SPRING 2011
Garden City
jazz
The CSRA’s journal on everything Jazz
Changing the Feel Drummer Andrew Anderson’s amazing battle with Cancer
Making Music Your Life:
Joel Cruz’s
Upcoming Events
Jamie Lowe on education
Young Lions
Top Gigs & Featured Artists
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The Set List:
Garden City
jazz
> Making Music Your Life- 5 > Calendar of Events6 > Cover Story: Andrew Anderson - 8
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from the
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editor
For those outsiders to the Jazz art form, sometimes the most difficult idea to grasp is what that band-mate next to you has to say. Their way of expressing it may have a certain swing to it, it could be vocalized, it could come at an odd time, or double the tempo you wanted it, but the only way to continue its progression is for you to listen and go with it (oh and after a solo, clap).
If you listen closely to Jazz in the Garden City you will realize that there is a lot of negativety being said: “Jazz is for certain crowds” or “Candlelight Jazz offers some of the best sounds, but where is the hype year-round?” But what you don’t hear is the voice of the musician, the mentor, or the fan. Well this journal, the Garden City Jazz Magazine, is the outlet for the voice of the CSRA’s Jazz, and in response to critics, on behalf of all the players, in thanks to all my mentors and in communion with all the fans, I want to say that Jazz is alive in the Garden City.
Production Assistants: Jillian Hobday
Tiffannie Meador
>Food For the Lions: Joel Cruz and Augusta’s Young Lions - 11
Contributors:
Much of our Jazz heritage has been founded on soul and encouraged by our spirits to keep it alive.
Matthew Whittington
My hope for the reader is that this magazine encourages you to seek, support and of course listen to Jazz.
Sky Rivera
Jamie Lowe Photo by Clarissa Chavez
Our Jazz community has been sustained by voices. People like Karen Gordon, who until giving me the overwhelming task, published, wrote and informed the community of gigs in this magazine. My goal in taking on this position is to give you the very best, most refreshing stories on musicians and their lives in and out of the clubs, educators who fight to keep kids involved, and update you on events and performances for the community.
JoBen Rivera-Thompson
Clarissa Chavez
Contact us:
Karen Gordon
> Musical Memoir -14
info@gardencityjazz.com
> Poetry & Candlelight Tips - 15
PO Box: 254 Aiken, Sc. 29803 The stage is set for the Candlelight Jazz Series
(706) 495-6238
THIS ISSUE IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE DRUMMERS OUT THERE, ESPECIALLY ANDREW ANDERSON.
GardenCityJazz Spring 2011 3
Making Music Your Life Augusta State University student reflects back on her decision to make music and fine arts her life.
By: Jamie Lowe
G
rowing up in an artistically saturated environment, my earliest memories of the fine arts weren’t of those in a classroom with other students. The first memories, of the likes of Luciano, Pavoratti, Placido Domingo, and José Carreras were taught to me by my mother. She would call us into the living room after my siblings and I couldn’t play outside one minute longer because of the encroaching summer sun, and we would listen to crooning harmonies on the old record player. We would absorb the musicals of George Gershwin and the sing-along tracks of episodes of Captain Kangaroo on well-worn vinyls and cassettes. My mother would listen intently to the stories we wrote about scare crows or mermaids. We would listen intently too, to stories about the “old days” that she would tell us as she sat outside on the porch for her evening cigarette.
We were driven to orchestra practices, to learning sessions with a private string musician, Irish dance lessons, dress rehearsals and performances, First Friday volunteering, and even to rowdy band practices. She pushed us, even when no one else would, to reach for our aspired goals. When I applied for Davidson Fine Arts everyone told me not to have high hopes of acceptance, muttering about “quotas” and “economic issues” but I was twelve and belligerent to these ideas. I was out to prove all of them wrong, and my mother believed in me. My senior year at Davidson I applied to several colleges and for many scholarships. One scholarship, to the local university, was a real promise - a full ride to the school including books, tuition, housing, and living expenses.
