jazz-january-2011

JANUARY 2011 • $5.00

THE JAZZ EDUCATOR'S MAGAZINE

David Liebman Jazz is Not Something You Enter Lightly In the Classroom: Wally Gator Watson – You Will be Missed Focus Session: The Age of Ambiguity The Official Publication of

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DENNY CHRISTIANSON DIRECTOR, MUSIC PROGRAM

DAVID LIEBMAN

“When the downbeat comes up, you are 150 percent there.”

contents

JANUARY 2011

LESSONS LEARNED: EFFICIENT PRACTICE 26

Acclaimed pianist, composer, arranger, educator (and former JAZZed cover subject – November, 2009) Lynne Arriale shares her thoughts on how to adopt efficient and effective practice techniques.

DAVID LIEBMAN – JAZZ IS NOT SOMETHING YOU ENTER LIGHTLY 30

Famed sideman for Miles Davis, award-winning solo artist, founder of the International Association of Schools of Jazz, 2011 NEA Jazz Master… It’d be difficult to overstate the impact David Liebman has had on jazz music and education in the past 40-plus years.

JAZZed recently spoke with Dave during a stay in the Boston area to get his take on his own evolution as a musician and the importance of spreading jazz to future generations.

FOCUS SESSION: 20TH CENTURY MUSIC – THE AGE OF AMBIGUITY 44 Frequent JAZZed contributor Lee Evans discusses key periods in music history, leading up to the 20th Century and beyond.

BEHIND THE LEAD 48

In this issue, Anita Brown gets feedback from well-known lead players as to which of their contemporaries they admire the most, and why…

OUTSIDE THE BOX: TRANSCRIPTION FOR BIG BAND 52

Respected composer, performer, author, and educator Eugene Marlow, Ph.D., draws upon his own experiences to walk readers through some of the key strategies to approaching transcribing scores for big band. ™

IN THE CLASSROOM: WALLY GATOR WATSON – YOU WILL BE MISSED 56 Brad Howey shares an insightful interview with the late, great Wally Gator Watson.

2 JAZZed January 2011

™

JANUARY 2011

Volume 6, Number 1 GROUP PUBLISHER Sidney L. Davis sdavis@symphonypublishing.com PUBLISHER Richard E. Kessel rkessel@symphonypublishing.com Editorial Staff EDITOR Christian Wissmuller cwissmuller@symphonypublishing.com

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ASSOCIATE EDITOR Eliahu Sussman esussman@symphonypublishing.com STAFF WRITER Denyce Neilson dneilson@symphonypublishing.com Art Staff PRODUCTION MANAGER Laurie Guptill lguptill@symphonypublishing.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andrew P. Ross aross@symphonypublishing.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Laurie Chesna lchesna@symphonypublishing.com Advertising Staff ADVERTISING MANAGER Iris Fox ifox@symphonypublishing.com CLASSIFIED & Display Maureen Johan mjohan@symphonypublishing.com

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departments PUBLISHER’S LETTER 4 NOTEWORTHY 6 JAZZ FESTIVALS 2011 10 JASON ROBINSON: WHAT’S ON YOUR PLAYLIST 14 JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK SECTION 18 • PRESIDENT’S LETTER • NETWORTHY NEWS • JOHN LAPORTA EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD • PRESIDENT’S SERVICE AWARD • JEN JAZZ COMPOSITION SHOWCASE

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 60 GEARCHECK 61 HOT WAX 65 CD SHOWCASE 67

CLINICIANS CORNER 69 CLASSIFIEDS 70 AD INDEX 71 BACKBEAT: WALTER PAYTON JR. 72

Cover photograph: Matt Vashlishan (edited by Lydia Liebman), www.mattvashlishan.com

JAZZed™ is published six times annually by Symphony Publishing, LLC, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494, (781) 453-9310.

Publisher of Choral Director, School Band and Orchestra, Music Parents America, and Musical Merchandise Review. Subscription rates $30 one year; $60 two years. Rates outside U.S. available upon request. Single issues $5. Resource Guide $15. Standard postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing ofces. Postmaster: Please send address changes to JAZZed, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494.

The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competition. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. © 2011 by Symphony Publishing, LLC. Printed in the U.S.A.

SALES & MARKETING MANAGER Jason LaChapelle jlachapelle@symphonypublishing.com Business Staff CIRCULATION MANAGER Melanie A. Prescott mprescott@symphonypublishing.com ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Popi Galileos pgalileos@symphonypublishing.com Symphony Publishing, LLC CHAIRMAN Xen Zapis PRESIDENT Lee Zapis lzapis@symphonypublishing.com CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Rich Bongorno rbongorno@symphonypublishing.com Corporate Headquarters 26202 Detroit Road, Suite 300 Westlake, Ohio 44145 (440) 871-1300 www.symphonypublishing.com Publishing, Sales, & Editorial Office 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1 Needham, MA 02494 (781) 453-9310 FAX (781) 453-9389 1-800-964-5150 www.jazzedmagazine.com

Member 2011

RPMDA JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK

JAZZed January 2011 3

publisher’s letter

RICK KESSEL

JEN in the Birthplace of Jazz

A

stellar line-up of performers, a premier location, As we all know, New Orleans has just gone and a formidable board of directors… This is a through some of the most difficult years in its histrifecta for the relatively new JEN organization, tory, and one of primary reasons behind the deciwhich has launched a major conference in New sion to locate this conference in the Crescent City Orleans for the jazz education community. Though was to show support and recognize its importance there was some skepticism as to whether this highly as the birthplace of jazz. It’s not only about the ambitious undertaking could be pulled-off in such central aspects of the show, but also the numerous a short period of time, with the unrelenting drive outreach programs that are planned, as well as the and ambition of JEN’s founders, MaryJo Papich JENerosity project to support Tipitina’s Foundaand Dr. Lou Fischer, along with the board of direc- tion, a New Orleans non-profit organization that tors multifaceted backgrounds and accepts used instruments to distribtalents, the impossible has become ute to the schools (tipitinasfounda“The impossible reality. A significant aspect to this tion.org). accomplishment is that this also was The board of directors of the has become done without any full-time staff and JEN organization is comprised reality.” the bulk of the work involved being of a formidable group of leaders done by the volunteer board. with diverse backgrounds in eduThe wide-ranging passel of mucation, performance, business, sicians, lecturers, and ensembles at the New Or- law, administration, and public relations. There leans JEN conference is completely first-rate: The is no doubt that we joust a bit over major deDirty Dozen Brass Band, Lynn Arriale and Randy cisions, but it is in our inherent diversity that Brecker, Delfayo Marsalis, The Thelonius Monk pulls us together towards the right choices and Institute Jazz Ensemble, The Junior Mance Quin- prevents any “rubber stamping” simply for extet, Dave Liebman with the Airman of Note, The pediency. I am honored to share a seat on this University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band, board with such truly talented individuals and and so many others. It’s not only about the profes- I believe that the future is looking very bright sional groups; it’s about the numerous student en- for JEN. So if you haven’t yet joined, we welsembles who have been working diligently towards come the opportunity to have you as a valued the exciting goal of performing at this conference. member!

rkessel@symphonypublishing.com

4 JAZZed January 2011

noteworthy JEN Conference

JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK 2nd Annual Conference • Jan. 5-8, 2011

(Jan 5-8, 2011) Honoring Performance in the Birthplace of Jazz

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he 2011 theme of the Jazz Education Network’s 2nd Annual Conference, held in New Orleans, will be “Honoring Performance in the Birthplace of Jazz!”

Twenty-seven student jazz ensembles will be in the city. Most of the groups will perform in concert on the dedicated JENerations Showcase Stage in the Orpheum Ballroom, while a select few will be presented on the Main Stage. A select group of Student Composition participants will be invited to attend the 2011 conference and hear a professional performance of their music and receive adjudicated comments.

In addition to the array of student talent, there will be thirty plus pro ensembles and sixtyfive or so clinics and panels. Special attention has been given to New Orleans culture and heritage in the conference offerings.

For additional information about the conference, visit www.JazzEdNet.org.

NAMM Foundation Grants

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he NAMM Foundation has announced the availability of grants from its Wanna Play Fund for instruments, awarded to schools that are expanding or reinstating music education programs as part of their core curriculum and that employ quality music teachers.

Interested schools must meet the following criteria to apply for the grants: Public schools serving low-income students, percentage of free and reduced lunch data required; community organizations servicing low-income students and students with special needs, community demographic information required; schools and community programs that have made a commitment to hiring and retaining high-quality music teachers and providing standards-based, sequential learning in music.

Schools must provide verifiable Employer Identification Number (EIN) and/or tax-exempt documentation. Online grant applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applicants will be notified within 30 days of submission whether or not a grant will be awarded. Interested applicants must complete the online grant application.

To complete an application, visit www.nammfoundation.org.

6 JAZZed January 2011

" Honoring Performance in the

Bir thplace of Jazz" New Orleans

Music Careers in Dollars and Cents Berklee College’s Career Development Center has created a comprehensive resource for the music industry titled Salary Ranges for U.S. Music Positions in Performance, Writing, Business, Audio Technology, Education, and Music Therapy. The study covers a broad range of specific careers, including orchestral, Broadway, and studio musician; choir director; jingle, TV, and film score composer; arranger; conductor; instrument maker; A&R; manager; music attorney; video game audio engineer; live sound and sound recording; audiologist; and music teacher.

Although Berklee’s collection of music career resources is exhaustive, this type of information wasn’t aggregated anywhere. Peter Spellman, director of the Career Development Center, had the idea to create a chart for advising purposes and to share with Berklee and the larger music community around the world. To create the document, Spellman and a team of staff members conducted research and revised the chart several times over a six-month span. The document will be updated every year to keep up with salary changes and emerging career paths.

To view the study, go to www.berklee.edu

Listen to the Pros. Learn from the Pros. Play like the Pros.

Dave Brubeck

Cassandra Wilson

Terence Blanchard

Esperanza Spalding

Wayne Shorter

Regina Carter

Chris Botti

Christian McBride

Ornette Coleman

The Monterey Jazz Festival's online Digital Music Education Project features free audio interviews, playing tips, master class videos, recommended recordings from over 80 artists, with more to come.

www.montereyjazzfestival.org/dmep This project is funded by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, through the generous support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. www.midatlanticarts.org

Wynton Marsalis

Jim Hall

Anat Cohen

Joe Lovano

DMEP Digital Music Education Project Maria Schneider

Jamie Cullum

Chick Corea

Bobby Hutcherson

Peter Erskine

Gerald Wilson Visit us at booth #616 at the JEN Conference!

Roberta Gambarini

Kurt Elling

Chris Potter

noteworthy Jazz House Kids: NEA and Chick Corea

Barbados Jazz Festival Cancelled

Photo Credit: John Abbott

The National Endowment for the Arts has announced the winners of their 2011 Challenge America Award, with Montclair-based Jazz House Kids, one of six recipients in the state of New Jersey and the sole winner in Essex County.

The $10,000 NEA grant will help support the June 2 Inside the Jazz Note High School Masterclass, an all-day Jazz House Kids program of teaching and performance for high school bands and their teachers throughout New Jersey. This year, Jazz House Kids will feature piano legend and Grammy winner Chick Corea.

Inside the Jazz Note High School Masterclass is hosted by bassist and Jazz House Kids board member, Christian McBride. The day boasts an array of music learning opportunities for the music students including performances, an interactive discussion with participants, small group and big band demonstrations featuring select schools, a question and answer period, and a brief photo op with the artist. Held at the South Orange Performing Arts Center, Corea will also participate in an evening program open to the public that will include a concert performance and an intimate interview with McBride.

For more information, visit www.jazzhousekids.org.

For the first time since 1993, the Barbados Jazz Festival, an integral part of this country’s music culture, will not take place in January 2011. Show promoter, Gilbert Rowe, of GMR International Tours Inc, said in a statement that the global economic downturn had made it difficult to mount the festival. “Unfortunately this was not to be and after much internal discussion and other consultations, it is with much regret that we must now

Steve Wilson 50th Birthday Celebration On February 9, 2011, saxophonist and band leader, Steve Wilson, will celebrate his 50th birthday. He’s celebrating all week at Jazz Standard in New York City with many of his musical collaborators. Throughout the week, Steve will present five different bands over six nights, February 8 - 13.

For a complete list of performers, visit www.stevewilsonmusic.com.

advise that GMR International, as the producers of the Barbados Jazz Festival, will not be in a position to mount the festival this year,” To find out more, visit www.barbadosjazzfestival.com.

Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program has created more than 3,000 murals, many of which represent important aspects of Philadelphia’s African-American history, traditions, and culture. This collection, to be completed in February 2011, will include 40-50 murals throughout the city that uniquely capture the rich African American experience in Philadelphia.

The murals honor many themes and figures of great significance to Philadelphia’s African-American history, including, the women of jazz, Tuskegee Airmen, Jackie Robinson, Patti LaBelle, and Malcolm X.Education in African-American History The Albert M. Greenfield African American Iconic Images Collection, curated in partnership with the African American Museum in Philadelphia and an advisory committee of local African-American leaders and scholars, is scheduled for launch in Black History Month 2011.

For more information, visit www.muralarts.org 8 JAZZed January 2011

Say What?

“If it has more than three chords, it’s jazz.”

-Lou Reed

At North Central College, being well-rounded doesn’t mean losing your musical edge.

When we say music is central at North Central College, it means that we expect you to build a full and complete life around your music studies.

Performing Opportunities at North Central College

Concert Choir Women’s Chorale Women’s Chamber Ensemble Opera Workshop Music Theatre Productions Vocal Jazz Ensemble Gospel Choir North Central College Express Show Choir Concert Winds Chamber Winds Percussion Ensemble Brass Quintet Big Band Jazz Combos Chamber Jazz Pep Band Naperville Chorus

Students choose from majors in Music, Music Education, Musical Theatre or Jazz Studies—but they also dance, act, explore, study abroad, volunteer, mentor, pole vault and pursue countless other passions.

Our location, in downtown Naperville, is only 40 minutes by train from Chicago and makes it easy to enjoy, perform and do great works.

Call 630-637-5800 to discover more about our programs in music.

2011 Transfer Visit Day: Saturday, February 12 For individual campus visits, call 630-637-5800 or visit northcentralcollege.edu/ admission.

Or visit us online at northcentralcollege.edu.

northcentralcollege.edu

2011 Freshman Visit Days: Monday, January 17 Saturday, April 16

2011 Music Scholarship Audition Days: Saturday, February 19 Thursday, February 24 Saturday, March 5 For more information visit, northcentralcollege.edu/ audition.

z

30 N. Brainard Street

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Naperville, IL

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630-637-5800

Jazz Festivals 2011 Monterey’s ‘Next Generation Jazz Fest’ Every spring, the Monterey Jazz Festival invites the top student musicians from across the country and around the world to participate in the Next Generation Jazz Festival.

The three-day event includes performances by middle school through college level ensembles as well as competitions, with awards going to the top groups for High School, Conglomerate, and College Big Band Divisions; for High School and College Vocal Ensembles; for High School Combos; and for the newest component, the Open Combo Division for high school conglomerate and college level ensembles. The event also includes Next Generation Jazz Festival’s annual Composition Competition, open to high school composers or younger.

The Monterey Jazz Festival’s artist-in-residence for 2011 will be award-winning saxophonist Joshua Redman.

January 20 – 22 Purdue Jazz Festival West Lafayette, Ind.

Montreal International Jazz Festival The first concerts of the 32nd Montreal International Jazz Festival have been announced and will feature Angélique Kidjo; Dianne Reeves; Lizz Wright; Paco de Lucia; Milton Nascimento; Pink Martini; Madeleine Peyroux; Holly Cole; George Wein and the Newport All Stars featuring Randy Brecker; Anat Cohen; Lew Tabackin; and Howard Alden, as well as the now-classic Battle of the Bands, with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Artie Shaw Orchestra

Savannah Music Festival Savannah Music Festival is an expansive city-wide, multi-venue program showcasing a wide array of internationally-acclaimed artists in more than 100 productions over the course of more than two weeks, March 24 -April 9. Held annually in historic downtown Savannah, this 22nd season of Georgia’s largest festival – described by The Times of London as “one of the best events around the world” – features numerous festival debuts and the return of several audience favorites from the realms of jazz, blues, Americana, international traditions, and classical.

23 – 26 Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival Moscow, Idaho

27 – 29 Clark College Jazz Festival Vancouver, Wash.

24 – 27 Elmhurst College Jazz Festival Elmhurst, Ill.

30 – February 5 Sarasota Jazz Festival Sarasota, Fla.

25 – 27 Oregon Dixieland Jubilee Seaside, Ore.

February

March

April 2 – 3 Yuma Spring Smooth Jazz Fest Yuma, Ariz.

2 - Kona Jazz Festival Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 7 – 9 Reno Jazz Festival Reno, Nev.

