Volunteer got a star job
Volunteering at Førdefestivalen can lead to so many things. Hayden Powell got a contract with world artist Natacha Atlas. In one of the many rehearsal rooms in the antique Biermannsgården in Oslo we meet a smiling and friendly young trumpeter. Hayden James Richard Powell is his baptismal name, but among friends he is just Hayden.
In a quiet, charming house in Sagene, Oslo, jazz trumpeter Hayden Powell rents a practice room. Here he also has to do his office work, after he became a father and the child demanded his place at home.
Hayden Powell (33)
• Born in Shetland to English parents, moved to Norway as a child
• Educated at the “Jazzlinja” in Trondheim and at the Norwegian Academy of Music.
• Lives in Oslo with wife and one child
• Has released three albums under his own name, and played on around 30 albums in total • Performs regularly with Natacha Atlas, Eyolf Dale Wolf Valley, Solfrid Molland, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra
• Write music for your own projects, big bands and choirs
• Run the record label Periskop
• Teaches in choirs and at the Norwegian Academy of Music.
Plates
• Hayden Powell - Circadian Rhythm & Blues (Periscope)
• Eyolf Dale - Wolf Valley (Edition Records)
• Iro Haarla & Norrlandsoperans Symphony Orchestra - Ante Lucem (ECM)
• Solfrid Molland - Transformation (Church Culture Workshop)
• Bridges with Seamus Blake (AMP Music & Records)
• Significant Time - The Rainbow Pony's Significant Easter Song (Periscope) DAMANA - Cornua Copiae (Clean Feed)
It is original enough, and it is worth noting that his parents are from England. They came to Norway when his father got a job as an organist in Vestnes in Romsdal, and his mother also found work as a musician. Young Hayden grew up here, and early on he also discovered that he wanted to play for a living.
Love
– How did you end up as a volunteer at Førdefestivalen ?
He smiles and begins what could have been a long story, I understand, but in short it has to do with love.
– My wife, Kristin Støfringsdal, is from Jølster, which is only 20 minutes from Førde . Her family has always been involved in music, with activities in everything from drama to choir and the jazz club in the village. And they have been volunteers at Førdefestivalen for many years. So when I was asked to take part in this, it was natural to say yes, says Hayden.
Tickell and Atlas
He volunteered for two years. The first year he helped the English artist Kathryn Tickell and in 2015 he served as artist liaison for the Arab-French-Belgian-British artist Natacha Atlas. With her diverse background, she is a natural fit for Førdefestivalen his international conglomerate of musical styles. It was completely by chance that he got her, he says:
– My wife and I were both supposed to be volunteers, and the festival gave us two artists for distribution. One was the Aastad Bråten brothers from Valdres, and the other was Natacha Atlas. They were very different assignments, because the guys from Valdres came driving their own car, and mostly managed themselves, while Natacha and her group needed a little more organization. But I'm very pleased that the distribution went the way it did, smiles Hayden.
– They found the tone, as they say?
– Yes, they were nice people. But that it would lead to an assignment for me afterwards is actually a bit strange. Because I didn't talk to Natacha about the fact that I'm a trumpet player. It was just mentioned in passing to the bass player in her group. Andy Hamill is a super social guy, who gets in touch with people very easily. You become friends with him in five seconds, says Hayden.
With parents who are musicians, Hayden Powell realized early on that it was possible to make a living as a musician. He chose the trumpet.
Phone in the car
He must have a good memory too, Andy Hamill, because a week after the festival, Hayden's phone rang, who was now working on a new song and having a nice holiday, he thought. They were out driving and he saw a number on the phone he didn't recognize, so he didn't bother to pick it up, but when it rang several times, he finally pressed the green button. Then suddenly Natacha was in his ear and asked if he would consider being their trumpet player on the long European tour they were going on in the fall. The trumpet player they had on the album, Ibrahim Maalouf, wasn't available to play, and they needed a replacement. We're talking 20 prestigious gigs!
– Good thing you didn't drive into the ditch!
– Fortunately, I wasn't the one driving. Yes, it was very pleasant. It's rare to get a job like that, Hayden notes warmly. That's how calmly a true Romsdaling – or Trøndelag maybe, he also has roots there after his years in Trondheim studying jazz – reacts to the assignment to be a substitute for one of the big stars of the moment.
So it was goodbye to the holidays, and hard work began. The first concert was to be at the end of August, and the material was foreign to the jazz trumpeter. Since Natacha Atlas is half Egyptian, there are some quarter notes and a bit of foreign tonality and vibrato in her material.
“ He smiles and begins what could have been a long story, I understand, but in short it has to do with love. ”
Didn't say much...
– Do you know how they found out that you were the musician they needed?
– They said they knew I had to be good, since I hadn't talked much about my playing. And then they had googled me and found a video on Youtube where I play a firebird trumpet. It's a rare instrument, which in addition to the usual valves also has a trombone-like slide. With this it becomes easier to play all kinds of notes, and it could fit well into their style, they thought. Now it ended up that I found all the quarter notes I needed on my usual Bb trumpet, but the 'firebird' had come in handy...
Likes to do something new
– It was brave to say yes to such a challenge!
– I love challenges. Especially when they give me the opportunity to learn something new. It comes in handy when you want to live as a freelancer. So I sought out an oud player I knew in Stavanger, Aladin Abbas, who taught me the basic scales of this music, and then there was rehearsal with the band in London. It turned out that their violinist, Samy Bishay, in addition to being a good instrumentalist is also an outstanding educator, so in addition to practicing with the band, I got private lessons with him in the hotel room, says Hayden.
Now a long series of concerts is over, and the next assignment is recording a new album in London or France in January.
The peaceful Biermannsgården houses rehearsal rooms for about 30 musicians. Hayden Powell is pleased, not least because he lives only 100 meters up the street.
Another world
– What experiences has being involved in this given you?
– Working with Natacha is in a completely different world compared to what I do otherwise. She is part of a large apparatus with management and booking agents. This means that they have to think more about what can have commercial power than what I am used to. The other projects I am involved in are often based on some kind of public support, and that gives you greater freedom when creating music. I have my own trio, and play with several other groups. In this work, I manage everything myself, from booking to accounting, says Hayden and hints at the paper and computer in the work corner
“ So it was goodbye to the holidays, and hard work began. The first concert was supposed to be at the end of August, and the material was foreign to the jazz trumpeter. ”
Fun to volunteer
– I was going to ask you about what volunteering has given you. Førdefestivalen , but the answer has perhaps already given itself?
– Yes, but not only that. The work itself as a volunteer is fun. And it's good to be part of a big group that pulls together to achieve something great. It feels like an important job. And it's nice to meet musicians and other people involved. Of course, I travel a lot to festivals, and there we often meet the same musicians in different constellations. But at Førdefestivalen It's a good thing. There are a lot of musicians there that you never hear at other festivals. It's refreshing.
Life smiles
Yes, life has been kind to Hayden Powell lately. This fall, for example, he fulfilled a dream he had as a boy, to play on an ECM record. Not as a soloist, of course, but he's in the quintet of Finnish pianist Iro Haarla, but he's great.
– What is the big, wild dream now?
He drags on. Mumbles something about a think tank and a new project, but lands with his feet in the middle of reality:
– I've had children. And I realize that the most important thing now is to figure out how to organize my work with music and at the same time be a good father, smiles Hayden Powell.
Marianne Lystrup (text and pictures)
ml@skriveliv.no
