Interview with Deborah J. Carter


Q: In the liner notes of Daytripper you are quoted with "I was never the greatest fan of the Beatles themselves but compositions of their calibre are a treasure". Please tell me why you decided to dig out these treasures.

Deborah J. Carter: There was no 'digging out' of these treasures to do. These are songs that kept popping up throughout my lifetime - they still do - and I simply wanted to record them the way they were playing back to me in my head. I had never owned recordings of any of these songs, but the compositions were so familiar to me that by the time I started preparing the initial charts I already knew the chord progressions of most of them. Besides the original Beatles charts themselves I had heard several versions done by other artists of their songs. I think the most impressive of them was Sarah Vaughn's Beatle's tribute produced by Toto. I heard that album back in the 80's and I think since then, I was forever destined to make a Beatle's tribute album of my own.

Q: Please tell me why of all the songs the Beatles wrote you've chosen the eleven songs on the album. Is there a certain story behind the songs you've recorded?

Deborah J. Carter: Except for Fixing A Hole - which I first heard four years ago - these are the 11 songs that I knew best and found most interesting to 'jazzify' with my trio. The two songs on my album that have been in my repertoire the longest are 'Something' and 'Yesterday'. In both of these songs, the things I liked best about them were the melody and the lyrics; I thought it would be nice to put more elaborate chords underneath. They say 'less is more', but now and then 'more is also more'.

Q: You've arranged three of the songs featured on Daytripper, Coen arranged the rest and Things We Said Today were arranged by both of you. How did you and Coen come up with the arrangements? Did you start with the premise to arrange the songs totally different from the original or was it something like a development that took place while rehearsing and recording the songs?

Deborah J. Carter: Coen and I have a great communication and I let him know some of the features I would like to have in the arrangements he was working on. Anyway, our band has a certain 'sound' that is very much ours, and it was just a question of adjusting the compositions to our signature style. Adding the hot sauce and condiments, you might say.

Q: Again you've worked with Mark Zanveld (bass), Coen Molenaar (piano, keys) and Enrique Firpi (drums) on this album. You're already married to Mark but I suppose Coen and Enrique have become part of your family too.

Deborah J. Carter: Absolutely! Who I am as a person is very much tied to how I sing and the same goes for them also. We click together very well socially and you can't help but notice and hear that on stage. We work hard together (and for each other), but have big fun as well. When we're travelling I look after all three of them equally. They're just 'my three guys'. We have a great time, but I hate having them come along with me when I'm shopping!

Q: You and Mark also give jazz workshops all over the world. What's your motivation to do this? And what exactly do you do in these workshops?

Deborah J. Carter: We really believe in the concept that at a certain point in your career you have to start giving back. It's an extremely rewarding task and when you teach you are learning everything all over again. Thus it's always beneficial for the teacher's craft as well.
The themes of the workshops vary according to the needs and the musical level of the students involved. It can range anywhere from a jazz history timeline to theory and improvisation.

Q: For these workshops you've worked with people from very different countries. Music is often considered as a universal language but yet there are many people who think for example of jazz as too complicated or too intellectual. Do you think there's a difference in the way people from different countries understand and respond to jazz music?

Deborah J. Carter: There's a tendency for countries that have no 'jazz tradition' to be much more open to the concept and definition of jazz; as more of an 'improvised evolving marriage of styles' than a fixed repertoire from a specific period of history. That allows for a very interesting type of jazz that is mixed with a local flavour. And I have indeed heard some amazing mixtures. (Of course, on the other hand, there are artists being marketed in the jazz world who couldn't improvise a sandwich, but that's showbiz.)

Q:And what would you do to introduce someone to jazz music who thinks it's too complex for him?

Deborah J. Carter: I think he/she should have a wider scope of it. Some focus on a specific type of jazz and think that that's all there is. The fact of the matter is that there are so many types of jazz, that you can in fact find complicated and intellectual jazz if you wish or simpler more palatable styles. There really is something for everyone under the category of jazz.

Q: Please tell me more about JoyFelt productions. I guess it's a company you established with your husband Mark Zandveld, isn't it? Do you plan to produce other artists as well?

Deborah J. Carter: The initial reason for setting up a company like this was to make the paperwork less complicated for contracts, tax declarations, etc. We don't discount producing or promoting other artists in the future. Working behind-the-scenes can be quite challenging and interesting as well.

Q: You live and work in the Netherlands, a country that has been known as very liberal and open minded. But lately there have been some worrying signals from politicians like Rita Verdonk who demanded that people only speak Dutch in public. And then there's a new law that immigrants have to pass a test to become Dutch with questions like "do you make tea with hot or cold water" or "how long does the train from Amsterdam to Enschede take". Unfortunately many German politicans want to establish such tests in Germany too. And there's even a discussion to force pupils to speak German only on schoolyards. What do you think of the development that may lead to a "fortress European Union"?

Deborah J. Carter: These issues enter into a large 'basket' of issues with which we are confronted with on a daily basis through the newspapers, radio, and TV. We are reminded of the problems stemming from global warming, unemployment, child and spouse abuse, health care, crime, etc. It's hard to decide over which issue to be more preoccupied with than another. What I do understand more now than in the past is the importance of being a good watchdog. It's not enough to actively vote and then let the politicians run the country. We have to stay on their backs, read between the lines, and keep them in check. Politicians generally only get away with what we allow them to. That makes the difference between their simply 'making a statement' and actually passing a law.
I must add though that I am a believer in learning the language and customs of your host country if only for the sake of the fact that 'information is power'. Of course the idea of a law controlling what language we use to speak to each other is ridiculous and we'll see if we let them get away with it.

Q: Have you recognized any changes in your everyday life in the Netherlands recently?

Deborah J. Carter: My everyday life, as that of a musician, is constantly shifting and changing anyway. Apart from the economy - which influences everyone's lives - I have not noticed any change that was a direct effect of anything the government has done.

Q: Daytripper is your fourth album as solo artist. Where do you see your musical progression compared to your first professional engagements and compared to your debut 'Scuse Me?

Deborah J. Carter: I see that we are more businesslike and serious in the organizing, rehearsing, and setting-up of the performance in order to be more relaxed and just have fun on stage. Nowadays for Mark and I, lying awake in the middle of the night staring at the ceiling just thinking about promotion and marketing is not an uncommon thing for us. That's something I never imagined would occur.
As far as the choice of music itself, in the period I was making 'Scuse Me a friend advised me not to make a guideline, but to intuitively pick the material for the recording and see what guideline emerges on its own. Now, ten years later, our intuition has evolved even more and we are definitely not afraid to make gut-decisions and stand by them.

Q: Do you have already plans for your next album?

Deborah J. Carter: We are actually researching, planning, and brain-storming about three different projects and by next year we'll know which one comes to the forefront to be album #5. I can't wait to find out what that will be.

For more infos visit deborahjcarter.com, timelessjazz.com and read my review of Daytripper, Girl Talking and 'Round Midnight plus have a look at a previous interview with Deborah here.