4 – 6 Java Jazz Festival Jakarta, Indonesia

14 – 17 Seabreeze Jazz Festival Destin, Fla.

24 – 27 Redwood Coast Jazz Festival Eureka, Calif.

15 – 16 Natchitoches Jazz and R&B Festival Natchitoches, La.

3 – 5 Sitka Jazz Festival Sitka, Alaska

25 – 26 Cape Town International Jazz Festival Cape Town, South Africa

25 - Calvin Jones Big Band Jazz Festival Washington, DC

2/12 Traditional Jazz Youth Festival Sacramento, Calif.

25 – April 3 Boscov’s Berks Jazz Festival Reading, Pa.

29 – May 8 New Orleans Jazz Festival New Orleans, La.

18 – 27 Portland Jazz Festival Portland, Ore.

24 -April 9 Savannah Music Festival Savannah, Ga.

30 – May 8 St. Lucia Jazz Festival St. Lucia, Lesser Antilles

1 –18 Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival Dubai, UAE 2 – 4 Central Illinois Jazz Festival Decatur, Ill.

10 JAZZed January 2011

Terri Lyne Carrington

JoAnne Brackeen

Dave Samuels

Dave “Fuze” Fiuczynski

Berklee Alumna ’83

Leads Grammynominated groups.

Performs and records with the best: Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson, Stevie Wonder, and more…

Leads Grammynominated group.

Has performed and recorded with the best: Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Pharoah Sanders, and more…

Leader of the Grammywinning Caribbean Jazz Project. Has performed and recorded with the best: Pat Metheny, Paquito D’Rivera, Oscar Peterson, Spyro Gyra, Yellowjackets, Frank Zappa and more…

Leads Screaming Headless Torsos.

Performs and records with the best: Stewart Copeland, Hiromi, Dennis Chambers, Kenny Garrett, John Medeski, Meshell Ndegeocello, and more…

Professor of Percussion

Professor of Piano

Associate Professor Ensemble Department

Professor of Guitar

www.berklee.edu/jazzed

noteworthy May

July

24 – 26 Temple College Jazz Festival Temple, Texas

1- 16 Montreux Jazz Festival Montreux, Switzerland

26-29 Jacksonville Jazz Festival Jacksonville, Fla.

2 – 3 Fillmore Jazz Festival San Francisco, Calif

28 – 30 Atlanta Jazz Festival Atlanta, Ga.

8 – 17 Umbria Jazz Festival Perugia, Italy

June 3 - 5 Capital Jazz Festival Columbia, Md. 3 -12 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival Burlington, Va. 16 – 18 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival Rochester, N.Y. 24- 26 Hampton Jazz Festival Hampton, Va. 25 – July 4 Montreal Jazz Festival Montreal, Quebec

11- 12 Playboy Jazz Festival Hollywood, Calif 15 – 17 Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz Hartford, Conn.

August

4 – 7 Orange County Classic Jazz Festival Costa Mesa, Calif.

12 – 15 Provincetown Jazz Festival Provincetown, Mass.

September 2 -3 Tanglewood Jazz Festival Lenox, MA

12 JAZZed January 2011

2 – 4 Chicago Jazz Festival Chicago, Ill. 2 - 5 Detroit International Jazz Festival Detroit, Mich.

16 – 18 Monterey Jazz Festival Monterey, Calif.

October 7 – 8 Caribbean Sea Jazz Festival Aruba, Dutch Caribbean 12 – 16 Sun Valley Jazz Festival Sun Valley, Idaho 28 – 31 Guinness Cork Jazz Festival Cork, Ireland

November 3 – 6 Berlin Jazz Festival Berlin, Germany 11 – 20 London Jazz Festival London, England

December 10 North Sea Jazz Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands

What’s on Your Playlist?

An assistant professor of Music at Amherst College, critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer Jason Robinson has just released three concurrent albums showcasing an enormous breadth of creative work: The Two Faces of Janus (Cuneiform), featuring a New York-based ensemble that includes Drew Gress, Liberty Ellman, George Schuller, Marty Ehrlich and Rudresh Mahanthappa; Cerulean Landscape (Clean Feed), featuring the long-time collaboration of Robinson and acclaimed pianist and composer Anthony Davis; and Cerberus Reigning (Accretions), the much anticipated second installment of the “Cerberus” trilogy, featuring Robinson s extraordinary solo electro-acoustic music.

Robinson now has six albums under his own name, seven albums with collaborative or co-led groups, and has appeared on more than 30 other recordings. He co-leads Cosmologic and the Cross Border Trio and has performed or recorded with a wide range of musicians including Peter Kowald, George Lewis, Anthony Davis, Marty Ehrlich, Toots and the Maytals, Groundation, Elijah Emanuel and the Revelations, Mark Dresser, John Russell, Roger Turner, Gerry Hemingway, Nathan Hubbard, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe, among others. Robinson has performed at festivals and prominent venues in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.

1. Apex - Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green This multi-generational collaboration features several of my favorite leading innovators. From a horn perspective, it’s amazing to hear two strikingly different yet complimentary approaches to angularity and chromaticism.

2. 1983 - Flying Lotus What started as a journey into Flying Lotus’ latest release, Cosmogramma (2010), took me back to his debut 2006 release. His grooves are fluid and organic and his use of otherworldly sounds captivates the imagination. Science fiction sound experimentalism for the next hip hop generation.

3. Jíbaro - Miguel Zenón Even though he has newer releases, I’m continually drawn back to this one. Something about the hocketed mixed-meter melody of the opening track...

4. The Complete Science Fiction Sessions - Ornette Coleman I’m a huge fan of Ornette’s music. Among other reasons, the

surreal vocals of Asha Puthil make Science Fiction one of my favorite Ornette albums. Given the rich melodicism in his music, it’s surprising more vocalists haven’t been in his groups.

5. Nuba - Jeanne Lee, Andrew Cyrille and Jimmy Lyons Speaking of vocalists... It doesn’t get much better than Jeanne Lee for me. She has an absolutely captivating voice and her improvisatory interactions with Lyons and Cyrille on this album are dynamite.

6. Saturn Sings - Mary Halvorson Quintet While everyone on the album sounds great, I’m particularly drawn to Halvorson’s compositional and improvisational approaches. Lyrical yet disjointed, simple yet complex, calm yet aggressive. I admire music that balances these seemingly disparate dimensions.

7. Porto Novo - Marion Brown Marion Brown’s recent passing has led me back to some of his earlier recordings. A singular sound on the alto

Jason Robinson’s latest albums – The Two Faces of Janus (Cuneiform), Cerulean Landscape (Clean Feed), and Cerberus Reigning (Accretions) – were released in Fall of 2010. www.jasonrobinson.com.

14 JAZZed January 2011

Š2010 Avedis Zildjian Company

zildjian.com

saxophone, captured here in the midst of the “new thing” with two Dutch legends, drummer Han Bennink and bassist Maarten Altena.

8. Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus I listen to this album-length piece on a monthly basis for compositional inspiration. The low-brass writing alone... What more can I say?

9. Metasaxophone Colossus - Matthew Burtner The saxophone has never been a stable concept for me. The sound and language(s) of the horn are always transforming (compare, for example, Coleman Hawkins to John Coltrane).

Burtner extends his sound through the use of special hardware and software.

Breathtaking results.

10. The Greatest Hits of the Skatalites Featuring Tommy McCook - The Skatalites I’ve been interested in ways that jazz horn players outside of the United States have influenced new forms of popular music. Jamaican saxophonist Tommy McCook is a great example of this. Hugely influenced by Coltrane, yet foundational in Jamaican music of the 1960s and ’70s.

16 JAZZed January 2011

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Our network is growing A MESSAGE FROM JEN PRESIDENT LOU FISCHER “Your passion acts as an invitation to others, beckoning their own passion to come forth…like a magnet that attracts us to its source.”- Barbara DeAngelis “Never underestimate the power of a small but passionate group of people to change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead Passion Loves Company! While driving down the road last week, my wife Mary Ann and I ran across a billboard with this simple but powerful statement on it. After pondering these words a bit, I knew what my message this month would be about….our shared passion for jazz of course. As we come together this month at the Second Annual JEN Conference, our collective mission is Honoring Performance in the Birthplace of Jazz. I call on you to also honor your passion for jazz and jazz education, striving to re-ignite your dedication, excitement and love of this music that binds us together. Share your spark and light more fires of passion, with JEN as your accelerant! After all Passion Loves Company!

I guarantee we are among a collective that enjoy the excitement of the varying grooves we are about to encounter, the creation of those magical musical moments we are about to witness, and the opportunity to wade among the wealth of knowledge, to bask in the afterglow, and to feel the upbeat joy in this great cultural contribution known as jazz…born right here in New Orleans.

Quincy Jones states in his article on Tools for Success1 that “Passion for something is just not enough. You need to put your time in on the core skills – there’s no way around it.” As we collectively enjoy the passion this weekend, let’s remember the multitude of hours each musician, staff member, Board member, and Volunteer has put into his or her preparation for their contributory performance at the conference. From the youngest to the oldest, from the least experienced to the most, all have pledged their time because of their passion for the music, to “do the Best they can…mastering their craft” in order that JEN presents the best of the best. This event is “built from connected individual pieces of personal effort and commitment.”

The truth is “Nobody knows what’s gonna happen, ever. All we can do is use everything at our disposal, all of our resources” in our quest to present the best conference possible. I promise you there will be snafus; there will be people that do like the sound and those that do not; there will be those that believe there are too many sessions…and those that do not; those that believe their bedding is too soft…too hard; and those that may disagree…or not, with material presented in a clinic. That IS the beauty of jazz isn’t it?... “going with what you feel, but then giving everyone else the same canvas, benefiting from the creativity that they bring to the palette. We find the structure by defining dynamics, colors, and density.” I would challenge all of us, myself included, to recognize the enormous effort put into this event by all involved, the preparation AND the passion. Enjoy the weekend’s festivities, and observe the varying dynamics, colors, density, and other elements as per Quincy’s observations stated above.

At the beginning of a new year, as a society we enjoy a timely tradition of identifying personal resolutions. I find that often my personal resolutions are related to fine tuning my own teaching and/or performance skills, or to simply better myself as an individual. I am a firm believer that we cannot rust on our laurels, and that we must strive to continually educate ourselves in order to advance beyond established standards.

In a couple of months when all of the New Year’s resolutions are falling by the wayside and the exercise equipment begins to gather dust, I challenge you to resolve yourself to continue to be passionate and disciplined about what you do, and prepare daily for what lies ahead. Now…Let’s get back to the Party at hand!

Bass-ically Yours; Dr. Lou Fischer JEN Co-Founder, President lfischer@JazzEdNet.org

“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day, while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. - Jim Rohn JEN Board of Directors (2010-11): Ruben Alvarez, Paul Bangser, Paul Chiaravalle, John Clayton-Vice President, Orbert Davis, Jose DiazSecretary, Dr. Lou Fischer-President, Monica Herzig, Willard Jenkins, Rick Kessel-Treasurer, Mary Jo Papich-Past President, Paris Rutherford, Bruce Silva, Bob Sinicrope, Terell Stafford, Andrew Surmani-President Elect.

Part-Time Staff: Steve Crissinger-webmaster, Larry Green-Operations Coordinator/Network Affiliate Coordinator; Rachel Kelly-Membership Relations Coordinator; and Mindy Muck-Bookkeeper.

1Read

more: Quincy Jones: Tools For Success — Echoes - Insight for Independent Artists http://blog.discmakers. com/2010/12/quincy-jones-tools-for-success/#ixzz187GDjHcu

networthynews It’s CONFERENCE TIME! The JEN Board hopes you are here in historic New Orleans experiencing the Second Annual JEN Conference! A huge Thank You to all of the many VOLUNTEERS who gave of their time, talents and energy in preparation of the 2011 Conference.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: The JEN Nominating Committee would like to announce that nominations for Board of Directors positions serving terms beginning on July 1st, 2011 and ending on June 30th, 2014 can be made online beginning January 15th, 2011 through midnight February 28th, 2011 Eastern Standard Time. Our current and ever growing membership is a vast and varied pool of richly diverse and multi-talented individuals. Here is your chance to share your passion, your knowledge, your expertise, and experience to enrich the JEN Board of Directors. As a JEN member, you may selfnominate or you may nominate other individuals. Please be advised an email address for individual being nominated is required in order to complete the nomination. After an individual has been nominated, the nominee will be contacted by the Nominating Committee to accept/decline their nomination. JEN membership at a Board Service eligible level is required in order to serve. Nominations will be reviewed as received and a slate of nominees will be prepared to be voted on by JEN membership in March with the subsequent announcement of the outcome in April. The board will meet twice annually in locations to be announced, generally in January and August. The next two meetings have been scheduled for August 2nd-4th, 2012, and January 2nd-4th, 2012. Special consideration will be given to those individuals with strong resumes/specific talents in: fundraising, programming, music and/or music industry, business, finance, marketing, legal, and a strong work ethic. Please consider becoming a vital part of the leadership team that will transform the future of jazz education. JEN believes in inclusiveness and equal opportunity. All members are encouraged to submit a nomination application.

Be sure and put the first weekend in January 4-7, 2012 on your calendar, the Third Annual Jazz Education Network Conference will take place in the heart of the Midwest---Louisville, Kentucky! (See ad at the end of the JEN pages this issue).

Congratulations to CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT (First Place), CHARENÉE WADE (Second Place), and CYRILLE AIMÉE (Third Place) who performed in front of a sold-out audience at the 2010 Thelonious Monk Institute (Institution Partner-LA) International Jazz Vocals Competition Finals, held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on Mon-

day, October 4. Upon being announced the winner, Salvant performed the evening’s finale with judges Patti Austin, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau, and Dianne Reeves.

Other guest performers included Terence Blanchard, Terri Lyne Carrington, George Duke, Kevin Eubanks, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Heath, Wayne Shorter, and Clark Terry, with Gladys Knight appearing as the evening’s surprise special guest. Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Jr., Phylicia Rashad, and Billie Dee Williams co-hosted the event.

Congratulations to the Clayton Brothers! GREAT NEWS: THE NEW SONG AND DANCE IS #1!!!!! With great pleasure Gail Boyd Artist Management would like to announce that The CLAYTON BROTHERS’ latest release, the Grammy©-nominated New Song and Dance, just reached #1 on the jazz radio charts! Share in the excitement! To download a FREE song from the album NOW go to http://johnclaytonjazz.com and and click on ‘Free Music Download’ Jazz musicians JANICE BORLA (IL) and JACK MOUSE (IL) are featured in an article in the October, 2010 issue of Recording Magazine. The article, “Basement Conversion,” focuses on their home studio and the recording of Borla’s current Blujazz CD release From Every Angle. Included is an interview with recording engineer John Larson, about how the space was adapted for the recording and mixing sessions and what microphones and other equipment he used for the project, which subsequently earned Borla a 4-star review in DownBeat Magazine and a place on the magazine’s list of the “Best CD releases of the Year.”

The MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL (Institution PartnerCA), a leader in jazz education since its inception in 1958, is pleased to announce the 7th Annual Next Generation Jazz Festival, featuring the nation’s most talented middle school, high school, conglomerate, and college jazz musicians and vocalists. The Next Generation Jazz Festival will take place in historic downtown Monterey from April 1 - 3, 2011.

Now in its seventh successful year in downtown Monterey, the Next Generation Jazz Festival evolved from MJF’s “California High School Jazz Competition” which started in 1971 and was presented at the Monterey County Fairgrounds for 35 of its 41-year run. The annual weekend salute to the future of jazz has expanded to include middle school, conglomerate bands, and college level musicians and vocalists.

Rico, Evans, D’Addario, and Planet Waves are elated to announce an official endorsement of Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band!!! For nearly a decade, CALEB CHAPMAN (UT) has been turning heads with his professional bands made up of young musicians aged 14-18. As the President of Caleb Chapman Music, Chapman directs over JAZZed January 2011 19

networthynews JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK

100 of Utah’s most talented young musicians in six elite ensembles. In addition to leading these ensembles, Chapman is a gifted saxophonist, playing Rico reeds solely. Additionally, each of his ensembles will perform exclusively on Rico reeds, D’Addario strings, Planet Waves accessories and Evans drumheads. From funk to fusion and soul to swing, Chapman’s bands including the Crescent Super Band, Voodoo Orchestra, Soul Research Foundation, La Onda Caribena, and Little Big Band, have played some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including recent performances in Italy, France, Switzerland, and an Asia Tour planned for 2011.

After Romania, South Africa, France and the USA this year, the Brubeck Brothers are now in London performing.

DARIUS BRUBECK (CT), with his brothers CHRIS and DAN and the great British sax player, DAVE O’HIGGINS, are playing Dave Brubeck music to celebrate Dave’s 90th birthday, but they will insert a couple of their own compositions as well.