My grades were average, as were my SAT scores; so at my mother’s and English teacher’s insistence, After we started grammar school I took my high school portfolio, a we still listened to the record player 4 in., three-ring binder filled with albums together in the evenings, playbills and performance awards, but less frequently. My mother to the interview with me. inspired us, encouraged us in anything we wanted to do (except The binder was full, cover-to-cover, cheerleading. She informed me of performances I participated in, with a strange passion that I could performances I’d gone to see, and not be a cheerleader. I grew to volunteering experiences I’d had understand why later). the privilege to serve in. 4 GardenCityJazz Spring 2011
I could discuss every event in full detail. That history of such a full appreciation for the fine arts and service was one of the reasons I was granted the scholarship. Even though there were issues like, “EFC” ‘s and a real financial need basis, and “general good character”, I believe to this day that the portfolio of performances really helped me win that scholarship more than any other glowing attribute. So here I am, a year after being granted the scholarship and embarking on a new life journey. I’m a rising sophomore in college with thirty class credits, one fantastic job working with people I love, and a supportive network of family and friends. I always make time in my schedule to go to events and performances put on by the local talent and the university. My niece, and usually roommates as well, are always part of the mass army of friends and family I coax into going with me to these events. My reasoning? You never know when seeing these events, and being so involved in the arts, will change your life. GardenCityJazz Spring 2011 5
Calendar of Events Special Events
Candlelight Jazz Concert Series (thru July): 8pm, $6
Weekly Events:
May 1: Augusta State Conservatory Jazz Band
Tuesday: Hal Shreck @ the Willcox
May 2011 May 9: Mike Frost Trio @ Hopeland Gardens, 6:30pm
>
May 20: Karen Gordon @ Moonlight Music Jazz Cruise, 7pm May 22: Jazz Vespers @ St Alban’s Episcopal Church, 3pm May 25: Jazz4Kids @ Columbia County Main Library, 2pm
June 2011
Thursday: Dante’ Lewis @ Travinia’s (Aiken)
May 15: Stallings Island Middle School
1st Fridays: A Step Up @ Double Tree
Jun 5: Reggie Sullivan Trio (Columbia)
Friday: 3Sides of Jazz @ The Doubletree
Jun 12: Will Goble Trio (Atlanta)
Friday: Doc Easton @ French Market Grille West
Jun 19: Kings of Swing (Charlotte)
Saturday: AM Swing at the Augusta Market
Jun 26: Tribute to Gerry Mulligan featuring The Low End (Savannah)
Thursday: Doc Easton @ French Market Grille West May 22: 3Sides of Jazz May 29: Jazz4Kids featuring Kemba Cofield Thursday: Mike Frost Trio @ PlayOffs (Aiken)
Jun 7: Hotlanta Dixieland Jazz Band @ Appleby Library, 8pm Jun 17: Moonlight Music Jazz Cruise, 7pm
May 8: Greenbrier High School Jazz Band
Thursday: 4 Cats in the Doghouse @ the Willcox
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Jul 3: Not Gaddy Trio Jul 10: Jerusalem Sounds
Jun 22: Jazz4Kids @ Harlem Library, 2:30pm
Jul 17: A Step Up
Jun 28: Savannah River Brass @ Appleby Library, 8pm
Jul 24: Preston&Weston featuring Sandra Simmons Jul 31: Anderson-Cruz-Shaw
July 2011 Jul 5: Jazz4Kids @ Euchee Creek Library, 6pm Jul 18-22: Jazz Camp @ Augusta Jewish Community Center
Lizz Wright
Join GardenCityJazz Today!!! During the summer, GCJ sponsors the Candlelight Jazz series and the Uncommon Jazz Festival. Throughout the year they promote the music of local artists in the CSRA, in schools, public forums and at community events. GCJ has helped many young musicians improve their skills by sponsorship of Jazz camps and support of local schools and university Jazz ensembles, in an effort to defray the costs of music education. Recent publications of GCJazz Magazine keep fans notified on who’s playing where and what concerts are coming to town. Ultimately, GCJ is a community of jazz lovers: the musicians in the art form, their promoters, the venues and the audiences that make it all possible. If you are a Jazz lover, join GCJ! Membership gives you the opportunity to:
