By Béco Dranoff / September 6th, 2020
Our partner Béco Dranoff in a conversation with the great Stephane San Juan, drummer, producer and a prolific music creator. Check it out…
YOU ARE A ‘MUSICAL CHAMELEON’. AS A DRUMMER YOU FEEL AT HOME IN BASICALLY ANY GENRE – FROM AFRICAN MUSIC, TO THE BEATS FROM BRAZIL, LATIN AMERICA, POP, ROCK, JAZZ… WHICH OF THESE GENRES REALLY SPEAKS TO YOUR HEART THE MOST?
I started listening to music at a very young age and I had this therapeutic habit of following the beat bouncing my upper body on the couch, even if I prefered my dad’s records: James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Jorge Ben, Manu Dibango, Gilberto Gil, Serge Gainsbourg to my mother’s records: Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, The Beatles I would always look for the pulse and move my body with it, this went on until I discovered the drum kit.
The first records I got were from The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple so obviously my first band experiences were Punk-Rock and Hard Rock groups. Then I got a call to substitute the drummer in a Senegalese Reggae band. During the only rehearsal we had before the tour, I was completely lost, the guys would start playing and I couldn’t figure out where the One was. The percussionist helped me a lot teaching me Reggae grooves and M’balax rhythm. I studied on the tour bus listening to their live recordings and managed to do well through the tour. I told myself then that I want to become a professional drummer, I need to study not only drums but also worldwide percussion concepts and rhythms, to never again find myself in that position. So I did and started listening and studying music from all continents. By playing with many african artists and having lived in Mali and Senegal for long periods of time, I kind of learned in rhythm what would be Greek and Latin for western languages. In terms of rhythms, Brazilian, Latin, Pop, Rock, Soul, Funk, Jazz, all have their roots in Africa, each style has its specific codes and accents, but the foundation is African. I love all styles of music but Afro, Brazilian, Jazz and Latin grooves touch me deeper than Rock and Pop.
YOU ARE FRENCH AND HAVE LIVED IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD, BUT I FEEL THAT BRAZILIAN MUSIC TODAY IS A BIG PART OF YOUR MUSICAL DNA, CORRECT? IN YOUR OPINION, WHY BRAZILIAN RHYTHMS ARE SO BELOVED AROUND THE WORLD?
My step mother is a singer, she used to listen and sing lot’s of Brazilian music, so I was exposed to a lot of Bossa Nova and Samba from a young age, I would even play percussion at her shows! In 1995, when I moved to London, I had a lot of friends who listened and introduced me to MPB and Brazilian Jazz. I traveled to Brazil for the first time in ‘97 and was blown away to discover Brazilian music from the inside. So many different styles, from each region, each state, a much bigger and richer repertoire and perspective than what I could ever get from abroad.
I returned to Brazil in ‘98 to learn more and again in 2000, 2001 to tour with the Malian artists Amadou & Mariam. I then met Rio producer Kassin during a recording session in London, who introduced me to Domenico Lancellotti and Moreno Veloso when they came to perform at a club in Hackney. I think that this show gave me a wider understanding of Brazilian music concept and it blew my mind, a clean acoustic guitar with a very pure voice accompanied by a live played drum machine and an obsessional dubby-psychedelic bass. A very fluid link between generations of music and instruments with a very loose feel and at the same time very constructed and organized. A Revelation! Next thing I know is Kassin invited me to record with them that same night in a studio they booked and my mental revolution was completed. From then on I started playing with the band as the drummer, Domenico, was about to take the microphone for the following album since their idea was to swap roles on every record, another new and great concept for me. I was in heaven. From then I progressively made my move to Brazil. I was busy working with Andy Sheppard and south African diva Sibongile Khumalo, but I thought I was going to learn much more from these guys in Brazil than staying in Europe. I did and lived in Rio for the following 15 years, local musicians were very welcoming and enjoyed my playin., I formed a few bands like Orquestra Imperial, Os Ritmistas and got to play, record and tour with some of the best while I was kind of feeling ashamed to play drums in one of the world’s drumming capitals – Rio de Janeiro. I continued my studies, got adopted by my new mentor, the legendary drummer Wilson Das Neves, who took me to his Samba School, Império Serrano, with which I played snare for about 10 carnivals, and directed me into composing and doing my own work when he asked me to write lyrics for a Samba of his, Rue de Mes Souvenirs, that later on won a Portuguese version by master Chico Buarque. Through all these experiences, yes Brazilian music and spirit is definitely in my DNA. I think it is one of the richest cultures in the world because of its many diverses influences and the mixture of all types of people. Brazilian music is as rich harmonically as rhythmically and this is very rare. African rhythms, European harmonies, Native Indian trance and an open mind all together is so beautiful and powerful that it literally touches and keeps on
moving the whole world.