The CHICAGO JAZZ ENSEMBLE in residence at COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO (Institution Partner-IL) announces 2011 concerts: January 20 features The Great Summit: The Music of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington will be presented at the Harris Theater. The Chicago Jazz Ensemble will perform Ellington and Armstrong favorites from the CJE’s library and JON FADDIS (NY) will join the band as special guest conductor for this performance. The February 18 concert will feature the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn on May 20th honoring the great Mahalia Jackson.

MACK AVENUE RECORDS (Corporate Partner-MI) is proud to announce the signing of guitarist KEVIN EUBANKS. The former leader of the Tonight Show Band released Zen Food this fall, his debut for the label and first project since his Tonight Show departure. Hailing from a musical family- with distinguished uncles, pianist RAY BRYANT and bassist TOMMY BRYANT, and brothers, trombonist ROBIN EUBANKS and trumpeter DUANE EUBANKS - the Philadelphia native and Berklee College of Music alumni has appeared on over 100 albums, with releases on Elektra, GRP and Blue Note; as well as founding his own record label, Insoul Music.

Master drummer NDUGU CHANCLER (CA) and bassist LOU FISCHER (OH) have joined together to coproduce a new group with a brand new cd release this month! Check it out at the SUMMIT RECORDS (Corporate Partner-AZ) booth at the January conference! highTIME is a funky jazz group, featuring master musician guitarist FRED HAMILTON (TX), seasoned veteran keyboardist PAT COIL (Michael MacDonald/Nashville studio artist), in addition to Ndugu on drums, and Lou on bass. The infectious groove-based performance of original tunes is delivered with a focus on quality with solid grooves and good feeling!

The 2011 CAPITAL UNIVERSITY (Institution PartnerOH) Jazz & World Music Festival will be held in conjunction with the 35th Anniversary of the jazz program during the month of April. The thirteen assorted American Music Program ensembles will be involved in over sixty-five concerts, clinics, and Outreach to area schools throughout the Columbus, Ohio region throughout the month-long event. KAMIL ERDAM-bassist from Istanbul, Turkey will be the artist-inresidence from April 6-12. Additional featured artists will

20 JAZZed January 2011

include world-renowned trumpeter BOBBY SHEW (NM), saxophonist/educator RICK CONDIT (LA), pianist STEVE ALLEE (IN), Yamaha Percussionist LALO DAVILA, drummer REGGIE JACKSON, in addition to faculty members STAN SMITH (OH) -guitar, LOU FISCHER (OH) -bass, and ROB PARTON (OH) -trumpet. Calling all Alums! The 35th Anniversary Alumni Bash will be held on Saturday, April 9th beginning at 4pm featuring Capital ensembles and a jam session, followed by a concert featuring all festival guest artists from 8pm-11pm at Rick’s Coaches in Gahanna, Ohio.

On December 15th QUINCY JONES and the Los Angeles Unified School District celebrated the ribbon-cutting and renaming of the new Quincy Jones Elementary School and Synergy Charter Academy. This new LAUSD elementary school is located in LA’s Historic Jazz Corridor and focuses on jazz music and arts education. It is designed to be a model for other public elementary schools in urban, lowsocioeconomic communities that demonstrate high student achievement and success through music and arts education.

The opening of the school marks a new era of quality education and state-of-the-art facilities for Los Angeles students who suffer immensely from the cutbacks of California’s state budget for education. Way to go, Q! Congratulations to DANILO PEREZ who has been awarded the 2010 ASICOM International Award by the IberoAmerican Association of Communication and the University of Oviedo (Principality of Asturias). ASICOM gives this prize each year to individuals who have made or are making significant contributions in IBEROAMERICA, helping to build and rebuild that historical region through their work and vision. Danilo’s BERKLEE (Institution Partner-MA) World Music group is performing on the 2nd JEN conference this month! Also, JEN welcomes Danilo Andres Perez III into the world!

CLARK TERRY turned 90 on December 14—he’s known and loved not only for his legendary mastery of the trumpet and flugelhorn, but also for his grand, generous spirit and quick wit.

Happy Birthday, Clark!

SARA CASWELL (NY), who performed as part of the Caswell Sisters at the opening night of last spring’s JEN conference, is the violinist on tour this year with bassist/singer ESPERANZA SPALDING in support of Esperanza’s CD, “Chamber Music Society.” The band consists of a rhythm section (TERRI LYNNE CARRINGTON is be on board for

part of the tour) and a string trio (violin, viola, and cello).

Sara is doing the US leg of the tour which includes numerous concerts around the country as well as TV appearances.

Bassoon goes Latin! The New Latin-Jazz Album includes: DANIEL SMITH (NY) -bassoon, DANIEL KELLY-piano, MICHAEL O’BRIEN-bass, and VINCENT ECTOR- drums.

Further details about this exciting new album can be found on Daniel Smith’s new website plus special offer to receive advance copies. CHECK IT OUT! http://www.danielsmithbassoon.com DENNY ZEITLIN is getting rave reviews on his solo piano CD, Precepice.

Both the New York Times and Chicago Tribune have listed GREG WARD’s Fitted Shards: “South Side Story” CD as one of the top ten most memorable recordings of 2010. Howard Reich states that the recording “bursts with a creativity” and states that Ward is emerging as an unusually imaginative composer. Ward grew up in Peoria, lived in Chicago and now makes NYC home.

The Music Institute of Chicago announces the addition of a new Jazz Studies program to area students. Heading the stellar faculty will be AUDREY MORRISON. Interested? Visit www.musicinstitute.org.

This past fall, The Phoenix Symphony presented the world premiere of Phoenix, a new work by celebrated Argentinean composer OSVALDO GOLIJOV. The composition was specially commissioned for The Phoenix Symphony by Target Corporation to honor the opening of the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in north Phoenix. The performance was conducted by Phoenix Symphony Music Director MICHAEL CHRISTIE and was scored for full orchestra and world music instruments. Osvaldo Golijov was in attendance for this very special premiere performance. The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), is a significant addition to the worldwide community of museums devoted to music making and musical culture. MIM welcomes the young and the old, the uninitiated and the knowledgeable, to explore and experience the rich diversity of the world’s music and musical instruments.

MIM collects and displays musical instruments and artifacts from every country in the world, preserving, protecting, and sharing these gifts with future generations. Museum guests enjoy a close encounter with the instruments themselves, enhanced by state-of-the art audio and video recordings that bring to life the sounds and sights of these instruments as experienced in their cultures of origin.

Do YOU have a news item for publication?

Send it to networthynews@JazzEdNet.org !

JAZZed January 2011 21

JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK

The John LaPorta Educator of the Year Award The Jazz Education Network and Berklee College of Music have collaborated to present the John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year Award at the Second Annual JEN Conference in New Orleans, January 5-8, 2011. The award is named after legendary jazz educator John LaPorta, who served as a distinguished professor at Berklee for more than 3 decades prior to his death in 2004. John played a pivotal role in the earliest stage of formalized jazz education. The award recognizes an outstanding educator at the high school, middle or elementary school level who represents the highest standards of teaching and whose results have brought distinction to their institution and their students. The award will be presented annually at the JEN Conference. This year’s award is proudly presented to Caleb Chapman, from Utah!

As the President of Caleb Chapman Music, Caleb directs over 150 of Utah’s most talented young musicians in six elite ensembles, including the Crescent Super Band, which has frequently been hailed as one of the best youth big bands in the world. Caleb’s bands have been featured at many of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals including North Sea (The Netherlands), Montreux (Switzerland), Vienne (France), Umbria (Italy), and Puerto Vallarta (Mexico). Most recently, the Crescent Super Band was featured with Toshiko Akiyoshi at the Telluride Jazz Festival. Caleb’s bands have also performed with nearly 200 guest artists, including Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Christian McBride, Peter Erskine, Kurt Elling, Wayne Bergeron, Dave Weckl, Jon Faddis, Kirk Whalum, Stefon Harris, Nicholas Payton, Wycliffe Gordon, Lenny Pickett, Jeff Coffin, Greg Osby, and Bob Mintzer. Additionally, his bands have been featured on the Sirius XM “Real Jazz” Channel and released 8 albums on the Big Swing Face label.

Caleb’s students have been honored with four DownBeat Awards, including “Best Performing Arts High School Big Band” (2007 and 2010). The band has also won five consecutive “Best of State” awards for Utah and the prestigious Best of State Statue Award identifying Caleb’s program as the top organization in Arts and Entertainment in Utah, beating out every other professional music, arts, and film organization in the state for the honor.

In 2007 Caleb was the inaugural inductee into the Horne School of Music Hall of Fame and received the “Superior Accomplishment Award” from the Utah Music Educators Association. He is the 2006 recipient of the KUER FM90 “Voice of Jazz Award”. Additionally, Caleb serves on the Executive Board of JazzSLC, presenters of the Salt Lake City Jazz at the Sheraton Series. Caleb is a featured clinician and sponsored performer for Yamaha Saxophones and Rico Reeds.

The inscription on the award reads as follows: Jazz Education Network In Partnership With Berklee College of Music Present the JOHN LAPORTA EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD To CALEB CHAPMAN For Representing the Highest Standards of Teaching and Bringing Distinction to Your Institution and Students SECOND JEN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE NEW ORLEANS, LA January 5-8, 2011 22 JAZZed January 2011

The President’s Service Award The President’s Service Award is awarded annually by the President’s Council to an individual that has satisfied the following criteria: • • • •

Two years of continuing volunteer service to the organization Giving tirelessly of their efforts, resources, expertise, and time Demonstration of commitment to the organization’s mission True example of altruism

We are proud to present this year’s award to Steve Crissinger, who has served on the inaugural Volunteer Board of the organization since JEN’s inception June 2008, devoting tireless hours and effort into the development of the JEN website among handling many additional tasks when asked.

As one of the founding partners of 12 Points Graphics & Apparel, Steve Crissinger enjoyed the opportunity to utilize the lessons learned from his time in the Capital University Big Band both in his personal and professional life.

Upon graduation with a degree in history and minor in music, Steve was presented the opportunity to serve as a professional staff member for the Simon Kenton Council, BSA. During a successful tenure with the Boy Scouts of America he gained valuable experience in non-profit administration, operations and fundraising.

Steve serves or has served as the District Finance Chairmen for the Tri-Creek District in the Simon Kenton Council, volunteers as an advisor to the Senior High Youth Group at his church; as an alumni advisor for the Capital University Jazz Studies Department; and as Treasurer for the Jazz Education Connection of Ohio. Steve is currently a Major Gifts Officer at Capital University.

The inscription on the award reads as follows: Jazz Education Network President’s Service Award honoring Steve Crissinger for vision, perseverance and dedication to the Jazz Education Network Presented January 5-8, 2011 Second Annual Conference New Orleans, LA

JAZZed January 2011 23

JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK

JEN Jazz Composition Showcase In September 2010, JEN announced a new program, designed to spotlight young jazz composers. The JEN Jazz Composition Showcase is designed to give current students an opportunity to have their original jazz compositions recognized at the international level. The following participants were invited to attend the 2011 Conference in New Orleans to hear a professional performance of their music. Chosen composers may be given the opportunity to publish their compositions as Alfred Music may consider any of these compositions for publication.

In order to participate, composers were required to be a fully enrolled student throughout academic year 2010-11, and a current member of JEN. Submissions were made in two groups: ages 14 through 17 as of October 1, 2010; age 18 and above as of October 1, 2010. Composition categories included: Small Instrumental Group, Large Instrumental Group, Instrumental Group with vocal solo, and Vocal Group.

Please help JEN congratulate the chosen composers by attending the JEN Composition Showcase on Saturday, January 8th, 2011 in the Chambers I/III on the Mayor’s Suite Level of the Roosevelt, from 11am-11:50am.

Sarah Kervin

Adam Bartczak

Atlanta, GA. native Sarah Kervin, is an emerging vocalist and composer-arranger whose dynamic sound, energetic improvisation and inspired creativity demonstrate her lifelong passion for music. Sarah studied at the University of South Carolina with Bert Ligon and Craig Butterfield, and she is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree at the University of North Texas with acclaimed vocalist Rosana Eckert.

A Colorado native, Adam Bartczak holds performance and composition degrees from the University of Colorado (Boulder) and the New England Conservatory where he studied with Bob Brookmeyer. Adam is currently pursuing a DA in jazz studies at the University of Northern Colorado. He teaches and performs regularly, in addition to writing for various jazz ensembles.

Dan White Composer and saxophonist Dan White grew up north of Buffalo, New York. He was fortunate enough to have two wonderful educators in high school: Stephen Shewan, and Wayne Moose.

Both inspired him to improvise and compose.

Fire Blossom will be featured on his upcoming album Between The Lines. Dan currently studies composition with Kenyatta Beasley at The Ohio State University.

Laila Smith Vocalist and pianist Laila Smith is a sophomore at the Marin School of the Arts. She is fortunate to be part of several music communities, including San Jose Jazz, Stanford Jazz, Monterey Jazz, and SFJazz. Special thanks to to her photographer Walter Wagner, and to Dave Gregoric, Peggy Stern, Randy Masters for their inspiration and support.

24 JAZZed January 2011

Kevin Swaim Kevin Swaim is a Jazz Composition Master’s student at the University of North Texas where he has studied with Steve Wiest, Richard DeRosa, Paris Rutherford, and Akira Sato. He received his bachelor’s from UNT in 2008. In 2009, he received a DownBeat Student Music Award in the Arranging category. He has written for UNT’s One O’Clock Lab Band’s albums Lab 2009 and Lab 2010.

Scott Ninmer A native of Taylorville, Illinois, Scott Ninmer is a jazz performance major at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has come to be both a respected trombonist and a highly regarded and frequently commissioned composer and arranger. In 2008, he was awarded the “Outstanding Jazz Arrangement” award from jazz composer Jim McNeely at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival. He currently studies trombone and composition with Professor Jim Pugh and plays trombone in the university’s Concert Jazz Band and is co-leader of the jazz sextet “Eponymous”.

To feel the pulse

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lessons learned

REHEARSAL

Efficient practice

O

BY LYNNE ARRIALE

ver many years of teaching, I have learned that the biggest challenges students face have to do with developing efficient practice techniques and learning how to be open and responsive while performing. My teaching at The University of North Florida and privately has taught me that these issues should be of the highest priority and be the foundation for musical growth and creativity. Both challenges have been present for virtually every student I have taught.

The Proper Approach Practicing incorrectly creates a major hurdle in the student’s ability to improve his/her playing. Before a student begins to play an exercise, he/she should tap the rhythm of the exercise and then sing the exercise effortlessly. If this first step is missed, the brain might not be fully engaged. When playing the exercise, the student should sing at the same time.

Wind players can sing the exercise and play silently; just fingering the instrument.

Playing/singing the exercise incorrectly establishes the flawed exercise as the norm, even though the student may consciously know that the exercise is not correct. The brain may not make the same distinction, just as a computer will not show an error message if the phrase ‘2+2= 7’ is inputted. The computer sim-

26 JAZZed January 2011

lessons learned ply accepts the information, whether it is correct or not. By repeating an exercise incorrectly, the brain interprets the incorrect exercise as being correct. With many repetitions, correct or incorrect, neurological pathways are formed and the information is solidified. Students experience this in other ways as well-- for example, if a tune’s melody is learned and repeated incorrectly, it can be difficult to fix the error unless many repetitions are done to override and replace the incorrect information.

The solution to this challenge is very simply to practice as perfectly as possible – find the tempo, even if it is incredibly slow, at which no mistakes are made. If a student cannot play the exercise perfectly even at a very slow tempo, he or she can try to play/sing a small part of the exercise, make sure it is correct, and then repeat it several times until it is second nature. The additional part of the exercise can then be added on, and the entire exercise can then be practiced.

After too few repetitions, a student may desire to increase the tempo. However, he/she may not be the best judge about whether the exercise has been mastered. What I use to assess this is to have the student repeat the exercise, error-free for a minimum of 10-15 repetitions. If mistakes occur, the exercise has not been mastered and needs to be slowed down or simplified,for example, the student should play only the first part of the exercise, as mentioned above. The student can also tap the rhythm of the exercise again, resulting in the rhythm becoming assimilated both mentally and physically.

Many repetitions are necessary to create ease and mastery of the exercise at a given tempo. Once the exercise can be played perfectly and effortlessly, the student can increase the tempo (maybe 10 beats on the metronome). Thanks to Kenny Werner for this technique (i.e. the exercise is either ‘too fast or too much.’)

Another issue is “stopping and starting,” which students often do to correct a mistake. If this is allowed during practice, a message is sent to the brain that it is an

acceptable way of playing, even though the student may consciously know that it is not. When a student allows this to happen when practicing a tune, his/her brain accepts this as being correct. In a performance environment stopping and

starting isn’t acceptable; yet if a student is accustomed to doing it in practice, tension will result as there is no mechanism in place for quick recovery after a mistake. Students need to practice tunes without stopping and starting, and if a

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lessons learned mistake is made, the student should recover as quickly as possible, but the form of the tune should continue, regardless. If the student reacts to the mistake, it will only delay his/her coming back to the correct place in the tune. Tapping the melody

of the tune, as mentioned above, can be helpful with breaking the habit. Not allowing the students to stop and start replicates a live performance situation, in which the student would need to regain his/her bearings and resume playing.

