Dedicated: an interview with jazz pianist and composer Martin Listabarth
As a pianist and a writer I’m always fascinated by the interplay between music and words, so when I encountered Dedicated, which features pieces inspired by Agatha Christie and Emily Dickinson, I was drawn to listen to it. This treasure-trove of musical dedications by jazz pianist and composer Martin Listabarth includes tributes to other influences as well, including a magician, a soccer player, a painter, and even British logician, mathematician and cryptologist Alan Turing. Dedicated is a shimmering solo piano collection which ranges from ballads to swing to blues, and each piece pays tribute to its inspiration in both overt and subtle ways.
Martin Listabarth is a young Austrian jazz pianist who launched his recording career with an album entitled Short Stories—a project in which he explored the idea of narrative and character arc in music. He is an active performer in Austria and Germany—both as a soloist and with his trio—and I’m honored to feature his words and his music on No Dead Guys.
You started classical piano lessons at the age of 5. What drew you to the piano, and when did you develop an interest in improvisation and composition?
I was very fascinated by the variety of textures and styles you can create on the piano—that was the main thing that drew me to the piano. From the age of 5 I received classical piano lessons. From the beginning I enjoyed taking parts of the pieces I was supposed to learn, repeating them, changing them and playing around with them—so that was my natural introduction to improvisation (even though I didn't know the term for it at the time).
I also have 3 brothers (all of them playing different instruments). Together with them I had my first band and they were my first “victims“ to play my first composition attempts. This was an important source of motivation for me, to write down my musical ideas, so I could share and play them with others.
Who first interested you in jazz, and which jazz musicians have been the biggest influences on your playing and compositional style?
As a teenager I listened to a lot of pop and rock music—Radiohead was my favorite band. When I came across Brad Mehldau and his versions of Radiohead songs, that was my entry into the exciting world of jazz. Brad Mehldau definitely was my starting point for my interest in jazz and is still an important influence for me today. As I explored his recordings more and more, I went further and further back in jazz history and became interested in the pianists who might have influenced Brad's style (e.g. Keith Jarrett, Bud Powell, Wynton Kelly, etc.). I was also very fascinated by the early milestones of jazz solo piano by pianists like Fats Waller and Earl Hines.
After studying both jazz and classical piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, when did you know that you wanted to pursue jazz as your career?
That developed in the course of my studies. My jazz piano teacher, especially, supported and encouraged me to find and develop my own musical language and to go my own way. I love the way you can express yourself individually in the musical language of jazz.
Your debut album release, Short Stories and your upcoming release, Dedicated both have a strong literary focus. What is it about the written word that inspires your compositional style?
That’s true. I love reading and I’m fascinated by the idea that each book has its own “sound” (the way phrases are formed, how the rhythm of speech is constructed, how the dramaturgy of a story is structured, short sentences or long sentences, punctuation…)—I think there are a lot of analogies between literature and music and that inspires me a lot for my compositions and improvisations.
You refer to your compositions as a form of storytelling. How do you feel your musical choices create stories without words?
I would put it this way: I try to make my musical decisions based on the story I want to tell. If I know what story I want to tell, it’s a lot easier for me to make musical decisions in the process of composing: This affects areas such as dramaturgical arc, length, dynamics, texture, and density of the pieces.
Tell me about your piece, “The Red Tree,” which you dedicate to the painter Marianne Werefkin. What inspired you to blend the colors used in this painting with Scriabin’s color symbolism?
“The Red Tree” is dedicated to Marianne Werefkin (an expressionist painter). The power of her work has always been captivating for me. In her painting “The Red Tree” the focus is on a red tree. In the background there is a mighty blue mountain from which rivers in blue seem to flow down. To the right there is a yellow bush depicted in moving lines and vortices. This picture is dominated by three basic colors and for each one I chose a musical equivalent. Inspired by Scriabin’s color symbolism in music, which matches each keynote with a color, this piece consists of three parts: the red tree (red = keynote C), the blue mountain (blue = keynote F#) and the yellow bush (yellow = keynote D).
I was also intrigued by “Turing’s Pattern”, which you dedicate to Alan Turing, the British logician, mathematician and cryptanalyst, who was instrumental in decrypting the secret Nazi code during World War II. Tell me about how you created (and hid) musical codes in this piece of music.
Since I’ve always been fascinated by the subject of codes, I was looking for a way to process codes in a musical way in this composition. I hid musical codes in this piece of music. These are based on the motivic material of the numerical sequence 761954 (Turing’s date of death on 7 June 1954). For example, the main melody consists exactly of this numerical sequence 761954. An accompaniment pattern, that recurs throughout the piece, consists only of the intervals 1954 (only the numbers of the year). There are also more hidden codes to discover in this piece…
From literature to archeology to mathematics to sports figures, Dedicated showcases a surprisingly broad range of musical influences. In what ways do you feel your wide-ranging interests enrich your music, and how you feel your music enriches your understanding and appreciation of your other interests?
I think that my interest in many different areas (sports, literature, paintings, science) enriches my music by challenging me to find new approaches to composing. For example: While working on my album Dedicated, I imagined what the particular people (whom I wanted to dedicate pieces) would tell me what “their” piece should sound like, what should absolutely be included, and which musical approach they would find appropriate for their personality.
But of course it also works the other way around: when I study compositions by other musicians, I always try to find out which aspects inspired them to compose in their typical style. This has already led to some interesting discoveries. So, the exposure to music can always lead me to suddenly becoming interested in a completely different (non-musical) field.
When was Dedicated released and where can we listen to it?
Dedicated was released on March 4th, 2022. You can find it on all streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and many more. Of course you can also order my music on CD or vinyl via my website.
Where can English-speaking music lovers learn more about you and your music?
Unfortunately there is no English version of my website at the moment. But you can find my latest news (in English) on my social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram.
photo by Theresa Prewal
Martin Listabarth was born in Vienna in 1991. He began playing classical piano at age five and from the beginning he was particularly interested in improvising and composing. Listabarth studied both jazz piano and classical piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2019, he released his solo debut album "Short Stories.” The 11 original compositions on this album are inspired by autobiographical experiences.
He has performed in some of Austria's most famous venues such as the Vienna Musikverein, Jazzclub “Porgy & Bess,”ORF Radiokulturhaus as well as at festivals in Austria (Jazzbühne Lech, Jazzwerkstatt Graz Festival), Germany (Klavierfestival Hainfeld) and Poland (Jazz Piano Festival Kalisz).
On his sophomore solo release “Dedicated” (March 4th, 2022), Listabarth dives deep into the topic of personal inspirations, using the story of 10 people who’ve fascinated or inspired him as the basis of 10 highly original compositions.
In addition to his solo project, he is currently working with his trio (together with bassist Gidi Kalchhauser and drummer Alex Riepl) on a new programme that puts a new complexion on his compositions and explores the possibilities of communicative playing. To learn more about him, visit his website.