Looking Within: A Conversation with Joe Dyson

Joe Dyson has established himself as one of the go to drummers for some of today’s masters of the music, performing with a wide range of artists including Dr. Lonnie Smith, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Jon Batiste, Nicholas Payton, and Leo Nocentelli. Most recently, he has been performing in a trio with Pat Metheny and James Francies. However, he has not released an album under his own name until now.

His debut release as a leader, Look Within (self-release, 2021), is a deeply personal album. As with Dyson’s sideman performances, his home of New Orleans plays a major role in his sound. However, the opportunity to go out on his own also allows him to dig deeper into this well. This emphasizes not just the Crescent City in a broad sense but also his family, mentors, and the subcultures there which make it such a special place. One particular influence comes from his upbringing in the church. Additional ideas are added from things Dyson has experienced while travelling the globe. These colors combine into a recording that borrows equally from the traditions of jazz, gospel, and R&B. We sat down with Joe to discuss the new album and his music more generally.

PostGenre: Look Within is your first album as a leader. But you’ve been a sideman to many other artists and have been playing music since you were a kid. Why did you wait until now to go out on your own?

Joe Dyson: Well, it really came down to making sure that I had enough confidence in the music I was writing and its power to help people. I’ve recorded with other projects, one of them being a band I co-lead, The Bridge Trio, writing tunes here and there. But this project is my first effort at really doing everything from top to bottom for the recording process. I would not have been as comfortable making this push earlier in my career. I was still learning from the many great artists and bandleaders I’ve worked with. I feel like being around them has allowed me to pick up on some of the small things they do in terms of making the musicians comfortable, reading into the audience, and fine tuning the music to make it a better vessel for speaking to something higher than just the notes.

PG: What do you feel like you’ve learned the most from this being your first time out as a leader?

JD: I think I have learned mainly to trust the artistic process. You do the work and spend time writing the music, but ultimately you must put trust in the process of working with other musicians to make the music a reality. Even if certain moments are not exactly as you initially envisioned them, in some ways the results end up brighter than what you imagined them to be. Trusting the process has been the main lesson I have learned throughout this project.

PG: Look Within was recorded in 2018 but is not being released until 2021. Why did you sit on it for a few years and did you make any significant changes to it in the meanwhile?

JD: After we recorded it, I didn’t rush out to release it because I wanted to take some time to step away from it and view it a bit more critically. I wanted to make sure the compositions came across the way I heard them. I felt like approaching them with fresh ears would give me a more objective perspective on them. 

What I didn’t expect was for the time away to be as long as it was, but that is really due to other things happening in my life. I’m a touring musician, so I move around with a lot of different bands. Also, I recorded it in August of 2018 and my daughter was born in October. After her birth, time started moving very quickly. I was dedicated to making sure there was a stable environment for her and my new family, that became my primary focus. 

Of course, with the pandemic, last year meant I couldn’t travel much to perform. The limit on my touring gave me the most time, I had to sit down with the music and focus on it. It really ended up being a perfect time to focus on the album. I have only made small changes to it – edits here or there – to the music. But, for the most part, the overall project has not changed since 2018. 

PG: How did you assemble the Quintet for Look Within?

JD: I have played with all of the members of the Quintet in different projects. Every time I played with them, no matter what the actual opportunity was, I have always enjoyed my time with them. 

The bassist, Jasen Weaver, studied with Donald Harrison as I did. Because of that shared connection, the way he approaches music is similar to mine. He has really beautiful musical ideas. He is also an incredibly gifted composer. He has a great sense of how music should be put together.

The trumpeter, Stephen Lands, and I have played together since I was a freshman or sophomore in college. He’s originally from Baton Rouge and we were able to do a big band recording with the Next Generation Big Band with Jesse McBride. I remember between the takes when the band would take its breaks, Steve would come in and him and I would play duo. It was very impromptu and open but we were always looking forward to that moment where we could share our energy with each other and play. He has a remarkable voice on the instrument and an approach to music that I can’t wait for the world to hear.

Steven Gladney, the tenor saxophonist, and I grew up together. We were both in the Louis Satchmo Armstrong Jazz Camp and he was a student at NOCCA [New Orleans Center for Creative Arts]. My younger sister, L.E., who provides vocals on the album, went to school with him as well. So I have a certain kinship with him. He’s always been talented. Since he was young, I was always trying to figure out some way to have him on the stage with me. He has a lot of depth in his sound. You can hear all the different historical eras of tenor saxophone in his sound even as he’s pushing the instrument further forward. I think someday he is going to be one of the guys who changes how we listen to tenor players.