October 8, 2011 Imperial Theatre
• Support the nation’s original art-form - JAZZ! • Support local jazz musicians, and help sustain jazz in the CSRA • Support students of jazz • Receive discounted admission to GCJ sponsored events • Receive your very own copy of the GCJazz Magazine To join visit gardencityjazz.com
6 GardenCityJazz Spring 2011
GardenCityJazz Spring 2011 7
Dynamics: a
local jazz drummer’s powerful progression through the changes of his life and and music. Dynamics: \d’-na-miks\
: variation and contrast in force or intensity (as in music) By: JoBen Rivera-Thompson
The fluidity, ease and dynamics of drumming have not always been there for local jazz drummer Andrew Anderson. Learning to live life through his music has been a battle of halting and advancing along the frontlines of an incurable condition; balancing it against roles as an instructor and professional musician. Coming to the place where playing the drums definitively, musically, for his own intentions, and with cadence that progress forward, was by no means traditional or how he would have planned it.
8 GardenCityJazz Spring 2011
Surprisingly, it came with cancer.
His medicine
A thin, pale musician settles in behind the drum set with caution, grace and a visibly surviving attitude.
With over-sized drumsticks he rehearses the rudiments on the pad, increasing in speed. RLRLRRLL. FLAM.FLAM. Paradiddle, Paradiddle.
: a pattern or process of change, growth, or activity
resonance inside the shell and throughout the bar and lounge.
Anderson, 33, a six-time champion of cancer, was diagnosed in September 2001, with a form of intestinal cancer caused by Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST). Currently, the disease has no advanced medicine, save stints on oral chemotherapy. Yet, despite the lack of medicine, this first Friday night, in March at Tribeca on Broad Street, Anderson prepared himself to take the dosage of his favorite prescription: music. On the crash cymbal, Anderson flicks down its edge with his left index finger; the right hand reaches for a practice pad inside his stick bag. Before placing the pad on the snare, he unlatches the metal wiring, introducing a hollow
He stops abruptly, not letting the weaker left hand cease just yet. Something told him to check the tuning. So, around the kit, one by one for each tom, he pegs the drums with his fingers and adjusts the tension when needed. Some rods squeak, others turn silently. Anderson is creating sounds without ever having intent on being musical. The glossy blue finished kit that surrounds him pedal to head and extends beyond the reach of his sticks is in some ways more of an excepted measure to combat cancer than any combination of rest and time; it is a therapy where he can be encased by his element and freed by his expression. His instrument, his drum, is allowing him to beat cancer. Even through the pain and frustration, he lives and plays the tunes from beginning to the end with replenishing hope. “I know this may sound weird, but I chose to view cancer as a gift,” Anderson said, “because it filters what is important. It was the main motivator for me to go back to school. I spent all this time before, in school, not doing what I really wanted to do. I got it in my head I wanted the music degree before cancer took me any further.” Before Anderson went back to school he follwed a “traditional path” (which pleased his parents greatly) and earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Management Information Systems. Had the field not taken a hit in the late 2000s he would still be in the business installing and maintaining Point of Sale systems for retail stores. After college, Anderson used his music to occupy his free time and his thoughts. One of his first opportunities to gig around locally was with a group called Medicine Hat. The group, primarily of the Rock genre, was preparing to play in a bar in Beaufort, S.C., when, during set-up of his kit, Anderson began to feel nauseous.
