Javier Rojo Interview

The music of Javier Rojo transforms us in a little jazz club, where musician feels free to express their musical ideas. The music is very lyricial and in the same time very intense with deep roots in hard bop. The music never gets boring, because Javier put a lot of his feelings and emotions in every song. The musicians are all excellent with big ears and a strong sense for musical timing in the wright moment. It was a great pleasure for me to listen to Javier Rojo new CD Music para Amansar Fieras

For more information about Javier please check out this website:

Javier Rojo | Música Para Amansar Fieras | January 10, 2025 - Jazzfuel

Which sounds do you had in mind when you recorded your new album „Music para Amansar

Fieras“?

I think the album is a synthesis of my diﬀerent inﬂuences over the past few years. I’m a jazz lover,

from the jazz of the ’50s and ’60s to the more avant-garde jazz from the ’90s to the present day.

Shorter, Coltrane, Miles’ quintets, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ambrose Akinmusire, Mark Turner, and Aaron

Parks are major inﬂuences on this music for me.

Beyond my jazz inﬂuences, I’m also a huge fan of classical music, especially artists like Debussy,

Ravel, Mompou, Messiaen, and many others. Pop, ﬂamenco, and other popular music styles are

also part of my daily life.

All of this, combined with the inspiration and inﬂuences from my personal experiences, has shaped

the result of this work. I’ve tried to be honest with myself, with my emoOons, and with the music

that I carry inside me.

What are your major mentors on the tenor saxophone?

I have various inﬂuences on the tenor saxophone, but the ones that have inﬂuenced me the most, I

would say, are John Coltrane, Mark Turner, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Sonny Rollins, Chris

Cheek, and Sano de la Rubia (my great mentor during my time in Barcelona). Other saxophonists

like Hank Mobley, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Benny Golson, Seamus Blake, Walter Smith III, and Joe

Lovano have also inspired me a lot. The list could go on, but I’d say these are the main ones!

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Why do you like the sound of the tenor saxophone?

I started my musical journey playing the clarinet, speciﬁcally classical music. Once I began playing

jazz, I decided to switch to the tenor saxophone during my bachelor’s studies in Barcelona, about

ﬁve years ago, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. When I made the switch, it was because I

felt that through the tenor saxophone, I could express myself more honestly and have a freedom I

hadn’t experienced before.

My biggest inﬂuences were—and still are—tenor saxophonists, and I felt that through this

instrument, I could express myself be_er. The lyricism of the instrument, along with its range,

presence, and tone, are qualities I truly love about it.

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Did you listen to a lot of had bop before you recorded this music?

Hard Bop is one of my major inﬂuences. I would say it’s the genre I listen to the most in my daily

life right now, and the one I’m most connected to in my daily practice, discovering and learning

new standards while developing my language. For me, it’s the foundation of the language that has

been developed later on. It also happens to be the case that the band members, and generally all

of my friends I’m surrounded by, share this taste, so we constantly have this genre in mind.

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How long does it took to write all the music for your new record?

The music for this album was written from the time I arrived in Basel in September 2022 to study

my master on performance, until around May 2023, when we went on tour before the album

recording. The compositions gradually came together, perhaps starOng at the end of 2023, when

the compositional process became more intense.

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Was the spanish ﬂamenco music a big impact in your saxophone playing?

Flamenco is a music that I admire and respect deeply. Fortunately, I’ve had the chance to share

experiences with great musicians who are well-versed in this genre, such as Joan Albert Amargós

and Chano Domínguez, who have inspired me a lot both as a musician and as a person. I would

love to explore this genre more in the future.

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Which rule played your spanish roots when you record this music?

I believe my Spanish roots have played a more signiﬁcant role on a human level than a purely

musical one. In the end, music is inﬂuenced by everything and everyone around us, and it’s so

important to know how to navigate both personal and collective situations.

I’m lucky to have a family that has instilled strong values in me as a person, and I think being able

to reﬂect those values in my daily work and in how I interact with those around me is essential to

creating something honest and ensuring that everyone involved enjoys the process and feels part

of it.

I owe all of this to my family and the people who have supported me and continue to do so since I

was a child, both musically and personally.

So, indirectly, I believe all of this has had a signiﬁcant inﬂuence on my music, something that’s

reﬂected in several of my compositions, which are dedicated to my grandparents, my mother, or

my small hometown in Spain.

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What was the most joy for you when you recorded this new music for your latest record?

The whole process has been a big learning experience. There are deﬁnitely tough moments—

whether it’s dealing with creative blocks while composing or things not going as planned on the

organizational side. Before the recording, we went on a two-week tour in Spain, which brought the

band even closer, both musically and personally. It was an amazing experience, and it helped us

show up at the studio with everything really well-prepared. Thanks to Daniel Somaroo, who

recorded the album, the whole process in the studio was super smooth.

The stages aeer that—mixing, mastering, and designing—were also really exciting. You start to

realize little by little that all the work you’ve done is coming to life.

One of my favorite parts, though, is always bringing a new tune to the band and hearing it live for

the ﬁrst time, played by musicians I admire. There’s always this special kind of magic that I hadn’t

imagined before, and it’s such a cool feeling.

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How you found your band for your new record?

I’m lucky to have met the band during my time studying at the Jazzcampus in Basel. I knew Álvaro

before coming to Basel, but we had never played together, so I really connected with everyone

when I arrived here. I lived with Joan for a year, and he’s someone who inspires me a lot, and with

Elio_, Noé, and Genius, I wanted to record and play with them from the moment I met and heard

them. They are musicians I admire and who inﬂuence me every day, and they are great friends,

which makes everything easier. I was also fortunate to have the collaboration of Fernando Brox on

one track, which was something I was really excited about, because Fernando was one of my ﬁrst

teachers when I arrived in Barcelona, and someone who has inspired me since the ﬁrst day I heard

him, both as a performer and a composer.

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How a spanish musician like you come to Basel in Switzerland?

Studying at the Jazzcampus in Basel was a dream for me. I think the school is becoming one of the

leading institutions worldwide, at least from my perspective. The faculty is made up of musical

idols, and having mentors like Mark Turner or Guillermo Klein was something I had always

dreamed of. The musical level of the students, the city itself, and the projects that have come out

of Basel were all very appealing to me, so I decided to apply for the Master’s in Performance aeer

ﬁnishing my Bachelor’s in Barcelona.

Luckily, the Spanish community in Basel is quite large, thanks to ﬁgures like Jorge Rossy and other

musicians who have participated in one of the city’s programs, the Focus Year. My mentor, Santi de

la Rubia, was part of it a few years ago, and that inspired me a lot to come here.

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What you you enjoy most about your new label Fresh Sound?

Fresh Sound is a record label that has worked with many artists who are references for me. It has

released and continues to release great albums that I’ve listened to a lot. I believe it’s a label that

has always supported emerging music and artists, in addition to the big names they work with,

which is why I’m very grateful for the work they do and to Jordi Pujol for the opportunity they’ve

given me to release my ﬁrst album as a leader with such a label. Working with them is very easy

and personal.

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Is it a chance to see your band live in Germany?

I really love this music because it has such vital energy and its very fresh at the same &me.

I really hope we can play in Germany soon! Right now, I’m working on ﬁnding concerts to present

the project, and Germany is one of my main priorities. It’s not easy to book bands bigger than a

quartet, and promoting an emerging project is always tough, but I’m sure we’ll be playing there

soon!