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Ralph Lalama: A Disciple, Not a Clone
Courtesy John Abbott
It takes a lot of discipline to have the right to be free.
—Ralph Lalama
Ralph Lalama
saxophoneb.1951
Joe Lovano
drumsb.1952
Lalama grew up surrounded by a loving, hard-working, musical family in the rough-edged, steel mill town of West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. "My paternal family originally came from north of Rome, Italy, from the Abruzzo region. I was named after my great grandmother, Rafaela. My father Nofrey, Jr., was a drummer. He worked in the steel mill all day and played gigs just about every night. My mother, Jennie, was a registered nurse and a professional singer who worked in my father's band, right up until the time I was born. My grandfather, Nofrey, Sr., was the State Auditor of Pennsylvania, who also played alto and clarinet. When I was nine years old, he gave me a clarinet. My Uncle Dominick was a trumpet player. Uncle Tony was a pianist and a lawyer. My younger brother, Dr. Dave Lalama, is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He arranged for
Woody Herman
band / ensemble / orchestra1913 - 1987
All of his family's musical genes poured into Lalama After graduating Youngstown (Ohio) State University with a music degree, he leapt at the chance to move to New York City. The encouragement to do so came from
Thad Jones
trumpet1923 - 1986
Walter Norris
piano1931 - 2011
George Mraz
bass1944 - 2021
Mel Lewis
drums1929 - 1990
Perhaps because his father was a drummer, Lalama learned early on to "respect the beat." No doubt this led him to become a favorite with many drummers throughout his career. Mel Lewis tapped him early on to join his jazz orchestra. He toured and recorded with
Buddy Rich
drums1917 - 1987
Joe Morello
drums1928 - 2011
Rodney Green
drums
Joe Barna
drumsAll About Jazz: Your instrumentation with your trio Bop Juice has changed. Now you are using
Akiko Tsuruga
organ, Hammond B3b.1850
Lou Donaldson
saxophone1926 - 2024
Ralph Lalama: It started when I met [trumpeter]
Joe Magnarelli
trumpetb.1960
AAJ: The pandemic changed the music scene so much, but now that it's ebbing, you seem to have reemerged at a lot of clubs in the Tri-State Area.
RL: Mitch [Borden], the guy who originally owned Smalls, started a club in Bushwick, Brooklyn called Ornithology. I've been working there a lot with Akiko and Clifford. Also, I play the Village Vanguard every Monday night with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, since 1983, 40 years as a regular, after subbing on the band for a few years. I've been a long- time member of
Joe Lovano
drumsb.1952
George Garzone
saxophone, tenorb.1950
Rodney Green
drumsSameer Shankar
bassAAJ: How did you cope during the pandemic when all the clubs were shut down and all the gigs stopped?
RL: When the pandemic hit, I did catch the virus early on, while I was on tour in Europe. We had to cut the tour short and high-tail it back to New York. I came down with it just after I got back. I was able to stay home and recover slowly. One morning my wife commented that what it felt like during the shutdown was that we are on a "Staycation." I got a kick out of that idea. So I went to the piano and wrote a tune by the same name. I called Nils Winther at Steeplechase Records and through him arranged a recording session for a project, dubbing it "Staycation: A Family Affair." I called on husband-and-wife team Joe [Magnarelli] and Akiko [Tsuruga], and lastly Clifford [Barbaro], whom I consider "family," Rounding out the family theme, I asked my wife, Nicole [Pasternak] who is a gifted singer to sing a few tunes, too. She brought a couple of her originals to the project and my brother Dave [Lalama] wrote some originals for it. Plus a few of my own, since I had so much time, not gigging, to focus on composing. During that time on lockdown, a lot of musicians started streaming their performances to try and keep up their chops and make ends meet. One of the first gigs I did was a live stream at Smalls in late 2020. [Owner] Spike [Wilner] paid us some decent bread which was really helpful at that time. We did a live-streaming concert at The Jazz Forum, run by Mark Morganelli in Tarrytown, New York., to benefit the Dobbs Ferry (NY) Food Pantry.
Gary Smulyan
saxophone, baritoneb.1956
John Patitucci
bassb.1959
Steve Johns
drumsb.1960
David Janeway
pianoAAJ: Do you think music has medicinal powers?
RL: Music definitely ignites the spirit. It makes you forget about your problems. It helps you get away and relax a little. It's a nice escape.
AAJ: What's the difference between practicing and performing?
RL: I think when you practice, that's when you think. You practice the craft and then you play the art. When you play out, you open yourself up and let it go. I'm expressing myself, but there's an audience out there and I'm definitely aware of them. Sometimes the mood is humorous, sometimes it's more serious. It changes. You react to your environment.
AAJ: How did your education help shape your musical life?
