BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The International String Trio is a tight-knit musical unit featuring three elite performers from around the world.
First founded in 1999, the International String Trio began life as the brainchild of Russian-born guitarist and musical director, Slava Tolstoy. Along with violinist, Rob Flax and bassist, Dr. James Heazlewood-Dale, Tolstoy leverages experience gained from thousands of performances with musicians around the globe to present a genre-blending, musically exploratory experience certain to appeal to music enthusiasts of all types.
Focusing primarily on established works and traditional standards, the International String Trio offers a new and unique perspective on even the most ubiquitous of tunes. Though the established sound of the group features many elements commonly associated with 18th century classical music and jazz, a persistent sonic curiosity compels members of the group to expand their harmonic reach, with both live and recorded material being known to encapsulate elements of and pay homage to stylistic musical corners ranging from film scores and holiday music to classic rock, country, and everything in between.
Tolstoy graciously put tour preparation proceedings on hold on Thursday to chat with LOOTPRESS about creation, inspiration, and the International String Trio’s upcoming tour, which kicks off on Friday and will feature a performance at the Woodrow Wilson Auditorium in Beckley, West Virginia.
The performance, scheduled as part of Beckley Concert Association’s 2024-2025 Series of shows, will take place on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at 7:30pm. Tickets for the show are available for purchase at the Beckley Concert Association website. LOOTPRESS’ conversation with Slava Tolstoy of International String Trio can be seen below.
You’re set to play here in Beckley as part of the Beckley Concert Associations 2024-2025 concert series. I for one am Incredibly excited; elite level musicianship from literally around the world. Have you all performed here in West Virginia previously or visited? Or will this be your first time out this way?
You know what, frankly, I don’t remember we’ve played all around the U.S., that much I know. We definitely did something in Virginia. I’m pretty sure we played in West Virginia before. But sometimes we used to be on tour for months and months. You’re going from town to town and sometimes from state to, to state from one day to another. I can’t be 100% certain. There was a high chance we did play in West Virginia, but we’re definitely very much looking forward to coming to your town and playing a most amazing and exciting show.
Sure! I appreciate the candor. I imagine it all starts to blend together after a while on the road. Does the geography of the venues you’re playing have any effect on the set list? Like if you’re playing a jazz club, are you going to lean a little more into Django Reinhardt? Or here at Beckley, maybe we’ll hear some parts of your Appalachia album…or is it just sort of show to show?
Yeah, that’s a very good, good question. We have pretty wide repertoires. You already guessed them, probably. It looks like you did your homework. Of course we’re trying to tailor things based on the specific region and specific type of concert. But then at the same time there is also a certain kind of core set of tunes that we usually do. Of course, we’re trying to be flexible to surprise our audience and ourselves, which is also important to keep it fresh, you know?
Sure! I love the he variety of your repertoire. You have things like “Concerto In D minor” and “Air on a G String,” but you’re also doing Beatles tunes and “Devil Went Down to Georgia.” It puts me in mind of how you’ll have like Miles Davis doing “Blue Monk” or something, but also there’s like Bill Evans and Toots Thielemans doing Paul Simon and stuff. Some musicians, particularly formally trained musicians, will sometimes shy away from “pop music,” but one might argue there’s a lot of like harmonic structure in their worth exploring. Was there ever any reluctance or hesitancy on the part of you guys in doing more pop oriented tunes or was that always part of the plan?
That’s actually a very good question! I already I like the direction that you’re going just from the list of names that you threw in there, you know. We’re actually having a nice intelligent, high-level conversation. So that doesn’t always happen.
I appreciate that! We love to hear that, thank you.
Coming back to your question, music can be good or not good, as a very funny and wise, wise man said. It was of course, in a kind of funny context, but I actually still believe that’s true. That’s that basically our moral. When it comes to pop music, there is a lot of crappy pop music out there that we are literally trying to stay away from. So we are very sensitive in terms of which tools we pick and do not invest our time into arranging and presenting to our audiences and recording etcetera. But then at the same time, there are some absolutely stunning, amazing examples of pop that crosses stylistic boundaries or limitations. At some point, any great piece of music, regardless of if it’s pop, jazz or classical, becomes just literally that: a piece of music. That’s what we like to work with and arrange and make part of our repertoire. So, in that sense, no, we don’t have any hesitation of sort to take a tune from pop repertoire. But then again, it better be a good one. Also with that, we are very picky and very careful. We’re not going to take like Lady Gaga or Coldplay and play it on a major stage. I mean, we might do it. We might bang it out in some fun context, just for fun. But it’s not necessarily our favorite type of music. But you know, if it’s a beautiful tune by Paul Simon, who we love and respect, for Stevie Wonder or Sting or The Beatles – who I believe are just amazing composers.
A lot of the tunes, if not all the tunes, are interpretations. Is there any original material or is it primarily interpretations of existing songs?
