Ever read an adulatory description of a band and then listened to their CD and discovered that the description wasn’t completely accurate? I promise that Vagabond Opera is an exception. They live up perfectly to the many descriptions and accounts I read about them. They truly deliver “passionate offerings of Bohemian cabaret for young and old. Paris hot jazz, gut bucket swing, tangos, Ukrainian folk-punk ballads, klezmer and vigorous originals meet a world of riverboat gambling queens, Turkish belly dancers, and the enigmatic Marlene Dietrich.” Sounds wild, right? It is – and it’s completely enjoyable.
Their newest CD is The Zeitgeist Beckons, a beautifully produced, magically arranged, boisterously performed excursion into a bizarre musical world that is superbly incandescent and proprietary. The group boasts an impressive vocabulary, both lyrically and musically. None of the music is forced, as if they were trying to attain a certain number of tracks for their record. Each song is its own unique speakeasy show.
Vagabond Opera is comprised of: Eric Stern, the band’s frontman, lyricist, composer and arranger; Jason Flores, the bassist; Mark Burdon, drummer; Robin Jackson, who plays sax; and Skip vonKuske, the Opera’s cellist. They were generous enough to answer a few of my questions.
GH: I read that you are based in Portland, Oregon – one of the finest beer cities in the US. So, first things first: what’s your favorite craft beer and brewery?
Eric: You know I’m that much of a snob that I still mostly drink Belgian Ale or beer from that brewery all the way in Delaware.
Jason : I am a big fan of LAGUNITAS “Hairy Eyeball” and I must give a shout out to Chad Kennedy at Laurelwood and the “Tree Hugger Porter“.
GH: I guess now we’ll have to get to music. Can everyone explain which is their favorite/most memorable song on Zeitgeist Beckons, and why?
Eric: “Goodnight Moon” is my favorite. It’s an original song and I always envisioned a mass of people singing the Chorus, swaying together, “Say Goodnight, to the friends we have made here, and Goodnight Moon.” To me it’s a paean to friendship and to the moon itself.
Jason: “Chimaeras Be Met” because it is a great example of how a basic tune can mutate and evolve into something magical. I wrote it as a Gypsy jazz number with techno backbeat, then Eric added the vocal aria, Mark a more traditional jazz pattern and voila!
Skip: I love “The Party” and the way it comically moves the intro into the outro. To me, it best captures the spirit of our performances in audio form. Secondly I love the hugeness of “The Russian Jazz Waltz” with the layered strings and winds supporting rather than competing with the vocals.
GH: What do you respect the most about the rest of the musicians in your group?
Eric: That they are open to trying new musical ideas and the work they’ve already put into developing their craft.
Robin: That we are really a team and support each other both musically and as friends. We all make a real effort to work with each other and resolve anything that comes up as being part of a family. This makes us very strong.
Jason: I respect Eric for his intellect, compositional creativity and ability to admit a mistake and be a student and a leader at the same time, I also feel a sense of kinship with his love of Middle Eastern and Balkan music; Robin for his preternatural intuitive musicianship , humor and gentleness of spirit and especially his Ungodly skills of Promotion and Schmoozing!; Skip for his off the hook musicianship, one liners galore, encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture and his extreme generosity with intoxicants; Mark has metronomic timekeeping skills, is a jazz Lover, has a Ramanujan-like love of numbers and Taoism – no drama from this guy; Ashia -seriously could she be any easier to get along with? And she speaks Polish! Great original tunes, too!
Skip : Their deep commitment to serving the music and a constant heaping of new material to try. They all move the music forward with consistency, their maturity in talking through issues with one another
GH: What really influenced you to take up this style of musical expression?
Eric: My own Eastern European heritage and what I considered a spot that needed to be filled in the present musical landscape where opera was either an institution or pop music was without substance.
Robin: I was really into Klezmer music, and found this band as an outlet for exploring that. Then it took off from there…
Jason : My ADDHD-like inability to focus on one style of music, instrument or philosophy.
Skip: I have always loved playing the cello out of context. This music stretches me musically and allows me to use the full range of my instrument, whether covering trumpet, sax, violin, or cello lines it changes the way I play, song to song.
GH: What do you hope listeners will take away from Zeitgeist?
Eric: I hope that people will walk away with richer ears.
Robin: I hope people will feel inspired to create more art and will find something new and exciting in it. Also cathartic.
GH: Discuss the future of Vagabond Opera. What does the band hope to accomplish musically and professionally?
Eric: To continue to expand the musical frontier so that it includes music like ours that is more layered, thoughtful yet silly and a hell of a lot of fun. I think it would be good for us to continue to travel and learn; we just got back from Greece and it was such a learning experience just going to clubs and listening to the Rembetika music there. I am also composing a full length opera.
Robin: My biggest dream now is to collaborate with a filmmaker.
Skip: I hope we can always take the time we need to make great recordings, write new music, perform around the world, and reach out to the disenfranchised classical musicians wanting to put there skill set to a different path. You can seek out a global palette of musical ideas and absorb a lot of culture and share it with the world at large. Growth is more important than a destination.
GH: Eric, where do you find your muse for lyrics?
There is no muse. I just show up and write every day.
GH: Jason, you studied world philosophy – how do you bring your viewpoints and thoughts into the music?
I bring my philosophical insights in every way from the mundane to the overarching. In the mundane the title “Chimaeras Be Met” is an anagram for “embrace Atheism” in honor of my Buddhist/Scientific worldview. At my best, my Taoism manifests in my ability to yield and follow the natural flow of the band and its diverse personalities and not try to control it. Just let it flow with maybe a gentle nudge here and there. I also like that what I dont do in the band is just as important as what I do. In general, people dont have to worry about me causing problems though I have had my moments!
GH: Robin, you’re working on a guide for young musicians just starting out in the music business; how’s the book progressing?
It is almost done, yet on hold for the moment. I am thinking of turning it into a new direction.
GH: Skip, why the cello?
Thrust upon me at the age of eight. The teacher said, “We don’t have a bass that small,we’ll start him on cello.”
That’s the how….
I never thought about doing anything other than play the cello since I started. Its just a phase I never grew out of, though, guitar and bass took me down a songwriting path and ultimately led me back to the cello as my “identity” instrument. Also, why not the cello? It is capable of so much emotional and octave range.
