Interview - In Conversation With Alex Bugnon
September 8, 2009 - Swiss-born musician Alex Bugnon has become a household name and one of the top pianist/keyboardist in Smooth Jazz. His crafting musical arrangements and beautiful melodies have a touch of Contemporary Jazz, R&B and Gospel. Bugnon should have become a classical pianist, having studied at the Paris Conservatory and the well-known Mozart Academy in Salzburg. However, he turned his back to Mozart and decided to move to the US, becoming the widely acclaimed and talented pianist we know today. Being a Swiss citizen myself, it was a great pleasure to sit down and talk to this talented artist.

Akbar Nour: How do you explain Smooth Jazz being so much bigger in the U.S. that it is in Europe.

Alex Bugnon: I wish I could (laughing). Maybe there are a lot of people in Europe, especially the press, mainly the mainstream press, that historically has always been on the side of a very sectarian way of seeing things. Whatever is not bebop or straight ahead Jazz is not worth listening to or going to see. Once they put that out, people believe part of it and they just become not interested. It is also up to the smooth jazz musicians to really step up some music instead of just trying to get airplay. And because of the radios’ policies, the music that you can play or not on the radio, they just bow down to that and start to play wishy-washy music and lot of people in Europe also listen to this crap. So both sides should step up. If the people in Europe who listen to mainstream/straight ahead jazz could hear good smooth jazz music, they would like it. I guess it is just a lack of information and exposure.

Akbar: It seems that you were destined to become a jazz musician, being born in Montreux (Switzerland) and home of the famous Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF)) with your father himself a jazz musician. Did these factors pave the way for your musical career?

Alex: The music came naturally; the piano lessons were forced on me since I was six year-old. But the career was absolutely much wise. When I was fourteen-year old, I had an awakening to the whole real jazz stage. I went once to the MJF, hanging up with Donald Byrd, my uncle by alliance and I started going backstage, to the rehearsals and the sound checks and to see that being so close was unbelievable.

Akbar: What are your best memories of the MJF?

Alex: As a listener, my best memories were the Mac Coy Tyner and the Miles Davis concerts. I discovered Tyner in 1973 and he became one of my idols and Miles Davis too. As a performer, I only played twice in Montreux, the first time I did the opening for George Benson, it was my first band and the first year that I came out as a musician. It was odd, because it was my first time on the road. I agree there was a lot of room for improvement on my side. But I was chewed up by the press in Switzerland and it was not a good memory. The second time I played there was with Randy Cranford and it was a great memory this time.

Akbar: You were trained in Paris and Salzburg. So normally you should have become a classical piano player. Why did you switch to Smooth Jazz?

Alex: I always did enough classical to get away with I have to do. You know, classical was the only way at that time to really play. As I saw my uncle Donald Byrd at jazz festivals, I decided to move to the States. I had an audition at the Berklee College of Music and I was accepted there. I was quite advanced, as I had a lot of years training in classical music. And at that time Berklee was backwards compared to Europe.

Akbar: In the seventies your uncle the famous trumpet player Donald Byrd recorded with his band the Blackbyrds  lots of groovy albums that were an innovative blend of soul and jazz. I assume he has been a great source of inspiration for you and which other great musicians have also influenced you?

Alex: Donald Byrd had a big influence on me, because his music is unbelievable. He was one of the first jazz musicians not afraid to get into the classical world and willing to learn from it. He went to Paris and studied with famous French music professor Nadia Boulanger. When he came back to New-York, even being a big star, he stopped music and went to study at the Manhattan School of Music for a master’s degree. He never had a big ego, he knew what he wanted to do and he also had one of the keenest business sense of any musicians back there. That is how he made it so big; he was a very business-oriented musician, without sacrificing his music. Other sources of inspiration came from the records that my father had at home: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins and so many other musicians.

Akbar: You released your debut album “Love Seasons” in 1989 and it’s funny, because I listened to your first two albums the other day and they have this massive funky up-tempo sound with flashy keyboards and they did very well in the charts. Were they a reflection of that period for you?

Alex: Yes, they reflected what I was doing while on the road at that time. I played keyboards for people such as Keith Sweat, Earth, Wind and Fire and I was recording at the same time. And you know, a lot of this music, if you scrap away all the production gimmicks, are good songs but because of everything that has been added in the production, a lot of it did not age well. And I wish not for all of it, but at least for some songs, I would record them in a much more natural way.

Akbar: With your fifth album “Tales from the Bright Side” you came back to a more creative straight ahead jazz form. What was your state of mind at that time?

Alex: It was exactly what came out of my music; it was acoustic, unplugged, just peaceful at last. I needed to do something different after my funky period. I just went with my heart. A lot of people told me that I should have done this record or another one. But there were great songs. One of my signature songs «Harlem on My Mind» was on this album and the music that I am the most proud of Is on that record.

Akbar: You toured with various famous Jazz musicians during that period. What is your best memory?

Alex: I was asked by Earth, Wind and Fire whether I could replace their keyboardist. I said that I could and that I knew all of their tunes. They flew me to Mississippi and I went to a casino where they were performing. And without any rehearsal I played the whole show. All they had to show to me was their new intros and their new endings for the songs. I played the tunes like in their original record and they all freaked out. Whenever I started a song and when they heard me playing like Larry Dune, their first keyboardist and one of the founding members of the band, they were so happy to hear the same exact sound. And when I started to play their famous tune “That’s The Way of the World”, I started crying because I could not believe that I was up to playing along with them.

Akbar: From 1995 to 2000, you did not record any albums. Was there a particular reason for this musical silence?

Alex: I was on contract with RCA Records. They were in big troubles, they were about to close and fire everybody. They dropped everybody, expect Marion Meadows and me. They started to do “bubble gum” music. They did not want to let me go and I did not want to record what they wanted me to play. So we were in a standoff for four years. In the meantime, I worked like crazy. I toured with Patty Austin and James Ingram.

Akbar: In 2000, you were eventually freed from your contract with RCA then released «As Promised» in 2001 and three more albums. You have come back to a more acoustic and laidback sound. Is it a new step in your career?

Alex: I don’t calculate what I am doing. It is only my feeling that I have always followed.

Akbar: Last question. What are your next projects?

Alex: I intend to release a record with the musicians and the producer of Amy Winehouse. It is going to be nice with a sixties feel, but I twill be today’s sound with my music and my melodies.