Phoning from Philadelphia, Jennifer Hartswick is between dates of her duo tour with collaborator and Nth Power guitarist Nick Cassarino. The pair have been playing venues and jazz clubs throughout the country, and Hartswick has surprised fans with her new batch of songs on Nexus, her first solo release since 2011’s Ocean Floor. It’s smoother and more soulful fare than her “in-your-face” work with Trey Anastasio Band. Still wielding her trumpet and her powerful voice, Hartswick shows her vulnerable side when she plays centerstage. “I’m comfortable, but at the same time if you hear something go wrong, it’s my fault,” she laughs. She tapped jazz legend Christian McBride to contribute to Nexus and invited Cassarino to join her on the road, surrounding herself with a veritable who’s-who of the jam-jazz world and producing the record herself. In particular, she counts Cassarino as one of her closest collaborators. “We’ve been friends for so long and have evolved as musicians together,” Hartswick says. “We trust each other so implicitly and since we know each other so well, I just follow him, and by the same token, if I want to do something crazy, he’s right there behind me.” Below, Hartswick discusses Nexus, the ups and downs of life on the road and why she’ll always help Umphrey’s McGee fulfill their “garage-band dreams.” What were your creative goals for Nexus as compared to your prior LP? It’s been seven years since Ocean Floor, and a lot has happened in those seven years. Career-wise, and life-wise, I was feeling like everything that I was a part of was loud and in-your-face—which I love—but I wanted to make something that was sort of intimate, and would make people sit down and realize what’s going on with the arrangements and songwriting. What was the songwriting process like. Did you have these songs in the chamber for some time? I’m always writing. Nick and I write together all the time. We had “You Can’t Take It Back” and “Numb” and “Drowning” and “Silent Waves” ready to roll and then we had some ideas on how to flush those out, but we’re always writing and seeing what sticks. You also enlisted Christian McBride, who has his own jazz pedigree. I’ve been a fan of Christian since I was a kid; he was one of my biggest influences when I was a teenager. I just think he’s absolutely brilliant as a performer and as a writer. We got the chance to work together four or five years ago and we totally hit it off and we remained friends. I had this idea for a record and he offered to be a part of it before I even asked him, actually, which is really nice when that happens. Tell me about the recording process... Most of the things you hear is the first take, and Christian had never even heard these tunes before. We had just written them and we had never performed them live so making this record was sort of a workshop more than anything. It was really special to hear the songs come to life and for us to try to figure it out together with that really good initial energy. Are you happy with how the songs are evolving in a live setting? Yeah, it’s been really, really fun and rewarding to spend some time with these songs and play them live to see how people react to them. I think that’s the most fun part. Once you set the groundwork, then you get to have fun with it. Certain songs sound a little different or their tempo is different. When we first started in the beginning of the year we were kind of tip-toeing around and figuring it out, but now the songs feel grounded in our being, and it’s always fun to get to that point. When you announced this tour you said it was a lifelong dream to tour with Nick. What has the experience been like so far? Usually the more people you add to a band, the personalities you’re dealing with. And as we get older, people don’t get less difficult [Laughs]. But Nick and I share so much of the same outlook on life. And being on tour, every single day something totally bizarre is going to happen. You’re going into a new city, new venue, meeting new people, getting to know new audience members. He and I both have the same philosophy that’s, “Well we’re here, let’s just do it,” and it’s nice to have a partner who steps up and says, “What do you need?” instead of, “How little can I do?” It’s really a blessing. Can you share any of those crazy unanticipated things from this tour? I can’t name the city, but we walked into this place and right after the stage got set up, the sound guy quit. About 45 minutes before the show he took all the microphones off the stands, and he stormed out. Then, 20 minutes later, he decided he had a change of heart, came back, got upset again, started screaming at everyone and then left and then came back again. Then, about 30 seconds before we were walking on stage, the power went out. There’s some stuff that you could just never anticipate, like “What the hell is going to happen?” You had Russ Lawton and Natalie Cressman on the record. How was it to bring the TAB family into your solo work? It was lovely because we recorded it at The Barn in Vermont, which is like a second home to me, and a second home to Russ and Natalie, so it just sorta seemed natural to have them involved. Being in Vermont just sort of conjures up that family time. And Russ played low percussion on it and Natalie played some beautiful trombone on it. But anytime we’re all in that space together, it’s very special. It was just sort of a no-brainer to have them there.
Christian McBride and Trey Anastasio join Jennifer Hartswick and Nick Cassarino at Rockwood Music Hall on October 10. Finally, in addition to your obvious connection to the jam world through Trey and TAB, you’re also super tight with the Umphrey's McGee guys. I just sat in with them about a month or so ago. Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with them? God, we’ve known each other since the early 2000s and every time we get the chance, even if we’re not playing music, we love to hang out together. So anytime that there’s some absurd performance like “How do we do something even stupider than the last time?” I get to be the one who fulfills all their garageband dreams. Like last time we were together, I guess it was in Dallas, we did a White Snake song and they were like “If we sing this song, it’s the stupidest thing we ever did, but if you sing it, it’s awesome.” So it sort of became like, “OK, who’s got a thing they need me to do?” [Laughs]. But they’re great friends of mine. They’re absolutely family and they’re brilliant musicians and it’s a blast to spend time with them. Did you think you’d ever find yourself on stage singing a White Snake song? Definitely not, there’s no way. The funny thing is, I don’t know any of that music so I’m learning all of those songs for the first time when most people know every single word. Nobody learns that kind of music in their adulthood. We had this random Rush song at Red Rocks last year that was so complicated it took me two months to learn. [Laughs.] But they always keep me on my toes…