Learning to be Open and Responsive So often, students become absorbed in playing what they know – the material they have practiced and assimilated. That does not guarantee that they will be ‘in the space’ that will allow them to respond to

“BY REPEATING AN EXERCISE INCORRECTLY, THE BRAIN INTERPRETS THE INCORRECT EXERCISE AS BEING CORRECT.” what is happening in the moment. Getting into the flow of being in a creative mind-space can be practiced. I have often asked my students to intentionally leave more space when they are practicing and playing in a group setting, allowing an opportunity for the other players to interact with them. I have observed them practicing this correctly, but when in a performance situation, they revert back to their old way of playing. There is a certain comfort that students feel when they focus only on what they are playing, rather than what is happening in the group. There is a deeper creative space that the students can reach when they let go of ‘the known’ and wait and listen. I have tried techniques such as having the soloist trade two-measure phrases with the drummer, which creates a call and response scenario. However, this interaction is often lost in a live performance situation, as the students will revert back to their old habits. Recently, I tried something new. I asked the students to think about music differently: space is the main focus and the notes played are secondary.

In other words, I suggested they wait until they felt like playing something-- even if it 28 JAZZed January 2011

lessons learned meant that many measures went by without them playing a note. By doing this, the students became more comfortable with space and started to feel freer with the music. During the time that they were not playing, I believe that their minds were unconsciously preparing for the next phrase, even though they reported that they were simply experiencing the space. They were able to let go of the need to be playing non-stop phrases without leaving any breathing room. This created a new musical experience, in which the students relaxed, listened to what was happening in the band and waited for the next phrase to come to them.

This exercise takes an extreme approach in order to create more comfort with space, which in turn allows for greater freedom. If this is the foundation for the practice of improvisation, it is my belief that it will be easier for the students to access deeper creativity. By ‘getting in the space,’ the students may choose to play spaciously or more densely, but there will be an underlying feeling of openness and flexibility.

These practices are a small sampling of techniques that I have found to be indispensable for furthering students’ ability to become efficient in their practice and responsive to the multitude of directions and shapes that can manifest in improvised music.

Pianist, composer, arranger Lynne Arriale is assistant professor of Jazz Piano and director of Small Ensembles at the University of North Florida. She is also a sought after clinician and private instructor for notable music schools at all levels and private students the world over. Throughout her 20 year career, she has toured internationally, playing most major festivals, and recently performed two “Jazz Meets Symphony” concerts in Johannesburg and Durban for The Jazz Foundation of South Africa. Arriale has recorded twelve critically acclaimed CD’s as a leader; the most current being Nuance (featuring Randy Brecker, George Mraz and Anthony Pinciotti) and Convergence (featuring Bill McHenry, Omer Avital and Anthony Pinciotti), due for release February, 2011 on Motema Music.

THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL Joseph W. Polisi, President

Carl Allen Artistic Director Laurie A. Carter Executive Director Benny Golson Artistic Consultant Benny Green Christian McBride Artist in Residence Saxophone Ron Blake Joe Temperley Trumpet Eddie Henderson Christian Jaudes Joseph Wilder Trombone Conrad Herwig Steve Turre Piano Kenny Barron Fred Hersch Frank Kimbrough Bass Ron Carter Ray Drummond Ben Wolfe Guitar Rodney Jones Drums Carl Allen Billy Drummond Kenny Washington

Juilliard

JAZZ Bachelor of Music Master of Music Artist Diploma � Extraordinary Faculty

� Tailored Curriculum, with Weekly Private Study � Regular Performance Opportunities � International Touring

� World-Renowned Guest Artists Apply by December 1 each year; auditions follow in March for entrance in September

Applicants must meet Juilliard’s jazz audition requirements B.M. requires high school diploma or equivalent M.M. requires bachelor degree Artist Diploma (a post-graduate, tuition-free program) requires college degree and extensive experience Send Applications and Pre-Screen Recording to: Juilliard Admissions, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, NY, NY 10023 (212) 799-5000 www.juilliard.edu/jazz Christian McBride, Artist in Residence with Juilliard Jazz Orchestra.

Photo: Hiroyuki Ito

JAZZed January 2011 29

avid Liebma

This is Not Something You Enter Lightly

By Christian Wissmuller

One of the most stalwart torchbearers for jazz – for both the music and the “message” – David Liebman has been a hugely significant figure within the genre for over four decades.

As a performer, he cut his teeth playing with Elvin Jones and Miles Davis (not too shabby!), before embarking on his own highly acclaimed solo career, which has been distinguished by celebrated collaborations and partnerships with Bob Moses, John Scofield,illy Hart, and many others. Recent recordings include: The Bickel-Marks Group with Dave Liebman (Zoho); Lieb Plays the Blues a la Trane (Daybreak); and Live: As Always (Mama).

As an instructor and advocate for the advancement of jazz education, Liebman was an early clinician at Jamey Aebersold’s camps, has led countless clinics and master classes throughout his career, and has authored a number of popular method books. After working alongside the likes of Aebersold, David Baker, and Jerry Coker, and then witnessing the global appeal of jazz while on tour in Europe and elsewhere in the ‘80s, David founded the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ) in 1989. The organization, dedicated to helping students and educators from international jazz schools network with one another, recently celebrated its 20th year and is still going strong.

Liebman has received countless accolades for his accomplishments as a performing and recording artist, as well as a number of awards for his work in the field of jazz education, including being named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master for 2011.

JAZZed recently had the great pleasure of speaking with David Liebman, who was every bit as engaging, funny, sharp-witted, and kind as his reputation would lead one to believe…

JAZZed: First off, thanks so much for taking the time to talk.

David Liebman: It’s my pleasure.

Thank you.

JAZZed: Let’s start at the beginning – you initially played classical piano, yes?

DL: Yes. I grew up in Brooklyn and, in that generation, you had piano in every house, more or less. My mother played piano; my father loved music, 32 JAZZed January 2011

and it was just a thing you do – at nine or 10 years old, you start taking piano lessons.

JAZZed: When and how were you drawn to the sax?

DL: I loved the tenor saxophone.

I was a fan of early rock n’ roll.

“Rock Around the Clock” was probably the national anthem of rock, and had a prominent sax solo, and Duane Eddy had a great saxophone player. I just liked the sound. My mother said, “You’ve got to take two years of piano before you play anything else” – which turned out to have been the best piece of musical advice I ever had.

“There are things that you get from being around greatness that can never be replaced by a book or by a classroom.”

Finally, around 12 years old, I got my wish and went to a neighborhood school, a private school that was run by a family. I started first on clarinet. That was yet another, “You have to do something before you can do what you want” instance. By the time I was around 13 I got to play tenor and very quickly was playing club dates.

JAZZed: Paying real gigs? At 13?

DL: Oh yeah. By 13, I was playing bar mitzvahs and weddings – playing paying gigs at the encouragement of my family. I had a little group of guys, we had our tuxedos and were in the union.

JAZZed: In the union and making money at 13. Impressive.

DL: It was pretty heavy, actually.

Yeah you had to be in the union –

which was a big scam, just to get $120 dollars [laughs].

JAZZed: Was that one of the ways in which you got exposed to jazz?

DL: Exactly. I was working gigs and of course I’d invariably hear people playing jazz: whether it was the party next door or… I played the Catskill Mountains every summer, and there’d be jam sessions.

Eventually… that became the thing. In high school I gravitated towards others who played jazz. Really, as I’ve remarked many times, the epiphany or what turned my life around was seeing Coltrane at 15 years old.

JAZZed: Talk a little about that night?

DL: That night stays in my mind.

It was at Birdland, and I didn’t know

who he was. I was just starting to read DownBeat and get familiar with who Stan Getz and all these people were. I knew Coltrane was a guy who played soprano sax because there was a picture of him on the placard outside. I said, “Oh, he plays that instrument!” which was then very uncommon. It was opposite the Bill Evans Trio.

JAZZed: What a bill!

JAZZed: What was the repertoire of that early band?

Ja z z S t u d i e s

DL: In those days club dates were made of up dance music. If you play “Autumn Leaves” now, you would’ve played it as a foxtrot then. And, of course, ethnic music – cha-chas, mambos, tangos, Jewish music.

at Indiana

JAZZed: Who were some early educators who were influential?

DL: Well this family studio I was at – Bromley Studios – was of course influential.

JAZZed: Is it still around?

DL: The mother actually just died, at 96 years old. Unbelievable. The son is around, but he doesn’t teach music.

He was, in fact, the first guy I saw playing jazz. I would spend Saturday mornings at the school – saxophone lessons at 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock would be piano, and then11 o’clock was combo and it was run by the son, Eric. In between combo sessions there’d be a changeover period, and he and another guy, his assistant, would play. His assistant would play drums, and he’d play saxophone or piano and I would say, “What are you doing?” and he’d say, “Oh, we’re improvising.” I’d say, “What do you mean? You have no music in front of you and your eyes are closed and you’re moving your fingers fast…”

I mean, I was fascinated, of course – for a kid that’s pretty exciting. And he said, “Oh it’s called ‘jazz’.”

Then I guess I heard Brubeck, and then I heard “Girl From Ipanema” – this is all around 1960 when, slowly, some jazz tunes were crossing over.

Acomprehensive program

in performance, improvisation, composition & arranging, jazz history, pedagogy, styles & analysis.

Large and small ensemble playing in a thriving cultural community.

Jeremy Allen

Steve Houghton

AUDITION DATES January 14 & 15, 2011 February 4 & 5, 2011 March 4 & 5, 2011 For a complete list of Jacobs School faculty, please visit us at music.indiana.edu.

David N. Baker (Chair) Corey Christiansen

Michael Spiro

Joey Tartell

L i v i n g Mu s i c

Luke Gillespie

Pat Harbison

Brent Wallarab

Thomas Walsh

JAZZed January 2011 33

The Dave Liebman Big Band.

“This idea of spreading this music is important.”

DL: Amazing. And I had no idea who anybody was. [laughs] But, whatever it was, I had to go back. In those days, guys played the same club night

34 JAZZed January 2011

after night for a week or two at a time.

In the course of a year, you could see somebody eight, ten, twelve times. So by 1965 or ’66, I probably saw Coltrane

a few dozen times. And, of course, everybody else – Monk, Miles, everyone.

This was Birdland, The Village Vanguard, the Half Note – all the famous, historic clubs. Slowly it just became this thing that crept on me and I just wanted to get better at this music. In those days you didn’t think about a career, there was no “jazz education” to speak of, and none in New York.

There was, of course, Berklee and Miami and a couple others, but there was nothing organized on the East Coast, except for Berklee. So you kind of got guided by hit or miss, looking over some guy’s shoulder.

Eventually I took some lessons with Charles Lloyd and Lennie Tristano.

Tristano was known as a teacher, and that came about through my piano player friend and that went for a year.

JAZZed: What piano friend?

DL: Mike Garson. His father was a liquor salesman who sold liquor to the Half Note club and that’s how Mike

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heard Lennie and took lessons with him. Lennie had dozens of students and he took every instrument and his lessons were 10- to 15-minutes long.

He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know your name; it was an assembly line.

JAZZed: Howâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d you pair up with Charles Lloyd?

DL: Charles Lloyd at that time was just becoming a star, and he was working with Cannonball Adderly. He played very much like Coltrane; who I, of course, was drawn to. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the key to the door here?â&#x20AC;? I went up to him at a club after a show and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do you teach?â&#x20AC;? and he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;No,â&#x20AC;? emphatically. But then he looked at me and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Butâ&#x20AC;Ś you can come over tomorrowâ&#x20AC;? and gave me his address â&#x20AC;&#x201C; right across from the present-day Blue Note. We started a relationship that went on for a year-plus. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t so much teaching as â&#x20AC;&#x153;hanging out.â&#x20AC;? I was kind of his gopher: I drove Keith Jarrett and helped with gigs and that sort of thing.

JAZZed: Informal, then.

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DL: Very much. Now Lennie was formal. Lennie had a system. From an education standpoint, what Lennie made me aware of was that you could study this music. Up to that time, everything was kind of amorphous and ambiguous. How do you learn jazz?

Those [older generation jazz] guys didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t talk, either. They didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give information, that generation. It was kind a little bit of a Mafia deal, OmertĂ â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give away the code,â&#x20AC;? and so on. I understood why, and that was in their blood, and so forth. I saw that Lennie really had â&#x20AC;&#x153;A to B to C.â&#x20AC;? You could teach and study this music.

JAZZed: Talk some about Joe Allard.

DL: He was the most important guy when I finally left the Bromley Studios, where I had learned from Nat Shapiro. That [studying at Bromley] was all method books, the basics â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no jazz. I went and said to my mother and father, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to move on here.â&#x20AC;? I literally looked in the phone book under â&#x20AC;&#x153;saxophone instructionâ&#x20AC;? and, finally, I

talked to Joe Allard. He just seemed right and became my main teacher on saxophone. As I came to learn, he was extremely famous, world-renowned.

He taught at Carnegie Hall Studios, which was very impressive.

It was through him that I got the point of the saxophone. Not jazz, because that wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t what he did, but the essence of what it is to get a sound, what goes into making a sound, the physical mechanics of producing a tone. He was that for everybody; he was in the Zen of it; he was in the center of itâ&#x20AC;Ś nothing to do with style â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whether you played classical or jazz or whatever else it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter. I was so used to books and lessons and material, but studying with Joe, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d play three notes, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be the last three notes Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d play for the whole lesson. Then heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d talk, and then heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d fix my reed, and then Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d leave. It took me a good ten years to really understand what Joe was about.

He was the guru of saxophone teachers, no doubt about it. His only counterpart wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been Joe Viola up in Boston at Berklee.

I was one of his main protĂŠgĂŠes and my book and video on the subject is basically his stuff re-channeled.

JAZZed: So how did you wind up at NYU studying American History?

DL: Well, I had started out as a Music major at Queens College. I thought â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oh, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be a music teacher and play

on the side,â&#x20AC;? but the thing is, you had to know the classical stuff, and I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really interested. So I saw that this wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the path for me. I always loved history I did that and did music on the side. At NYU I basically lived two lives, as a student and a musician. The jazz scene was like a little secret. It was nothing like it is now â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dozens and hundreds of people â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it was a small close-knit group.

JAZZed: How did you wind up with Elvin Jones and, later Miles?

DL: The way it used to work was, there was an apprenticeship system.

You knew you had to be a sideman with somebody. That was de rigour; you werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t famous overnight. The industry â&#x20AC;&#x201C; meaning the clubs, concert promoters, the tour managers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; expected you to put your time in, and then youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d get your due. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d get your due, your record contract, the chance to make your own music. Elvin it was likeâ&#x20AC;Ś the bass player for him at that time called me and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Elvin wants to hear you nowâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and it was like, that minute. So I raced over there and played, and the next weekend I was recording with him.

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DL: I was 25

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JAZZed: And the hookup with Miles?

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DL: That was just a few years later.

That was a record date. I was in the doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, and my mother called and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;you have to be at such and such a place right now to audition for Miles Davis,â&#x20AC;? I drove over there, left my car in the middle of the street, and that was that. That wound up being the opening track to On the Corner. Within six months I was with Miles. These things just had a way of happening, people knew you by name or face, and after a while youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d earned your stripes, and it was just your time.

JAZZed: Can you discuss learning music in a classroom compared to learning music by playing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; especially playing with the greats?

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JAZZed January 2011 37

DL: It’s a completely different system and, in the best of all worlds, you’d have both. Academic learning, the positive value is that everything is organized and presented to you in an orderly fashion.

You go from 1 to 2 to 3, in order; when you get to 10, you have definitely been presented with the stuff. It’s not about creativity, or being a great player. It’s about “Here’s the information, here’s the way to learn it.” When you do it by ap-

prenticing, you’re not going to get it in any logical order. You’re going to get tidbits, you’re going to get innuendo – especially from people like Miles who never talked about music [laughs] – you’re going surmise from what they said or felt or did, you’re going to end up thinking about, “What did he mean?” and it is hit or miss. You’re not sure what you get, because you’re exposed, but you’re not sure.

Each one has its positives and negatives. Learning on the job is a natural thing – you learn at your own pace and when you’re ready to hear something that the guy said you’ll hear it. When you’re in school, you hear a lot of stuff that you’re not ready to hear, because you’re just not up to that level yet.

You can’t practice what [an instructor] said and get it together by next week; So when you move up to week two or whatever it is, there’s no way you can keep up with it. So you’re always behind. And that’s not natural, and you do the best you can, and after three, four years, you come out with some information – not as much as what’s been presented to you. You spend the rest of your life trying to fill in the cracks.

