Interview with Garth and Maud Hudson, the Soft Genius of the Band, He Creates
Interview with Garth and Maud Hudson, the soft genius of the Band, he creates. July 4, 2007 By SYLVAIN CORMIER photo: ©04 JUL 2007, Pedro Ruiz The soft genius of the band is happy he believes. Sometimes in the middle of a sentence, Garth Hudson closes his eyes, 5-10 seconds. It is long when measured during an interview, more dense than regular sentences. I would swear that during those moments there is music playing in his head. It is crazy, that at these moments he resembles the Garth Hudson that so fascinated me in the 70's when I discovered him in the Martin Scorsese film, The Last Waltz, the famous document witnessing the final concert of the famous group "The Band". The Band, the most important grass roots band in the history of rock; the best musicians to have accompanied Dylan. Garth Hudson was a keyboardist of The Band and house genius. There before me in the lobby of the Hyatt, 30 feet from the press room, of the Montreal Jazz Festival it is the same Garth the same mad scientist beard, now white, the same absolute concentration, when he closes his eyes. The same Garth, or at least next to the same, in the film, his hands so incredibly free flowing, playing, magical notes, on many keyboards at once, a Hammond organ, a synthesizer. Eyes closed today like yesterday, I am certain that he escapes to the reality he creates. To this man the creation is a priority, was always and will always be. He just has to re-listen to the fabulous intro that he improvised for the song "Chest Fever" in 1968 or "Every Time I See The Sun," the extraordinary piece of piano solo that opens the recent LIVE at the WOLF, the jazz album that Garth presents with his companion, the soulful Maud Hudson.
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