Paul Neufeld: Musical master

It’s enough to master one instrument; it’s impressive to master a couple of instruments in the same family; but, it’s downright astonishing to find a musician commanding several different categories of instruments.

Keyboardist Paul Neufeld has a side career as a tuba and sousaphone player.

“I got into playing sousaphone because it was portable and I wanted to learn to play it. I have always loved the low-end of music and the tuba allowed me to play loud, funky music that also worked in an acoustic setting,” said the energetic musician in a recent phone interview.

Neufeld’s versatility - which combines the steadfastness piano-playing requires with the physical, almost jockish demands of tuba and sousaphone performance - says a lot about his personality and diverse taste in music.

“I just like music in general,” said Neufeld who listed chamber music, reggae and hip-hop among his interests and described his own sound as “eclectic.” “I like the idea that it can take me somewhere. Variety keeps me going.”

Since debuting on the Canadian music scene sixteen years ago, he has garnered five Juno nominations, winning once for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1996. He has also been awarded two Vibe Awards, a Jazz Report award and a National Jazz Award.

The Toronto native performs all over the world with different bands, including the Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra and his funky brass outfit Rhythm & Truth which plays a free concert at the Distillery District on July 2 at 12 p.m.

“I am exploring acoustic music,” he said of the upcoming TD Toronto Jazz Festival show. “We focus on the traditional New Orleans style, which primarily features horns and drums. But I might also be playing a bit of electric in addition to the sousaphone and covering some classics, such as James Brown.”

“Playing outdoors at the Distillery District makes people feel like dancing. It’s like a sonic journey. If the weather cooperates, I am sure it will be an amazing afternoon.”

“Dealing with music that doesn’t have words, people often ask ‘What’s it for?’ Like dance and other abstract forms of visual art, it’s harder to say ‘What’s this? What’s this about?’ Maybe something that people like about my music is that it’s abstract. It’s meant to stimulate thinking and feeling, and that’s okay, that’s what it’s for. It’s not only about just thinking, ‘Oh, this song’s about a terrible crime.’ It’s about something harder.

“When I’m writing, maybe I’m thinking about a person’s internal struggle, or moral decisions, but when somebody else listens to it, it reminds them of their struggle with relationship problems. It’s not what my intention was, but it works for them. Even though they understood it differently and it meant something else for them it still works.”

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