Obviously in my case I was privileged – I mean, what a gift to be with Elvin Jones and Miles Davis…

JAZZed: Ya think?

Ask how Légère can outfit your Students for less.

Come visit it us at the JEN Conference

DL: [laughs] I was blessed in a lot of ways. I never had anybody talk to me about learning jazz. The teaching I do now is me coming up with my way of doing it. I feel like in some way there are holes in my education – there are things that I’m not as good at as some of my students, because I just never had it. On the other hand, there are things that you get from being around greatness that can never be replaced by a book or by a classroom.

JAZZed: Agreed. Talking more about your own involvement in teaching, how did you first connect with Jamey Aebersold and his programs?

DL: Jamey called me in ‘77 or ‘78 and I didn’t know who he was or anything about clinics. Literally, the guy said, “I’d like you to come and do a clinic in Hayes, Kansas” and thought “Clinic? What is that – medical?” and he said, “No, no – you’ll play saxophone and then you’ll talk and so forth.” So I go there, Kansas, dead of winter, there’s a 100 kids there and I played and talked and it was fun and went well. He said, “I do a lot of these in the summer. Would you join me?”

Lo and behold, the next few summers I did a couple and was complete-

38 JAZZed January 2011

Capital University Conservatory of Music HIS PLAYING: WORLD CLASS. HIS TEACHING: PROVEN. Capital University Welcomes Rob Parton to the Conservatory Faculty Pedigree t .BTUFS PG .VTJD JO 5SVNQFU 1FSGPSNBODF BOE 1FEBHPHZ /PSUIFSO *MMJOPJT 6OJWFSTJUZ t #BDIFMPS PG .VTJD &EVDBUJPO 6OJWFSTJUZ PG ,FOUVDLZ

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ly knocked out. I had no idea it could be organized this way: Jerry Coker, David Baker, Aebersold, Dan Hurley â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I mean, these guys could teach a fly to sing the blues in an hour. They had it together. They could play, they could teach, they were humane, they were funny, and deep and together. They had be-bop completely codified. I felt like a complete novice. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m the big, you know, â&#x20AC;&#x153;ex-Miles Davis manâ&#x20AC;? and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m walking in there and I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do half the shit that these guys can do.

JAZZed: A positive experience, though.

DL: Very positive. Because I saw interest and I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know that â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this was the Midwest, now. I had no idea. I was knocked out. Aebersold was very influential. I saw what he did: he built an empire in the middle of nowhere. And he meant it, and it was real, and it was good pedagogy, and good positive energy. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t negate that, as much as I was this snobby esoteric New Yorker insider â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I saw these guys in Kansas

and there was no denying that it was pretty deep.

Also, right around then, reality hit.

Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the thing: the beginning of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;80sâ&#x20AC;Ś I was kind of a little disillusioned; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d seen the world already; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d had a band; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been at â&#x20AC;&#x153;the topâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d kind of done everything by 35 years

old. So I entertained the thought of becoming a lawyer. I actually got into law school, but I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go through with it ultimately. I wanted to have a little more meaning in my life. I felt the music was great, but it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough.

The teaching thing started to loom very high. I said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;You know what?

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This idea of spreading this music is important.” Because I really believe in jazz and I love jazz. It’s not just that I love playing jazz; I love what jazz represents; I love the tradition; I love everything about it. I think it’s a great message to give to anybody, in particular young people, whatever they may do with it. It’s just a great message. And I just started to think: this is a positive thing I can do. And I’m good at it; I’m a good verbalizer; I can do it well. So that was my way to find more meaning. And, number two, as a practical thing, to be honest with you, as a jazz musician you’re not making a full living by going out and playing your horn every night. You’ve got to figure something out. Those days, teaching was not the common thing, but I didn’t want to play in the studios, I didn’t want to play any other kind of music. The missionary aspect of teaching, which any great teacher feels, took hold.

JAZZed: What format do you prefer, as an instructor – more intimate, larger?

DL: There’s one-to-one, then oneto-10, to one-to-50-plus, which becomes like a performance. I like all three levels. The one-to-one, at a high level, I’m very effective at, because I can talk about aesthetics and the practical aspects of being a bandleader and so forth. And then, master class situations where you’re talking to 10 to 20 saxophone players is also a useful format. I’m decent performer, so I can do “the show” to a large group, as well.

I have total respect for guys who are teaching every day, 18 weeks a year. At Manhattan School of Music, as Artist in Residence, I’m a lecturer – I come in and present my material; it’s my book I’m presenting. I see the guys who plug away every week and I’ll tell you, man, that is a bitch to do with music – to keep good, to keep yourself interested, to keep things fresh even though you’re repeating the same things each semester.

JAZZed: How long have you been at Manhattan School of Music and what do you currently do there, as Artist in Residence?

DL: I’ve been at Manhattan School of Music for the past 10 years. I go in about once a month, a 10- or 12-hour day, I’ll do a couple performances, I’ll give open master classes on different subjects.

JAZZed: What’s most rewarding about teaching?

DL: Obviously, one thing is the pride and joy of seeing a student be-

come an active participant in the scene.

Bill Evans, the saxophone player, I basically recommended him to Miles Davis.

What could be better? You get a great feeling when you see one of your guys go on. Two nights ago in New York I played with one of my students at the release party for his first record. It was great, I’m on the record for a couple of tunes – that’s just a great source of pride.

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The other thing is, I know when I leave an audience; whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a large or very small format, I know that they leave with an impression of what the music is about through my personality because a teacher, really, in this stuff â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know about math or chemistry â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about an art form, the main thing that a student is getting is the personality of the guy whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speaking to them â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that and the information,

of course. If the information is good and backs up the personality, this is a perfect world. If thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not much information, but a great personality, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a nice way to spend an hour or two. If thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just information, but the teacher doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t personify the music because maybe he or she isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a performer, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a gap.

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tent, of course, is important, but what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re saying is what this music is about. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what makes Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s his sound and his tonguing and all that, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about him as an individual and what heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s saying. At a certain age, somewhere around 15, 16, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very important for the kid to get the vibe of the joy of this music and of the intensity of the commitment. This is going to be work, this is long-term, the rewards are probably not going to be for 10 or 20 years and also this music has a deep tradition and you have to be true to it. This is not a game, this is not something you enter lightly.

Everybody asks me, â&#x20AC;&#x153;What did you get from Miles and Elvin?â&#x20AC;? The main thing was their commitment. When the downbeat comes up, you are 150 percent there. This is no bullshit and this is not fooling around. This is business at the highest level. I mean, ok, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not pushing a button to launch a nuclear missile, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not driving a bus full of 100 people â&#x20AC;&#x201C; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not actually life and death. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s complete business, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work. Everything before that and after that could be completely bizarre and weird and all the folklore about jazz and all that, but when those guys hit the bandstand and that downbeat goes down, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the middle of the storm, and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to be awake and committed. And I really did not realize that; it took them to make me see that.

JAZZed: Any advice for jazz educators?

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DL: Bring guys in like me â&#x20AC;&#x201C; realdeal guys, who are good at doing this and who can have a minute with the kids and give them an impression.

When you walk out of a good clinic, the teacher will come up and say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all the same things that I say, but coming from you makes a different impact.â&#x20AC;?

The other thing is, these days thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so much access to videos and online material, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible for a student whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interested to watch the process of jazz.

You used to have to be sitting with Miles to get it, but now you can access it and a good teacher can sort of build the drama.

JAZZed: Explain?

DL: If I want to start a guy playing, any instrument, I might show him Art Tatum. Why? Because it is such prodigious technique that you’d have to be brain dead not to want to do it. A kid is attracted to speed. Speed and in some cases volume. So you show them a guy like that, who’s just way beyond the pale. Then you progress to a guy like Bill Evans who doesn’t play with anything near that kind of flash, but has as much depth in other ways, that it makes the kid see there’s many ways of doing this.

There’s a lot of ways of getting to the same thing. That’s the thing – to make a young person understand that there’s no one way to the truth. There are many valid approaches.

For an older student, it’s about – “Hey, if you really mean this, now we’ve got to get past the surface. You’ve got all that stuff together in your fingers, you can play, but what does it all mean? Who are you? What do you want to say? Have you read about anything besides music?

Do you know who Dostoevsky was? Do you know what Rembrandt did?” In other words, now we build a cultured person who has something of value to say to the world that will make people listen. Otherwise, they just go in and pay their money and be entertained briefly, and have a drink. It’s got to be something beyond ability; it’s got to be something compelling in the message.

ing about improvisation et cetera – it’s not pop music.

So this is the ‘80s and I’m doing workshops everywhere in the world and I’m saying, “I’m in Norway and they’re doing ‘Blue Bossa’ and last week I was in the Ukraine and they’re doing ‘Blue Bossa’.” They had so much more in common than they know. So the idea was that this could be the perfect setting for cross-cultural communication.

I started in ’87 and I wrote to educators, called a meeting in ’89 and… now we just celebrated our twentieth anniversary. We have 40 countries represented, we’re on every continent. I feel very proud that all these 20 years we have a meeting with 150 kids and teachers, more or less – that’s, what, 3,000 people who have come through the doors and met people from 20 other countries that they never would’ve run across. Of course with media and the internet, that’s caught up with what I was thinking about in the ‘80s, but the idea of having physical proximity to people doing the same thing as you, using this music as the vehicle has got to lead to something positive. That’s my proudest achievement.

The other thing, of course, is I’m very proud to get this [NEA] award. To even consider myself in the same circle as Miles, Wayne, Herbie… they’re still on another planet, as far as I’m concerned, but to be considered anywhere near that category is an honor and I’m very gratified to partake of their air, where the air is rare [laughs].

JAZZed: What’s your proudest achievement, thus far?

DL: It’s IASJ. It was my attempt to try and make what we’ve been talking about real, in a material way. In other words, if this music is so powerful and if it’s such a great vehicle for communicating, it should be a perfect means of bringing people together from different places. There’s nothing more universal than music. We know the power of pop music – everybody knew Michael Jackson, that’s understandable. But this is a different thing, we’re talkJAZZed January 2011 43

focus session

20TH CENTURY MUSIC

Whatchamacallit

THE AGE OF AMBIGUITY: AN APT APPELLATION

BY LEE EVANS

A Brief History Starting with the fifth century, every period in music history is identified by a specific name, except for the 20th century and beyond.

The period stretching from roughly 400 to about 1400-50 is known today as the Medieval era – also called the Middle Ages.

The span from 1450 to 1600 is identified as the Renaissance, an era which featured a revival in Europe of classical art and learning that originated in Italy, a period of an awakening of intellectual awareness and the passing of European society from a religious to a secular orientation.

The period from 1600 to 1750 (the year of Johann Sebastian Bach’s death) is known as the Baroque era, an era of heavily ornamented art and music The span from 1750 until about 1827 (the year of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death) is referred to as the Classical era, a period characterized by what the music textbooks describe as “clarity of thought and beauty of form” in music.

What followed was the expressive and emotional music of the Romantic period, the dates of which are roughly 1827-1890, an era that emphasized the individual as never before in history, a period following the French Revolution in which power was transferred from royalty to the middle class.

Then on its heels came the 1890-1914 Impressionist movement, which featured more subtle art and music and reflected aesthetic sensibilities of French origin.

What name, then, should the world affix to most of the period after that? Right now, we identify the music of the 1900’s as 20th century music. However I feel that Leonard

44 JAZZed January 2011

Bernstein made the right call when he implied in his 1973 Norton lecture series at Harvard University that a good name for 20th century music would be The Age of Ambiguity. The logic of that expression is the subject of this article.

Diatonicism Composers of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries used as the basis of their music scales that were a combination of intervals of whole steps and half steps – specifically diatonic scales such as major and minor scales, with their five whole and two half steps – each, though, in a different arrangement of those intervals. Because of the employment of scales having a mixture of intervals, the music based on those scales offered a sense that one pitch, the tonic (first note of the scale), or chord built on the tonic tone, was more prominent than any of the others and served as the musical center of gravity. This phenomenon is known as tonality, the feeling that the music is in a particular key and revolves around a central or home tone.

Keep in mind that major and minor scales employ only seven of the twelve tones of the octave. During the Classical era, composers used predominantly those seven pitches, with the remaining five chromatic tones employed less frequently.

EXAMPLE: (Mozart Bb Major Sonata, K. 333) chromatic tone

focus session Chromaticism One octave of a chromatic scale consists of 12 pitches, each one-half step apart from the other. Unlike a diatonic scale with its uneven intervals of some half-steps and some whole-steps, it is the chromatic scale’s even interval relationships (all half- steps) that compromise tonality.

In the Romantic era, composers employed chromatic tones more often than composers in the preceding Classical period had, but their music to varying degrees still retained a sense of being in a particular key. A musical example of this is the love theme from Tschaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Overture, which uses 11 of the 12 tones of one octave, instead of just seven different tones of the major or minor scales The reason why tonality is still present in this composition, despite the increased use of chromatic tones, is that the dominant-to-tonic chord relationship underlying the melody still remains intact.

EXAMPLE: (Romeo & Juliet love theme)

By contrast, however, it was the late-Romantic composer Richard Wagner who, in the opening bars of his opera Tristan & Isolde not only employed chromaticism to a high degree, but in the process negated the dominant-to-tonic relationship through the deliberate avoidance of resolution of his dominant 7th chords. Note the dominant 7th chords in bars 3, 7, 11, 13 and 16 and the absence of tonic resolution of any of them in the musical example that follows. Also note that when a ‘resolution’ chord (F major) finally arrives in bar 17, it is a deceptive cadence in that this chord is not a resolution of any of the preceding dominant 7th chords.

EXAMPLE: [Tristan & Isolde]

JAZZed January 2011 45

focus session

Whole Tone Scale Claude Debussy, the leading French Impressionist period composer, invented and frequently employed the whole-tone scale, with its exclusively whole-step interval relationships. But what is even more significant in terms of the negation of tonality is that in this scale there is no dominant scale degree (5th note of the major or minor scale). Note the absence of the dominant note G# in the following C# whole tone scale. With there being no dominant scale tone present, there can be no dominant-to-tonic chord relationship.

EXAMPLE: (C# whole tone scale)

And in that connection, note the tritone span (C# - G) of the opening of Debussy’s Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun and the absence in that passage of the dominant tone G#, except for its use as a passing tone.

EXAMPLE: (Opening theme of Afternoon of a Faun)

One can already clearly recognize a historical trend: the gradual ‘ambiguifying’ of tonality over time.

BITONALITY A further tonal ambiguity occurred when Igor Stravinsky employed bitonality (being in two keys simultaneously) in his 1911 ballet Petrouchka: EXAMPLE:

46 JAZZed January 2011

focus session Polytonality And another spike in the heart of tonality was accomplished, again by Stravinsky, in his 1913 ballet “The Rite Of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps),” in which he employed polytonality (being in three or more keys simultaneously): EXAMPLE:

Atonality A final death blow to tonality was achieved when Arnold Schoenberg, in the 1920s, devised his 12-tone system (also known as serialism) to create and harness the forces of atonality (a word that translates to ‘without tonality’); which resulted in music in which no single tone acts as the musical center of gravity. While it has been argued that Shoenberg’s compositional system has resulted in an insubstantial body of musical literature in the repertoire, there’s no question that his method of composition has had a deep and profound impact on virtually all composers who came after him. Since the creation of his controversial compositional method, almost all composers have wrestled with the issue of how much tonality their music should contain.

The workings of Schoenberg’s 12-tone system will be the subject of my follow-up article in JAZZed.

End Note I hope that with this article the reader will acknowledge the appropriateness of Bernstein’s suggested name for 20th century music: The Age of Ambiguity.

Lee Evans, Ed.D., is professor of music at NYC’s Pace University. His most recent FJH Music Company solopiano publications are the late-beginner level / early intermediate level Color Me Jazz, Books 1 and 2, and the intermediate/late intermediate level Ole! Original Latin American Dance Music.

JAZZed January 2011 47

The Leading Edge

BY ANITA BROWN

A

s you might imagine, players are influenced by a wide range of artists over the course of their careers. We have heard about the early influences of our lead-player friends, and whether or not there was a shift upon achieving significant mastery of their instrument.

If one attends a number of live big band performances whose chairs are filled with the likes of these first-rate players, careful observation may afford you a window into their thoughts as they respond to one another with amazement and encouragement. At times you might see a subtle smile come across the face of a player who otherwise appears to be waiting patiently for his next entrance.

Other telling responses of unequivocal admiration range from facial expressions of astonishment, to good-natured, verbal heckling.

In this month’s installment of The Leading Edge we learn who the colleagues are that make these nine players take note. To read more and participate in further discussion visit Anita’s blog at www.anitabrownmusic.com and Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra on Facebook.

