Features
Ethan Margolis, aka “Emaginario”, Talks To Jazz Guitar Today
JGT contributor Joe Barth interviews flamenco/jazz guitarist Emaginario.
Above photo credit: David Doobinin
“Emaginario” aka Ethan Margolis is an electrifying guitarist in the Los Angeles area. He has immersed himself in the music of the Deep South of the United States to the Flamenco styles of Spain and much more. Expressed on his website “Margolis continues the process of finding surprising–yet also logical–connections in the many strands of his musical life’s tapestry. He is an artist firmly in sync with an era of redefining of musical identities, in flamenco, jazz, and other formerly fixed musical genres.” Ethan has just released his newest album Interlude of the Duende.
JB: Being born in Cleveland, Ohio, I imagine you started with rock guitar, how old were you when you started to play jazz or did flamenco come first?
EM: I actually started on drums and later moved to guitar because it offered me a fluid vehicle for the songs I was writing. My father is a singer-songwriter who had some success in Cleveland, Ohio and I followed that school of writing first. He wrote in various genres such as blues, R&B, and folk rock. I remember the first song I ever learned was “Hey! Bo Diddley”, then a blues progression, then a punk song and progressively moved into the music of Pete Townshend and songs like Elton John’s “Love Lies Bleeding”. Previous to the guitar, I was more interested in drumming, African dance rhythms, and performances like “The Ramayana” which I had seen because my mother was passionate about international music forms along with the jazz records she had at home. After performing as a singer-songwriter for a few years, I found Flamenco music and shortly afterwards moved to Spain. Jazz was always in my ear – especially the space and the dissonance – but I didn’t dedicate myself to the genre until returning to the USA after Spain in 2011.
JB: Musically reflect upon your eleven years in Spain and how it formed you as a guitarist when you moved and arrived in Los Angeles.
EM: It’s important to understand that before I speak on Spain, I need to speak on the Romany influence on my playing. Spain is the place where I lived and it set the soundscape for me – be that with Flamenco or with its classical composers like De Falla, Albeniz and Rodrigo. However, my mentors, friends and major influences from Spain all come from the Romany (Gitano) community in Andalucía – specifically from the provinces of Sevilla and Cádiz. For eleven years straight I played every night and every day within that community and there are characteristics that you must uphold as a guitarist to be able to do that. I was encouraged by my mentors to understand and to react musically with authentic “gitanería” because they believed that the art form was disappearing. Understanding what sounds “gitano” in music or comprehending the word “gitanería” is something that most people will never arrive at. For example, many people who listen to Django’s records may hear his virtuosity, scale choice and rhythmic prowess – but I specifically hear the “gitanería” in his playing and that makes me smile. Within the community that I played in, many of the singers and guitarists were aware of the dangers of commercializing their sound at the expense of authentic cultural expression. All of those things changed my guitar playing forever.
JB: In terms of jazz influences, to you, what are three of the most influential jazz guitar albums and why?
EM: There is no way that I can give just 3 albums, but of course, I have my jazz guitar heroes who inspired me and helped me understand the direction I should move in. First, I’ll mention the players in order of influence upon me – Joe Pass, Grant Green, Pat Martino, Django Reinhardt, Lenny Breau, Charlie Christian, and Wes Montgomery. After the period of Breau and Martino, I don’t draw a lot from guitarists, however, I certainly respect and admire all of their amazing contributions. Here are some albums from my top three guitar influences:
1. Joe Pass – Virtuoso No.3 (because I can hear Joe playing alone and because the song choice is right up my alley…just read the song titles), another is Take Love Easy (I love the art of vocal accompaniment and listening to Joe play for Ella is spectacular) and For Django (for obvious reasons of Joe’s respect to what Django did for the guitar)
2. Grant Green – Am I Blue (due to its full sound of guitar with organ and horns), Green Street (because it is honest, bluesy and the guitar tone really sits out front) Feelin’ the Spirit (because he addresses some of the spirituals I most love) and Solid (because it’s incredible and again has that full sound guitar, piano, horn)
3. Pat Martino – Live at Yoshi’s (Pat influenced me more as a player and guitarist than his albums did – I don’t love the sound of most of Pat’s albums, but I could listen to him swing all day long….so, the Live at Yoshi’sdelivers ‘pure Pat’ in an organ trio with Joey DeFrancesco and Billy Hart that moves my soul)
Other albums of note for me would be:
Cabin Fever by Lenny Breau
The Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings
Worried Blues: Skip James
The Artistry of Wes Montgomery
JB: Briefly, what are the musical elements in jazz and flamenco styles that people like yourself and pianist Chano Dominguez find so rewarding in fusing them?
EM: Wow…so there are modal, improvisational qualities shared by the two genres, there are huge cinematic Spanish-Arabic melodies that sound amazing when played by horns, and both genres have very fast-moving syncopation. The 6/8 rhythms in Flamenco speak a lot to African drumming patterns, henceforth so much Afro-Cuban and Flamenco fusion nowadays. However, there are a few elements in Flamenco language that require years of understanding to execute well and those specific elements haven’t quite found an organic fit in Jazz…yet. I’m talking about (1) the Remate and (2) the idea of Soniquete. I think that we are inspired by these elements and by the uncovered ground in Jazz related to them. However, working them into jazz is very hard and so it is both a rewarding challenge and a mystery for us.
JB: Tell us about your goals in making your new album, Interlude of the Duende, with some songs featuring you as a guitarist and others where your singing is more the focus.
EM: I was hoping to express myself in a way that people hadn’t heard me do before – on steel string acoustic guitar and in a trio setting. The conceptual idea was to guide the listener through my musical stream of consciousness and through the rhythms that inspire me. That may be transmitted as scattered or unfocused to some listeners, but I have lived deeply within all of these rhythms and they come from an authentic place inside of me. I try to avoid gimmicks and clichés wherever possible in my writing and I hope that that fact speaks to who I am. Because my musical mentorships have primarily been rhythm-focused, the pieces demanded innovative drum accompaniment. Drummer, Eric Harland did that beautifully and Larry Grenadier bridged the sound for us on bass. I think the rhythm section on this album provides a really unique and special backdrop to the sound. I hoped that my voice would function as a soft-speaking narrator to the compositions – and that it would provide a type of subtext throughout the arc of the album.
JB: Please tell us what you appreciate about the acoustic guitar that you use on this recording.
EM: I played a Taylor 912ce Builders Edition acoustic guitar on this album and although it’s high end EQ bothers me (it is too bright), the guitar is an incredibly comfortable guitar for both fingerstyle and picking. That kind of comfort is vital in the guitars that I play because I am then able to transition between right-hand guitar techniques that are quite different from the norm.
JB: Practice and listening aside, can you pinpoint one or two ‘things’ that really boosted your profile and career toward where it’s at today?
EM: No, I don’t think I can – my path has been long and strenuous – I’ve moved forward little by little with help from all of my fellow musicians. About six years ago I made an important (and very difficult) decision for myself that I would stop gigging as much in clubs in order to focus on my writing and raise the tier of my productions. I had to find some new ways to bring in money, but the result was a newfound confidence and focus unlike any I have had in the past. I needed to reboot myself, stop running the rat race, and give myself the space to create at a higher level.
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