Let's Play Everything: Alden Hellmuth Speaks

Photo courtesy of the artist.

by Sarah Thomas

A native of New York City, saxophonist Alden Hellmuth recently returned here after a fellowship year in Switzerland. This week, Hellmuth reunites with pianist Lex Korten in their duo Flowstone at The Jazz Gallery, presenting original tunes by Hellmuth and building on the rich, exploratory tradition of saxophone and piano duos. We chatted with Hellmuth last week about Flowstone’s work together and the freedom that comes with duo playing.

The Jazz Gallery: Could you start by telling me about your show coming up with Flowstone next week?

Alden Hellmuth: Lex and I started this duo project about two years ago now. We had this one gig and we were like, “We should keep doing this!” Then I was in Europe for a year, but when I came back the duo was one of the first shows I played. So I'm really excited to bring this to The Jazz Gallery.

Lex is incredible. He's one of my favorite pianists, musicians, and improvisers. It's really special to be able to do this duo project, especially because there's so much freedom and possibility in this musical context. I think both of us are very intuitive and organic improvisers. He listens so much to everything, and it's a really meditative experience to share this space with him and just improvise. It's a lot of fun.

TJG: What are you playing next week?

AH: We have some stuff in our book that we've done before, and I have some new pieces I'm bringing in that I'm really excited to do with Lex. Then I'm sure we will end up improvising as well. A lot of my pieces leave room for improvisation. But we've also done performances where we've played some of our favorite songs by modern composers and our friends. It's fun to have this opportunity to explore and play your friends’ music in a different context.

TJG: It sounds like there’s a lot of variety in what you play.

AH: Yeah, it's very much all over the place. Lex and I are both involved in so many different worlds, so it's really interesting because we're both like, “Well, let's play everything.”

TJG: Were you and Lex working together before this duo came together?

AH: We had played together before for a couple of random gigs. We met when I first moved to New York. He was one of the first people I met in New York. It was at Smalls very late at night, and everyone was going around introducing themselves. So I was like, “Hey, we're the same age. You also just graduated. Let's hang out and be friends.” Sometimes, you just have to pick someone and be like, “Do you want to be my friend? We should make music together.”

TJG: I’d love to hear more about the freedom in this duo that you mentioned earlier.

AH: I'm happy to talk about that more. Writing for this project is unique. I have been really into composing for piano lately. It’s funny, because I hadn't really had piano in my band prior to doing this program called Focusyear out in Switzerland last year. But there were two pianists in that octet, which was a really unique learning and compositional experience.

My compositional style has evolved a lot recently and this project is a great opportunity to explore so many different compositional possibilities, especially in regards to the roles each instrument plays. There are endless possibilities there, especially with a pianist like Lex, who can do it all.

There are so many great examples of this instrumentation. Ingrid Laubrock and Kris Davis have an album called Blood Moon. I find deep inspiration in that album. There's Archie Shepp’s album Goin’ Home with Horace Parlan. Lee Konitz and David Murray both have quite a few albums with pianists. Anthony Braxton has that Duets 1976 album. George Coleman and Tete Montoliu have a duo album. There are a lot of resources and inspiration to pull from for this project.

It's such a treat, especially playing with Lex for as long as I have. We know each other as musicians, too, so we can easily go a lot of different places with the music. That’s such a special thing to have with someone. Also, I've always believed that when you're friends with the people you're playing with, you can connect on a deep musical level because there's a comfort there. So we're going to have some fun and create some really special moments.

TJG: What are your dreams for the duo?

AH: I would love to record it. That would be really cool. Eventually, I'm sure we’ll be playing elsewhere. Our schedules are a little crazy, though. But I feel like our friendship and musical bond is really strong, so even after we don’t see each other for a while, we come back together. It's also really fun to come back to it after spending some time away and rediscover each other's growth. My music has changed a lot since we played together that first time, and it's really fun to come back and play completely different music and try things.

I know I keep using the word, but it's so exploratory. There's so much potential in these kinds of settings and with this project. I'm excited that we're going to play at The Jazz Gallery, because I feel like this is a great audience for it—some really deep listeners, which is great. I'm really looking forward to it. It's such a cool project and it's an honor to play with Lex.

TJG: Do you have any other projects you’d like people to know about?

AH: I'm recording my first album with my quintet in June and hoping to release it late summer or early fall. It's been a long time coming and I'm excited. I’m ready to get it out there.

Flowstone plays The Jazz Gallery on Wednesday, May 24. The group features Alden Hellmuth on alto sax and Lex Korten on piano. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. ET. $20 general admission (FREE for members), $30 cabaret seating ($20 for members), $20 Livestream (FREE for members). Purchase tickets here.