We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joanne Lazzaro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Joanne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I “accidentally released” my first solo flute album “Under The Stars” in 2015. I had no business plan for starting my own label – I was simply amazed and overwhelmed by the whole process of recording, mixing, mastering, manufacturing and distributing an album as an independent artist. A colleague advised me to start my own label, and register it, so I did, and JoRazzal Music was born. I soon decided that my focus as a producer and label would be to record and release “world premiere” albums – music by myself, or other classical-crossover composers, that had not been commercially printed, recorded, released or distributed. The second album was “Canyon Shadows for flute, native flute and percussion” (released in 2018) by the well-known New York flutist and composer Katherine Hoover. Written for the Grand Canyon Festival back in 1999, it was shelved by the composer after one the original musicians claimed the piece was “too difficult”, Since that time, more technically proficient musicians had acquired photocopies of the score and successfully performed it, with very enthusiastic audience responses. I approached Katherine and obtained the necessary “first recording rights” for the album, and worked with her to create an edited version of the score and parts. The third album “Suite Esemerelda for flute and piano” (2021) was written for me by Eric V. Baum as a college graduation gift back in 1983. Fast forward to the covid pandemic – I finally had free time to revisit the piece, re-contact the composer for the necessary rights; and hire musicians to record in isolation booths (I produced from outside on the patio, with headphohes and microphone! And as a tribute to the original Claude Bolling “Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano” (which was the inspiration for “Suite Esmerelda”) I decided to manufacture a vinyl record in addition to the usual CDs and digital versions. Each project for JoRazzal Music has been a tremendous learning experience, and has brought unpublished music into the world.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Classically-trained and globally-oriented flutist Joanne Lazzaro plays “anything that looks like a flute, and a few things that don’t”. Her flute journey began with classical flute lessons at the age of 10, but soon expanded to trying out “souvenir flutes’ brought home by vacationing relatives, flutes found at craft fairs, yard sales, and attics. Her label – JoRazzal Music – specializes in both her original solo music and world-premiere releases of classical/crossover works by other composers. Joanne’s award-winning recordings can be heard on streaming services worldwide, and she is a sought-after workshop clinician for teaching world flutes. She lives in the Los Angeles, CA area where she enjoys an active schedule with the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra, private teaching, and showing up to studio recording sessions with “literally, a trunk-load of flutes!”
As a classically trained orchestral flutist, Joanne has played all over the USA including Los Angeles – Disney Hall; New York – Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall; Chicago – (Symphony Center, and around the world; Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Monaco, & the Netherlands. She’s shared the stage with artists as varied as CeCe Winans, James Galway, Billy Childs, and Serj Tankian, and even played for the Prince of Monaco.
Currently the Principal Flute for the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra; she also performs with the groups Los Angeles Flute Orchestra (as one of the founding members), plus ad-hoc appearances in other Southern California orchestras. She enjoys studio recording sessions where her ability to re-create the styles of other flutists is in demand (most recently, she re-created the 1960’s sound of composer & sometimes flute-maker Eden Ahbaz for the the 2021 album “Dharmaland”), and collaborating on demos for film composers.
Joanne talks about her debut album: “I was tremendously inspired by Paul Horn’s “Inside the Taj Mahal” the first time I heard it. The idea for making a similar live, improvised recording, using a telescope dome and astronomy-based themes, became a reality during a chance conversation with an audio engineer at a party”. With the support of both the Mount Wilson Institute, and the Art Institute – Inland Empire, a date was chosen, On a cold November night, the observatory staff, recording engineers and I loaded in bags of flutes, hundreds of feet of audio cable, and dinner, onto a skiff and hoisted it into the observatory dome for a 3-hour recording session, The resulting one-hour CD “Under the Stars” and companion digital EP of out-takes “Under the Stars, Too!” launched her recording career.