Who are the current colleagues whose lead playing you admire?

Dave Pietro, Alto; Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra, Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band: Dick Oatts, Jerry Dodgion and you could add Mark Vinci to that list. They all have great sounds, personal styles, consistency and they all know how to lead a section.

48 JAZZed January 2011

Steve Wilson, Alto; Maria Schneider Orchestra, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks: Charles Pillow is a consummate section mate in Maria’s band. He is consistently impeccable.

And I think Mark Vinci is the consummate professional. He loves what he does and his enthusiasm is incredible. He’s a great improviser and a lead player.

Dick Oatts, Alto; Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band: Lawrence Feldman, with Bob Mintzer’s Big Band is an excellent musician. He has very good pitch and styles Bob’s writing quite perfectly. He’s a great doubler and sight reader. His sound is smooth and versatile. Ted Nash with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis and now Lincoln Center Jazz Band is a fantastic allaround musician on all the reeds. He is a composer and great jazz player with tons of experience.

He can play lead on Broadway and at the same time take his own small group into the Village Vanguard for a week. Remarkable talent. David Glasser played with the Basie Band and has a great sound and time feel. Steve Wilson is an unsung lead alto player because most fans just know his soloing prowess. He’s got a good feel and is a good doubler. Charles Pillow is with Maria Schneider’s band; a multi reed player and improviser with a great feel for interpretation. Dave Pietro is a great player and educator who brings all that talent into his expression as a lead player.

Andy Fusco was with Buddy Rich for many years. Andy had a real be-bop take on lead alto; great smoothness in sound and his time was so relaxed. A favorite of mine. And Jon Gordon was on Harry Connick, Jr.’s band. He’s quick, versatile and a great soloist with great sound and strong technique.

Mark Patterson, Trombone; Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra, Dennis Mackrel Big Band: On my instrument, I love John Mosca’s conception with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Keith O’Quinn’s with Maria Schneider’s band.

John has a way of singing that feels

modern and funky to me—sort of understated expressiveness, which to me has a strong musical effect. Keith’s sound is so deep and steady and yet singing also in a subtle way—not just darkness of sound but depth with a nice movement. That sounds vague but it is hard to define in words the line between expressiveness and overstatement. Sometimes overstatement is appropriate and necessary and amazing, but for me, a lot of

times a subtle way of moving a phrase can make me feel something more deeply. I am lucky to have gotten to play with those guys and my thoughts have been shaped by theirs in a lot of ways. In the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, I also love the way Luis Bonilla plays lead, on the occasions when he steps into John’s chair.

Luis’ conception is his own, and it is exciting, strong and exuberant, still with a subtle time feel.

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Kevin Nichols - drums John Cooper - trumpet Michael Stryker - piano Jack Helsely - bass not pictured: John Mindeman - trombone John Vana - saxophone Matt Warnock - guitar

JAZZed January 2011 49

Again I still have to name some players of other instruments. Bob Millikan has an amazingly perfect conception of time and phrasing and a singing sound that just about makes me cry. Earl Gardner has a way with a phrase that sounds like beautiful song to me. Tony Kadleck has a way of making time sound very ‘right,’ and he combines that in a pretty much unequalled way with a pure clean sound. All of those guys are so easy to play with, and set a great tone musically and personally so that most of the leadership happens without their ever having to say anything. And Dennis Mackrel taught me some really valuable things about playing time, because his groove is so deep, but also in his band he rehearses things very explicitly; for instance there is a little phrase – an eighth note, a quarter note off the beat, and another eighth note off the beat, like in the last half of the first bar of Shiny Stockings, that the Basie band developed a certain way of stretching towards almost a quarter-note triplet feel – that he explained and sang in way that instantly helped me feel it much more clearly.

Keith O’Quinn, Trombone; Maria Schneider Orchestra, Bob Mintzer Big Band:

John Fedchock, Trombone; John Fedchock’s New York Big Band, Woody Herman Orchestra:

There are so many great ones that I admire now that it’s hard to narrow it down, but of course Jim Pugh is a great lead player. I’ve played with him a lot during my career. Although I haven’t heard enough of him I really like Andy Martin’s playing. Mike Davis, whom I’ve worked with for many years on Bob Mintzer’s band. John Fedchock, Larry Farrell and Birch Johnson are all great players. There are a ton of young guys in New York who are really good players that I admire a lot. Among them are Ryan Keberle, Marshall Gilkes, Tim Albright, and Mark Patterson. I’m a fan of all of them!

The NYC players I’ve worked with recently whose big band lead playing I respect and enjoy include Keith O’Quinn, John Allred, Jim Pugh and Dennis Wilson.

Tony Kadleck, Trumpet; Maria Schneider Orchestra, Gotham Jazz Orchestra: Raul Agraz: very strong, excellent time; Jon Owens: lead chops without lead ego and a great sound; Nick Marchione: extremely well rounded and a mature player, beyond his years; Frank Greene: insane Faddis-esque chops; Wayne Bergeron: seemingly effortless upper register, plays all styles, great vibe. Roger Ingram: amazing chops and a sound that sizzles above the band; Jason Carder: an all around great trumpet player; Augie Haas: a great lead player and a complete musician.

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50 JAZZed January 2011

Bob Millikan and Dave Stahl are two of my favorites. Bob doesn’t hold back when he plays. He lets it fly every time he picks up the horn. Dave’s playing is strong Photo: Matt Dine, and accurate and Photographer he plays with great finesse. Younger players whom I admire are Walter White, Tony Kadleck and Greg Gisbert. I enjoy listening to and playing with all of them.

outside the box

TRANSCRIPTION FOR BIG BAND

Transcribing A Score for Big Band

S

ooner or later, a jazz composition student will be asked to transcribe a solo from an album as a way of honing and improving listening and writing skills. Despite two degrees in classical composition, I was never tasked, as a student, with this kind of assignment. Since graduating with an M.A. (composition) from Hunter College in 2001, I have produced six CDs of original jazz and classical compositions, and have collectively written over 200 pieces. Never once, though, have I had to face the “transcription” monster.

Then, one late afternoon a couple of years ago, good friend and colleague multi-Grammy nominee Bobby Sanabria called to tell me he needed a transcription of a big band piece for a concert about two weeks later.

Not just the conductor’s score, but the parts, as well, for the 19-piece Afro-Cuban jazz orchestra at the Manhattan School of Music, no less! This band had already performed a few of my original pieces, so I was familiar with the players, but a transcription of a five-minute big band piece –“Me Acuerdo De Ti” from the album Cuba Y Puerto Rico Son – originally recorded by Latin jazz legend Tito Puente and sung by Celia Cruz! I was petrified.

But it was also a challenge I knew I had to face.

52 JAZZed January 2011

BY EUGENE MARLOW, PH.D. Since then I have transcribed several compositions for Sanabria’s Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. I have also discovered there are not too many folks out there doing this kind of work. Solo transcriptions, yes. Big band charts, no. One copyist I contacted even said, “This is beyond my expertise.”

Attributes for Big Band Transcription Work If you are student or teacher of students of works for big band, this is not a challenge for the faint of heart.

Creating a conductor’s score and parts from a vinyl record or CD takes several personal and professional attributes. The first is a great deal of patience. Unless you have a genius’ musical ear, you will need a lot of time, perseverance, and sonic repetition to get the job done. This kind of work can only be described as tedious, tedious, and more tedious.

The second is engraving chops.

You will hear things on the cut you may not have come across before.

Learning how to write it out in a way a musician can read with a high degree of accuracy requires knowing how to put the note and the dynamic on the page.

The third attribute is self-forgiveness. Now that I’ve succeeded in

outside the box transcribing several big band charts without a lead sheet (essentially without a net), I have found you won’t get it down 100 percent. If you get close, say 95 percent, be satisfied. On one chart, a 1919 recording of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues,” I just couldn’t hear all the notes in the arrangement in several sections. I finally settled on transcribing the “feeling” of the sections in my own way. It worked.

By the way, the first chart I transcribed for Sanabria was accomplished over a period of six days (including the parts). Going to the rehearsal I was highly trepidatious. Under Sanabria’s deft leadership, however, it turned out well. The singer, Rachel Perez, was excellent. It was recorded at a highly successful concert.

The Process Here, then, are the steps to succeed at this kind of transcribing: The first is an obvious one. You need to listen to the track. Not once, but numerous times. You need to get the chart into your head, so that it is highly familiar to you, even in your sleep. No exaggeration. In your sleep you’ll be working it out. Speaking of sleep, I have often found, even with narrative writing, that when I run into a problem or can’t solve it, sleeping on it allows my subconscious to resolve the issue.

This first step also helps you to realize the structure of the piece. How many sections are there? What is the key signature? Is a key required?

Sometimes a piece is so key-centered it makes sense to nail it for the musicians. In other cases it makes sense to take composer/arranger Gerald Wilson’s approach: No key signature!

I’ve done both.

The listening step also helps you determine how the big band choirs are used: which section takes the lead, provides support, and so on.

Listening to the cut also helps you determine the meter, tempo, and rhyth-

mic pattern or patterns. If it’s a Latin jazz chart, you can expect there to be changes in not only tempo and meter, but also rhythmic pattern, from perhaps a 4/4 guaguanco to a 6/8 bembe.

Both patterns can be played in the same two feel.

Next, before setting any notes to paper, presumably using a notation software program such as Sibelius or Finale, create the overall conductor’s score. Do all the scoring things that need to get done anyway: the title of the piece at the top of the first page, the title on all the following pages, the copyright at the bottom of the first page, the instrument names on the first page, the instrument abbreviations on subsequent pages, the font and size of page numbers, bar numbers, tempo, and opening dynamic. Be sure also to write “transposed score” at the top of the first page. While some people tend to write big band charts in “concert,” I have always written in transposed score from the very outset. It helps to keep each instrument in the appropriate range.

The next step requires musical parsing. Another way of saying this is “selective listening.” A big band chart inherently requires notation for several choirs: saxophones, trombones, trumpets, and a rhythm section, including piano, bass, drums, perhaps also percussion I, II, and III, whether Latin jazz or not. The rhythm section might also have a guitar and/or vibraphone. The chart might also require a line for a singer.

Selective listening requires you to only hear the line you are transcribing. It takes some focus, buy you’ll be surprised how effective this can be. In the beginning you listen to the whole chart to get a sense of the structure of the piece, where the repeats are, where the solos come in, and so on.

But when it comes time to actually start transcribing, you need to task yourself to only hear one instrument or choir at a time, to the exclusion of

everything else. This is the most challenging aspect of the process.

It’s an individual decision, of course, what choice to make next, but transcribing and scoring a big band chart can only be done choir-by-choir at the very least, or instrument-by-instrument at the very best. Common sense needs to dictate at this point.

In my own experience, I have often started with either the choir carrying the melodic line or the piano carrying the chordal changes. Sometimes you get lucky and the melodic line is very clear. Sometimes the underlying chords are clear and you start with that. Your choice should be guided by whatever you can hear best as you begin the process.

A word of advice here. Do this work without any other distractions.

You’ll be doing yourself and anyone within ear shot a favor, including a family member or spouse whom you will drive crazy by listening to a section or perhaps even a couple of measures over and over and over again in order to get it right.

Depending on your level of skill, start with transcribing the notes or making good guesses at the rhythmic pattern. Some patterns will be obvious, some others not. You also have the “test” of the recording itself. Presuming you have a CD copy of the track, you can go back and forth between the track recording and your transcription to determine how much is right. It might take you several tries (or more) before you get it right.

Another word of advice: go section by section. In other words, don’t attempt to transcribe one instrument part from beginning to end of the chart. If you do this, you’ll lose the compositional context of each section. You might also miss the built-in repeats or variations in the score.

Once you have at least one instrument in one section transcribed, listen next for the bass line. The bass line, together with the piano part, will give

JAZZed January 2011 53

outside the box you large clues as to the chordal patterns. In other words, consider strongly building the chart from the ground up.

This is not a hard and fast rule, but figuring out the chordal foundation will provide clues to the rest of the chart.

The answer is “It depends.” Sometimes writing out the opening melodic line first works best, sometimes the chordal pattern works best. If you choose the former, start with one instrument. Take either the trumpet section or saxophone section.

Often enough, the melodic line is carried by the instrument with the highest range in the choir. Start there, duplicating the line in the lower range instruments as you go, perhaps harmonizing along the way. Speaking of the saxophone section, in transcribing big band charts and in my own writing, I often put the baritone saxophone with the trombones, right above the bass trombone. This technique gives more depth to the trombone section.

I learned this approach from Michael Abene while studying with him privately as a member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.

Continue to go section by section in this manner. If you can’t hear the harmonies exactly, make it up to get as close to the recording as possible.

Consider duplicating what the trumpets are playing with the saxophone section, with either the soprano or alto saxophone supporting the first trumpet part. Parenthetically speaking, in my own writing I rarely have two altos in the sax section, preferring instead to have a soprano, one alto, and two tenors. The soprano sax offers a higher range in the section and provides opportunities for different colors when combined with the first trumpet, or even the first trombone.

In my own process, I usually finish by filling in the drum and/or percussion sections. Often enough, there are measures, usually at the end of a section, where the drums/percussion are in unison with the rhythmic pattern of the melody choirs. If you’ve figured out the rhythmic pattern for

54 JAZZed January 2011

the melodic instruments, you’ve also got it for the drums/percussion. Further, if you can’t figure out the pattern, there’s no shame in playing it for a colleague or fellow student who is proficient in drums and/or percussion. Drums/percussion covers a wide range of instruments, from those that are hit (with a wide variety of beaters) to a plethora of melodic instruments grouped in the percussion choir. Read Samuel Solomon’s book on How to Write for Percussion for a comprehensive guide to this big band choir. If you’re stumped, consult a professional. Moreover, often enough words will do the trick, i.e., just indicating the kind of rhythmic pattern required, such as mambo, bolero, or swing, gives the player all the indications required.

This kind of work cannot be rushed. More accurately, it shouldn’t be rushed. With each big band chart I have transcribed I have always heard something else upon repeated listening that has added to the authenticity of the piece. It could be a small run by the pianist, a series of incidental hits by one of the percussionists, or an ad-libbed series of notes by the bass player. It could be a small musical gesture by one of the sections that was not apparent upon initial listening. Search for these compositional “touches.” They’ll add to the feeling of a completed chart.

The Conductor’s Score & Parts: Just When You Think You’re Done Don’t be shy about using rehearsal letters and double lines in the conductor’s score and parts. The more, the merrier.

The rehearsal letters will be highly useful in the rehearsal of the piece, perhaps even during a performance when one section might get lost. Double lines are also useful. It breaks up the melodic pattern visually and gives the players clues as to the melodic line’s pattern. I’m also in the habit of using words in a part to describe what’s going on in the overall

score. This is especially useful when one choir (or more) has places where it’s not playing. If a player gets lost but hears another choir or solo instrument play a certain way and this is described in the part, this serves as a signpost that brings the player back into the right place.

Finally, there are the parts. I prepare my own parts using Sibelius. This step alone is an important part of the job.

The way a part is laid out on the page either supports or hinders the performance outcome of the chart. As many a group leader will tell you, rehearsal time is precious, whether for a trio or a big band. The first run-through will tell you how well a transcriber has done the job. The reading of the parts is the litmus test of not only the conductor’s score, but also how well the parts have been prepared.

To sum up, transcribing a big band chart is no easy task and it is not for the faint of heart, especially if there’s no lead-sheet to work with. But if you have aspirations to write in this genre, transcribing your favorite composer is a challenge worth accepting. You’ll not only learn more about the composer’s own technique, the experience will also contribute immeasurably to your mastery of a difficult skill as well as your composing and arranging chops.

Eugene Marlow, Ph.D., is an award-winning composer/arranger, producer, presenter, performer, author, journalist, and educator.

He has written over 200 classical and jazz compositions for solo instruments, jazz and classical chamber groups, and jazz big band.

Under the MEII Enterprises label, he has produced six CDs of original compositions and arrangements. His big band chart “El Aché de Sanabria (en Moderación)” appears on Bobby Sanabria’s Grammy-nominated album Big Band Urban Folktales (2007 Jazzheads).

Marlow is senior co-chair of the Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives Concert Series at Baruch College (The City University of New York), now in its 19th season, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in media and culture.

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in the classroom

Wally Gator Watson YOU WILL BE MISSED

BY BRAD HOWEY

“I PLAY FROM MY HEART, AND USE MY EARS AND EYES TO KEEP ME WHERE I NEED TO BE” – WALLY GATOR

Some years ago my students and I traveled to Moscow, Idaho to attend the University of Idaho’s Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival. We had worked hard to fund-raise over $15,000 in order to make the long trip from our island in Alaska, and were so excited to be there. We didn’t see many jazz headliners in our little town at the time, so we didn’t miss a single minute of a single concert and attended as many clinics and student performances as we possibly could. But for all that we saw and heard, one musician made such an impression on the kids that they couldn’t stop talking about him – that musician was Wally Gator Watson.

