Kornel: Blurt is renowned for its distinctive guitar riffs, often described as repetitive, minimalistic, or hypnotic. This approach was quite original and brave, especially given the musical landscape at the time. Your first guitarist, Pete Creese, started this style, and others followed in their own ways. What is your opinion on this evolution?
Ted: Think of the succession of guitar players in the band as a kind of relay race, where a guitar pick is handed on instead of a baton!
Kornel: You play the saxophone very expressively. Do you have any saxophone heroes? If so, who are they?
Ted: Of course, (early) Ornette is number one, and Dolphy on alto is right up there too! But then there’s Junior Walker and myriad other players, all with distinctive voices. The jazz scene is chockablock with musicians who can play Charlie Parker faster than Charlie could play himself—but do you ever know who it is playing?
Kornel: You collaborated with the Swiss band Goz Of Kermeur, who are not as well-known today as they deserve to be. Can you share some memories of working with them?
Ted: Not with the band as such, I don’t recall, but with one of the members, Adrien Kessler, who played (and plays) the stand-up bass. He joined us on The Blurt Big Band Tour. He lives in Geneva, and it was a great pleasure to meet him again when we played there last year.
Kornel: You were acquainted with the late Slovenian musician and activist Marko Brecelj. What can you share about your experiences with him?
Ted: Marko! Larger than life! (But no longer, alas…) We played several times in his youth club venue in Koper. Once, he went on to introduce the band—we were sitting outside the venue, waiting to go on. We could hear Marko “introducing the band.” It went on and on. We could hear a lot of laughter. After about half an hour, we finally got to go on—he’d upstaged us!
Another time, in his minuscule—and by that, I mean the smallest vehicle I’ve ever been in—a dilapidated Fiat 500. A terrifying ride down the wrong side of a motorway, with him talking to me and not looking where he was going…
And there’s a video somewhere of him—wearing his Chinese coolie straw hat—firing darts at the officials up on their stage during a council meeting. Marko’s mission was to upset the applecart…
Klemen: Are there any new artistic directions or projects you’re excited about?
Ted: You might get to find out about them on www.tedmilton.net and IG @tedmiltonblurt.
Klemen: Let’s end this interview with some of your favorite albums.
A clip on YouTube: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band – ‘Midnight Moses’ live, Norway, June 16, 1974.