RL: Well, I majored in clarinet in college. I was a music major.
AAJ: Were you glad you majored in clarinet in college?
RL: For eight years, I played in the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band under the direction of
Jon Faddis
trumpetb.1953
Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
AAJ: Tell me something about how you achieved your unique sound. Somebody online asked what kind of saxophone you used and your mouthpiece.
RL: "I have a Silver Selmer Mark VI. My mouthpiece was crafted by Francois Louis, who also makes ligatures and reeds. He gave it to me 30 years ago, and it did make a difference in my sound. When I first moved to New York, I was into
Sonny Rollins
saxophoneb.1930
Hank Mobley
saxophone, tenor1930 - 1986
AAJ: When you compose a set list do you think about emotions and what you want to express?
RL: I make a set with different tempos, different feelings but still with some continuity to it. If I feel like playing a ballad, it's because I feel like playing it at that moment. Keys matter, tempos matter. I don't have an agenda, per se. The tunes might feel different on different days. I don't think about my feelings, I let my feelings happen. I practice the craft and play the art. With the art aspect, I'm not thinking about tune succession. I want the audience to sense the spontaneity of the art. The power of improvisation is the freedom to react. Now, getting back to the importance of constantly and consistently practicing: the more you learn through practice, the more you can create. It's like building your vocabulary. You develop more ways to express yourself, so when you go out to do the art, you feel freer. You have to have a lot of discipline. It takes a lot of discipline to have the right to be free.
AAJ: Turning to your role and experience as an educator. What have you learned from teaching?
RL: It has to be a two-way street. If the kids like to learn, I love teaching. I taught at the University of Vermont (Burlington), at Roni Ben-Hur's Summer Jazz Camp. There were about 35-40 kids or professionals, like doctors, lawyers, a lot of older singers, saxophone players. It's very cross-generational. It's an intensive program, where we hold all-day ensembles, plus a master class for each instrument, dinner and then a jam session at night. We do faculty concerts during the week-nights and then the last two days, Friday and Saturday are the student concerts.
AAJ: You also teach during the school year?
RL: Yes, at SUNY Purchase College. I have private students, repertoire classes, and two ensembles a week, per semester. Sometimes you learn what to do, and what not to do. Sometimes you have kids who know a lot, and I learn things about playing saxophone. I am very encouraging, at least, I always try to be, but I'm honest with them and tell the truth. Sometimes I say, "You're wasting your parents' money," if, after nine weeks in a row, they keep making the same mistakes. Most of the kids have a good head on their shoulders. They realize, "This guy is trying to help me." I try to teach them what they'll need to be good, life-long musicians: to be accountable, responsible, and respectful towards themselves, their fellow students and certainly towards the music.
AAJ: How did you and your wife Nicole Pasternak meet? I heard some of your recordings on YouTube and noticed your special arrangements for sax and voice.
RL: I had worked up a circuit in Connecticut and Westchester [County, NY]. Nicole heard me at a festival in Connecticut, in the early 1990s. Then she hired me for a steady gig she had in Connecticut. We both love the standards. That's mainly what she was singing. She's a natural singer with a good ear. I dug the way she sang. We played weddings, parties, and clubs. She used to sing at Birdland with a big band. So, we do our own gigs. She has a career and I have a career but we have done a lot of things together. When we do play together, we have a nice set of arrangements for sax and voice that we have developed over the years.
AAJ: How do you think about the future of jazz?
RL: There's lots of room for moving the art form forward but it still has to have the essence of the "folk song," and by that I mean "the blues." That shouldn't change. You can expand on harmony and rhythm. That's welcome and exciting but it has to respect the roots of this music. Someone might write something and might call it new but to me unless it has that essence of the jazz ideal, some intrinsic sense of swing, it just feels hollow and misses the mark.
AAJ: What's your mission?
RL: My mission is to get better at what I do, my craft, and my art. I want to continue to share my vision with the audience and my students so that this music can live on forever.
AAJ: What is your feeling about the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra?
RL: The band has been playing together a long time and has developed its own distinctive sound. In regards to the saxophone section in particular, everybody knows each other's voice and intonation. The altos are
Dick Oatts
saxophone, altob.1953
Billy Drewes
saxophone
Rich Perry
saxophone, tenor
Bob Mintzer
saxophoneb.1953
Slide Hampton
trombone1932 - 2021
Jerry Dodgion
saxophone, altob.1932
Bob Brookmeyer
trombone1929 - 2011
AAJ: Of your own recordings, do you have a favorite?
RL: A favorite CD that I've recorded is Momentum, with
Kenny Barron
pianob.1943
Kenny Washington
drumsb.1958
Dennis Irwin
bass1951 - 2008
Wayne Shorter
saxophone1933 - 2023
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