Meet Editor, Jake Kot

For those of you who don't know Kai Eckhardt, let me start by mentioning that he had quite a prestigious start in the business. After leaving Berklee School of Music, he immediately went out with the John McLaughlin--Trilok Gurtu trio, one of the most influential bands of its time. This musical upbringing thrust him into a career surrounded by some of the best players in the business, and has kept him an integral part of the top echelon of the bass community.

He remains deeply committed to his art and has developed a long and very impressive cross-cultural discography. Grooving with bands such as Steps Ahead and then supporting such artists as Randy Brecker and Stanley Clarke, and then working with Eastern influenced projects such as Curander and Glimpse shows the diversity this man owns within his playing.
  
Beyond that, he stays highly involved with a series of master classes he holds within his very busy touring schedule. His very unique approach in a master class setting should be noted, and investigated in my opinion. His thoughts on the "art" of being a musician display the same diversity and depth as the well-respected voice he has created on his instrument. This is a musician worth checking out.

Jake: First off, I'd like to go back to your earlier days with John Mclaughlin and Trilok Gurtu. My humble opinion, this was an exceptional and very unique trio. What was it like working with them?
 
Kai: At that time I had just graduated from the Berklee School of Music, and I received the phone call from John Mclaughlin to audition for him. It was, synchronisticaly speaking, one of those situations where everything fell into place. I was at that time in Boston at Berklee, and was getting ready to move back to Germany after graduating, and when John called I thought it was going to be a problem. But it turned out that the band was rehearsing in Germany,  which was the first big coincidence. Trilok Gurtu at the time lived in Hamburg, and so me moving back to Germany actually helped pull together the trio.

I did make the audition, and ended up having to learn music that I had never encountered before, such as long form compositions with odd meters. So we spent about a week rehearsing the music, and then I had time to prepare on my own.

Our first gig was in Italy in1989. That was kind of scary for me because I felt I was behind and not on the level that John and Trilok were. When these musicians play live they play with a lot more intensity and the forms were a lot more obscure then we had rehearsed. Long story short, I had a speed learning curve to deal with. It turned out to be a very successful time for John, and it kind of put him back on the map. This record, Live at the Royal Festival Hall, became a huge seller. That helped the trio, and helped me as an individual. Overall I feel it was as much as a school working with the trio as going to Berklee was.
 
Jake: So do you feel this trio was somewhat instrumental in helping you find I'll say the recognizable voice you've developed on your instrument?
 
Kai: It certainly contributed to that, because John's philosophy was to hire players that he liked and then encourage them to outgrow their limitations. Lots of other bandleaders are concerned with keeping their musicians down, and not outshining whomever the leader might be. But John is very supportive, and humble towards the music, and so he was in a way responsible for me working out my techniques, and coming up with concepts and solos, and learning how to play chords on the bass.... he kind of demanded that. And so by him demanding this high level performance, I ended up learning things on the instrument that I wouldn't have otherwise if I would have stayed in the world of pop, and rock, and R&B music.