Drummer Mark Guiliana Goes Microtonal at Berklee

On the heels of the release of David Bowie's Blackstar, for which he provided drums as part of the quartet of bandleader Donny McCaslin '88, drummer Mark Guiliana demonstrated his ideas in a microtonal groove context with the Planet MicroJam Institute Ensemble.

March 7, 2016

Drummer Mark Guiliana performed to a standing-room-only audience with the Planet MicroJam Institute Ensemble under the artistic direction of guitar professor David Fiuczynski on January 28 at David Friend Recital Hall. One of New York's leading and most innovative drummers, Guiliana is also composer and leader of the band Beat Music, and has performed and recorded with Meshell Ndegeocello, Avishai Cohen, Brad Mehldau, and David Bowie. 

On the heels of the release of Bowie's Blackstar, for which he provided drums as part of Donny McCaslin '88's quartet, Guiliana demonstrated his ideas in a microtonal groove context along with Fiuczynski and a cadre of Berklee students wielding fretless instruments and quarter-tonal synths.

The following is an excerpted version of Guiliana's advice. 

On Microtime and Improvising

"Don’t get lost in the details—more importantly what the hands are playing is what makes it music. The bigger picture is the goal to use that vocabulary in improvisations. I don’t want to get too attached to any individual ideas while I’m practicing because then I’ll be that much more tempted to play exactly as I practiced it. It’s more helpful for me to think about these really small ideas, or cells."

"I really try to be an equal-opportunity employer with my vocabulary, because as you’re practicing, that moment is so precious: the way you’re learning something and taking something in... There’s a great chance that you get on the gig and the music needs that thing you already decided was dumb. I don’t want to assign any labels or adjectives while I’m working on this stuff." 

Seeking the Groove in Odd Meters

"If you can be really open and present in listening, the music reveals all the answers. The answers are within the master musicians who can accommodate the music. First you need to be so aware and connected to the music to even find those solutions, and then it becomes the technical aspect if you can present those ideas on your instrument."

"I learned that from Meshell Ndegeocello, everything is one—that is so freeing, and it’s incredibly liberating. I’m always just trying to look inside the groove and find familiar things in odd meters. Reading is invaluable and it’s very important, but sometimes it can be a crutch, and it’s easy to be self-defeating. I’m always listening to the bass line, always listening to the melody, and really trying to avoid the numbers."

Technology and Inspiration

"I've had my periods of deep immersion in specific music, but the relationship to the instrument is so pure, it's very minimal, it's acoustic. There's no shortcut to what [the masters] achieved on their instrument. Now with technology, which I absolutely embrace and am grateful for, maybe there are some shortcuts. And that's okay because still at the end of the road we're going to gravitate towards the people who are making important noise."

"But really on the drums, there's no shortcut and the sound that they pull out of this instrument is incredible. We're focuing on drummers, but someone like Bob Marley is one of my biggest inspirations, and that music and his connection to it's all one thing. He doesn't step on stage and become a singer or guitar player; he's living music at all times. It's a humble goal of mine to be as connected as I can.  John Coltrane—that was another recent answer to "If you could be any drummer who would you be?" I said John Coltrane. There are such deep, deep wells of inspiration; you don't have to like these guys, but I hope you feel as passionately about some things and keep reaching.

Watch Mark Guiliana in a solo performance of "Locked in the Basement":