“I thought if I played it would get better,” he said, “but midway through the gig it got worse. Then I passed out. Next, I wake up in the emergency room with a doctor over me saying. ‘You have cancer and if we don’t operate soon, you could die.’” The doctors performed what would be the first of six operations for Anderson over the next 10 years. “I’ve told them to put a zipper in me because they have to keep cutting the same spot,” he said. After recuperating from the first surgery, Anderson set new goals for his life, to follow his instincts and accomplish what he had always wanted. Anderson enrolled himself in the Augusta State University music program, where he was taught theory, marimba and other forms of percussion and applications that had been missing in his style. After obtaining his music degree, opportunities to play and teach were plentiful. Andrew was able to land a job in Sweden where he taught for a short time. Locally, his private lessons and gigs increased. As his education and knowledge of music grew and he felt more connected to his craft, Andrew noticed something unique about his cancer. “Cancer makes me want to learn more, but I try and temper it,” he said. “I am very conscious of burning out and hitting something so hard that I lose sight of my health. But, I feel really good when I play, and when I look back on it the time I was getting the music degree I was least ill. I was doing stuff that made me want to get up in the morning.” The relief in playing music was temporary. The reality of his condition eventually caught up to him and by nature halted the progress he made in his career. Anderson openly and honestly fears being unreliable. “My lowest lows have been when I found out there were no more treatment options,” he said. “The fear of, ‘oh God this is it,’ and having to tell the people I play with that I couldn’t any longer, hurt me. I want people to take me at my word and know I would be there.”
Over the 10-year battle with cancer, Anderson has had to put lessons and gigs on hold seven times; some stints lasting as long as six months. As he made his way back from each time out of commission, obtaining private lessons and securing shows was becoming more difficult. “If I could just play, I would,” he said, “but it’s just not practical to make a living.” He knew he had to teach.
Keeping Time Percussion students straggled in one after another, entering the band room just before the 8B period tardy bell. The Strom Thurmond High School band room, in almost every description, looks like any other band room. The door is held up by a music stand without the easel, and the ones that are complete stand wobbly, bent and crooked in rows of half-moons facing a conductor’s chair and a whiteboard. The conductor’s chair has seen better days. The leather continues to peel back even though someone was brave enough to try and tape it. When sat in, the chair creaks along with the metronome. The whiteboard, or so it was, is chock-full of upcoming festivals and concerts and a half-way erased main question that reads, “How can music help us to be…?” The student chairs for the most part are empty now, as this class only has eight to 15 students, but music stands that remain untouched signify that in some period a fourth-chair clarinet or second trombone was missing. Instrument cases and drum hardware line walls that hold sound paneling, rotten and deteriorating with water stains and dust, forming no sort of barrier. As the class files in, each student takes a seat along the back row, waiting for a teacher. “This is the class that can speak most to what Andrew has done for the music program and the school, “said Van Clark, band director for Strom Thurmond High School. “This was the class he taught, his students.” GardenCityJazz Spring 2011 9
DYNAMICS cont...... Almost two years ago, Anderson was hired on as director of all percussion at Strom Thurmond, and up until his most recent leave of absence in January, his main focus was teaching and mentoring this class. “Percussion got to the point here where I just could not handle it by myself, “Clark said. “ I needed an instructor. (A friend of mine) who knew Andrew heard he was back in town, so I called him and we talked. We hit it off right from the get go and I knew it would work.”
“He told us he was never going to give up on us and we believed it,” said Kayla Cook, junior at Strom Thurmond.
Anderson not only has an effect on music and education but also on the overall character of students.
Anderson’s story is told best by his students. Patience, bravery, toughness and
“When I think of Andrew it just helps me to not get frustrated,” said Jamarri Wright, junior percussionist, “and when I do that I know I won’t get in much trouble, and I’ll just be better.”
Anderson’s work and commitment has been growing. He developed natural qualities of a teacher without ever really aspiring to the occupation full-time, yet cancer still impeded his progression. “It’s not fair to the kids to have me in and out,” Anderson said. “I do not consider myself a teacher naturally, and I’m not real sure what the students think of me or my situation, but I want them to think of music.” His percussion students range from freshman to senior, and have supported him for as long as they have known.
