To be honest, I was a little worried about meeting Carlos. Where do you start? He’s so busy with so many projects, he knows so many people, has released so many great records including the latest Love (Part 1) (see review HERE).

Perhaps I should have asked him to finish the sentence: Jazz is…? Perhaps I did, albeit in very roundabout way.

As I arrived at the pizzeria restaurant in Dray Walk, Carlos was sitting is in large brown leather chair finishing off a podcast interview for Shook magazine. He casts an impressive figure (as Peterson was later to comment on) with a wise air and yogic demeanor.

If you’ve ever heard his Spaceways Radio Show on KPFK 90.7 FM, I can assure you that he’s sounds the same in person as he does over the airways; he speaks softly but with enthusiasm, even if he’s a little tired today after the 12 hour flight from LA.

On his show a couple of week ago, as Build An Ark was supporting the McCoy Tyner Trio, he played John Coltrane’s ‘My Favorite Things’ and ‘Love Supreme’ (both tracks featuring Tyner on piano), so I asked him, how did the gig at Royce Hall go?

“Amazing! Insanity on paper but to get the opportunity to support McCoy Tyner Trio with Gary Bartz and as it was Neil Young’s birthday, we arranged an instrumental version of Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Expecting To Fly’ and as we were playing a 45 minute support set, with a 30 piece orchestra with Nate Morgan on piano, after he’s sufferer several strokes and heart attacks, we played a special tribute to him, it was full steam ahead and we pulled it off and it was beautiful, we had a rehearsal on Sunday and played to High School kids on the Monday which was OK but by Thursday - it was amazing!”

He takes a breath as to take it all in what he and the other lynch pin of Build An Ark, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson had accomplished. To recap, the Build An Ark project is a loose collection of artists from or living in LA. The sound has progressed from their “Fender Rhodes, handclap, chant” Sun Ra dedication and Acknowledgement For J.C. (J.C. being John Coltrane of course) that featured Dwight Trible on vocals, Billy Higgins (drums) and on sax, Charles Owen (who recorded for Black Jazz and Black Saint labels) to the “piano and harp” album Dawn and then the new album is different again.

I was going to ask him about all the jazz musician’s he’s worked that are a key part of the albums, like Derf Reklaw and Dwight Trible (Carlos released Trible’s first album Horace, a tribute to the late Horace Tapscott who formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in the late 70s - more on Horace and Dwight HERE) but I got sidetracked as I’d just read an interview with DJ Qbert who, when asked “what sums up quintessential London for you in terms of music” he apparently said “The Beatles, Zeppelin, Hendrix’s band etc, The energy there is mainly about good music and not too much commercialism!”

Well, I think that one could be picked to death but it was more that he picked three groups that made their names in mid sixties to early seventies, a period that Carlos plays extensively on his radio show, especially The Beatles and West Coast groups. “I call it the era of messengers” he says, “the content and vibrations were on a very high level then. Donovan (although Scottish) is my greatest influence, I’d have to add Pink Floyd [to DJ Qbert’s list] but although I love Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, Hendrix is too American”. Whilst on the subject of his show, he rarely plays anything from the past 10 years (apart from his extended LA family members like Daedelus and Mia Doi Todd), he says, “I don’t consider it anymore, Kid A (Radiohead) is one of the best albums in the last 10 years and I liked The Smiths and The Cure when I was growing up. I’m happy to be associated with I.G. Culture (who is part of the show at Cargo on Thursday night - see HERE) but 2-3 years ago my show was like Gilles’ [Peterson] and Benji B playing new tracks by Madlib, Daedelus and Dilla, some of which still haven’t come out but I was talking to Miguel earlier about great British composers Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar, Benjamin Britten and Henry Purcell”

O.K so this guy is a serious Anglophile and musicologist, I only half mention Woodstock (he did a feature on the repackaged album release in the summer when the “creator” of Woodstock, Michael Lang was at the Big Chill Festival - see HERE) and he said, “we need to be at [Woodstock]” and he didn’t mean the recent film, Taking Woodstock that’s currently playing over here.

What he’s getting at is the spiritual trip and not the drug induced trip. He’s a vegan, doesn’t drink or smoke and doesn’t go to LA parties (although he was at the original Mochilla Keepintime jam; jealous). He says he prefers to hang out at the beach with his son Azul and “dolphins, seals, birds, fish, sharks, cliffs, moonlight, glassy water”. He lists as if he was practicing for a poetry reading of favorite things - misty eyed, yeah, but why not as clearly loves the ocean (and I found out that he’s a fellow sea swimmer! although I can’t do 3 miles with current winter sea temperatures over here).

