A veteran of the international jazz scene, Max Ionata emerged in the early 90s and has performed with many modern greats including Robin Eubanks, Billy Hart, Joe Locke, Mike Stern, Bob Mintzer and compatriot Stefano Di Battista.

For this episode, we did our interview over email, and Donna read the answers aloud for the audio and video podcast.

Here is the interview:

Donna: So I’m curious as to how you got started in music? Were your parents musical? Perhaps you didn’t start on saxophone – when did you start on it?

Max: In my family, there are no musicians or amateurs, and nobody even in the past was a music lover in general, so probably I can be considered an atypical musician 🙂 because every time I compare myself with some colleague I discover that in their families there was someone who played some musical instrument.

I started playing when I was 8 thanks to a Man that in my little village in Italy decided to put together a marching band. In the beginning, he asked us which instrument we would like to play, but in the end, he gave us the instrument he needed in the band! I was very lucky because I asked for a saxophone and he brought a soprano saxophone. In the beginning, I thought it was a trumpet but I was so excited about the new toy that I was looking forward to blowing into it!

Donna: I’m surprised you started on Soprano Saxophone? That’s hard to keep in tune. Can you tell us about those early experiences and how you handled playing it as a beginner? When did you start playing tenor (and alto?)

Max: Actually, it was a challenge for me at that time, I remember that my family and all the neighbors were a bit stressed because I was practicing a lot just to try to play my first notes!

After a few months, the director of the marching band asked me to join them to play in a religious celebration in my town and I was very excited and couldn’t believe that it was happening! Was I ready to play? No, I wasn’t, he asked me to play just on a couple of very simple tunes and he told me to look at the soprano player beside me that was older than me and more experienced. This thing helped me to develop my playing so fast and after a while, I was able to play almost all the repertoire.

The love for the Tenor sax comes after a couple of years when another boy that was playing a tenor in the band asked me to do an exchange with his instrument. I remember that the tenor sax for me was so long that it was difficult for me to play and march at the same time, I was just 10 years old. I played an alto as well that was my first Selmer saxophone when I decided to do the entrance exam to the Conservatory in Pescara, near my hometown. It was a failure for me because they never admit me to the Conservatory because at that time there was only the classical class and my way to play was a bit unruly.  

Donna: Which teacher was your biggest influence when you were young? What was one thing they said that you still do today, if anything?

Max: Living in a little village in the middle 80s meant I didn’t have big influences on music. The main bands were playing folk music or a kind of pop music and the only way to listen to jazz was with the recordings. I spent a lot of time with a few friends transcribing some melodies from the recordings and then trying to play them all together having no idea of how to improvise.

Once in school the music teacher told me I was talented for music but he said: If you want to be a musician you should dedicate your time to study music seriously and you must learn to read music as well. The combination of this with your talent can help you to be a good musician otherwise you’ll always be an amateur. I never forgot that advice. 

Donna: What were some of those first records you listened to?

Max: One of my best friends was a guitar player and he loved Mike Stern. That was the period that Stern was playing with Bob Berg and to...