This is my fifth interview for JAZZed, and one of dozens all told. I have had the chance to interview some of the finest musicians in jazz, and count each opportunity as a special chance to learn from the masters.

Some of them are thoughtful, others passionate, and in their own way they are all inspiring. I had the chance to interview Wally back in 2009 as he was preparing to travel to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival here in Moscow, and certainly he was all of those things. But what I remember most about our conversation was his genuine humility. His voice trembled just a bit when we first started speaking, as though he were nervous. I remember being touched by that, and surprised. As Wally continued to talk about his life and the young people that meant so much to him, surprise was replaced by real admiration – a feeling that remains with me and so many others to this day. Wally passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, September 4th, 2010; and while there are so many things that can (and no doubt will) be said about his many gifts and contributions to this great music, I suppose it all really comes down to this: Wally, you will be missed.

56 JAZZed January 2011

in the classroom Brad Howey: Welcome, Wally – we’re so grateful for this time to be able to visit with you.

Wally Gator: Thank you, I’m happy to be here.

BH: Like so many of our readers, you began playing music when you very young and it has been a part of your life ever since. I wonder if you wouldn’t mind telling us the story of how you got your start.

WG: Well, my father was a drummer. He worked with Dinah Washington, and Jimmie Lunceford – a bunch of folks; and he used to drive me around to rehearsals, though at the time I really didn’t want to be a musician. My brother and I were into airplanes, and so that’s what I wanted to do. But my father made me play drums until I was about eight, when he and my mother split up and I went with her and was able to pursue my dream of becoming a pilot. As it turned out, up the street from where we lived there was a band that needed a drummer. And though I hadn’t played in years, my mother contacted my father and got me a snare drum and a big 22’ ride cymbal and that launched me back into music. One thing led to another, and since I had had some formal training I was the best in the neighborhood.

We were asked to play a retirement party and got paid $5 each (which equaled my entire weekly allowance at the time), and I thought: “This is great – I can do this!” Eventually we started playing gigs around New York. I made a record with The Five Stair Steps called ‘Moon Child’, moved on to join Wilson Picket, and the rest is history.

the business there were great drummers everywhere. I do remember this drum shop in New York where we used to go and look at the new gear, and this short older gentleman was there and walked up to me and said, “Hi there – I’m Philly Jo Jones.” But at that time I didn’t know who he was! ‘Truth is, I met a lot of great people in those days, but I never bothered to seek their wisdom – which probably would have put me on a different level. I was a drummer then because I could play drums; I wasn’t pursuing the idea of becoming some great drummer. I just took what came along. I do remember going into a club where Steve Gadd’s band was playing, and by the middle of the first song I started thinking it was time to look for a new job ‘cause these guys were killin’ me! I had thought I was pretty good, but I’m like, “Whoa.” Later on I remember a gig where Steve walked in and pulled out a piece of rumbledup notebook paper that he had written all of these notes on, and he began to play. For the first time I really began to analyze how he approached a song

that he’s never played before, and builds it up. He came over after that gig and recognized me, and we’ve been friends ever since. He is such a down-to-earth, humble guy, and has been an incredible influence on me.

BH: And yet you have built a successful career over all of these years. What do you believe was the quality that kept them coming back to you – that you see as the real strength of your playing?

WG: Well, through those early years I had no real respect for what I could do. I didn’t over-analyze things; I just put it out there. And I have maintained that approach to this day. I play from my heart, and use my ears and eyes to keep me where I need to be. And, I recognize that I play a supportive role. If I never get a drum solo, it never bothers me (which is part of why I worked so well with Lionel Hampton, ‘cause Lionel seldom gave out solos, and that was fine with me) – though when I do solo, people love it. Ultimately I’d say I just play from the heart.

BH: Who were your idols through those years – the people you looked up to or admired?

WG: Most of the drummers I heard growing up were local drummers that most people have never heard of. But once I got up into the upper levels of JAZZed January 2011 57

in the classroom

In the Classroom…

Activity

1) Wally said, “Truth is, I met a lot of great people in those days, but I never bothered to seek their wisdom – which probably would have put me on a different level.” Consider the great people in your life and all the wisdom they have to offer – wisdom that could very well put YOU on a different level – and choose one: what would you ask them if you could? What do you need to learn to put YOU on a different level?

2) Wally mentioned that Steve Gadd and Lionel Hampton were important people in his life and that they had had an important influence on him. Who are YOUR heroes – the people you most admire – and what has been their greatest influence on you?

3) Wally said that kids today have a real chance to make something positive happen; that they have the power to change the world, but that many times kids don’t believe that what they do really counts. What if he’s right and you really DO have the power to change the world? What are you doing to make something positive happen – what are YOU doing to change the world?

In the Classroom Follow-Up Activities for Directors • You know, I never told Wally how much he meant to my students; never thanked him for the positive influence he had on them, and I really wish I had. That was part of his legacy, and the thing is, he would have really appreciated it.

This spring your students will no doubt travel to some festival or other, and will come home talking about that one musician who truly inspired them. Consider taking the time as a class to send that artist a thank-you – to let them know that THEY have made a difference in the world. Teaching your students to show gratitude and respect for the great musicians that teach and inspire them is a great way for them to “make something positive happen.”

And the knowledge they gain from that simple expression of gratitude? Well, that will be a part of YOUR legacy.

BH: You have performed with some of the finest musicians in the world and played some really incredible gigs, Wally. Which were your favorites, and why?

WG:: That list is pretty long, and it’s really a matter of who respects me.

I respect every artist I work with for who they are, and what achievements they’ve made – until they take that respect away. There are some artists who will talk down to you, and want to make you think you’re less than them. I don’t have time for that. I’ll fire an artist in a heartbeat, and have actually told artists, “You’re fires – I’m outta’ here.” It’s all a matter of respect. I used to tour with an 58 JAZZed January 2011

artist named Carrie Flynn, and the first time I worked with her we went to North Carolina. We walked into the hotel and the hotel clerk said, “Miss Smith, we‘re glad to have you,” and he handed her three keys – one for her and two for the rest of us. Now, there were four members of the band and each of us was supposed to have our own room. Carrie asked, “Where are the rest of the keys? My contract says that my band gets what I get, so I’m going to need four more suites.”

He refused, so she told him to get the car back as we needed to head back to the airport. The next thing we knew, we had four suites! A similar thing happened on tour with Benny King in Japan. A lot of

artists won’t do that, but they did. It’s not a matter of ego to me – it’s a matter of respect.

Now, The Five Stair Steps came before the Jackson Five, and were a famous group at that time. As a kid it was very exciting for me to work with them. And I enjoyed the opportunity to work with Wilson Picket and the exposure that came from that gig. But Lionel Hampton was the biggest legend I’ve ever worked for. Lionel really took me under his wing and became the grandfather I never had. We became great friends.”

BH: Tell me, Wally – what’s something about Lionel that folks may not know

in the classroom that they should know; something you really appreciated?

WG: Well first of all, Lionel was a very religious man. He often read the bible several times a day on the bus, and did not go anywhere without it. And second, Lionel really loved kids. I think the reason he put so much into the festival in Moscow is because of what they do for kids there.

I don’t know many festivals that have that kind programming for the kids. And you know, Lionel was really a sweetheart of a guy – a really phenomenal guy.”

I love the innocence in children, and look at the older kids as having the opportunity to go through life and make something positive happen. So many kids today don’t think they count; they don’t believe that what they do makes a difference in the world. But it won’t make a difference if they don’t MAKE it make a difference. So if there’s something I can say to even one young person that will help them to make that difference, then I feel like I have really accomplished something. I also feel like a small part of my spirit lives on in any child I talk to, just as a small part of Lionel’s spirit is living on in me. It’s a legacy.

BH: I wonder if you could say a few words about the kids, Wally – you have such an ability to connect with them and to inspire them.

BH: Wonderful, Wally. We’re so grateful for your time. Any last words you’d like to leave us with?

WG: Well, when I look at kids, I see myself ‘cause I really enjoyed being a kid; and I guess in a way I’m still just a big kid.

WG: I guess the last thing I’d like to say is that kids have to remember that they count – that they have the power

to change the world; that no matter how bad you think your situation is, there are those around that have it worse than you and that in a moment, it can all change.

You’re gonna have your fun in life, but fun can wait. Work hard and then you can play hard. Buckle down and get your education. There are things you can do in music if that’s what you want to do, but whatever you do, you’ve got to find that passion – talent, desire, and passion.

Put them in line and you’ll have success.

Brad Howey is a doctoral student at the University of Idaho, an award-winning author, and an active performer. His most recent publications can be found in DownBeat and JAZZed magazine. While teaching high school music in Alaska, Brad founded and directed the Sitka Jazz Festival – bringing artists such as John Clayton, Steve Turre’, Paquito D’Rivera, The Air Force Band of the Pacific, and others to Sitka to teach, inspire, and perform.

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crossword

Across 1 Sax great 3 One of the world’s greatest altoists, Art ____ 7 “Spoonful” singer, first name 10 “For Me and My ___” 11 Flowery verse 12 Melody of successive single notes 13 Johnny and “Baby” 15 One of the most recorded bassists in history, first name 16 Important figure in the 60’s Free Jazz movement, ____ Bley 17 Blue 18 “Maharajah of the keyboard” first name 19 Hard bop trumpeter, first name 21 Jedi knight first name 22 Straight up ahead jazz bebop player, ____ Simpson 23 Jazz player’s bookings 24 Come together 26 Where it’s __!

29 Fundamental pitch on which a chord is based 31 Basics 32 _____quaver

60 JAZZed January 2011

Crossword by Myles Mellor

33 ____ band 35 Expression of delight 36 Musical notation for a repeating pattern of musical beats 37 Jimmy Dorsey’s instrument 39 “___ Band” 40 Practice diligently 42 Jelly Roll ____ 44 Continue 46 “Do Ya” rock grp.

47 A long time 48 Drummer, Elvin

Down 1 Composer of “I Remember Clifford” 2 Type of scale or chord (2 words) 3 Sound system 4 “Little Jazz” 5 Bass line that stays mainly on one note under several changes of harmony 6 Author of “The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization” 7 “Long Tall Dexter” 8 Wedding promise (2 words) 9 Jazz educator and teacher of jazz improv (2 words)

14 “___ Man River” 16 On the piano, a half step played simultaneously 20 For example 25 Record producers 27 Jack Jezzro album, Jazz on ____ 28 First note of a diationic scale 30 Melody 33 Types of guitar 34 Sense of “swing” 37 Fish ‘n Chips fish 38 Ending for a tune 39 ___ to music 41 “The loneliest number” 43 Timeworn 45 In the direction of

For the For the to solution solution to this issue's this issue's crossword, crossword, visit: visit:

www.jazzedmagazine.com www.jazzedmagazine.com

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JAZZed January 2011 61

Gearcheck to one of eight distinct velocity curves, or set a fixed velocity value. In addition, the range of the modulation wheel can be customized by setting minimum and maximum control change values. Weighing only 2.21 lbs, measuring (W x D x H): 22.24” x 5.47” x 2.13” and running on USB power, the microKEY is well suited for the laptop musician as well. www.korg.com

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King System Blue Brass Mouthpiece

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System Blue Mouthpieces also feature a medium sharp bite that allow performers to slot pitches and enunciate articulations while not losing the ability to play smooth. www.conn-selmer.com

62 JAZZed January 2011

Gearcheck Mapex Lite Snare

The Mapex Lite Snare was designed with the young drummer in mind; the package features a lighter weight kit with a fuller sounding snare drum than the previous MK14DL model. Mapex achieved this by replacing the previously used 14â&#x20AC;? x 3.5â&#x20AC;?

steel snare drum with the lighter 12â&#x20AC;? x 3.5â&#x20AC;? wood shell snare drum sporting a Silver Diamond Dazzle finish. The MK12DL comes with a comfortable, ergonomic backpack for the student to carry the kit.

Inside the backpack includes a snare stand practice pad and drumsticks. www.jupitermusic.com

Noteworthyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Horn Flush

Noteworthy Music Products has re-released their Horn Flush -- the professional do-it-yourself cleaning system.

After a few small hardware improvements, Horn Flush still uses the same formula. Components include Horn Flush Concentrate, available in multiple refill sizes and the exclusive Horn Blaster, the multiple directional high pressure sprayer used to blast away dirt and grime featuring five independent jets.

Horn Flush system retail price is $49.99.

Refills start at $19.99.

Horn Flush

also offers complete Tune-Up Kits featuring genuine manufacturer parts for popular name brand brass instruments.

The retail price starts at $21.99. www.noteworthymusicproducts.com

RS Berkeleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stan Getz Legend Series Mouthpiece

RS Berkeley and Drake Mouthpieces have collaborated on the Stan Getz Legend Series Mouthpiece. The mouthpiece

Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;xĂ&#x160;qĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;Â&#x2122;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;䣣 Faculty Todd Coolman Bill Cunliffe Curtis Fuller John LaBarbera Pat LaBarbera Dennis Mackrel Hal Miller Bobby Shew

summer 11

"vwViĂ&#x160;Â&#x153;vĂ&#x160;Ă&#x152;Â&#x2026;iĂ&#x160; i>Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x160;Â&#x153;vĂ&#x160;-ÂŤiVÂ&#x2C6;>Â?Ă&#x160;*Ă&#x20AC;Â&#x153;}Ă&#x20AC;>Â&#x201C;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;xÂŁn°xnä°xxÂ&#x2122;Â&#x2122;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°Ă&#x192;Â&#x17D;Â&#x2C6;`Â&#x201C;Â&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;i°i`Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x2030;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x2022;Â&#x201C;Â&#x201C;iĂ&#x20AC;

JAZZed January 2011 63

Gearcheck is an exact reproduction of the one Stan played exclusively. While it is an exact replica of Stan’s original vintage mouthpiece, right down to the teeth marks, the dynamics of the mouthpiece have been improved throughout. The Legend Series Mouthpieces are handmade in the USA by Drake and combine state of the art technology with hand finishing tradition. www.rsberkeley.com

DigiTech’s Live 5 Vocal Harmony and Effects Processor

DigiTech has introduced the newest addition to the Vocalist product line, the Live 5 processor. The Live 5 combines studio-quality audio performance,

64 JAZZed January 2011

state-of-the-art vocal processing, and an easy-to-use control interface to add up to four independent voices of harmony to a lead vocal to create a full five-part omers,

intermediate, and advanced players.

Some of the topics covered include: three-note “shell” voicings and special derived comp voicings; compete triad review including all close and open inversions on all strings; a section on develop-

ing “walking” guitar voicings; sections on triad applications such as “slash” chords, upper structures, hexatonic triad-pairs, and special “hybrid” voicings; and a complete method to develop a realistic simulation of Shearing-style block-chord voicings on guitar. The list price is $28.

Essential Grooves for Writing, Performing, and Producing Contemporary Music by Berklee College professors Dan Moretti, Matthew Nicholl, and Oscar Stagnaro, presents 41 different grooves covering all the important styles that have influenced contemporary music, each performed by live players -- soul, Motown, funk, rock, hip hop, jazz, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban styles, reggae and more. The book provides historical background, and licensefree audio examples can be used to create custom play-alongs and original music.

The list price is $24. www.shermusic.com

HotWax

New & Notable Music Releases All dates are subject to change

December 7

Malta – De Chopin [JVC]

Tony Addison – He Is Love [Pacific

December 21

Trish Clowes – Tangent [Basho] David Cook – Pathway [Brooklyn

Monty Alexander – Spunky [EMI] Kenny Dorham – Matador [Emi

Masahiro Andoh – Winter Songs

Fourplay – Let’s Touch the Sky

Coast Jazz]

Jazz Underground] [Sony]

January 4 Lynne Arriale – Convergence [Motema]

Japan]

[Universal]

Doug Macdonald – It’s A Blue World [Blujazz]

Sara Mitra – April Song [Impossible Ark]

Patricia Barber – Cole Porter Mix [Koch]

Ella Fitzgerald – Twelve Nights In Hollywood Vol. 1 & 2 [Verve] Mette Juru – Coming In From the Dark [Yamaha]

Sebastian Schunke – Vida Pura

[Timba]

Sleep Walker – Into the Sun [Jazzmin]

Chris Massey – Vibrainium [Spec-

Roger Kellaway – Stride! [EMI] Modern Jazz Quartet – Under the

tra]

Bill Perkins – Flame Of Mind [Amj]

Bob Degen – Jake Remembered

Jasmine Tree & Space [EMI]

December 28

December 14

Carmell Jones – Remarkable Car-

Angelo Debarre Quartet – Im-

Hank Jones Trio – 1979 Discovery

promptu [Fremeaux & Assoc.]

