Hello CMT readers, for this week's interview we have innovative guitarist and highly original composer Roy Ben Bashat, whose reputation already precedes him; He has recorded with GRAMMY winner trumpeter Darren Barrett, performed with GRAMMY-nominated multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin and renowned saxophonist Noah Preminger, among many others. He has also been performing under his own name, and showcasing his original music in some of the most prestigious venues in the world, like ‘Beit Haamudim’ in Tel Aviv, Israel and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. We were able to meet up in early March, enjoy our discussion below:
MW: Mr. Ben Bashat, thank you so much for doing this
RBB: Thanks for having me, Michael.
MW: I had a listen to “Storyteller of a War,” and I can solidly say that I’ve never heard anything like it – is that piece representative of your overall style?
RBB: Thanks! I would say it definitely represents one aspect of what I do. Growing up, so-called “Traditional Jazz” was my main thing. Over time, my ear was drawn more and more to contemporary artists though, so I guess my writing and general vision is heavily influenced by those two realms.
MW: I really think you’re onto something with the way you handle dissonance in your work; there seems to be an almost atonal yet very tonal quality to it – if that makes sense.
RBB: I think so, yeah. The concept of shifting around harmonic keys pretty frequently in one song is something you probably won’t hear as much in popular music, yet in Jazz, it’s pretty common. The real magic, in my opinion, is when you can write a strong melody that will engage the listener, and then all this complex, atonal harmony underneath is like a pallet of mystery colors that support it and makes it more interesting.
MW: Let’s talk about your quartet, how did you all come together?
RBB: I started this band in 2021 when I used to live in Boston. It was in the midst of the pandemic, and at the time there was barely work for us. As a band, we thought it will be cool to get together on a weekly basis and work on some music, just for ourselves. However, over time we realized we are onto something, so we decided to record and make it more serious.
MW: For people who are unfamiliar with your music, could you give us a glimpse into your musical/educational journey?
RBB: Sure. I started playing piano when I was 6. However, I wasn’t really into it at the time, so I switched to guitar when I was 9. Unfortunately, I didn’t come from a musical family, however, I was fortunate enough to have a great educational background. I studied in the Thelma Yelin high school of the arts in Israel, which is considered to be one of the best music schools in the world. Regardless of the great teachers that I studied with at my time there, the students’ environment was very competitive and very much pushing one to their limits. That really shaped me.
MW: I’m curious what you think about the explosion of alternative guitar techniques over the past few years. For my part, I would have thought that everything that could be done on the instrument, has been done – and yet, we’ve got folks like “Animals as Leaders,” “Polyphia” and the like seemingly breaking new ground. I would also include you in that camp given the freshness of your sound.
RBB: Yeah, I think my response for that will be something more general about our nature. Evolution, in all aspects of life, is something that always seem to be very prominent. Something about the nature of the human being always thrives to learn more, seek more, progress more. Therefore, having such a rich history of, in that case, legendary guitar players, allows nowadays guitarists (like Tosin Abasi from Animals as Leaders and Tim Henson from Polyphia) to study and learn what was already invented by past guitarists and after that, give their own input on the instrument.
MW: I listened to your live performance of “It’s Getting Late” and you have quite a nice singing voice. How often do you grab the mic?
RBB: Oh thanks! Actually not that frequent … This particular project you are referring to is relatively new. For the past two years, I started writing songs and lyrics and I came to the conclusion that I want to sing these songs as well, so I started vocal training a year ago.
MW: Anything new on the horizon?
RBB: Yes! I am releasing a new EP in the coming months that I called Lucid. ‘Storyteller of a War’ is actually the first single from that EP, and it will feature the same band.
MW: Thanks again for sharing your music and thoughts with us
RBB: Thank you, Michael! It was a pleasure.
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