JGT contributor Joe Barth talks to jazz-rocker Frank Gambale about The Haas Company and their new album Celestial Latitude.
Frank Gambale is a true technical master of the guitar.He was Chick Corea’s favorite guitar player.Pat Metheny has expressed that wishes he had the time to study with Gambale, and the accolades go on.Recently his improvising skills have been featured on The Haas Company’s new albumCelestial Latitude.In this article, I talk with Frank about his approach to the guitar and this new album.
JB:You started with the guitar and then switched to piano for a couple of years, what inspired you to play improvised guitar?
FG:That’s where the freedom is, the part of the song where you get to express yourself with your own note choices.I played guitar for ten years before I switched to piano for 2 years then back to guitar. Great improvisers likeChick Corea and Michael Brecker are the two main influences I quote regularly.
JB:Did the Guitar Institute of Technology bring you from Canberra, Australia to Los Angeles and what did you appreciate most about what you learned at GIT?
FG:It was an excuse to be able to stay in the United States long enough to have a good look around for opportunities.I mostly practiced on my own for the year I was a student there and I went on to teach there for four years.In those days it was a vibrant place and I learned that I still had a lot to learn even though I’d had a lot of live performance experience already for a twenty-two year old.
JB:Tell us about your goals in making your new albumCelestial Latitudewith drummer Steve Haas and Pete Drungle on keyboards.
FG: It’s not my album! I was hired to play as a session player. I liked Pete Drungle’s compositions and his playing and so I
wanted to do it. Steve Haas is a gracious man and a good drummer and generous executive producer. Pete Drungle workedtirelessly to make the music achieve the level that it has. It was a fun session to be sure!
JB:Did keyboardist Pete Drungle compose this music with you and this particular project in mind?
FG:It’s all Pete Drungle.
JB:What do you appreciate most about the Kiesel FG1 guitar you play?
FG:I helped in the design of the instrument. Kiesel makes the best flawless guitars out there today in my opinion.I’m proud to play their instruments. I have two models with them FG-1 and FG-2 both peerless instruments of the highest quality.To play well every night and go into the “zone” I need to go beyond the instrument. The instrument must never be a distraction of any kindto enable me to go beyond the instrument to improvise freely in the “zone”.
…and the Cort Luxe Gambale acoustic guitar?
The same goes for the Cort acoustic guitars. I had a lot to do with their design. The best way to get a great instrument is when the guitar companies listen to the guitar players who play them and who have years of experience. Cort and Kiesel listen. That’s why they make great instruments.
JB:I know about your sweep picking, but I want to ask about what your “Gambale Tuning” allows you to do the most.
FG:Gambale Tuning I discovered in 2003 and I quickly made an album calledRaison D’Etrewith Billy Cobham that featured the tuning.Hindsight has 20/20. I had tried altered tunings in the past, but they all require you to learn as a beginner because everything is different that is all chord shapes.It seems obvious now but to change some strings to a lower octave, it’s still fundamentally the same note, it’s just a different voicing…and that is where the magic is. Because I play keyboards, I always wanted to be able to freely play my favorite voicings that are impossible with standard tuning.Gambale Tuning I believe is revolutionary and could easily be a new standard tuning for guitar. It enables total freedom to play close-voicing chords simply and efficiently in any key! Folks are slowly catching on to the wonderful new world it opens up. I think it’s even more important than Gambale Sweep Picking, which is saying a LOT!
JB:You have a wide variety of tour experiences from Billy Cobham’s band to Jean-luc Ponty, Chick Corea Electric Band, Return to Forever, as well as Vital Information and everything in between.You obviously found rewards in each of these experiences. Briefly tell us about what you appreciated about some of them.
FG:Firstly, all the groups mentioned the musicians are some of the best in the music business so it’s always a rich and rewarding experience working beside these great musicians. Secondly, the experience of traveling and seeing the world and playing on all the world’s most important stages is a huge part of the richness of the experience. I worked hard all my life and still do, to be the very best I can be. Always delivering the very best performances and musical compositions without compromise. That’s where I live!
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