Jon von Boehm’s new record breaks all the rules, and it’s still better than yours
We get into the origin and guts of ‘Ortus’
The years have been kind to Nashville bassist and composer Jon von Boehm.
von Boehm threw down on his Nov. 17, 2014 debut album, a space odyssey of jazz/funk-friendly goodness, orchestrated chaos, and fine-fingered jams. He’s improved on the original with his newest creation, Ortus, coming out on Friday.
He pared down the 12-piece band to the bare essentials: drummer/producer Michael Green and this shredder from Detroit, John Gallo, as well as two guest artists, Soweto, South African bassist Vuyani Wakaba and vocalist Jessie Rose Brassfield (Sweet Honey Music).
Inspired by the solar eclipse this past summer, love of astronomy, and a frothy, restless, adventurous spirit that colors outside the lines, von Boehm poured everything he had into eight composed instrumentals and one pseudo-vocal (“Second Contact,” featuring Brassfield). He even doubled down on bass as guitar for a booming voice of A.I. effect throughout.
The guy doesn’t get nearly enough respect in the music industry. He’s a very much in-demand sideman, session player, and individual jazz artist who can literally play the shit out of anything — all while pulling out these amazing pockets of musical isolation and encroaching multi-dimensional mood, assembling and collapsing the rhythm on a moment’s notice.
I consider Jon von Boehm a boundless, sonic oasis in a world of noise — the exception to every rule. He’s also my unofficial sage, a dear friend and brother from another mother.
We recently got together to get more into his new music, maybe a little into his enigmatic head.
What’s with the Latin, Jon? Why Ortus? It’s fitting, considering this sophomore release is very much a rebirth of sorts for you, musically. It’s almost a complete departure from your 2014 self-titled jazz-fusion debut.
I guess it’s because I was going through some things in my life, so I felt like I was emerging from a hard time, and turned out better for it. So Ortus — meaning rising or coming into being — seemed fitting. Plus, it kind of fit into my love for astronomy.
I know how long you’ve wanted to make this album. I also know how close you came to quitting music altogether. What did you have to do to get this project going? How hard was it to make your dream come true?
Yeah, I basically had to decide if I was going to keep on playing music or not. Or at least keep playing at a certain level. I’m not a quitter, but sometimes life doesn’t go exactly the way you planned. But thankfully, I had some people who believed in me. Through their help and some great advice, I managed to get back on my feet. I also got super-busy as a sideman. Somewhere among all that, I manage to write songs I really believe in and started recording them. Sometimes, I would actually forget I was working on a new record with such a busy schedule. Once I had all the songs written (which was the hardest part), the recording process was very easy.
Ortus is not exactly jazz-fusion, full-on rock, or really any one specific recognizable style. Where in the world did the idea, concept, themes, and songs come from? How did you start putting the pieces together?
I just write what I want to hear, not what I think people want to hear for me. Ha ha ha, maybe I should start doing that though! I enjoy a lot of different styles of music that seem to have nothing to do with one another. I don’t know if I go in with any kind of concert per se, but after a song is written, a title may come to mind, because it makes me think of something. Especially the song, “They Exist.” Really, everything you’re hearing on this is just things that I wrote that put a grin on my face, so I kept it. Or kept working at an idea to keep making it better. I’m kind of a silly jokester in person, so I guess you can hear that quirkiness in my music. I heard that a lot about my last record.
The new album’s also not conventional, even by jazz or fusion standards. Have you always been kind of a rebel? What kind of statement did you want to make on this particular project and how much did you feel you accomplished?
I was always a bit of an outcast when I was a kid. Heavy into punk rock and metal. So being a bit of an outsider never really felt outside to me. It actually feels kind of normal. The last record had I think 12 guest musicians on it. I love that recording a lot, but it wasn’t as focused as this one. Focused in concept, that is. I’m not really sure what kind of statement I wanted to make. It’s really the creating process that does it for me. I’m all about the journey, I guess. I think when a lot musicians write, they're not thinking so much about making a statement. It’s something that they just have to do.
How did the line-up come together? You’ve got quite a diverse little group there: a country singer/songwriter, a South African bass player, this rock guitar monster, and the steady backbone, your drummer producer Michael Green, the guy making sure nothing sucked.
I told Michael Green, my drummer, that I wanted to do another record, so we started looking for guitar players. We had some ideas that we tossed around about who, but he met this guy name John Gallo. He was this new kid from Detroit, he showed up at the studio and he had the songs from my last record nailed. Not only that, his feel was amazing and he had this really unique style that I dug a lot. On the record, everyone’s going to think he’s a rock guitar player, but actually, he’s a heavy-duty arch top seven string guy. I could’ve really had anyone play on this, but John’s just the shit.
On the song “Second Contact,” I was toying around with this idea of verses in a song. I could never make it work and then, it dawned on me that my friend Jessie Rose Brassfield, who I’ve been working with for a while, might be able to put some pretty cool vocal parts on it. Well, she was inspired by the Great American Eclipse, and she recorded her parts the day the eclipse happened. Hence the name, “Second Contact.”
With the song, “Soweto,” I knew I had to have my friend Vuyani Wakaba play on it. So I just finished the rest of that song with him in mind. It worked out beautifully. That dude has got some killer tone happening. Not to mention he’s the nicest guy in the bassdom.
Obviously you were delighted by their contributions. What did each of these musicians add to your vision for the album? What was the recording process like?