Another good question. We do have some original tunes that we play instrumentally because all of the people in the groups are accomplished composers, as a matter of fact. The thing is, this project kind of started as exploring and trying out unexpected and cool, fresh arrangements of good material that wasn’t even necessarily written by us – so-called cover tunes. So that kind of has been the theme of International String Trio. However, as we live and grow and hopefully progress and develop as humans and musicians, of course other things are coming to us. So we did record and performed, and still are performing, some original tunes that I wrote and our violinist wrote – his name is Rob Flax and he’s amazing. So, I’m talking about instrumental material. Then as a matter of fact, these days we do a lot of shows with original songs where we sing. I sing in my native language, which is Russian. You guys are in for some surprises and we’ll make sure to keep it fresh and keep you on your toes!
Very excited to see how that pans out! And on that note of worlds colliding, you guys sort of seemed to straddle the line or a line between jazz and like Traditional Western European or classical music as far as arrangements and existing arrangements. Is there a lot of improvisation or is it fairly structured Are you true to the originals or is there some room to mess around? Is it a little bit of both?
Well, we call it freedom within structure, the same as frankly a majority of real touring performing concert groups, not just like a pick up jazz band at the at the bar.You know, those guys just open up real books and and kind of jerk all over the the jazz standard, so to speak. With all due respect, depending on everybody’s level, it might be more exciting and better or not so good, but you’re going into unknown territory, so to speak. That’s why it often doesn’t sound that good, frankly. But again, we have a lot of arrangements and structures and understanding of general, dynamic curve of songs in place, and that’s what we are always aiming for. So you would, regardless if you play a jazz standard or a tango or a bluegrass tune, we’re always trying to create exciting dynamic curves. So there are like these horizon falls specifically typical to classical music. First and foremost, but also to any good music yet again. If you can, another point where all of the great performances and artists they have in common and great life shows. If you have a great pop concert, there’s gonna be a lot of dynamic changes, energetic tunes, very intimate things and everything in between. So we kind of are going for the same vibe and the only way to do it is to have set of arrangements and just play together a lot.That is in place within those general kind of guidelines. Of course, there’s a lot of improvising and actually we play solos and nobody knows what they’re going to do in a solo on a specific song. But you know: when that solo is going to happen; when it’s over; how to pass it on, and to who pass it on to; how to start and end the song in a very cohesive way. So that is definitely in place, so it is freedom within structure, right?
Like controlled chaos in a way.
Yes, that’s not a bad way of putting it.
With the International String Trio, obviously the name implies three members, and you’ve spoken before about the practicality of eschewing a drummer. As a drummer myself, I can attest that it’s no fun loading and unloading drum kits from gig to gig. Was it an active decision on the part of the group to just avoid the drummer altogether? I suppose a lot of that responsibility as time keeper would fall to the bass player. How does that affect the dynamic?
Another good question. It developed naturally a long time ago. I am a guitarist. I had an awesome jazz violinist friend and then the bass player joined. That’s kind of how the International String Trio project started. Of course we did play and do play sometimes with drums, but one apart from practical aspect that it’s just less noise, less instruments, and less things to load in and out of the car, there is also an element of having this kind of freshness in the sound and the setup. It’s one of those cases when what appears as limitation can also become kind of your unique feature about your own ensemble; your shtick, so to speak. So yes, we don’t have a drummer or percussionist, but it is pretty much on the shoulders of every member of the group to be very arithmetic, very percussive, and to carry on the time and groove without having drags, which is actually difficult. But it’s also really fun if you can execute it, which we strive to do and we believe we do okay with that.That’s part of our unique sound that you get a lot of energy and just drive without having the actual load.
The standard instrumental lineup you’re working with with the trio I believe is guitar, violin and bass, right?
Mm-hmm, correct.
I know at least one album includes quite a bit of accordion as depicted on the front cover. As far as recording, are there any self-imposed restrictions in that way with the International String Trio? Can there only be three instruments going at once or are you multi-tracking?
The project became like a little offspring of our main trio, because at some point we had several agencies who were kind of fighting with each other to have us as part of their roster and we just couldn’t be with all these agencies. We knew this amazing accordion player so we said, ‘why wouldn’t we venture out into a new location and create another project. So at some point, we were on two different agencies’ lists and they would be selling these two projects; one is a trio and one is a quartet. Which worked really well because we were playing great venues and music. Accordion is one of the rare instruments that, if it’s a good accordion player of course, blends very naturally with our group. So one reason why we don’t play with drums or piano, even though we love those instruments, is because both of them take a lot of space. They’re very present, and that is just something that can be a blessing and a curse. Accordion is an awesome instrument because it can also play accompaniment. In other words: play chords and can play rhythm and can support the group, but it can also solo in a beautiful way. Sonically and dynamically, it fits into the existing trio’s kind of sonic landscape very naturally. So that’s how that project came together and we still do, from time to time, shows and jobs with accordion.
As for the recording process, there is not one way of cooking eggs, so to speak. We use all kinds of techniques and approaches. Of course, the ideal way is just to go into the studio and play live, beautiful music just like we do on stage and we. That’s our preferred way of doing it. But then, if we need to overdub something, punch in or edit or re-record one of the instruments, we’re totally okay with doing it. Because just the same as pretty much anybody else out there, when it’s a recording, you want it to sound beautiful by any means necessary. Of course, we are not a pop act; this is not going to be millions of takes. Chopping phrases, word-by-word or note-by-note; none of that. But if we need to use the advantages of modern technology, we absolutely do that. That’s why I believe our records and videos sound nice, because a lot of work and thought went into it. In general, when something sounds nice and works, it’s not an accident and there is a lot of hard, long work behind it.
