John Moulder is a guitarist and composer whose music has evolved from an assimilation of various musical traditions. John’s compositions and playing are featured on his CDs entitledAwakening (Mo-Tonal Records 1993), Through the Open Door (Igmod/Mo-Tonal Records 1997), Spirit Talk(NAIM 2003) and his new release Trinity.

Televised feature stories on John and his work have aired on Artbeat (WTTW) and Chicago Tonight (WTTW). He also has played on the recent recordings by vocalist Jackie Allen such as The Men in My Life (Blue Note 2003), Love is Blue (Blue Note 2004) and her new release Tangled Blue Note 2006).

John has been a member of the Paul Wertico Trio for twelve years. Recordings with Paul include Live in Warsaw (Igmod Records 1998), Don’t Be Scared Anymore (Premonition Records 2000), Stereonucleosis (A440 2004) and his new release The Other Side (NAIM 2006). He has played nationally and internationally at numerous festivals, clubs and concert halls and has performed with artists such as Eddie Harris, Bob Mintzer, Kurt Elling, Paul McCandless, Lyle Mays, Paul Wertico, Gary Burton, Niels Orsted Pederson and Terry Callier.

John received his Masters degree in music from Northwestern University. As an educator, he is currently a faculty member at Benedictine University and Northwestern University. He has lectured, taught master classes and conducted clinics at universities, high schools, music institutes and other settings. 

JR247- When did you get the idea for this project and how did it evolve?

 JM- The idea came while I was traveling to Princeton, New Jersey for a friend’s wedding. On the way from the airport, I was reflecting on sacred and mythological themes present in many religious traditions, as they relate to our spiritual life .It dawned on me to create a musical work that was evocative of these moments and aspects of the spiritual life from within a Judeo-Christian framework in a way that would be open to other traditions as well. Trinity is structured in three parts with three compositions in each part. Each part of the work celebrates one of the divine persons and the “work” that is attributed to each of them. At the same time, my intention was that the pieces relate to the many facets of the human spiritual journey.with a sense of life beginning in God (Chaos and Creation) and returning (coming full circle) back to God (Resurrection and Freedom end the work). At any rate, once I got to the hotel room I wrote all the ideas down and then began the process of composing these pieces over the next four years.

247-Tell us about the musicians on the project...

JM :I have a long history with many of the musicians on this recording. I have worked with Paul Wertico as a guitarist in his trio and he as a member of my quartet for around 15 years. Paul is very inventive andI knew that he would know instinctively what to do with the compositions. The same with Eric Hochberg who played in both Paul’s trio and my quartet. Laurence Hobgood, Jim Gailloreto, Brad Wheeler, Rob Amster, Kelly Sill and I all began to play on the Chicago scene together in the late 80’s. I can’t say enough about each of these guys. Laurence plays on much of this CD…did a brilliant job and was the consummate professional. Hans, Dane and I have played with regularly in Jackie Allen’s band. They have played together for over 20 years…so this record has a lot of musicians who have played with one another in many situations and developed a musical chemistry. Some musicians whom I felt were perfect for certain compositions of this work were Richie Corpolongo who is incredible on saxophone, Paul McCandless a true multi-instrumentalist (who plays oboe and bass clarinet on my disc) whose work I have enjoyed for years. Tito Carrillo contribured some beautiful flugel and trumpet work, Ken Hall a long time collaborator played vibes, Geof Bradfield on sax and Eric Montska, who plays drums with Patricia Barber was on two of the cuts.. I really felt fortunate to be surrounded with such amazing musicians…Oh and I should mention Ryan Cohen … a very inventive and talented arranger, who arranged Creation and Resurrection.

 247- Where did you record and mix it?

 JM- We recorded the project at Hinge in Chicago. It took about four days to record the material. We ended up mixing the record at Brian Peters’ studio. Brian produced the project and mixed it. He is really gifted and worked tirelessly on this project. He engineered Paul Wertico’s CDStereonucleosis, which I played on. We mixed it together at his studio and this allowed us to spend the time needed to bring the mixes to where we wanted them to be. Danny Leake (Urban Guerrilla Engineers), who has done a lot of work as Stevie Wonder’s live sound engineer ended up doing the mastering. . 

247- As a sacred concert for jazz ensemble, where is this being performed and what are performances like?

JM:  The record has only been released for about a month…but in that time we have had two performances, one at the Atheneum Theatre in Chicago and the other at the Sheil Center at Northwestern University. Both went very well. People have been highly enthusiastic about the performances. The one at the Sheil Center was intimate so that at the end of the concert when we played Freedom, with a second line groove, all the horn players walked out into the audience of the chapel blowing over the changes, ala New Orleans. People loved that! We have been improvising with the performances. Many times in the concert before a piece is performed, a very brief passage from either scripture or spiritual writings of a mystic or theologian is proclaimed by one of many readers to set up the piece which is instrumental and of course without words. I go back and forth, there is a strong part of me that likes just having the music speak for itself, but another that realizes that having a brief reading helps provide a context for the audience. We will be performing this as the beginning of the Chicago Jazz Festival on September 1st, and at that concert, it is likely that we will just play. My hope is to have Trinity performed mostly in concert halls and places of worship.

 JR247- How has this recording project been different than previous ones for you?

JM:  One of the chief differences was that the themes and the framework developed before any of the music was composed. Usually I just compose music, without a guiding image or idea. In this case I had to take governing ideas beforehand like Incarnation and set it to music…with a descending bass line and harmonic movement in contrast with Resurrection where everything…like the bass line, harmony and register of the instruments ascends. Another unique aspect was the interaction and brainstorming of the musicians involved…all spiritual people in their own way…some a part of organized religions and some not, but each with a perspective and something to offer in the discussions about what we were conveying musically.

 JR247-John, this current release “Trinity”, has evolved from a life’s work in your many diversified activities. What are some of your goals you still want to achieve musically?

 JM:  I have a recording of mine  that I have done with Paul Wertico and two Norwegian musicians….Arild Andersen on bass and Bendik Hofseth (from Steps Ahead) on saxophone that I am excited about mixing and releasing hopefully this year or the beginning of next year. In terms of the near future, I have a few ideas about recordings that I am hoping to be able to do…from a live straight ahead performance with a quintet to some solo guitar recordings…to some more groove and texture oriented experimental recordings I would like to continue to compose and play and record as much as possible.

 JR247-John, Can you elaborate on your life, the different things you do, and juggling work of the ministry and music?

JM:   This really is at times a juggling act. Currently, I am involved in a number of things…on the musical side, I play, compose, record etc…and teach both privately and in the music departments at universities (Northwestern University and Benedictine University). In terms of pastoral work, I reside and assist at a north side parish in Chicago as well as at the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University. Along with that I have worked as a chaplain of artists for an organization called the Arts Alliance of the Archdiocese of Chicago, which was created to support and reach out to artists of all kinds. I enjoy most everything I am apart of, but constantly need to get a handle on managing time. I love when I have generous margins of time around what I do, and wish that occurred more often, but so do a lot of people I know. 

JR247- What guitars/equipment did you use on the record?

JM:  For electric guitars, I primarily used my Gibson 335, and used the Klein guitar on songs like Chaos and Sorrowful Mysteries. Other than that I used a Taylor steel string, a Takamine nylon string and a Nashville dobro guitar on Freedom. A guitarist friend of mine, Chris Winters was nice enough to loan me his old Fender Pro Reverb for the date which got a really warm sound. 

Thanks John for your time. We wish you continued success with “Trinity”, and we look forward to hearing more things from you.

 For information about John moulder’s music, please visit: JohnMoulder.com