HOW DID THE SAMBACOOL CONCEPT CAME ABOUT – THE IDEA OF RECORDING JAZZ AND POP STANDARDS IN A RETRO SAMBA JAZZ FEEL?
When I moved to New York in 2017, I felt a great nostalgy of Brazil, my friends, the joy of playing Brazilian music and I thought I should find myself an excuse to keep on playing it. As I started to go out in live music clubs I noticed that the jazz trio format piano, acoustic bass, drums was still predominant, it reminded me of records I love from Ahmad Jamal trio, Bossa Três, Dollar Brand, Oscar Peterson trio, Milton Banana trio, I thought I could form a trio to play a repertoire that would be a mixture of American and Brazilian songs in a Bossa-Nova/ Samba Jazz vibe. I then called on board Brazilian friends based in NY, pianist Vitor Gonçalves and bassist Eduardo Belo who loved the idea and Sambacool was born. Funny enough it’s something I always wanted to do but I never got the chance.
THE PROJECT HAS AN ECLECTIC REPERTOIRE INCLUDING MUSIC FROM AMY WINEHOUSE, MILES DAVIS, JOÃO DONATO, STEVIE WONDER AND MORE. WHAT’S THE LINK BETWEEN THESE THEMES?
You (Béco Dranoff) being the interviewer, I’m not sure I can talk about you but I find it impossible not to on this particular question! I originally came up with a more ‘classic Jazz’ repertoire and produced a first recording session at Brooklyn’s Super Legal Studios. I simply chose tunes I love to listen to, a mixture of Jazz songs like Miles’ Milestones,Song For My Father by Horace Silver and Bossa songs like Cadê Jodel by João Donato and Marcos Valle, Children’s Games by Antonio Carlos Jobim. The idea was to play them live with the trio, no overdubbing, to prioritize the musician’s virtuosity and maintain the same cool Brazilian attitude independently of the composition being it American or Brazilian. After the initial session, I remember meeting up with Béco who told me he had in mind: to put up a Samba Jazz trio together and I said, wow! good timing I just did one recording, check it out! I remember Béco dancing to some of the tunes in his NY apartment and as I was leaving our meeting he said “It would be great to include some songs from the 70’s through today in this repertoire and keep the Sambacool vibe”. I thought it was a great idea and asked him to come up with suggestions, which he did a few days later. I picked up the ones I thought would naturally blend the rest of the repertoire and we produced together the second recording sessions taping
songs like Lovely Day by Bill Withers & Skip Scarborough, Love Is A Losing Game by Amy Winehouse and Stevie Wonder’s Golden Lady.
CAN ANY TUNE BECOME SAMBA JAZZ?
Yes why not! Of course it’s easier and more organic with some songs than others since I believe each composition has its own specific rhythm to it, the way the words are divided and harmonically some chord progression will fit Samba Jazz more naturally than others but music has no limits and everything is transformable. It’s all a question of concept and aesthetic, in that perspective Cool Jazz is to Jazz what Bossa Nova is to Samba, the idea is to play the same tune with a different attitude, arrangements, instrumentation, once you understand that concept, making a Samba-Jazz version of, let’s say. “La Vie En Rose” would be no problem.
BESIDES NAMES LIKE SERGIO MENDES AND STAN GETZ, WHICH OTHER ARTISTS INFLUENCED THE PROJECT?
Abdullah Ibrahim, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, Bossa Três, Dom Salvador, João Donato, Marcos Valle, Milton Banana, Moacir Santos, Oscar Peterson, Tom Jobim and many more…
TELL US MORE ABOUT THE SUPER TALENTED VITOR GONÇALVES AND EDUARDO BELO. HOW WAS WORKING WITH THEM ON SAMBACOOL?
