Researching the essence of the blues for his master’s degree, tenor saxophonist Efraïm Trujillo made some spectacular discoveries: ‘facts’ that had been assumed and passed on as truths by musicologists for decades turned out to be untenable. For example, the oft-mentioned ‘blue note’ is not an essential characteristic of the blues as has always been assumed. What blues musicians really play and sing is what Trujillo calls a ‘blue movement’, an upwards sliding note. The saxophonist developed his own instrument, the blues horn, that enables him to play these ‘blue movements’. This week Trujillo presents the new album Royal Flush with his band the Preacher Men, followed by a tour through the Netherlands.
Where did your love for the tenor saxophone start?
I was born in California, my father is Mexican-American. My Dutch mother was studying in the United States when she met my father. After my parents divorced, I ended up in Amsterdam Southeast with my mother. As a child I had classical clarinet lessons. In the Bijlmer area where we lived, many Surinamese bands performed and they needed horn players. I loved the sound of the tenor saxophone and the Caribbean element of Surinamese music appealed to me. From the 1990s, I played at gigs and parties with the Fra Fra Sound, among others. During that period, Surinamese music developed from pure entertainment to more complex theatre music.
You have also been a member of New Cool Collective for several decades. What led you to form the Preacher Men?
I participated in a couple of radio shows where I played with Hammond organist Rob Mostert and drummer Chris Strik. We liked it so much that we decided to commit our love for the instrumental primal versions of gospel, blues and jazz into a permanent trio.
Why are Rob Mostert and Chris Strik the ideal fellow musicians for you?
There are not that many Hammond organists who really use both their hands and feet. Rob lays down a walking bass line with his bare feet and he solos in the original gospel-blues style. Chris can push and pull and he is able to play both powerfully and subtly. You have drummers and you have musicians who play the drums. The latter is what Chris does. Chris always has his senses open. Playing with Rob and Chris is an adventure all the time. I am very grateful for this working band.
What is the main difference between gospel and blues?
Blues is melancholic music. Playing the blues is like venting your frustrations and setbacks. Gospel always has a glimmer of hope. Actually, they are two sides of the same coin.
How do you make that difference audible without lyrics?
Blues assumes an existing situation. Gospel is a story that has some development. A blues is usually quite simple. Because gospel has a plot with multiple layers, you often use more chords as well.
Trujillo, who completed his conservatory training in 1994, recently decided to do a master’s research on the essential characteristics of the blues. He subjected a representative selection from the blues repertoire to a close examination. He discovered that the descriptions that have dominated music theory books for decades turn out to be wrong. A standard blues by no means always consists of 12 bars. Blues music is much more varied than the standard I – IV – V chord-structure suggests. The most striking discovery however was that the ‘blue note’, more than a century considered as ‘typical of the blues’, is in reality hard to find. This means that both record company Blue Note and the famous jazz club had better change their names into ‘Blue Movement’. This revolutionary discovery prompted Trujillo to design a new instrument: the blues horn.
What’s new about the blues horn?
I developed this instrument together with Paul Feldmann. A saxophone does not have open valves and therefore you cannot slide notes like you can on a clarinet. Think for instance of the clarinet glissando at the beginning of Rhapsody in Blue (1924) by George Gershwin. We have transferred the open valves of the clarinet to the blues horn so that I can play this typical blues effect on the instrument.
Does the religious aspect of gospel play a role in your music?
As soon as you put words to something, you can also have disagreements about its meaning. That is one of the reasons why we make instrumental music. Gospel music was born out of frustration over powerlessness and injustice. Gospel music gives hope and prospect for better times. Making music can have the same healing power as a good church service. Although our Preacher concept has a slightly tongue-in-cheek nature, we do take the thrilling and connecting side of music seriously.
The Preacher Men’s first album was produced by the legendary Al Schmitt (1930 – 2021). What was it like working with him?
That was fantastic! Al Schmitt represented the analogue era. On the mixing desk, he would set all the meters to zero and he adjusted the sound by moving the microphones. That’s a technique they used in the 1960s when multi-track was not available. He did everything by ear. This created a gritty sound that suited our music well. Even though he was well into his eighties, he didn’t hesitate to climb a ladder and put the microphones exactly where he wanted them. He had worked with many international artists and he was the producer with the most Grammy Awards to his name. He used that knowledge when he worked with us and it showed.
With pianist Rembrandt Frerichs, you made the melodic duo album The Standards Collection Vol. 1 in 2022. When can we expect volume two?
With Rembrandt Frerichs, I once played Horace Silver’s ‘Peace’ at the Amsterdam Bimhuis without preparation. That concert was recorded and we were very happy with that piece. During Covid, we decided to record some other standards in my studio in the same way: without agreeing on what exactly we were going to do. The most successful songs ended up on The Standards Collection Vol. 1. Our intention was to play our own compositions on Volume 2, although we’ll have to draw our agendas for the recordings.
Royal Flush
The Preacher Men – ZenneZ Records
Info about the tour: thepreachermen.com
Pictures: Ferry Knijn