Jeremy Ledbetter originally trained as a classical pianist. He studied jazz performance in Toronto before spending over a decade abroad, during which he worked closely with some of the most prominent recording artists in Trinidad, Cuba, Brazil, and Venezuela.
The artist has impacted the Canadian jazz and world music scenes, performing regularly with the Larnell Lewis Band, OKAN, Eliana Cuevas, Alexis Baró, the Joy Lapps Project, Rich Brown’s Abeng, and many others. His many credentials include being the driving force behind the Caribbean jazz ensemble CaneFire, and musical director to the Trinidadian calypso icon David Rudder. We caught up with Jeremy to discuss his music career and his latest album titled, “Gravity,” which will be available on September 13th, 2024 via CaneFire Records.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Please tell our readers more about your background, and what drew you to a career in music.
Music was always a part of my life. I grew up playing classical piano, then later got into blues, then jazz, then lots of other things. I don’t really remember ever consciously choosing a career in music, I think it just happened by itself in a way. I definitely remember the first time I was able to actually make a living from playing music – I was living in Trinidad and Tobago at the time, and I remember thinking, “well, why would I ever stop doing this?” So, I think it just seemed right from the beginning, to pursue music as a career, because it was something I was going to be doing all the time anyway.
You trained as a classical pianist and studied jazz performance. Following your studies, you embarked on decade decade-long journey collaborating with artists in Trinidad, Cuba, Brazil, and Venezuela. How important was it to travel and explore musical perspectives? Please tell us more about your collaborations and how the experience of spending time abroad shaped your approach to music.
People often call music a “universal language”, but I don’t see it that way. I would call music a universal phenomenon – like language – but being able to sight-read a Beethoven sonata does not make one magically able to sit in at a Latin jazz jam, you know what I mean? Every musical genre is like its own language, and if you want to be able to communicate you have to learn to speak it. And I think I realized very early on that the best way to learn a musical language is just like learning a spoken language – you have to go to the source and immerse yourself in it for as long as you can, and really try to understand it from the inside out. Personally, that process has been absolutely vital to my development as a musician, as it kept me interested and curious for years and years and had such an impact on my development as a player.
You’re an accomplished artist with several accolades including World Music Producer of the Year at the Independent Music Awards and has been nominated for Producer of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Of your many achievements is there a particular career milestone you’re most proud of, and if so why?
I don’t put a lot of stock in the awards and stuff like that, of course it’s nice to be recognized but it’s not why we do it. For me it’s just the body of work, that’s what I’m proud of. Just the work that I’ve done and the music I’ve produced. I feel very fortunate that life has given me the opportunities it has, and that I’ve been able to pass through the orbit of so many truly amazing artists and colleagues and create art that we care about so deeply.
Looking back at your career, what has been your greatest challenge and how have you or are you overcoming it?
Music is the greatest challenge! You can never finish learning this thing, it’s never ending. So I’d say that is the greatest challenge and also the most enjoyable one, just the constant, day-by-day effort at getting a little bit better at this, trying to find something new in it every day.
Audiences can look forward to your latest album ‘Gravity’ Please tell us more about the origins of the project, your trio, and your inspiration for each piece.
This is our second album, so if the first one was all about finding our sound together, this one was really about deepening and refining that sound. So we know each other really, really well now – the three of us play together in about 4 or 5 projects – and the level of communication is extremely high. The album title, “Gravity”, refers to the idea of an unseen force that connects bodies in space – I feel like there’s something like that going on in a good jazz trio, where we are able to move together as if connected by something we can’t see.
What other projects are in the pipeline?
I have a duo project with Venezuelan singer Eliana Cuevas that I’m very excited about, we’ve been doing some touring recently and I’m really loving that format….I also lead a 7-piece Caribbean Latin jazz ensemble called CaneFire, we have 2 studio albums out and will release a live album next year…and just, making lots of music with incredible projects that I’m very lucky to be a part of and around Toronto, Canada – if you follow me on social media @jeremyledbettermusic or better yet, subscribe to my mailing list HERE: https://www.jeremyledbetter.com/contact you’ll find out all about it.
Where can our readers find out more about you? ( Please share your website and social media feeds)
https://www.jeremyledbetter.com/
https://www.instagram.com/jeremyledbettermusic/
https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyLedbetter
https://www.facebook.com/jeremy.ledbetter.71
Photo credit: Niall Collins, courtesy of the artist
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