I knew pianist Vitor Gonçalves from my Rio days. We had a cuban music band together and I’ve always been impressed by his playing, versatility, sensibility. I put up a band together as I arrived in NY to produce National Sawdust’s Season 3 Opening Night. I called Vitor to be the pianist and we reconnected. He introduced me to bassist Eduardo Belo at a Jazz gig they did together and loved his firm and delicate touch on the double bass. I trusted these guys to be the right ones for this project that I called them to record before we even played together, no rehearsal, straight into it, our first show was on the last recording day.
THE RECORD IS ‘OLD SCHOOL’ IN THE SENSE OF BEING RECORDED AT A SMALL BROOKLYN STUDIO IN JUST A FEW SESSIONS WITH NO
OVERDUBS. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PROCESS AND THE SONORITY. HOW DID YOU GET TO THIS RESULT? ANY SPECIAL MICS OR TECHNIQUES? HOW ABOUT THE MIX DOWN?
I wanted something that would sound vintage enough but not only old school because first of all it is impossible technically. Everything was different back then, tape machines, mics, cable, components, electricity, engineering… so there’s no point trying to copy that. But I wanted a warm sound, a band playing together at the same time, acoustic instruments and again maintaining a ‘dance’ climate. We played in the same room with very basic drum miking compared to nowadays, one bass drum mic, one on the snare and a couple of ribbon overhead mics, two mics on piano and two on bass. I called my long time friend Scotty Hard to mix the album and he proposed to mix it on his vintage Neve desk and to bounce it directly on a reel to reel tape machine. I trusted his expertise straight away as I always do. One interesting fact is that Scotty worked for decades with Teo Macero who produced most of the Miles Davis albums and is my favorite jazz producer.
HOW’S BRAZILIAN MUSIC TODAY IN YOUR OPINION? CAN YOU RECOMMEND ARTISTS PEOPLE SHOULD BE AWARE OF?
I think Brazilian Music is always doing good as it tends to reinvent itself and permanently innovate. It’s interesting to see its recent evolution with its easier access to international music through the internet. I think artists like Chico Science & Nação Zumbi, Moreno Veloso, Domenico, Kassin + 2, opened important doors since the end of the 90’s. There is an interesting new generation of up and coming artists like Ana Frango Elétrico, Ava Rocha, Luedji Luna, Mãe Ana, Negro Leo, Thiago Nassif, Zé Manoel and many more.
YOU HAVE BEEN PERFORMING ON DAVID BYRNE’S AMAZING ‘AMERICAN UTOPIA’ TOUR AND BROADWAY SHOW PLAYING A KIND OF DRUM KIT HANGING FROM YOUR NECK. HOW DID YOU AND HIM CONNECT AND HOW IS IT TO PLAY THOSE DRUMS WHILE DOING THAT INTENSE CHOREOGRAPHY FOR EACH SONG?
This has been a fantastic adventure, I got recommended by one of the musical directors, Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco. I joined the world tour from the second third and I had no time for rehearsals, straight to the stage the day after I got the call. It was like everything I studied before prepared me for that
moment. My London years, Rio’s Carnaval, where I also played and danced carrying the instrument, the whole Afro-Brazilian percussion concept, speaking English, Portuguese, I was ready for it and I didn’t know until I started doing it. It is a great learning experience working with such a complete artist as David Byrne and amazing choreographer Annie B. Parson, a fantastic band with percussion heroes like Mauro, Davi Vieira, Gustavo Di Dalva, some of the finest American musicians like Angie Swan, Bobby Wooten, Daniel Freedman, Karl Mansfield, Tim Keiper plus amazing dancers/singers like Chris Giarmo, Tendayi Kuumba. An eclectic group of artists playing, dancing and singing at the same time such a beautiful repertoire on an empty stage, it feels like a blessing. Then, bringing the show to Broadway was something else, a totally new experience. Another fine percussionist Jaquelene Acevedo joined the group and to work with another hero, director Spike Lee,has been sensational. I really needed to have the full American experience to complete my studies and I got lucky enough to be part of such a unique Utopic one!
WHAT’S NEXT FOR SAMBACOOL?
Well, we have just released a couple of singles, our tribute to Bill Withers – ‘Lovely Day’ and a remix version by Kassin. This will be followed by Amy Winehouse’s ‘Love is a Losing Game’ on October 20th, and the full Sambacool album will be released on November 3rd. We will release another Sambacool album and singles album by mid 2021. Hopefully by then live music will have started again and we will be able to do some shows and tours. Later on I’m planning to do some other sessions with a slightly different format and start adding some original tunes to the repertoire.