I dig cats that have their own unique voice on their given instrument. I really don’t care about how fast they can play or how cool their chops are. Having their own unique voice says so much more about them as a player than anything to me. And everybody on this recording has that. Don’t get me wrong, these peeps have chops for days though. When I write a song, I will tell that person to interpret their parts as they see fit. I don’t like to give a whole lot of direction, because they come up with things that I would never think of. If I don’t like something, I will tell them. All my melodies and hooks are always intact, but it’s just awesome to hear other people interpret things. Plus, I trust them all a lot.
The recording process was pretty painless. Once that ball starts rolling, things happen pretty quickly, especially since the songs were already written before we went in to record them. Vuyani, and Jessie did their parts remotely. Needless to say, they killed it on both of their tracks. Just like my last one, Michael mixed and mastered it. He’s my go-to guy for all that stuff. Plus, I had him produce it. That way, I wouldn’t have to think too much about things and just worry about playing.
In both your debut album and this follow-up, you made sure to include one vocal piece. How important are the vocals since you don’t sing and you tend to lean mostly on instrumental expression?
I don’t know if vocals are that important to my own music. I prefer female vocalists though. “Second Contact” just seemed right to have that and Jessie knocked it out of the park. You hear it a lot, especially in Nashville, but you got to do what’s right for the song. Vocals were right for that one.
I noticed a lot of heavy harmonic overlay — almost acting like the melody — in the tracks on Ortus, similar to that moment in the Wrecking Crew documentary where bassist Carol Kaye shows how she laid down the melodic riffs, like a guitarist, on Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman.” You do the same thing, and then some. What made you a) think you could pull off the bass/guitar effect, and b) want to push that versatility to another level?
I’m not really thinking, Oh, I need to do this or that to make a statement. It’s more, What can I do to make this idea come into being? I’m not bound by conventional bass-player thinking, I guess. Probably because I love horn players and guitar players so much and actually are influenced by them more than most other instruments. Plus, why should all the other instrumentalists have all the fun? Ha ha!
What’d you think of my review? I’m quite taken by your ability to turn the non-melodic into a strange, cool melody all its own. A lot of your instrumental tunes take on a futuristic reinvention of what a song is supposed to be.
I love the review! Mostly because I get be inside someone else’s head when they are listening to it. People’s takes on things are not usually what you think they’re going to be. Good or bad. I like that a musical idea can paint a picture for someone. I like for that picture to be whatever that person wants. If it’s futuristic, rock, K-pop, that’s fine. I’ll take it!
You told me once that you used to love listening to and playing heavy metal when you were younger. There’s clearly a metal component threading your new tunes. What did you want to do with this very bulky, heavy style, like a bull in the proverbial china shop… and how in the world did you tweak the fusion so that it bled nicely into the funk and rock, and wasn’t too off-putting?
Part of my job description is to know when something sounds bad. So when I write these things, I have to be completely honest with myself and think, Alright, is it garbage or not? Again, I’m kind of a quirky person, so it comes out in my music. I listen to metal a lot still, so that of course, winds up in there too. Not to mention K-pop. I always like to write within a rock and pop context, but then solo in a jazz/bebop way.
I loved “Poynter Finger,” “Second Contact,” “They Exist,” “Vesto Red Shift,” and “The Speed Of Dark” the most. I got the sense that the songs themselves were more about mood and feel than any specific meaning. What was your process going into this project?
I think in terms of themes a lot. “I want to write something like this,” I’ll say to myself. Then I’ll start noodling around or working with a rhythm or something to try to make that idea come about. It’s like the thinking of the sculpture is already in the stone. You just have to work to bring it out.
How did this new album best reflect who you are as an artist in this moment?
Albums are like little snapshots of where you’re at musically in a particular point in your life. This one’s definitely where I am musically at this particular moment. My listeners will still be able to tell it’s me right away. You can really hear my personality in Ortus. Maybe I’m a little more focused in life, just like this album is a little more focused in concept than my previous one.
Tell me your strengths and weaknesses, as an artist and in this music.
I would say I am far more confident in who I am as an artist than I’ve ever been. I know who I am and I’m content with that.
As far as weaknesses go? Hmmm. I feel like I’m always fighting against the temptation to be lazy. I don’t think I’m lazy. If I feel like I am even remotely though, I start to feel very guilty. Sometimes I just need to chill.
How are you planning on promoting your new album?
I’m just trying to get all my ducks in a row with publications, interviews, reviews, rehearsals, distribution, social media. All that. All the things that a lot of indie artist can’t seem to get their heads around [laughs]. I’ll probably get a lot of flack for saying that, but the vast majority of musicians are just terrible at that stuff. It’s actually pretty mind-boggling. A lot of them have amazing ideas, but absolutely no ability to execute those ideas. It’s more than just putting out content, people. If you don’t handle yourself like a damn businessman, you’re just going to fail. This is also one of the reasons I started doing my own thing.
Did you read the Vulture interview with the legendary producer Quincy Jones, where he ripped on today’s modern pop music, saying it’s “just loops, beats, rhymes and hooks” and “Music is emotion and science?” What do you think about all the new music out there?
I loved that interview! He’s a man who has lived many years and has had many experiences. Why should he hold anything back? I know a lot of people gave him grief for that interview, but for the love of God, he’s Quincy Jones. The older we get, the less filter we have. More wisdom comes out that way, ha ha ha!
There is great music out there. It’s just that the ways to find it have changed. A&R guys are more concerned about keeping their jobs now than taking a chance. If they take chances, they get fired. Back in the day, they took chances on an artist and made that artist huge. Not so much today.
But I’m definitely not one who says there’s no good music out there. I listen to great music every day from artists I love. It’s just not the garbage that mainstream media shoves down our throats. I think an underlying frustration with a lot of great artists is that the average listener is not seeking them out. They’re just taking what is handed to them. But I think people who care will find them.
Interview from March 14, 2018