American guitarist Russ Spiegel is a musician who wears many hats. Alongside performing – from solo guitar to running his ensemble The Russ Spiegel Jazz Orchestra, Russ is a commissioned composer, written music for film, TV, and musicals, taught college-level courses, ran workshops & seminars, given private instruction, and has copied music for Broadway shows and major-label recordings, as well as having appeared in a number of feature movies as both a musician and actor.
A prolific recording artist, Russ also released several CDs. Ucombo Music Reviews editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to interview him this week about his early musical training and his recent CD release entitled “The Russ Spiegel Jazz Orchestra ~ Transplants”.
Meg: Hi Russ, thanks again for letting us interview you. You were born in Los Angeles, but moved to Germany with your family while you were in high school. Did you receive your earliest musical training in the US?
Russ: Hi Meg, great to talk with you. I grew up in a musical household. My father plays trumpet, my brother Victor, who is a pianist and composer, was always rehearsing his band at the house, my sister Shelah plays violin and my mother would sit down at the piano from time to time. I tried playing trumpet like my dad when I was about 9 years old until about 12 but I was never really motivated to practice. When I was about 14 I discovered a picture of Fender Strat in my father’s music catalog and was fascinated by it. I don’t know why, but I just had to get one. My father said I could play guitar but only if I took lessons. We went down to the local music store in Fountain Valley and they started me off on a classical guitar. I practiced every day and that summer I got a part-time job and saved up enough money to buy a Strat. I kept taking lessons but got into a couple rock bands and learned a bunch of tunes from my bandmates. Then, my junior year in high school my dad got a job in Germany and that was it for my lessons for the time.
Meg: While living in Germany, did you continue your music studies?
Russ: I don’t think so. At the time, I was just trying to emulate people like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, and the like. I learned some solos and got some books and tried to work through some concepts, but it was really kind of half-assed, to tell the truth. I do remember a high school trip to Nuremberg for the Christmas Market. Pat Metheny had just released his groundbreaking 80/81 album and, I don’t know why, but I picked it up and listened to it a lot, but never really tried to play like that.
After a year in Frankfurt I moved down to Munich to go to college. It was funny, the place was the University of Maryland, Munich Campus! It was housed on an Army base in the southern part of the city. I was always on the lookout for new music, trolling the local record shops and discovered some recordings featuring Allan Holdsworth with Gong and Soft Machine, and later came across some Wes Montgomery records. I had a bass player friend named Jim Foitik who tried to get me to listen and play more jazz and who taught me a couple of standards. Another jazz-crazy friend of mine, Andy Heinze, dragged me to concerts around the city. I remember seeing Weather Report when they were at their peak, which was just an amazing show, and later we went up to the Northsea Jazz Festival for three days. I think at the time I was just listening to a lot of music, though I was always playing in different bands back then.
To read the entire interview, go to Ucombo Music Reviews.
