Joe Sheehan has traveled quite a distance — literally — since he first began taking piano lessons while growing up in Leechburg.
A lifelong student of music and now a Duquesne University professor and jazz composer, Sheehan, 44, of McCandless, traveled thousands of miles to Africa, more than once, to study traditional music and percussion.
That eventually led him to form the band Kinetic, which incorporates his vast knowledge of music with the rhythms and melodies of the African folk music he has studied.
Ansonica Records will release Kinetic’s newest album, “Generations,” in mid-November, blending traditional songs from Uganda and the United States with original compositions by Sheehan.
“This project is a hugely collaborative endeavor, and I’m indebted to the artistic brilliance of all of the musicians who played and recorded the album,” he said. “So much of the musical results were because of their skill, ingenuity and patience.”
Sheehan spoke recently with TribLive about discovering jazz, falling in love with music and expanding his sonic palette over the years. This interview has been edited for length.
Q: How did you first become interested in jazz?
A: I’ve always been drawn to the creative side of music, which eventually led me to jazz. As a young pianist, without knowing what I was doing, I would experiment and change parts of pieces I was practicing. Maybe it was boredom, but fortunately my mom, a great pianist in her own right, recognized I might enjoy learning about jazz. So my parents bought me a cherished record by Herbie Hancock and found a great jazz pianist named Bill Tobin who taught me for several years in high school.
Q: How did that lead to the formation of Kinetic?
A: Kinetic was an idea that came to me while studying traditional music in Ghana, West Africa. I wanted to create a group to explore groove-based music that I was immersed in within Ghana, but at that time, I didn’t have the experience and network to bring it to life. When I returned to Pittsburgh, the jazz community (especially a jam session led by the great Howie Alexander) provided a space for me to grow as a pianist, and meet other musicians to collaborate with. This support helped me develop the skills to form Kinetic.
Q: You’ve traveled to Africa more than once to learn about African percussion and traditional music. How did that experience inform your writing for Kinetic and your approach to composing music more generally?
A: I first went to Ghana in 2008-’09 for about six months to study traditional music and dance, and returned for more studies in 2013 and 2014. I also spent three weeks in Uganda in 2022, and two songs I learned in the country are on “Generations.” Both countries have an incredibly rich repertoire of traditional music and instruments, and their music opened up my interest in creating the groove-based music Kinetic explores.
Sub-Saharan African music is also typically performed and expressed in a communal way, which led me to view composing as a collaborative endeavor, rather than a solitary, individual activity. I also became captivated by the folk songs that are an integral part of almost all musical activities. These elegant, vibrant melodies that have lasted over generations invited me to reconsider how joyful and universal singing is. Thus, much of the music Kinetic plays engages with these folk songs and is sung.
Q: What are some ways, as a jazz composer, that you build emotion into your pieces?
A: Emotion is such a personal experience, and we don’t know what each listener will feel when they listen to any piece of music. However, when composing, I try to explore feelings that are universal that hopefully everyone can connect to in their own way. Some themes explored on “Generations” are celebration with others, gratitude tinged with longing, love for a child and even back pain! To bring these emotions to musical life, I try to find the right sounds that form a balance of colors, and provide moments of surprise that take the listener somewhere they didn’t expect.
“Generations” will be released Nov. 14 on Ansonica Records.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at [email protected].
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