A present desire for many of the students and Clark is to see Anderson play live, wondering if he demonstrates the same fortitude in life and skills on the kit, as he did in the classroom; a future hope is to see him play without cancer. “I am looking forward to seeing him play,” Clark said. “To me Andrew is the best example of living life and I want what he does to continue. Being a musician is at your core, and besides your faith it is what brings you peace.”
A Raw ability to excel The show at Tribeca, with the AndersonCruz-Shaw Trio has been one of the few gigs Anderson has felt up to playing.
Percussion students at Strom Thurmond High He said at times, no matter how much School wait and hope Anderson makes it back. he wants to get out there and play he just physically has no energy to do so, but he “We did not tell them at first,” Clark said, knows that every time he beats cancer, “but when we did they put the puzzle to- honesty were just some of the adjectives Augusta welcomes him back. gether.” brought up. Clark said that this group of students had “As far as teaching, his biggest thing was “I’m so thankful there is a group of people seen percussion teachers come and go, and tempo,” said Mallory Reames, senior drum in Augusta who are willing to keep jazz alive. Without it I wouldn’t play, except for while he major for Strom playing by myself or getting guys together was relucThurmond. “I was and jamming. I just love to do it so much, tant to tell learning the marimand the community doesn’t know it, but them Anba and I would get so having live music is so great.” drew had frustrated with some cancer, of the tempos, but His long time friend and musical partner in he knew he was there, patient rhythm, bass player, Travis Shaw, said seeit was a and making it enjoy- ing Anderson give everything each night he must. plays takes on a certain depth and passion. able.” “There Reames and her fel- “We have played and been in so many setcame a low classmates all tings together,” he said, “but when he gets point in agreed that Ander- behind the drums, you don’t even recogAndrew’s son, before cancer nize he has anything wrong.” battle or any other setback, When Andrew cannot play he spends a lot where for showed himself to be medical reasons, he had to miss several a normal person and a teacher who cares of his day resting and practicing on the pad. days on end,” Clark said. “I became fear- about the music and the students who play “The neighbors let me, so that’s cool,” he ful that the kids would start to think ‘we’ve it, nothing else. said. seen this before.’” “He played from his soul,” she said. “Ev- His place is new, the walls are green and Contrary to Clark’s thought, the students erything he plays you felt, everything he the floors lacking furniture; drums take acceptingly put two and two together and teaches he feels.” the place of where bar stools should. Still, supported Anderson. there is warmth in his demeanor and cer
“He played from his soul,” she said. “Everything he plays you felt, everything he teaches he feels.”
10 GardenCityJazz Spring 2011
tainty in his voice, as he sits Indian-style on a chaise lounge. “I told myself when I was growing up, listening to guys who were really musical chameleons, that I did not want to limit myself to rock, punk, jazz or any one style,” he said. “I want to be musically supportive. All that I can do is to give those guys the best platform to play. If I get fours or eights every now and then, it is good.” One of his favorite stories of a drummer excelling at being musically supportive is of Vinny Colaiuta. Frank Zappa had written a piece for a drummer and was in search of one to play it. Colaiuta went to this audition and was asked to play on a strange drum set, with all this hardware that is not on a normal kit. After warming up on a different piece, Zappa, brought out the tougher sheet called, “The Black Page”, musically thought to be one of the hardest and most demanding drum pieces in history. Colaiuta began to play. “From what I understand he was able to sight read the whole thing with no problem,” Anderson said. “Somebody being on an uncomfortable instrument, in an uncomfortable environment, and having the raw ability to excel like that is phenomenal.”
Anderson plays saround town with Anderson-Cruz-Shaw and Rob Foster and Pulsar.
Musically or in life, Anderson’s outlook is phenomenal. Sitting back, he paused and spoke. “I am determined to overcome the uncomfortable situation of cancer. I never thought about the connection, but it’s there.”
Andrew still tries to get behind the set as musch as he can. When he does, family, bandmates and fans are all supportive.
