Chicago jazz-trained pianist and electronic producer Cesar Pino – who performs as C3zR – enjoys dabbling in and experimenting with multiple genres, including jazz, hip hop, soul, and funk. It’s something he’s picked up and learned from listening to genre-weaving artists such as Kaytranada, Daft Punk, and Robert Glasper.
“I think I really try to listen as much as I can to keep my ears open,” says Pino.
In addition, Pino enjoys the unlimited possibilities that come through collaboration. In fact, he’s a frequent collaborator of rising local Chicago artists such as vocalists Ifeanyi Elswith and Manasseh.
“Overall, I think what I really enjoy about collaborating with different musicians, artists around Chicago is the creativity,” he says.
Both of these aspects are readily evident on debut album Round Voyage, which was released March 1 on 600 Block Records. The album was recorded with the help of Rax Tracks’ Noam Wallenberg, one of the engineers behind REVERB’s YouTube channel.
For his session entry for Water Tower Sessions, Pino teamed up Elswith, bass guitarist Freddy Quintero, and drummer Christian Esparza at Fullerton Recording Studio in Chicago to film a modified version of “B.B.B.” Pino, who is on keyboards, co-wrote the song with Elswith. (For a similar video of the song check out contest submission for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series which also features saxophonist Alan Park).
“The original mix was more of a [EDM] house feel, like a house vibe,” says Pino. “With this one, we just really took the tempo back, slowed it down, and I wouldn’t necessarily call it a ballad, but it gave it more of a smoother vibe…You get the best of both worlds though. You have one more of a modern feel and one more of a slow, a jazzier feel, you could say.”
He thought it would be a great choice because it’s one of the most popular tracks on Round Voyage, marks his first collaboration with Ifeanyi, and has a “cool vibe.” Pino says he got the inspiration for the song while at rehearsal with Ifeanyi about a year or two back, and he had the song’s beat stuck in his head.
“I was playing her the chords and showed her a bit of the production,” he says. “And one thing that inspires me, not just with that song, but just in my songwriting skills and my producing, is I always think harmony is first more so than the melodies. And sometimes they’ll break the rules where I go outside the key. A lot of times when I’m just using four chords, it’s always that fourth quarter or the third quarter that can sometimes go outside the key and give that little surprise to the audience.”
“They don’t even expect it where I’m going. And I think it was just the harmonies that really caught Ifeanyi’s attention, and she immediately was just brainstorming to come up with the lyrics. And it’s cool because she’s not only singing in that track, but in the outro, she does a little bit of freestyle and a little bit of rapping in there too.”
Pino filmed the performance with his iPhone. It’s a less immersive version of the NPR submission, which also made use of his 360 Camera. With the 360 Camera he was able to place it anywhere in the room and fully capture the surroundings. He says it’s usually his go to when filming sessions and enjoys using its Tiny Planet effect to get a “cool vibe.”
Ultimately, he hopes the session serves as a reflection of what he can offer more of on the other album tracks. For example, there are a few other tracks that they’re “currently remixing a little bit, almost like a little surprise, similar to what we did with ‘B.B.B,’ but taking some of those tracks in the LP and maybe whether we smooth the template down, we take it a little slower, more of a halftime feel, maybe add another horn here and there.”
“I think with the success of just doing the session at Fullerton Recording Studio with ‘B.B.B,’ I think it’s going to give us some further inspiration to try out the same process with some other tracks in the album,” says Pino.
Thanks to his connection with 600 Block Records owner Bryan Ford and his brother Kevin, who own Fullerton, they’ll have a studio space to experiment with those kinds of ideas.
“It’s very convenient for us and it gives us a nice advantage to just go in and record any ideas we have, tracks, you name it,” says Pino. “I think one of the nice things about working with Kevin over at Fullerton Recording Studio, as a keyboard player, as a pianist, I think his huge collection of keyboards from the Nord, they have a Mellotron, the synths, they’re just really, really incredible. It’s also a nice cozy space too. Their A Room, which is a big studio, you can feature a whole four-to-six-piece band and you just get a good sound in there.”
Scummy Water Tower caught up with Pino to talk about his collaborators on the session and why he enjoys collaboration, why he enjoys experimenting with multiple genres and how jazz piano has opened the doors to improvisation.
