Jezz Hall

Jezz Hall is one of the most highly respected solo performers operating in the UK he has earned the admiration of folk stalwarts such as Dick Gaughan and Pete Morten. We spoke to Jezz recently about his career to date.

Click here to hear The Jezz Hall track "Small Town"

1) You have been described as one of the brightest talents to emerge in the field of traditional music by artists such as Pete Morten has this put added pressure on you in your career so far ?

No not at all, only helped to raise my profile slightly which can only be a good thing in this business I guess.  Pete is a very talented songwriter and performer and I was lucky enough to work with him on his Christmas show last year which was a lot of fun.  I would say that I don’t see myself as being confined to the traditional field really as I am predominantly a songwriter and performer of original material.  That said, I have performed (and hopefully will continue to perform) in folk clubs and I do include traditional songs in my set.  I suppose I view music as a system of branches which intertwine and can be traced backwards to arrive somewhere closer to its source, and I do think that I have learnt much of the craft of songwriting and performing from discovering and getting excited by the old songs.  I am, however, trying to plough my own path if you like and if certain elements of the traditional scene (which is a very diverse scene) appreciate and support what I do then I’m very flattered.

2) You've supported many talented artists over the years which ones have you enjoyed working with most?

As I mentioned  I had a lot of fun working with Pete on the Christmas show which also included Damien Barber and Maggie Boyle.  The show visited various folk clubs across the country and at each show four members of the club played particular characters in the play so although we were running the play the club added their own flavour to it which I guess is as close to the folk philosophy as you can get.

It was great touring with the Phil Beer Band.  Phil is a monster musician and I have had the honor of being joined onstage by him a number of times now, it was a bit intimidating at first but he was very supportive and a thoroughly nice bloke.  It was a great experience when he invited me to join him onstage at a Show of Hands gig last year, which was made all the more special in that it was in the next village to where I grew up in Cambridge.  I have also done some duo performances with Deb Sandland who sings with Phil and has her own group.  She has a wonderful voice and performs on my new cd and I hope we can work together again in the future.

As you said I’ve supported a lot of talented people some were particularly special as I was already a fan myself such as Jackie Leven

 2) Your debut album "Small Town" has been a tremendous critical success and a favourite on many specialists radio shows, has it been difficult to write and record the follow up.

When I recorded Smalltown I had a lot of material available so it was a case of deciding what I could bring myself to leave off.  The new cd has taken a lot of hard work, again there was a lot of material available to me but I wanted to make it a little more coherent than smalltown.  I have had the luxury of free studio time and a very committed producer/engineer in my friend Andy Hill. This enabled me to explore and experiment with certain songs and I believe I have made the album that I set out to.  There is even the odd song that I can say I wouldn’t change a thing about!!!!!   

4) On  your latest recordings you've gone for a full band sound as opposed to mainly solo performances on your debut album "Small Town"- why the change ?

I think I wanted to do this on smalltown also but time etc placed restrictions on me.  Smalltown was my debut and it was a huge learning curve for both me and Bruce who recorded it. It was a lot of fun but was a rather naïve recording which may be part of its charm I guess.  Since smalltown I have made friends with a lot of great musicians and so had a lot of options on this new cd.  Before starting the sessions we decided that we would try to keep a focus with regards to who got involved in the recordings, rather than go mad and getting everyone I knew to contribute.  We built a lot of it around the unit of myself, Andy and drummer Tom Parratt and then built on that. 

5) Your writing has developed away from traditional music into more singer songwriter territory at least lyrically was this a conscious change

By listening to the two albums I can understand why you might come to that conclusion but some of the songs of this new cd are older than those on smalltown so it isn’t necessarily the case.  Ocean for example is a very old song written before any of the tracks on smalltown. There was it’s true a time when I was writing perhaps more narrative songs or songs that seemed more obviously stylised and this was just me discovering my voice and having fun.

6) The songs on the new album are alot more intense and darker then on small town is this reflective of your personal life at the moment.

I guess you refer to tracks such as Taking Shelter and When I’m Dead.  I did go through a tough period shortly after recording smalltown and some of the songs were born of that but I believe there is an element of hope in each of the songs as well.  That is certainly the intention.  I’m not a depressive sort of character by nature though I do love a sad song! I think there is a certain beauty to be found in tragedy and life is an intense experience if you really face it.  I think I’m always looking for a deeper resonance in day to day experiences and that’s what gives me the will to go on, inevitably I explore this in my music.

It was a very difficult time recording the album as I lost my Dad to cancer half way through it and it was my goal to finish it before he died but sadly that was not to be.

7) When will the album be available to purchase ?

Well it’s all finished and mastered and the cover is being sorted now, but as yet I have no funds for self release so I am looking at approaching various record companies.  I feel it is long overdue so I want things to move fast but we will see.  I will post details on my website as soon as I know.

For more info please visit www.jezzhall.com