GardenCityJazz Spring 2011 11
Food for the Lions Joel Cruz mentors young musicians to sustain Jazz in augusta.
minute (as if internally asking themselves if this was really music) and then continue playing the same struggling jazz standards.
By: JoBen Rivera-Thompson
Silence, that precious gift, and the needed direction to achieve it, came when Cruz walked through the door.
The first sounds at Augusta’s Young Lions rehearsal were not music; a bunch of wallows, wood-flapped yelps, sharps, flats, coldtoned strings, and an amp blasting pre-set distortions from the jam session two days earlier. But somehow, this group will eventually play Jazz. Jazz warm-ups for the most average professionals sound like five people fighting for a word in an argument, not the greatest compositions, but if you listen hard enough, some type of rhythm is being formed. The Young Lions’ rehearsals form like a traffic stop, full of bird chirps, passing swooshes, screeching brakes, humming engines and the unwanted racket of your passengers. Beyond the sounds, are a few guys learning to turn this chaotic noise into cohesive jazz. For now, they sit prepared to play in gray chairs in an even lighter gray rehearsal hall, reading music off of rusty black stands, conducive only to the production of classical music. Later, they will perform in the black and darker blue backdrops of the most posh, beatnik joints they can find. They do not look it yet and sound miles further, but every step this pack is taking mimics the mentoring of their director Joel Cruz. On the day of this rehearsal Cruz is running late. The pack moves on despite his tardiness. Their racket begins to come together into to something of an 8-bar blues improvisation. They stop and stare at each other for a 12 GardenCityJazz Spring 2011
He did not speak at first, only strolled in nodding his head with sneaky smile that curled the edges of his wiry beard. He continued on to the back wall and placed down his sax case. He opened it. He stood in front of it for a moment and smiled again when Gabriel Pique, one of the students, missed a note. Cruz then reached down and picked up his reed. Tenderly, he rested it on a piece of Plexiglas to flatten it out, wet his lips and formed it to his mouth. Between his thumb and forefinger he held his ligature and inserted the reed while walking toward the group. They went silent. “Gabe, how many times have I told you guys there is one rule when you rehearse or sit in with me?” Cruz asked. “A million,” Pique said. “And what is that rule?” Cruz said. “Don’t get lost,” Pique said. “Listen!” Cruz said. “It’s what I’m here to show you. If you’re not doing that then there is no reason for me to be here.” So far Cruz has not left them. Cruz, a local instructor and Jazz saxophonist, who has seen his professional career boom locally, never made plans to go anywhere else. He has professed to any and every fan that he wants to build up the jazz community Augusta struggles with. Augusta’s Jazz scene has been fluctuating over the past fifteen years. Jazz club’s like D’Timms on the corner of 6th and Ellis and the Soul Bar’s Wednesday night jam
sessions are gone. Concerts Series’ spring up every now and then and the Westobou Festival will draw in some notable out-oftowners, but the majority of the remaining music is played in local restaurants. The issue in these establishments has been restaurant ownership who wanted Jazz to simply be background music for their dining rooms. “Our scene is not really geared toward the player, “said Not Gaddy, owner of IDRUM2U, an ergo-drumming center that promotes healthy activity through drumming. “With so much talent in the area we really have to fight to get consistent gigs.” Not Gaddy, who is a band leader for his group Not Gaddy and the Jazz Savants said that Cruz, with commitment and pressing of ownership, has gotten into these places and opened the doors for Jazz to be the forefront. Gaddy considers himself to be a historybuff and has studied up on Jazz in the Garden City and its movements in and out of preference and abhorrence. “Historically it had been the music that drew people in and that’s where we would make our due,” Gaddy said. Cruz has been in it through the ups and downs of the local scene. So it was no surprise that an unprecedented mentoring project, with a design to build up the music in the young guys for the Augusta area fell in his lap and he chose to run with it. Although he wants to see this group grow into something where young guys can usher in and out of the group to have a band to make rounds with, he is not too concerned with what they sound like yet, but what they learn like. “This whole thing started out with Karen Gordon of the Candlelight Jazz series coming to me and asking me to form a group of students to play,” he said. “Basically, the group was formed by students who had made their rounds, sitting in with musicians around town. ” What he saw in the guys who made their rounds was commitment. Their willingness to sit in, according to Cruz,
What he wants out of you he will show you and then immediately expect you to replicate it. Even for something as foreign to him as drums or guitar, his experience allows him to show you what Jazz is
at the Augusta Commons an hour before the Uncommon Jazz event where Young Lions would make their first appearance under that name. “I was there to make sure that teaching and the music don’t stop,” Cruz said. “I was thrilled to be on a panel with guys like that.” Skip Pearson was one of those guys. He is considered the South Carolina ambassador for Jazz, for his commitment to local jazz and the creation of foundations in Columbia, S.C., for its continuation.
