The Paul Flaherty Interview

Tell me about growing up in Rockville CT. When did you begin falling in love with music , and the saxophone ? Was music something that was revelant around your household growing up ?

Born in Hartford, CT, but journeyed to Rockville, CT at the age of 6 months and lived there for most of 30 years. It was a pretty good childhood. I always gravitated toward the comedians, class clowns. It was my great desire to be recognized as hilarious,  but hitting the heights in this category continued to elude me. I did become friends with the really funny guys in school (Richard Elliot, Pete Noel, Paul Peter Patrick Prachniak, Diane Prachniak and Jim "Piggy" Pagani. Performing insane stunts that pissed off establishment types was the order of most every day. Pre-streaking… Pagani once ran around the bases naked right before a softball game (the cops arrested him during the 6th inning). During an outdoor basketball game he defecated at center court and then told us he couldn't hold it. It was hard to compete, so I began considering music. At age 3, my first record was Arthur Godfrey singing "she'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes”. It was my only record and I played it over and over on my little record player. Then I gravitated to the flip side. My mother loved show tunes, so the parents would head to NYC to watch plays on Broadway, buy the record and so I'd hear it playing as I aged. My Fair Lady, Gigi, The Music Man, Oklahoma, South Pacific and smuty comedy albums. ( Rusty Warren, Redd Foxx, Shelly Berman (he worked clean). This is what music was to me and I really like it. A favorite line in My Fair Lady was, "I'm staying young. I'm staying young, while everyone around me's growin' old, ssssoooo cold”. Then a letter came from school and I had to play an instrument. My mother picked saxophone from a list of possibilities and now I had to carry it to and from school everyday. At first I hated it (school band and no improv), then I liked it, so in the high school band I began hating it again. But I had become aware of modern jazz thanks to the radio and at age of 16 I quit high school (for awhile) and slowly began to learn the sax playing by ear along with records. 

Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years?  Do you have any siblings? When and where did you  see your first show and what inspired you to pursue a life in music.

Gene Ammons, Eddie Harris and Johnnie Griffin were 3 sax players that I would try improvising along with as a teen. I also loved movie soundtracks like rock, blues and modern classical. I decided to try improvising with every kind of music. I did this in the closet for 7 years. Most people had no idea that I was learning to. play. Some people say I never learned. I have 2 younger brothers and the youngest is my sister Eileen. My brother Tim was a lead singer in a kid’s rock band at age 11 I was impressed), but sports always dominated for him. He played minor league baseball, pitching for the Pirates. Bob (Pink Floyd fanatic) and Eileen loved music, but didn’t play. As a kid I never went to concerts. My girlfriend at age 20 dragged me to a Blood Sweat & Tears concert in Hartford and I was extremely impressed.I really loved Fred Lipsius on sax, but it was the recordings of so many artists that inspired me to pursue music. I finally began "freeform" jamming with my cousin Dan Flaherty (sax and drums) at age 23 (he was 17 ) and I immediately found my music. I tried other things in my 20s like a duo with 2 piano players, (John Ciffarelli did a version of jazz rock and Gorden Cohen had wonderful original compositions). I also played in a jazz rock band called Orange. By age 30 I'd committed to total free music. Orange released its first and last LP in 1978 (in the midst of chaos) and it was recorded freely (improv without plans) and edited into an album later. The band immediately broke up.

Tell me about writing and recording your album with Froc Fillipetti and Bill Walach called "Trinity Symphony" back in '82. What did you guys ultimately want to achieve and express with this album? Could you give some back story info concerning songs like “Struggle”, “Early Times" and "The Light".

Now this question amazes me for a number of reasons. Over the past 42 years, this album has been ignored by basically everyone. But 2 days before you sent me these questions, Froc called me and said one of his friends had transfered the LP to MP3 and sent him the files. Froc hadn't listened to it since we did it and couldn't believe how much he loved it. Then he called me back the next day and said he had a CDR made for me and again stating how happy he was with the music. So the idea of possibly re-issuing it, in some form, has been planted. I still have a couple of LPs of the original, but the master reel to reel version was destroyed. Concerning the record itself, here comes the conceptual philosophy behind everything I've ever been involved with recording and releasing wise. All this music was freely improvised. There was no writing, or expectations and a piano happened to be there. Then we edited and rearranged it into something of a story form (birth, struggle, passing into the light). We wrote liners explaining what the music could represent. Doing this is questionable because everyone hears different things in the music and interpretation for the listener can seem like bullshit. But, after intensive listening, cutting and rearranging what was there, it seemed somewhat symphonic. Not really what each of us were expecting, or involved with musically. I played Soprano sax for 4 minutes and piano for the rest of the time (my only piano album). Froc played an electric/accoustic guitar that he had made, but never plugged it in. Bill played mandolin and mandochello and we'd come up with an unlikely symphonic trio record. We used to jam at Trinity College in Hartford at the church outside next to the picture on the cover of the album. Thus, “Trinity Symphony”. Hopefully it does get another chance. It was a DIY album that never got any exposure. I also played it for the first time in many years fairly recently. I didn't have a turntable for about 12 years and I had a similar reaction to Froc's. I was so happy we'd made that record.