So what’s this got to do with the album or the gig? Possibly everything as Mr. Niño is a proper gentlemen and astral traveler, “look him up” he enthuses about the inspiration for the Hu-Vibrational project, Hazrat Inayat Khan. But he and Build An Ark’s musical director Attwood-Ferguson, have definitely moved on from the foundation projects like With Voices and the Life Force Trio. Build An Ark has just taken things on where the old jazz sages (let’s say for the sake of argument) ‘Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe’ or ‘The Creature Has A Master Plan’ left off. Not the same but it’s equally important; that’s me saying that, Carlos is far more modest about his own achievements.

So as we leave the Story (thankfully playing Love (Part 1) on the stereo - see below, when did Time Out do that review?) there was just enough time for a quick check on Rough Trade East (where I got lost on X-Ray Spex nostalgia whilst we are both recommending the latest double CD from Soundway, Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds and Ghanaian Blues 1968-81 - do you see the linkages?). Oh! Carlos, how did you get Michael White (he of ‘The Blessing Song’) on the album? “I just phoned him up”. You just can’t do that in London.

So, If you haven’t guessed, this guy is a special touchstone much like Gilles Peterson (Build An Ark being his Havana Cubana if you like) both are fantastic projects and Carlos promises Love (Part 2) is even more…[I’ll leave you in suspense on that one as Love (Part 1) deserves all your attention at the moment]. And for his next appointment? It’s a live interview with Gilles Peterson.

Next year, we hope to be able to announce a Build An Ark as a full orchestra at the main stage at Big Chill or the Royal Albert Hall (early days but we’re working on it) but next up, it’s Carlos the DJ in Amsterdam, then the 8-piece Build An Ark at Cargo on Thursday and on Fiday, a trip to National Portrait Gallery on his day off for more Beatles, Floyd, Hendrix et al.

I urge you to check out Gilles Peterson’s BBC Radio 1 ‘Listen Again’ this week (see HERE) as it’s a very special show featuring Carlos and Miguel talking, playing live in the studio and featuring an exclusive track from the forthcoming Suite For Ma Dukes DVD.

From L.A. with love, lots more Carlos and Build An Ark on Thursday - cant’ wait!

Hectic Mix nominations: all of the album and even the bonus track!

P.S. I’ll be wearing a tie with a sunflower motive on Thursday so ‘follow the path’ and say hello.

Photo by Gerry Hectic - 17.11.09 at with thanks to all at Story (see below), Mamiko and Kindred Spirits for their help.

Links:.
www.myspace.com/buildanarkdawn
www.kindred-spirits.nl
www.myspace.com/kindredspiritsrecords
www.spacewaysradio.com
Spaceways with Carlos Nino - Now on Sundays 10pm -12 http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive
www.uclalive.org/about_royce.htm
http://www.posi-tone.com/tapscott
http://www.myspace.com/sonofscientist
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk Taking Woodstock -Poole
Today: 12:20, 15:20, 18:10, 21:00
www.mochilla.com
Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009 <a href=”http://www.timeout.com
This cosy little pizzeria is ideal for a chat and a chew. Inside you’ll find rough-hewn tables, little pod stools, big wax church candles and ambient music (Kruder & Dorfmeister on a loop during our visit), along with a huge plate-glass window through which to gaze at the hectic goings-on of Dray Walk. Story @ 3 Dray Walk, The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL
020 7247 3137 Nearest Transport - Aldgate East (Underground)
All I Want for Xmas at The Old Truman Brewery - Christmas Shopping Special Event : 26th November - 20th December 2009 “The site-wide four week experience will feature a wide variety of exclusive goods on sale from independent retailers in the form of gift markets, exhibitions, designer sales, independent shops and even a pop-up emporium; showcasing the brightest creative talent from the worlds of art, fashion and design. The high quality of hand-made and one-off goods on sale should ensure that your gift will be one of a kind, avoiding the embarrassment of its recipient getting the same present twice! Launches with
Late Night Shopping Thursdays Thursday 26th November 2009.
Beatles to Bowie is on at the National Portrait Gallery from 15 October until 24 January, 2010. tickets are £12.50. www.npg.org.uk
Plattencover Kollagen