Frank Paul Schubert

Frank Paul Schubert, geboren 1965 in Neuss am Rhein, ist ein Saxophonist im Bereich der Improvisierten Musik und des Zeitgenössischen Jazz. Er spielt regelmäßig mit Willi Kellers, Andreas Willers, Johannes Bauer, Matthias Müller, John Edwards, Mark Sanders, Günter Baby Sommer, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Uwe Oberg, Antonis Anissegos und vielen anderen. Zahlreiche Tonträgerveröffentlichungen auf diversen international vertriebenen Labels dokumentieren seine Musik. Konzertreisen führten ihn durch das gesamte Bundesgebiet, nach Polen, Rumänien, Österreich, die Schweiz, Italien, Frankreich, Spanien, England, Kanada und die USA.

Schubert begann 1982 als Autodidakt, Saxophone zu spielen, nahm von 1988 bis 1991 Unterrricht bei Lajos Dudas (sowohl Jazz als auch klassisches Saxophon-Repertoire) und studierte von 1992 bis 1996 klassisches Saxophon an der Musikhochschule Aachen bei Prof. Hugo Read. Nach dem Studium war er einige Jahre im Raum Frankfurt/Main aktiv und zog 1999 nach Berlin. Seit 2003 liegt der Schwerpunkt seiner Arbeit in der freien Improvisationsmusik. 2005 gründete gemeinsam mit Andreas Willers und Rudi Fischerlehner die Band GRID MESH (seit 2010 mit Willi Kellers, Johannes Bauer und Andreas Willers), die mehrere CDs veröffentlichte, auf zahlreichen internationalen Festivals zu Gast war und 2009 im Rahmen einer USA/Kanada-Tour unter anderem im The Stone/NYC spielte.

Frank Paul Schubert – Sunday Interview

Photo by Cristina Marx/Photomusix

What is your greatest joy in improvised music?
The experience of flow, when an ensemble really melts together and decisions are made collectively, like one organism.
What quality do you most admire in the musicians you perform with?

Creativity. The ability to listen. The ability to develop a coherent form/structure. With all due attention to detail not losing sight of the big picture.
Doesn’t hurt if they are nice people to hang out with.
Which historical musician/composer do you admire the most?

John Coltrane (not the most original choice I guess)
If you could resurrect a musician to perform with, who would it be?

Johannes Bauer.
I played many, many concerts with Johannes, and these were the most inspiring experiences.
I miss him. I think we all miss him.
If I could resurrect a musician I never played with to perform with, then I would ask for Mr. Elvin Jones.
What would you still like to achieve musically in your life?

There is need on all fronts!
Are you interested in popular music and – if yes – what music/artist do you particularly like?

I hardly ever listen to contemporary pop music deliberately.
Frank Zappa is one of my heroes. I like the Beatles a lot.
King Crimson, Gentle Giant, some late 60s / early 70s rock music.
Sometimes funk, like James Brown or Sly Stone.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Get rid of my beer belly.
Which of your albums are you most proud of?

That‘s a tough one! Of the more recent releases Black Holes Are Hard To Find with Klaus Kugel and Kazuhisa Uchihashi is an album I‘m very happy with, but I also like Forge with Alexander von Schlippenbach and Martin Blume a lot.
Once an album of yours is released, do you still listen to it? And how often?

Hardly ever. There are always new recordings of mine to evaluate, so my need to listen to myself is covered.
Which album (from any musician) have you listened to the most in your life?

Probably Hot Rats by Frank Zappa. But this might be misleading, because I save certain albums that mean a lot to me for the „sacred moments“ and therefore listen to them rather rarely, so the frequency is not that significant.
What are you listening to at the moment?

Early „Electric Miles“ live recordings by the so-called lost quintet with Wanye, Chick, Dave and Jack. This is not jazz-rock or fusion at all, despite the use of an electric piano. This is proper free jazz! Sometimes you find pointillistic textures that sound very „avantgarde“, like Stockhausen‘s „Kontrapunkte“. And sometimes Wayne plays really ecstatic and wild – almost like your regular screaming free jazz tenor player!
What artist outside music inspires you?

Thomas Mann, especially his opus magnum „Joseph und seine Brüder“.
I also love the Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard for his very musical style, his sense of form and his use of repetitive patterns.

Frank Paul Schubert reviewed on the Free Jazz Blog:

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