You've participated with so many incredible musicians and projects over the years such as Chris Corsano, Thurston Moore, Heather Leigh, your longtime creative partner Randall Colbourne and many others. Can you tell me about these projects and how playing with these folks over the years has influenced and inspired you to keep creating music like you have?

Inspiration is probably the word. I've been very fortunate to have been able to collaborate and be inspired by so many great improvisers over what now seems like such a long time. Without meeting and knowing them how could I have kept going? We're in this together. I made a commitment in 1978 to do total freeform with no plans, or outlines. No leaders once the music begins, just surrendering to what happens.) At first this left me alone, but as time went by I slowly began meeting players who wanted to play this way and could also play this way. Steve Scholz heard me playing in a parking lot and walked up to me playing his violin. We made a number of early recordings. Froc, who I didn't know, had a room to rent and I moved in. He was hardly there at all for the first year, but when we finally played it was an Instant connection. We did 2 releases and many gigs of free playing. We did 2 freeform concerts with Anthony Braxton that stood out and 39 Friday night freeform weeks at a bar and restaurant in Hartford. It really was a scene. Plenty of drinking. Never had another thing quite like it. Vernon Frazier, a poet and bass player in Hartford introduced me to a jazz drummer who had given up on the scene and was playing in a Scottish Marching band. It was Randy Colbourne and we connected musically the very first time we played. With Randy I felt extremely free to express myself and we hardly ever argued, so we were able to make a bunch of albums.

We slowly evolved into a wild freeform band with Richard Downs, Steve Scholz, Chumley Hunt, Mike Murrayand for a moment, Matt Moran. Randy and I also did a magical concert in Amherst with Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen and Raphe Malik that became the album "Resonance". Randy decided to back off from the scene for awhile to learn Clarinet and that's when I made 2 free recordings with Laurence Cook and John Voigt. We included Greg Kelley on “Illya Tree” and Joe Mcphee and Steve Swell on the “Turtle Crossing”. Obviously guys who play free very well. I also did a few gigs and a recording session with the brilliant free drummer Marc Edwards and 2 cds were released. Around this time I heard Chris Corsano on a tape (I was at his concert, but missed his show while getting stoned outside) and he sent me the recording of that evening. I heard his talent and asked him to jam. Now it's 25 years later, a couple hundred gigs and around 25 albums with more coming. Through touring/playing with Chris I met Thurston, Heather, Christina and David, Wally Shoup and Steve Baczkowski. We stayed at his place and jammed with him the next day and on the way home we realized Buffalo had an unknown monster. We met the incredible Bill Nace, Todd Knapp, Andy Crespo, Nels Kline, John Blum, Mike Roberson, Matt Weston, Jake Maginsky, C. Spencer Yeh, Matt Sekel, Okyung Lee, Mette Rassmussen, Jim O'Rourke, Gene Janas, Jack Wright, Gene Moore, Zach Rowden, Frderico Ughi and so many more. It's a long life! Thankfully I met so many like minded characters.

Your career is incredibly diverse and prolifically dangerous. What have been some of your most favorite records and why? Are you currently working on any material? I understand you released two albums last year with friends entitled "Crying in Space” and "Wednesday Weld". Is there anything else you would like to further share with readers.

There are about 70 albums and the favorites are the ones that are being worked on. The one that's coming next. The early ones are important because without them the whole thing never would have gotten off the ground. Every other recording revolves around my connection with Randy Colbourne (Razor Blue, The Fourth Way, Primal Burn), or Chris Corsano (The Hated Music, The Beloved Music, Cold Bleak Heat) with occasional offshoots (As Far as Death), or solo albums. I named a few here, but truthfully there really aren't favorites. They are all part of a process and artistic markers along the way. I have a new solo cd coming out probably this year and a duo cd with drummer Michael Larocca (maybe this year). Also working on a number of things previously recorded involving Chris, Randy, Jake Meginsky and Mette Rassmussen. We will see. "Crying in Space" is a live recording with Chris, Mette and Zach Rowden that was recorded in New Haven at Firehouse 12. It's a great concert/recording studio scene and was a very beautiful evening. Mette came to New England to record with us and we did a small 4 gig tour. This record was the last night and we added Zach for some pazazz. "Wedneaday Weld" is a 20 year old recording recently released. A trio with Larry Derdyen and Jim Matus (piano, sax and guitar ). We considered releasing it then, but Larry moved to Spain and stayed there. It was delayed till now. Life is an extreme bitch at times. Without the comedians like Harpo, Buster, Charlie, Curly, Jerry, Belushi, Sarah, Kate, Amy, Dave Albert, etc. and the musicians, life would be unbearable. But, at least we have that.