Much of what Cruz is doing with Young YL from left to right: Gabriel Pique, Patrick Arthur, Stanley Walker, John Scherer, Branden Lions mirrors what Pearson has already Boone, Ryan Riddle, Joel Cruz. Artwork by Joel Cruz established in South Carolina. supposed to sound like, regardless of the instrumentation. “The experience of playing with older guys who are looking out for your best “Joel has a way with that. He gets you musical interests should be obvious, but listening and directing within the group; that is not always the case,” Pearson said. playing so that you don’t get lost,” said “Its guys like Joel, in Augusta, who are John Scherer, lead guitarist. “If you know keeping those experiences alive.” You where you are in your music, it helps you experience music you don’t learn it. It is get to places in others.” environmental.” Scherer has a Little Rascal look, scruffy During the panel Pearson discussed how hair and odd-matched attire; a suit and nothing can ever replace the value of a converse kind of guy. He was another mentor for a student wanting to have a high school kid with ‘his first real six career in Jazz. For Pearson, the mentor string’ until he met Joel. is the direction in times when Jazz is on decline and the stability when it begins to “If there was one word I could describe rise. John with it is intelligence,” Cruz said. “a lot of these guy are book smart, but he “I normally wouldn’t put this pressure was the first to be intelligent and quickly on anyone to keep Jazz alive in kids gather what I what telling him. It came by and traditions intact, but Joel can do it,” listening.” Pearson said. For Cruz, listening is a lost art, and a Cruz and Pearson agreed that the willingness to be taught might as well be environment in which kids growing to Atlantis; two things that he sees flawing play music is changing and realize that in the way young musicians are brought there is a need for instructors, and guys up. He said it begins with what they are who have made their rounds to change pumping into their ears to improve their with it. skills, but also who they are listening to as they further their careers. “I think our method has to be listening to what they want to get out of jazz, like Just before Cruz embarked on his roaming how I teach them to listen to each other, course with Young Lions he sat down Cruz said. “It is these young guys that are as a part of a panel discussion on the hungry. We must do something to keep betterment of Jazz in the community. feeding that hunger and teach them how to keep their head in the right place.” The discussion was held nearly a year ago GardenCityJazz Spring 2011 13
A Musical Memoir By: Matthew Whittington
T
hroughout the ages, Musicians have been treated with varying degrees of both respect and disregard. Feted by royalty and ignored by the incogitant and inebriated, musicians can never be certain what type of audience and reception awaits a performance. There are techniques musicians can use when contracting an engagement that can help anticipate the response of the clientele. For example, when speaking with a potential client I try to find out as many details as possible about their event, such as whether the performance will be for a private function, such as a wedding, or if it will be in a concert setting, or in a nightclub, etc. If playing for wedding, I’ll want to know if I’ll be performing during the ceremony, or providing background music for the reception, or will be expected to play dance music for the bride and groom, or will need to play dance music for the guests after dinner.The more details a musician can ascertain regarding the job, the better. This observation can be illustrated by the following example, which has been passed on from musician to musician in various forms over the years.