And the last person in the group is Oscar Rossignoli on piano. I don’t go as far back with Oscar as the other guys; I think I met him in 2017 when I was getting the music together and trying to put the quintet together. Even though I haven’t known him as long, he just fit like a missing puzzle piece. He has a brilliant harmonic sense and adds such beautiful colors to music. His facility around the instrument is impeccable. He can play circles around anything and I am really happy to have him as part of the group. He’s a really brilliant artist with a bright future.

PG: Look Within consists almost entirely of your original compositions. What do you like most about composing?

JD: I think the main thing that I like composing my music is that I am finally able to fully express all of the facets of who I am. Sitting behind the drums and playing with other bands to some extent only shares one side to the audience and the other artists on the stage. That’s part of the experience. There are other depths that are not necessarily displayed in those moments but are in my own songs. 

Also, touring and seeing other parts of the world inspires me musically. I like being able to document those experiences in my compositions in a way I can’t really do while playing other people’s music. I love the moment of being able to sit down and document what I am hearing. It was therapeutic to sit in a room and really put melodic ideas down to paper. I love that part the most, just the process of focusing on what you are hearing and experiencing.

PG: You had studied film scoring at Berklee. Is that something you would be interested in exploring in a future project?

JD: Absolutely. I would like to explore more of that world. When I originally got into Berklee, I was inspired by music in great films. I love all of Spike Lee’s films and the way music was placed there. And of course other composers like Hans Zimmer and John Williams. Being able to take small motifs and expand them for larger sounds and contexts and to manipulate emotion is what really intrigued me about film scoring. I think another great musician who has that ability to evoke emotions through their music is Christian [Scott Atunde Adjuah]. He creates some really beautiful soundscapes to which a listener cannot help but imagine visuals.

PG: Speaking of Christian, how do you feel your experiences touring with him and being part of his Stretch Music project have shaped your own music?

JD: Christian and I share similar experiences mainly because we come from the same musical line from Donald Harrison. 

Donald has been a great torch-bearer in terms of connecting us to a certain lineage of music that is involved in the heritage of this music. Donald was part of the Jazz Messengers with the great Art Blakey. Of course, the Jazz Messengers has put out several artists who changed the face of our music. And Donald is one of them, having also played with Miles Davis, Tony Williams, and Elvin Jones. I was too young to have the opportunity to see Blakey or others Donald has worked with, or experienced their music in person. Donald is a connection to these artists I  couldn’t physically be with for people like myself and Christian. I think Christian and I are kindred spirits in this way which then shapes how we look at and analyze music. 

Christian has greatly influenced me in the amount of affection he puts towards his music. He is always thinking about how someone is affected by his music and may be pushed to think differently or feel differently from his music. You can tell he is very sincere about that and by being around him and playing with him, you pick up on that. And honestly it becomes a part of you as well. Once you are around someone, you pick up on their isms and all that kind of stuff. It is like how you can finish a best friend’s statements or read someone’s mind. That kind of stuff that I may not be consciously aware of may find itself in harmonic ideas or clichés. 

PG: In addition to Donald Harrison, you also studied with Alvin Batiste. How do you feel studying with two musicians primarily known as horn players – saxophone and clarinet respectively – has influenced your abilities as a drummer compared to studying with another percussionist?

JD: Donald and Mr. Bat have definitely influenced how I approach music melodically and harmonically compared to someone whose view is solely from a rhythmic place. Their approach is much broader.

But in general a lot of the artists who have influenced me the most are from New Orleans and, being from that culture,  I feel they all think in a strong rhythmic sense. Even if I was to study with some great drummers and percussionists – which I have – their thoughts on rhythm wouldn’t be terribly different from those of Donald or Mr. Bat. 

Donald can recall all of his experiences with the many great drummers he’s toured and recorded with. A lot of the time we’ve spent in recording studios, or soundchecks all over the world, Donald would share his thoughts and philosophies on music, and he would share his memories of other artists. Donald would sit behind the drums sharing the stickings given to him by Art Blakey, or Roy Haynes. He would also recreate the sounds of Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, or Elvin Jones on the drums. He could explain what it’s like to play behind McCoy Tyner, with Ron Carter, or Lena Horn. This insight was a tremendous help in my development.