Fascinating! I had erroneously assumed that it was one of you also doing the accordion. I believe Rob has also done a lot of vocal work and, in my own experience, I know a lot of these skills are transferable, particularly with string instruments. Are all of you multi-instrumentalists and is that incorporated very much into the work with the International String Trio? Or is that sort of its own thing?
It’s a good question! Most good musicians play more than one instrument, so I can just tell you what each one of us plays [for the International String Trio.] I also play and teach piano and use it as an instrument for composing and understanding music and finding cool sounds. I also play electric bass as an additional thing, which is a kind of neighbor instrument to guitar, though it’s its own species. That’s my spectrum of instruments.
Rob is a real multi-instrumentalist because he does play violin as his main instrument, but he’s also an accomplished mandolin player. He plays upright bass; he plays all kinds of toys. He plays guitar pretty well, along with percussive toys. He’s one of those kinds of crazy scientist type of guys, he’s also big into sound processing. He’s my guy to go to when it comes to looking for specific cool sounds or processing approaches to my guitar. So, I go to my violinist and select the right pedal with him. It’s pretty, pretty fascinating when you think about it. And of course, he’s a great, great, amazing vocalist in his own right.
Our bass player, James – he plays both electric and acoustic basses, and works on piano and a few other things – he sings some backing vocals sometimes.
From what I can tell, one doesn’t arrive at the level of musicality of musicians like yourselves or a John Coltrane or Bill Evans, or even like a Paul McCartney – you don’t arrive at that level by looking at music as a 9-5, it’s a sort of constant, not just a means to an end, but like a motor that’s essentially always running. As such, I assume you’ve all logged thousands of hours internalizing some of the most complex and revered music ever. But in terms of recreational listening, are there any artists or styles that you enjoy that might surprise some people?
Another good question, and you’re absolutely right that music is not a nine-to-five type of occupation, even though you do need to put in a lot of routine hours and daily efforts into all aspects of it, especially when it comes to being a professional musician. Often you do not necessarily think that have the record to do with art or creating things or practicing your instrument, but simply, you know, doing the business work and giving interviews like I’m giving to you right now, et cetera, et cetera. So that’s part of the deal and that’s what enables you to actually get to the artistic part. But yes, of course; internalizing things; spending a lot of time with it. We did put our tens of thousands of hours in our instruments, for sure. You can count on that. When it comes to listening to music, that is frankly, absolutely, the most important and essential part of being inspiring and inspired. I also think about how important it is to keep that inspiration and excitement alive by discovering new names or listening to things that you already know and rediscovering things; being inspired. A big part of what any talented musician does is just being really moved by somebody.
It’s a childlike wonder almost.
Yeah! You hear something and it just moves you so much, you’re so inspired that you want to try and do it yourself, right? That’s a big part of it. It sounds very simple, but that’s what I keep telling my students and others: get in touch with being inspired by others. It’s almost as important as being an artist yourself and creating good things, as they actually go hand in hand.
But if we’re talking about specific names, somebody who I am constantly inspired by and you might not not have heard of is Biréli Lagrène, who is, I believe, the greatest guitarist in the world, in my opinion. He is most known for his work in gypsy jazz. He’s a French gypsy and he’s been on the scene for probably the last 50-plus years, even though he’s only 58 now. He was a child prodigy and you can find his videos in which he plays almost as amazing and as technically as he would later. He recorded an album with Jaco Pastorius when he was like, I think 15 or something. He was one of those miracles, dand he’s amazing gypsy jazz guitarist. So a lot of what the gypsy jazz sound is is inspired by him; his energy, his humor, his level of musicality. He’s one of the most musical people I can literally think of and he’s just a constant inspiration and and drive for us. Another performer I personally love and I’m inspired by, his name is Jan Garbarek. He’s a Norwegian saxophone player who is not as known in the States as in Europe, even though he had his huge moments. Like at the beginning of his career he recorded a couple of albums with Ketih Jarrett, who is obviously very well known – one of the most famous jazz pianists ever. So his albums with his Jarrett are absolutely stunning, and then he went on to have an absolutely diverse career. His sound has a lot of world music influences. He collaborates with different ensembles, choirs, performers from literally all around the globe and also his own just kind of vibe. His music is really speaks to me personally. There is no element of this kind of Nordic, Scandinavian vibe; kind of cold, but also really deep and sometimes very simple. He’s not afraid of using simple melodies and harmonies, but then sometimes it’s very complex and the list goes on and on. He’s just really one of the most unique performers in the world and very famous everywhere including the U.S. Those are some names that come to mind just from the top of my head.
I will definitely have to seek some of that out! I will let you go and start preparing for the tour, but this has been amazing. Thanks so much for taking time to talk music with us. We’re so excited to see you guys here in Beckley playing with the International String Trio.
Absolutely, sounds good! Thank you for conducting and arranging this interview. It’s going to be a really great show!