Ellis Marsalis – An Open Letter To Thelonious [Nu Jazz Entertainment]

mell Jones [Emi Japan]

[Phantom]

Bev Kelly – Long Ago & Far Away

[Phantom]

Roy Haynes Quartet – Out of the Afternoon [Hybrid]

George Russell – Jazz in the Space

January 11 [Enja]

Renaud Garcia-Fons – Mediterra-

nees [Enja]

Johnny Hartman – Voice That Is! [Analogue Productions]

International Hot Jazz Quartet – Havin’ A Ball [Arbors]

Cathrine Legardh – Gorgeous Creature [Storyville]

David Miller – Trio Rapture [Sum-

mit]

Age [Ais]

Matt Panayides – Tapestries Of Song [Pacific Coast Jazz]

Supersax – Salt Peanuts [Emi

O’Farrill Brothers – Giant Peach

Eddie Cano – Eddie Cano At P.J.’s [Tartare]

Yelena Eckemoff – Flying Steps John Mills Times Ten – Caffeine

Dreams [Fable]

Fredrika Stahl – Sweep Me Away [Columbia]

Japan]

[Zoho Music]

JAZZed January 2011 65

HotWax Fred Simon – Remember the River

Frank Comstock – Orchestra

John Scofield – Out Like a Light

Harvie S Torio – Too Late Now

Joe Lovano – Bird Songs [Blue

Marcus Shelby – Soul of the Movement - Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [Porto Franco]

[Naim]

Changing Patterns [Montpellier]

[Verita Note]

Note]

January 18

– Teach Me Tonight [Hybrid]

Jim Caruso – The Swing Set [Yellow

Sound]

Knud Jorgenson Jazz Trio Neon Quartet – Catch Me [Edition] Noah Preminger – Before the Rain [Palmetto]

[Enja]

January 25 Ernestine Anderson – Nightlife [HighNote]

Papa Bue – 80 at 80 Box Set [Storyville]

The Ex – Catch My Shoe [Fishtank/

Carrot Top]

Robert Hurst – Unrehurst Vol. 2

[Bebob]

Tom Luer – Project Popular [Origin] Keiko Matsui – Road [Shanachie] Donny Mccaslin – Perpetual Mo-

tion [Green Leaf]

The Lee Shaw Trio – Live at the Art Gallery Reutlingen [Arc] Jabbo Smith – Hidden Treasure

[GBH Music]

If you have information on an upcoming album or music DVD release which you’d like to have included in the next issue of JAZZed, please email editor Christian Wissmuller at: cwissmuller@symphonypublishing.com

66 JAZZed January 2011

CDShowcase The Richard Sussman Quintet “Live At Sweet Rhythm” featuring: Tom Harrell-tpt, Jerry Bergonzi-sx, Richard Sussman-pno, Mike Richmond-bs, Jeff Williams-dr Jazz Hang Records

Curtis Woodbury is an ‘up and coming’ to be sure! He has a varied and very interesting musical vocabulary....Inspiring!

- Jeff Cofn Curtis Woodbury is a young lion that plays jazz violin like no other, not to mention that he also wails on the saxophone. This CD will rock the jazz violin world.

This is a must hear album!!

- Ray Smith Visit www.jazzhangrecords.com Also www.curtiswoodbury.com Also see iTunes, Amazon mp3, etc.

The reunion of this incredible band is captured here in a rare and exciting performance from 2003, live at Sweet Rhythm in New York City.

“It is a celebration in every sense of the word… a magnificent tribute to jazz by some of the finest musicians you will ever encounter.” - Grady Harp, amazon.com “This is music without peer.” - C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz.com

Now available on Origin Records & at www.richardsussmanjazz.com

coming soon:

“Jazz Composition & Arranging In The Digital Age” - by Richard Sussman and Michael Abene Scheduled for Summer 2011 publication by Oxford University Press

“This is one of the most comprehensive books ever written on the subject. The detailed helpful hints on using Finale or Sibelius make this THE book to use in the 21st century. This textbook will be invaluable for college teachers, students, and professionals.”

- Rich DeRosa, professor of jazz composition and arranging, UNT “Richard Sussman and Michael Abene have created an all encompassing look into the techniques and methods for realizing a musical arrangement… This book looks incredible!”

- Gil Goldstein Contact richard@richardsussmanjazz.com for sample chapters & audio examples

“Carl firms his place in a lineage of truly great trumpet players.”

– Billy Joel - 2010.

Jens Wendelboe's Big Crazy Energy New York Band

"Inspirations" Vol. 1

“Carl Is one of the best jazz trumpeters of today.”

The Late Trumpet Virtuoso – Maynard Ferguson.

Jazz Hang Records "...clearly there's a lot of talent on hand, not the least of which is displayed by Wendelboe, whose work here places him among the best of modern jazz's big-band leaders." - Jazziz - 2010.

On a Warm Summer’s Evenin’ •Mark Watkins, soprano & alto saxes •Brent Jensen, alto saxophone •Sandon Mayhew, tenor saxophone •Jon Gudmundson, baritone saxophone “Beyond their diversity and awless ensemble work, two of the most appealing dimensions of FOUR’s o ering are Watkins’ pen and the virtuosity of each individual. Watkins’ diversied, fresh, and engaging writing results in new discoveries with every listen.”

- Ed Calle Visit www.jazzhangrecords.com Also www.fourjazz.com Also see iTunes, Amazon mp3, etc.

"...this record bears repeated listening, which brings growing enjoyment" -All about Jazz - 2010.

Downloadable at Downloadable on itunes.com CD available at cdbaby.com.

Yamaha performing Artist/Clinician.

Available for Concerts/Clinics.

Check out and contact Mr. Fischer at:

www.fischmusic.com

www.cdbaby.com/cd/bcenyb Also available on itunes.com Charts are available Conn-Selmer performing Artist/Clinisian Available for Concerts/Clinics.

Check out and contact Mr. Wendelboe at:

www.crazyenergy.com

JAZZed January 2011 67

CDShowcase Sherrie Maricle

An extraordinary, powerhouse 10-piece ensemble from Austin, TX ...

& The DIVA Jazz Orchestra,

john mills

FIVE PLAY

times ten

and The DIVA Jazz Trio

john mills

times ten

Currently booking concerts and clinics through 2012.

Visit our website

Ca¤eine Dreams

divajazz.com for audio & video clips and free downloads.

“Fresh, ear-catching originals full of tight twists and turns”

Look for our new recording in March 2011 with the great Johnny Mandel, live from Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola!

CD available at www.fablerecords.biz

Compact Disc

For concerts & clinics contact

A Morning Glory

Artist

Dotti Anita Taylor

mike@bbabooking.com 512 477 7777

Dennis Tini Trio and Quintet

Flutist, Pianist, Composer, Arranger, Transcriber

Dennis Tini Duo

The Eyes of Youth

Featuring Chris Collins

(Les Yeux de la Jeunesse)

The 'eQQLs TLQL 4uDUtet TULo 4uLQtet Dennis Tini, Jeff Halsey, Ray Tini, Dave Taylor Chris Collins, George “Sax” Benson April Arabian-Tini, Larry Nozro

Time Will Tell . . .

WKH H\HV RI \RXWK "I like it. I like it"

...Frank Wess

"one of the best flute recordings to debut in years" ...Peter Sanchez, All About Jazz Available at www.cdbaby.com/dottianitataylor Cover:original oil painting by Dana Gray Visit www.dottianitataylor.com Bookings:718-468-7376

68 JAZZed January 2011

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Dennis Tini tours internationally as jazz pianist/composer and choral conductor/clinician throughout Europe, South Africa, Canada, the US and South America.

CDs available at: cdbaby.com/cd/tinitrio.

Concert booking: d_tini@wayne.edu (313) 577-2545

GHQQLV WLQL

CDShowcase The New CD by NDUGU CHANCLER

DENIS JULES GRAY Author/Playwright

Gregory Joseph Foster, Jr., Creative Producer

featuring the drummer/ percussionist

CliniciansCorner

0HO 0DUWLQ

$YDLODEOH IRU &OLQLFV 0DVWHU FODVVHV DQG *XHVW 6RORLVW

Live in concert on vibes , timbales and percussion

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

A powerful parable about the jazz life â&#x20AC;&#x153;dedicated to all the cats in the band,â&#x20AC;? this CD dramatization doubles as a time capsule, sounding a lot like a hip radio play of that era, Gray is a master of nuance. The result is all jazz, a butbeautiful, most moving marriage of word & song, one that speaks both to the ages & for the condition we are in right now. -- Kirpal Gordon Now Available Worldwide:

www.blacklovenotes.com

0DVWHU :RRGZLQG -D]] 6RORLVW %LJ %DQG $UUDQJPHQWV $YDLODEOH 5LFR DQG <DQDJLVDZD $UWLVW ³$ JUHDW WHDFKHU ´ 6WDQ *HW] ³, DP PRVW LPSUHVVHG ZLWK 0HO 0DUWLQœV PXVL FLDQVKLS ´ %HQQ\ &DUWHU

³,I \RXœUH ORRNLQJ IRU D JUHDW FOLQLFLDQ 0HO LV WKH PDQ ´ /\QQ %DNHU

KWWS PHOPDUWLQ FRP PHO#PHOPDUWLQ FRP

Darrell Katz Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra A Wallflower In The Amazon

Double CD $

20

plus $4 S&H

Over his career and small discography, bandleader Darrell Katz has forged an identity as a progressive and creative orchestrator of new music in a way that few can claim. Beyond the modern signatures of Gil Evans and Maria Schneider, the style of Katz is best knownnot only for jagged edges and vast colors of the musical spectrum as much as directcorrelations to tradition. -All Music â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wallflowerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; reflects his ambitiously eclectic vision, opening with a rapturous reinterpretation of Duke Ellingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rarely heard â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Like the Sunriseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;Ś The Boston Globe â&#x20AC;&#x153;The versatility of the band is breathtaking, ranging from moody blues to ear splitting bouts of cacophonic climaxesâ&#x20AC;? Borderland â&#x20AC;&#x153;The band plays with drive and vitality. the soloists responding with imaginative fire to the charts and the ensemble. This is contemporary big band music of a very high order, written and played with considerable skill and integrityâ&#x20AC;?-swing2bop.com/reviews.

jazzcomposersalliance.org available at amazon.com, allegro-music.com, itunes.

T2CD-1125 Order Online! tantaraproductions.com

Stan Kenton

This Is an Orchesta

A COLORFUL, FASCINATING AND DRAMATIC JOURNEY THROUGH THE MOMENTOUS FRONTIERS OPENED BY THE KENTON CARVAN! EACH OF THE FOUR DECADES IS REPRESENTED BY ARGUABLY ITS MOST INFLUENTIAL KENTON ORCHESTRAS! To order by mail, send check or money order for $24 U.S. to:

Productions, Inc. 3533 Lake Shore Drive â&#x20AC;˘ Joliet, IL 60431

www.tantaraproductions.com tanprod@aol.com

JAZZed January 2011 69

Classifieds Accessories

iHearit

Books

JAZZ SAXOPHONE ETUDES & DUETS BOOK & CD PLAY-ALONG SETS BY GREG FISHMAN

Slow Down, Loop, and Transcribe Music on your iPhone for

Endorsed by Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Jerry Coker, James Moody, Mark Colby, Bob Sheppard, & Jamey Aebersold.

$4.99.

Visit: WWW.GREGFISHMANJAZZSTUDIOS.COM for free sample etudes and duets.

Available on the App Store, or go to http://ihearit.net for more info.

www.JAZZedmagazine.com

DVDs

Instruments

Merchandise

joesaxwoodwinds@gmail.com

Hardware

70 JAZZed January 2011

Merchandise

Classifieds Merchandise

Advertise in the Classifieds!

Call Maureen 1-800-964-5150 ext. 34 mjohan@symphonypublishing.com

AdIndex Company Antigua Winds, Inc. J.J. Babbitt Co. Inc. Bari Woodwindsca Summer Symposium Berklee College of Music Cannonball Music Instruments Capital University Daniel Smith Darrell Katz David Gage String Instrument DIVA Jazz Orchestra Dotti Anita Taylor Dr. John Mills Dutch Impro Academy Eau Claire Jazz, Inc Fisch Music Production Five Towns College Humber College Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Jamey Aebersold Jazz Hang Records Jazz Hang Records Jens Wendelboe Jeremy & Jason’s Jazz Theory Bootcamp Jody Jazz John Fedchock Juilliard School of Music Legere Reeds ltd.

Mel Martin Ndugu Chancler North Central College Orbark Productions Pearl Corp.

PJLA Music Products Richard Sussman Roger Shell SaxQuest, Inc. Shenandoah University Skidmore Smart Chart Music Stanford Jazz Workshop Trinity Jazz Festival US Army University of North Florida University of Michigan University of Northern Colorado USC Thornton School of Music Vocal Visions Warburton Music Products Wayne State University Western Illinois University Avedis Zildjian Co.

Email/Web www.antiguawinds.com www.jjbabbitt.com www.bariwoodwinds.com www.berklee.edu www.cannonballmusic.com www.music.capital.edu www.danielsmithbassoon.com www.dkatz@berklee.edu www.davidgage.com www.divajazz.com www.dottianitataylor.com mike@bbabooking.com www.dutchimproacademy.com www.eauclairejazz.com www.fischmusic.com www.ftc.edu www.humbermusic.ca www.iu.edu www.jazzbooks.com www.jazzhangrecords.com www.jazzhangrecords.com www.crazyenergy.com www.JazzTheoryBootCamp.com www.JodyJazz.com www.johnfedchock.com www.juilliard.edu www.legere.com www.melmartin.com www.northcentralcollege.edu www.wttw.com www.pearldrum.com www.pjlamusc.com www.richardsussmanjazz.com www.lavendershell.com www.saxquest.com www.su.edu www.skidmore.edu www.barnhouse.com www.stanfordjazz.org www.trinityjazzfest.net www.goarmy.com/audition www.unf.edu www.music.umich.edu www.uncjazz.com www.usc.edu/schools/music www.vocalvisions.net www.warburton-usa.com www.music.wayne.edu www.wiu.edu www.zildjian.com

Page # 5 41 36 11 16 39 68 69 43 68 68 68 40 12 67 50 1 33 cov2 67 67 67 34 13 62 29 38 69 69 9 66 cov 4 42 67 69 57 59 63 61 40 63 17 51 64 37 27 28 35 68 49 15

JAZZed January 2011 71

Backbeat

James Moody 1925 – 2010

Known simply as Moody to his friends and family, James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia on March 26, 1925. A gifted saxophonist and flutist, he began his career in the 1940s playing with Dizzy Gillespie, who he referred to as his musical father. Moody received recognition early in his career for his 1949 instrumental solo on the song “I’m in the Mood for Love.” In 1952, singer Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to Moody’s improvisation, and the arrangement came to be known as “Moody’s Mood for Love” which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.

By the end of the ’40s, James had left Gillespie’s big band and moved to Europe. He returned to the U.S. in the early ’50s to lead his own group and rejoin Gillespie for much of the ’60s.

Moody produced some of his strongest recordings in the 1970s, first for the Muse label, later for Warner Brothers. His most recent album, Moody 4B, was released in 2010.

In 2005, James, together with his wife Linda, established the Moody Scholarship Fund at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College SUNY. In 1998, the National Endowment for the Arts named Moody a Jazz Master, as did Harvard University in 2010. He has also been given several lifetime achievement awards from various institutions.

With his wife at his side, James Moody passed away at a hospice in San Diego on December 9 after a 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 85.

72 JAZZed January 2011

Save The Date!

In the immortal words of one of jazz’ most notable innovators, LOUIS Satchmo Armstrong…

To Jazz or not to Jazz…

There is no question!

Call it what you want, but by chance, through karma, serendipity, destiny, fate, providence, or luck…we are proud to announce the Third Annual JEN Conference in yet another city with LOUIS in the title... LOUISville, Kentucky… We think Three’s a CHARM! Come experience all Louisville has to offer, as we will be collectively…

JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK

Developing Tomorrow’s Jazz Audiences Today!

Louisville, Kentucky January 4-7, 2012

The Jazz Education Network

is dedicated to building the jazz arts community by advancing education, promoting performance, and developing new audiences.

For complete membership information/benefits please visit us at: www.JazzEdNet.org

Feel.

ROLANDO morales-matos

LIKE NO OTHER

The Adams Vibraphone family offers feel like no other instrument. Our advanced damper mechanism allows easy access to spring tension control for featherlike pedal feel and ďŹ nesse. This feature is standard thoughout our line from the student level Soloist Series to our professional Artist Series.

The choice of international recording artist Rolando Morales Matos whether playing in the orchestra pit in the Broadway production of The Lion King or the intimate setting of a jazz quartet at Birdland.

The nucleus of feel.

See them all at pearldrum.com

Our feather touch damping mechanism.

Artist Series AV-1

Adams instruments are proudly distributed in the U.S. by Pearl.