new CD tightened up but I'm also preparing for my second DMA recital at UMKC. Gotta get the classical chops back up! Aside from that, I guess I'm working really hard to settle down as an improviser. Saying more with less, creating conversation with the rhythm section rather than a shouting match. Too many times I feel like a puppy off it's leash for the first time when I solo. I have all these cool things going through my head and have no idea how to play them. It's getting better, I promise!