How do you know the others that play with you in the session for us and NPR session?
With Alan and Freddy, we go way back to Northeastern. That’s where we went to music school. Specifically, we go all the way back to jazz band, that’s how we have a good chemistry with each other, and we can almost reach other minds when we’re playing things musically. I’ve known Christian for probably the past maybe six years, and he’s just one of those musicians I bumped into in the Chicago music scene. Incredible drummer, and comes from diverse styles, from metal rock, rock, hard rock, fusion jazz. All the players that were involved with this video session, incredible musicians, and great friends.
You frequently collaborate with a lot of people around town. What do you like most about collaborating?
Overall, I think what I really enjoy about collaborating with different musicians, artists around Chicago is the creativity. Really just sitting together, brainstorming on ideas that we can really vibe with, similar tastes, but also even if it’s just a little bit different as well. Sometimes I like to challenge myself, maybe collaborating with someone who comes more from a hip hop scene or someone who comes more from a fusion scene and try brainstorming our ideas together to see what we can come up with. But I’ve been very fortunate too with the musicians I’ve collaborated with that they’re great attitudes. They’re just really fun to work with.
And I think that helps a lot when you’re trying to put a track together. But typically what I do though is I always give them the template or a blueprint of what I’m thinking musically, whether it’s just a loop of some chords being played on the keys or the synth, or if it’s just a three-minute production of some track that I’ve cooked up and I give it to them, and that’s where they add their magic, whether it’s a vocalist and they’re adding some cool, a lot of ideas, or if they’re may be like a horn player trumpet, saxophone, and they’re creating their own riffs and looping that. You build a lot of cool ideas with this whole process.
You also produced the album. What was it like honing those skills?
It started out as the typical bedroom producer. During the aftereffects of COVID, none of us can go out and gig and I think that forced me to hone my skills or my producing skills through using Ableton. That’s the main data that I use. And just also just learning from friends, watching my YouTube tutorials, knowing how I can side chain the synth, the drums, watching the EQ, and I’m still mastering that art.
I think definitely in the producing world, there’s just so much to be accounted for and how to get that perfect sound or almost perfect sound. But I will also give credit to my engineer over at Rax Trax Studios. His name is Noam Wallenberg. He’s the one that really helps me with the mastering and the final mixing. We have a great collaboration and good relationship where I’ll send him a track I’ve produced to listen to and we’ll add the final mixing, and those are really the technicalities that really make a huge difference.
He’s the man, the myth, the legend. He’s like a fountain of knowledge. And one thing about Noam is that he just has that perfect ear when one instrument or there’s one audio part on the track that needs some more EQing, that’s why I’m saying it’s almost like that’s just an art in itself, and just being able to master all the final mixing, final editing, you name it. Definitely I give credit with that to Noam Wallenburg over at Rax Trax Studios.
You have quite an eclectic range of influences like jazz, hip hop, and electronic music. Can you talk about your journey finding a sound? What do you like about being able to dabble in a bunch of different places?
I think I really try to listen as much as I can to keep my ears open. But I think if I had to choose my top influences, there’s just so many, even if we’re just talking pianists or keyboardists from Chick Corea to Herbie Hancock to AmaLee, who’s more of a contemporary pianist these days. But I think in terms of the production sound, I had to listen to Daft Punk, Justice, and then you have other producers like Anderson.Paak, Quincy Jones, and Snarky Puppy.
I feel like there’s a bunch of more, but those are some of my main ones. Kaytranada is another huge one too. I started listening to Kaytranada back in 2019, and I still listen to 99.9% religiously to this day. Discovery from Daft Punk probably my main albums get a lot of inspiration. And you just take Kaytranada, for example. There’s just something he does with those drums, the beats that just really pop and it becomes an earworm after that. But then I listen to Daft Punk, and I get so inspired by their use of the synths and sampling, which brings into another world these days where we hear it in Future Funk and these other different sub-genres.
What got you into jazz piano?
