Interview by Kevin Adler
Celebrate the holiday season at the Arts Barn on December 13 with festive and winter-themed jazz by the Eliot Seppa Quartet. In this Q&A, bandleader Eliot Seppa talks about his wide range of musical interests and the ways he approaches well-known classics and other songs. Tickets for the Cool Yule with the Eliot Seppa Quartet concert can be purchased online.
Arts Barn. Tell us a little about yourself.
Eliot Seppa: I grew up in Silver Spring, went to Albert Einstein High School, and then Howard University for undergrad and grad in jazz studies. I studied upright bass growing up, classical music beginning when I was nine years old, and then started playing electric bass as well in high school. I’ve been gigging around D.C. on both since I was 18
Music is pretty much the only job I’ve had, and I’m 34 now. I play with a lot of bands: jazz, pop, R&B and gospel, and recently I’ve done more musical theater at Ford’s Theatre, Signature Theatre, Arena Stage and the Kennedy Center. I also teach bass, and that’s increased post-Covid.
Arts Barn. When did you start listening to jazz—who got you interested in it?
Seppa: My music teacher at Einstein, Joan Rackey, was a big influence. I listened to rock and rock as a kid a lot, and in middle school I started getting into soul music, starting with Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. As someone who studied classical upright bass and thus could read music well, playing bass in the jazz ensemble was my “in” to playing more soulful music.
I’ll also shout out my friend Elijah Balbed. He’s a year older than me, and we went to Einstein together.
Arts Barn. What will you be playing at the Cool Yule program?
Seppa: I’ll be playing upright bass only, not electric. It’s mainly my arrangements of holiday songs … winter-themed, not all of it is Christmas. Some songs will be very familiar, and others will be more obscure. That’s something I like to do in my other shows as well: play a song that folks haven’t heard that deserves to be played.
Arts Barn. Can you describe your style, your sound?
Seppa: For a long time, I’ve enjoyed Latin, Caribbean and African rhythms, and you’ll hear that. It’s definitely with a jazz sensibility, and by that I mean arranging the harmonies in a slightly different way … a little richer. In jazz, we tend to add a few more notes to a chord, more drama and emotion. I think of it as telling a different story with more twists and turns.
Also, I’ll add some rhythmic hiccups here and there that are reminiscent of African and Latin music I’m into, and funk as well.
One thing I think about overall—my general ethos about making music—is that I don’t want to take it too seriously. I want to play music that has elements of fun and humor. One of my inspirations is Frank Zappa. He makes me laugh. I don’t hear that enough in music. If everything works out, there might be a laugh or two in the show.
Arts Barn. Who are the other musicians in your quartet?
Seppa: On the front line playing melodies is Chris Barrick on the vibraphone. He’s a multifaceted percussionist. I think of him as my secret weapon … and he’s one of the most reliable musicians I’ve ever met. He plays a lot of classical music, so he has that precision.
Allyn Johnson on piano is a hard-core jazz guy, in the tradition of a Kenny Kirkland or Herbie Hancock. I’m looking forward to the curveballs he’ll throw us.
Mark Prince is on the drums. He’s someone I’ve been playing with a lot recently, and the bass player and drummer have to have a solid lock. As rhythm section players, we both play a lot of other styles of music in addition to jazz, and you will hear that versatility.
Arts Barn. You’ve performed at the Arts Barn previously. What’s been your experience?
Seppa: I like it a lot. If people are sitting in chairs and consciously listening to me, that’s great. Often, I’m playing at a party or event where it’s background music, so I really like it when folks are specifically there to listen to the music. As someone who grew up in Silver Spring, I love to see a venue hosting great concerts like this in MoCo!
By the way, if folks want to find out more about what I’m doing, go to my website (eliotseppa.com) or my Instagram (@eliotseppa).
Cool Yule with the Eliot Seppa Quartet
December 13, 8 pm