The hostess found this to be an acceptable amount. She then provided details regarding the engagement, such as the location and time. Her last stipulation was that, due to the exclusive nature of her invited guests, the pianist was not to speak with, or have any contact with any of the people attending the party. She then asked the pianist if he had any questions regarding the details of the arrangement. The pianist said, “I just want to confirm that you are asking that I not have any contact what so ever with the evening’s guests?” The hostess replied, “That is correct.” “In that case,” the pianist replied, “my fee will be three hundred bucks.” “Ah, music! What a beautiful art! But what a wretched profession!” Georges Bizet (1867)
14 GardenCityJazz Spring 2011
read the poem.
Inspired by Miles Davis’ “It Could Happen to You”
Intro
I’m breaking free and breaking out of guilt Silence is what I need to collect myself I run away and this is what I’ve found The stillness of a world that has lost it’s sound So i turn away with just one thing to say Im nothing without music to light my way It is my peace and it is my joy It’s the rhythm of my life, not just noise It lights my path each and every day So that I wont lose myself along the way Without it I have no soul and no purpose to breathe Because its my strength, it’s what made me, me let the sound travel through my veins So that I may sing to the blues that call my name
There’s no better way to be who you are Then to be who you are with a cup of coffee and a cigarette In a peaceful atmosphere with people just like you Enjoying the God given melody that swiftly blows in the air Whispering from ear to ear A secret that you and I both know We are the same, We are all the same Let’s get lost together in an ocean of color and diversity And never come back to the world that has turned it’s back on us Let us shy away from old habits And let’s marry a stranger Well hold hands and jump a cliff together
The pianist checked his calendar and confirmed that he would be available to perform at the function.
The pianist told her that he would require his normal fee for such an engagement, and that would be $5,000 for the evening.
Find your copy of the tune, put it in a cd player, listen to it and
Part I
A well known pianist was asked by a wealthy socialite if he would be available to play for a private party she was hosting to honor a politician who was seeking reelection to a prominent position. The invited guests were the richest and most powerful members of the community.
The hostess then asked how much the pianist would charge to play.
Loss for Words
Part II Snap your fingers to what makes sense To the couple on the dance floor
Setting the Mood for Candlelight Jazz Just
the thought of being outdoors in the middle of a Georgia summer makes most people sweat.
Don’t let that deter you from coming out on Sunday evenings and hearing great Jazz. The events start at 8pm so the temperature may drop to 97 degrees, but either way here are some tips to making sure your experience at this year’s Candlelight Jazz Series goes well:
· Come Early- it’s the best chance to set up chairs and blankets on grassy areas · Bring Food, but don’t forget about the vendors- pack a picnic for you and a significant other, but if you forget, food and drink vendors will be on hand to meet your needs (fruit, cheese and wine always go well) · This is Georgia (and you on the Savannah River)DON’T forget the mosquito repellent · Come Ready- listen and enjoy great music · Bring a friend- the series stretches out over 3 months so if you come once and enjoy it, come back and bring a friend · (Optional)- Be Romantic- the setting is great for a date night · Pay Attention to the Weather- the event goes on rain or shine, but stay updated by getting text alerts at gardencityjazz.com · Honor the Musicians- some of the CSRA’s and the Southeast biggest names will be on hand for you to listen and enjoy…so this means clap!
Or the kid on the fence
Matthew Whittington is a local Jazz guitarist and can be seen playing with Rob Foster and Pulsar at The Partridge last of the month.
Remember now, this story is yours Freedom has bought you Through art and war
Follow these simple tips and Candlelight won’t disappoint. See you there!
So make the ending according to what you feel
sky Rivera
Using the song in your veins
To make this story real
GardenCityJazz Spring 2011 15
CANDLELIGHT JAZZ
May 1st - August 28th 2011 Sunday nights at 8pm at the 8th Street Riverfront Stage
Will Goble Reggie Sullivan
The Low End
Kemba Cofield & Jazz4kids 2 Gardencity Ja16zz Spring 2011
For a full listing of Candlelight Jazz performances see pg. 7