For jazz piano, it all started when I was in college. That’s where I was exposed to the whole jazz scene by joining the jazz lab band and then eventually the jazz big band. In 2014, I was invited to tour with the big band over at the Beijing International Jazz Festival. That definitely was an awesome experience. I learned a lot through that. And it just also put my ears to just these different styles in jazz piano too. Again, from looking at Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, there’s just so many different styles one could get easily influenced. And I think that I had my phases, for example, started with probably Duke Ellington, who is typically a great source for being in a big band. But then as I got more into the funk, even the disco, future vibe, I got really into Herbie Hancock listening to Head Hunters. Then I got into the whole Keytar scene. I think within the course of those six years in college, it really shaped my ideas, and even to this day, I’m still evolving with my jazz piano chops, my influences.
Has that helped you be more open to improvising?
Absolutely. I think there’s always room for improvisation, because typically it depends on what I’m playing if it’s like a ballad. And some of these ideas can be even reflected with Round Voyage too. Take for example, “He Can’t See” with Ifeanyi, which has more of that ballad feel. But you can hear some of the nice jazz harmonies in there too, where again, I go outside the key, but in terms of that, maybe I might get influenced from Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal. But if I’m thinking of something a bit more heavy, more fusion. One track for example, and working on currently for the next LP, “Neon Part,” really caters toward that sub-genre of fusion. Even a little bit of some Prague rock you could say. And that’s where I get inspiration from maybe Weather Report, and going into maybe more like Chick Corea, the electric band.
Why did you feel Round Voyage was a fitting title for your debut?
There are two reasons. Number one, I think because my aim is to invite the listener to hop on aboard this voyage through Chicago, listening to the various music scenes, the sounds of the city, and second also because it takes inspiration from Round Midnight for Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock. And I wanted to use those two to make a little joke to throw in there within the title. Instead of Maiden Voyage from Herbie Hancock, Round Voyage, you get a little bit of that little word play in there.
What songs surprised you most writing and recording for the debut?
Man, I think all those songs. I’m very proud of producing, proud of collaborating with all the artists. It’s hard to choose which of those songs are my favorites. I think if I had to choose three, it would probably be “B.B.B” featuring Ifeanyi Elswith, “Gold Cymbal” featuring Sarita Songbird, and “Hold On” featuring Travis Percy. Probably those three with that feature vocalists. And there are other good ones too, “11PM “which is more of a jazz field that features Jamal on trumpet and “Star Dazed,” which is more like a Kaytranada vibe. But it’s hard when I had to choose my favorite, they’re all my favorites.
What are you most looking forward to in the months ahead?
I’m currently working on the next project, the next LP. Instead of Round Voyage it will be titled Cosmic Voyage. Going beyond what I’ve been doing recently, diving in more into the electronic field, maybe a little bit more of getting that Tame Impala, the Justice vibe, incorporating some of those sounds into this next LP and maybe doing some sampling too. There was one track in Round Voyage that I got a sample from an old samba tune in the seventies. I entitled it “Agua Viva,” or “water of life.” But now as I’m doing more listening these days with Tame Impala, Justice, M83, Daft Punk, The Avalanches, I want to get more into that sampling world too. These are just little things that I just want to put all together, fuse them for the next LP.
What does it mean to have support from Chicago?
It means a lot. I think that Chicago is definitely one of those awesome cities where the performing arts are always thriving, and it’s always a good feeling when you’re going to these local venues, Cole’s Bar, Dorian’s, Schubas. A lot of the fans that are there are just there for the music. For example, just recently I just did the debut released show at Opus, and it was a full house. We sold the place, people came, they were supporting. That’s always a good thing. Of course, part of that is promoting, but also just because people in the city, the Chicagoans are all about live music, the performing arts, and we’re lucky to have that.
Any specific shows in the near future you’re looking forward to?
Yeah, the next show is going to be on May 1st over at the Tiffany Center for The Arts. And then, after that, that’s my goal just to start getting more shows up there. But the plan is to get more coming up in the summer.
Are you planning to stick around locally, or do you hope to get out more?
Definitely. I think right now I want to continue playing locally for sure, and then eventually, for sure. I like to maybe do some touring out of state. I know one of the things I was talking with Bryan from 600 Block Records is maybe send up a tour in Southern California since that’s where they’re currently at. I think that’d be pretty cool. But I love Chicago. That’s my hometown. I want to continue doing things more locally and then broaden my horizon and eventually go out of state and out of the country.
You can find more about C3zR on Facebook and Instagram.
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