In 2018 Joanne started her own record label – JoRazzal Music, to produce and release her first classical album: “Canyon Shadows for flute, native flute and guitar” – an unpublished work by New York composer Katherine Hoover, which received a Global Music Silver Award. After the successful release of the album, she worked with the composer’s estate to edit and publish the sheet music, which went on the win the National Flute Association’s “Newly Published Music Award” in 2019. In her first foray into remote global recording, 2019 also brought the release of the orchestral classical single “A Dark Goddess for flute and strings” by David W. Solomons, featuring Joanne as both the Producer and the solo flutist, performing with the St. Petersburg Orchestra (recorded in Russia) and released in ultra-high fidelity audio. Her most recent world premiere recording – “Suite Esmerelda for flute & piano” by Eric V. Baum – a classical/smooth jazz crossover EP was released both on vinyl and classical streaming platforms, including Apple Music Classical and iDagio. In 2023, Joanne released her first Dolby Atmos project (a.k.a. the Portland Sessions) – the two singles “No More Words” (featuring Native American flutes) and “Ashes to Ireland” (her first official recording using Irish flute & whistles) are based on the impromptu video concerts she performed for her mother, who was confined to a nursing home during the covid pandemic. New projects planned in the coming year include an album of flute music and nature sounds, recorded live on location in National Parks.
Joanne is the founder and host of the education-focused “Los Angeles World Flute Circle”, explaining her motivation – “This is my way of inspiring new world flutists, and giving back to the community.” She is currently a member of the National Flute Association, World Flute Society, The Recording Academy (the GRAMMYS®), AFM Local 47 (Los Angeles), and ASCAP (Los Angeles). She maintains a private teaching studio for students interested in classical flute, Native American flutes, recorder, Irish flute, shakuhachi and other world flutes.
You can hear Joanne Lazzaro’s music on Amazon, AppleMusic, Apple Classical, iDagio, Deezer, Spotify, Pandora, Qobuz, Tidal, TikTok and on virtually every other streaming platform around the world.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Coming from a classical music background, where the emphasis is on the faithful (and flawless, if possible) re-creation of the works of other composers. The first 10 years or so are spent learning your craft (a good thing) and delving deeply into the history of written music. However, this extreme focus on perfecting known classical works, makes breaking out into other “non-classical” styles of music more challenging, Learning to improvise later in life seems harder after many years of being told that only the greatest historical musicians are worthy of having their music performed; anything that *you* might come up with, pales in comparison to Mozart or Bach or Beethoven. The hardest habit to un-learn is the focus on perfect performances – many world flutes are learned by ear and performed without sheet music, and in others the music is completely improvised, in the moment. For a classical musician, the potential for playing “wrong notes” is a deeply ingrained fear that needs to be released in order to be present in the moment, and create a unique musical experience for the audience. It’s been remarkably freeing, and even affects my classical/orchestral playing, where I’m more present in the music and less pre-occupied with “not making mistakes”. It’s now a key part of my teaching – I make sure my students know how to improvise, and stay present with the music, without being overwhelmed by the occasional “mistake”.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Attend live events – go to concerts, art openings, live theater, music festivals, etc. If the event is “free”, then go ahead and make a donation or buy something from the artists. Support the arts in public schools – all children should be encouraged to delve into their creative side, from an early age. Provide actual arts instruction as early as possible – elementary school kids can learn to play real instruments, perform theater well, and excel at visual arts. Teach kids how to grow food, raise animals and fix things; also, how to start a fire, sail a boat and read the stars. Give them history projects and let them choose the form of artistic expression. Once they’re grown up, they will be less likely to ask a musician or other artist to donate their services for free “for the exposure”- they will already appreciate how integral the arts are for any event.
To support musicians in particular – follow them on your favorite music streaming platform, and request their music by name. Use online “tip jars” when you see them. Better yet, go to their website, and pay for an album or track that you’re already streaming – your purchase price is equal to hundreds or thousands of streams. Don’t use generative AI to create “art” for your business or advertising – the AI programs are virtually stealing the published work of real artists and photographers; and don’t use other people’s art on your website or social media, without permission or attribution. Better yet, hire an artist or designer for your project. If you use audio in social media, give a shoutout to the original performer. At your place of employment, suggest visual or performing arts programs that can be “hosted” at your location.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kokopelli.la
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@joannelazzaro?si=NuXokYvTO5JkYPoL
- Other: https://linktr.ee/joannelazzaro?utm_source=linktree_admin_share https://joannelazzaro.bandcamp.com/follow_me