Mr. Bat developed his own approach to the music that would actually help young budding minds develop more of themselves, it’s called “The Root Progression.” It has helped revolutionize how young artists can develop their voice and expand creatively. He also had a peculiar way of imparting wisdom in which he would use certain phrases. I had been around him since I was nine years old as part of The Louis Satchmo Armstrong Jazz Camp. He would often use these small phrases that helped me and the others in the group shape our conception of music differently.

Like Donald, Mr. Bat played with a lot of different people. But he was also different because he mostly stayed in New Orleans. He was a very strong player who just consciously chose not to tour as much. He toured with Ray Charles’ Big Band, recorded with Cannonball and Nat Adderley, would hang out with Trane when he came to town, and was part of the Second Modern Jazz Age of New Orleans. 

PG: Speaking of New Orleans, Look Within has only one track that is not an original composition, a second line version of Monk’s “Rhythm-a-ning.” What was the inspiration for placing this track on the album?

JD: Well, I love Monk’s playing. He’s really a drummer who is playing on a piano. A lot of his tunes, rhythmically, feel so great. And his melody on “Rhythm-a-ning” has such a joyous feeling. It just feels like something I would potentially hear in a second line. 

I took some small liberties with his piece, but the melody doesn’t need changing. Part of the idea was also to show the expansion of New Orleans music and how it doesn’t have to be something specific. I think when a lot of people from outside the culture look at our music, they try to box it into a specific time period or certain artists’ sound, but that view is incredibly misguided. I wanted to show how even with the passage of time, the music is much wider than many perceive of it.

PG: Look Within also borrows ideas from gospel. What was the inspiration behind including sermons on the tracks – “Naysayers” and “Come to Thee”?

JD: The sermon on “Naysayers” is from my father, the Reverend Dr. J. C. Dyson, Sr. My father is also a musician, who plays piano and organ. Some of my earliest musical memories are with him. I usually record my father’s Sunday sermons and go back and listen to them, especially for when I was on the road and missing home. 

The idea of adding his sermon came to me during my first JazzFest performance as a leader. It was the second Sunday of the 2018 Festival, the first Sunday in May. My father was going to be in the audience for the performance, which was a pleasant surprise because usually he would be at church. But that weekend, he made arrangements to be in the audience with my mother and sister. When I knew he was going to be in the audience, I wanted to find a way to honor my father. As I was scrolling through my voice memos- only about 15 minutes before I got on stage for the performance- the segment of his sermon on “Naysayers” popped up and I thought it was perfect to add to the song. That JazzFest performance was the first time I put that speech into the song. I liked how it turned out and  wanted to recreate it in the studio. I found that when I did it, the sermon added a nice layer to the song while also giving a nice nod to my father. 

The sermon on “Come to Thee” is not by my father. It is by Boyd Rivers from the Alan Lomax Collection, and the other voice is an excerpt of Louis Farakahn. There is an interview with Boyd Rivers where he made some statements that really resonated with me in terms of how I grew up and my influences, both musical and non-musical. I remember my grandfather would have church or bible study and my mother would always bring me to the service just to be around and present. As I grew up, that background helped shape my perspective on life. Boyd Rivers’ voice and physical presence in general also reminded me of my grandfather, John Bishop Dyson and I really wanted to have his voice there. 

PG: Seeing as how some of your earliest memories were with your father on organ, what has it been like performing with Dr. Lonnie Smith, a master of the instrument?

JD: It felt like home the first time that I played with Doc. I was sixteen or seventeen years old and part of Tipitina’s Interns. Donald had brought Doctor Lonnie in as a visiting artist to meet with us students and play with us. Donald thought it was particularly important that Doc play with me and listen to me. 

That following year I got a call to sub for Jeff “Tain” Watts at one of his gigs at Yoshi’s in San Francisco. Doc made me feel so comfortable. Even though I was younger than the rest of the group, no one treated me differently because of it. They were really bringing me into the fold and it just felt like home. 

It was a really special feeling playing with his group. Even more so since Doc plays an instrument that I have had a real personal connection with; probably the first instrument that resonated with me. Also, Doc is so expressive. Every note he plays has so much weight to it. Every note. No matter how many he plays, can pick just one note that literally washes over you. It just feels like home every time I play with him. 

Joe Dyson’s debut album as a leader, Look Within will be available on Bandcamp on March 5, 2021.

More information about Joe can be found on his website.