Best of London Salsa - Interview with Alex Wilson

For 12 years, Alex Wilson’s been living on the edge but right now, he’s on a roll. Feted as the UK’s top Latin jazz pianist, the money’s coming in now, alongside the press plaudits and the awards, not to mention a gig for the BBC as the host on a Radio 2 Christmas special on Latin music on the 27th December, writesLondon Salsa Scene’s Lee Knights.

         It’s not an easy lifestyle. He’s constantly on the go, when he’s not driving up and down the motorway giving master classes and playing gigs across the UK, he’s living out of a suitcase and rarely settles in one place. When I caught up with him, he’d spent the previous fortnight in 3 or 4 different countries and was just about to shuttle back home to Geneva to recharge his batteries with his partner Sara.
         “It takes a lot of stamina, you’ve got to keep your nerve, this is a very insecure lifestyle,” he says. His partner Sara looks on knowingly. They seem like polar opposites; she exudes inner serenity as much as Alex exudes intensity. “She keeps my feet on the ground,” he says.
         I ask how he got into this madness; he says it started when he was doing a degree at York University in Electronic Engineering. “Half way through the course I realised I had a vocation. I wanted to be a musician, that was what I enjoyed. But I finished the course first; I thought if it all fell through, I’d have a career to fall back on.”

Alex Wilson’s R&B Latino Project play live at the UK Salsa Congress.

         The roots of Alex’s peripatic lifestyle and musical career go way back. Born in the UK, he spent time in Sierra Leone, Austria, the USA as well as Switzerland, where he now lives. “As a child, I lived all over the place. I learned classical guitar as a kid. When I was 21, I realised I had to give it a go or I’d get to 35 and bitterly regret throwing in the towel and getting a job.”
         In the mid 90s, the Latin music scene was full on in the UK, Alex recalls. “I got gigs with Roberto Pla, La Clave and Merengada, I just got sucked into it. Latin music – like the culture – has a generosity about it, like 5 instruments in the rhythm section; piano, timbales, bass, bongos, congas. The music is very communal. It’s not selfish or isolated, it’s about teamwork between musicians and dancers, it’s about interaction.
         When I’m playing jazz with other musicians, there’s a bubbling conversation going on between us. It’s like intellectuals having a conversation and the more you know about the music, the more reflective the music is. I learn from all the guys I play with.”
       Alex learned his craft as a Latin jazz pianist in the UK – it was only after he got into the salsa groove that he first went to Cuba.
         “What I love about salsa is that it’s a sophisticated mix – a fusion of African, big band jazz, Spanish, Latin American Indian indigenous music.
         I used to play with ‘inappropriate’ salsa bands – we’d do cha cha cha, jazzy 15 minute solos and licks, losing the audience, everyone as we had our internal intellectual conversations.
         Playing for salsa dancers as part of the R&B Latino Project is a self regulating experience – you’re playing for dancers, not getting lost in the conversation with other musicians.”

Alex Wilson pplays with his Aventuras crew at Pizza on the Park in London.

                  Inevitably, Alex has a full on workload right now. On December 27, he’s hosting  a one-off Christmas Special on Radio 2 on Latin Music.
         “This is a very important inroad for Latin music in the UK as there is a disproportionately small amount of Latin music on the radio and TV. Try to mark the date in your diary and write in to the BBC to say what you think!” he urges
         Alex is on the brink of releasing his latest album – Inglaterra – his first pure salsa dance album. It’s a big risk – he’s remortgaged his house to finance it. The album will be out in February 2007 - This is a definite must-buy for all salsa lovers.
         He admits to having had qualms about his last Latin jazz album Aventuras – which led to a host of gigs – and repeat gigs at that - at influential jazz venues like London’s Pizza on the Park.
         “A lot of the salsa community knew my work through individual tracks like R&B Latinos, which thankfully got played a lot in the club scene. But Aventuras was pure Latin jazz, very different - I was a bit worried how salsa people would receive it…When I play jazz I like to make sure nobody can dance to it; when I play salsa I like to make sure everybody can dance to it!”
         Alex enjoys his vocation and the lifestyle that goes with it.
         “There are enormous privileges to this way of life – I’ve been to 47 countries playing music – I’ve had experiences I could never have had otherwise. But I’m not comfortable with some elements, like never being at a home and the financial insecurity involved. Making music is about survival. When I’m making and playing music I’m happy, when I’m not playing or making music, I’m not happy.”
       There’s no doubt about it. Alex Wilson’s living the dream and it’s hard to imagine what life’s like in that alternate universe where Alex Wilson works as an electronics engineer.

Above: Alex Wilson at the Salsa Live! event in Hayling Island this year (06).

WHERE TO CATCH ALEX WILSON:

27 December 2006, 8pm, BBC Radio 2 Latin Christmas Special presented by Alex Wilson

Watch live DVD concert footage of Alex's salsa band at : www.alexwilson.net/salsa/salsa_video.htm

THE WEDDING DANCE - A new theatre production about the world of salsa directed by Felix Cross, Choreography by Debra Michaels and Music by Alex Wilson. Productions across the UK, premiering at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton on February 1 2007 Then Birmingham Repertory Theatre, further dates in Ipswich and Liverpool. For more visit: http://www.alexwilson.net/news.htm

INGLATERRA - the new contemporary salsa album by Alex is out in Feb 2007. Listen to a free preview at : www.alexwilson.net/salsasample/ REVIEW SOON

Alex Wilson’s Music Workshop & Timing CD - see Alex’s website.

London Salsa Scene Interview with Alex Wilson by Lee Knights 20.12.06.......Keep Checking back.....

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