And I thought, “That looks like ‘Autumn Leaves’-what I feel about ‘Autumn Leaves’ the music.” But I wouldn’t have thought that if I hadn’t appreciated the song. I did “Les feuilles mortes”-that is the original French of what we know as “Autumn Leaves.” I was asked if I’d a documentary on the French novelist Michel Houellebecq, and I saw some footage on him, and he just looked like someone who’d known a lot of sadness and loneliness. If you don’t mind getting specific, Préliminaires, it had a whole range of approaches. But I don’t mind singing something that I didn’t write, and I really don’t mind singing something that isn’t primarily about me. I tried to avoid the former like the plague. But I hear much more from the singer-songwriter tradition here-Serge Gainsbourg or Tom Waits or even Leonard Cohen. With this recent recording and your two French albums, I feel like the press and public perception has been “Iggy does jazz,” like you’re doing your Great American Songbook record. Steve Swallow, Jamie Saft and Bobby Previte (from left) (photo by Vin Cin) … It had a different vibe, and it was going to be challenging to try and contribute something to it. But it really doesn’t matter-it’s kind of better that you don’t know. It took a long time before I even asked for names, and then I recognized Bobby’s name and I recognized Steve’s name from Carla Bley’s album Andando el Tiempo. I never did much talking about it after that. They told me I could contribute to one or two or all of it, and I asked if I could do all three. So along came these three pieces, and I thought, “Wow.” The playing was beautiful and each one was different.

I’d been out rockin’ for a long time and doing music that hits heavier, and I don’t always feel like hitting heavy. It was the right time for me to get that music. He didn’t give me names or anything, and I just asked that it be sent along. He didn’t categorize the music he just said, “You should check it out,” and he mentioned that it was on a special label, not a conglomerate. IGGY POP: Bill Laswell contacted me and said there are some guys who really want vocals on something, and Bill’s very careful about what he says. JazzTimes: How did this recent project come about? I think a lot of people were genuinely surprised by the lineup. What appears here is a taste of that history, with talk of the new release his two eclectic chansons recordings, 2009’s Préliminaires and 2012’s Après the fuzzy truth about the night the Stooges met Miles and more. Pop, 70, is a wide-ranging appreciator whose path from garage-band drummer to cosmopolitan rock-and-roll sage has intersected jazz and blues with fascinating results. But it’s certainly not without precedent. It’s surprising, sure, to hear the Stooge’s artfully downcast croon punctuate a creatively swinging and lyrical piano-trio set. There is at least a slight news-of-the-weird element to Loneliness Road (RareNoise), the recent album from the trio of pianist Jamie Saft, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bobby Previte: The program features three vocal performances by punk architect Iggy Pop, who wrote original lyrics for prerecorded tracks and overdubbed his offerings in his hometown of Miami.

Iggy pop and the stooges