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VOL.31, NO.3
Love music? Time to get jazzed
Finding a niche In 12 years as director of the Jazz Workshop, Pieper has found a rare combination for a jazz musician: Steady work, a full-time job and artistic enjoyment. “It is nice to have a little more consistent job than relying on the gig economy, which jazz musicians have always done,” he said. In the past, Pieper taught guitar lessons.
MARCH 2019
I N S I D E …
PHOTO BY JIM QUINN
By Mike Doan “You must join a jazz band!” shouted my sight-singing teacher after I played a few bars on the piano. “What? I’m 76 years old. Who would want me?” I replied. Well, the Jazz Workshop did. Paul Pieper, who runs the 18 two-hour classes and jam sessions every week in Tysons Corner, had me sit in on a session so we could size each other up. Since I took jazz piano lessons in my 40s, I had always played alone, usually at home and occasionally at parties. I had a paid gig once, but I refused to play the host’s favorite song because I didn’t like it. I was not invited back. After I retired as a journalist in 2009, I took up singing, and the grand piano sat quietly at home, used only to get the right pitch for practicing a song. Yet at my first session, Pieper was positive. “You’ll fit right in nicely,” he said. “You know the chords, you can comp (accompany) and you can improvise.” My four band mates seemed pleasant and accomplished, and I quickly realized I was no longer a solo performer. “You shouldn’t play the root note of the chord. That is for the bass player,” Pieper said gently. “And it’s best to keep in time with the bass player and drummer.” One thing I learned is that jazz is a lot more structured than I thought. After the saxophonist or trumpet player lays out the melody, we take turns soloing, usually every 32 measures. Then we each play four bars and the drummer solos on four bars. It’s easy to get lost unless you listen for cues and keep up the 1-2-3-4 count. Players are even told to look at the face of the soloist to see if he or she is finished before taking their turn. “And at the ending of the piece, don’t look at the notes so much. Just get a sense of what everyone is doing,” Pieper advised.
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ARTS & STYLE
Jamming at a Wednesday afternoon session of the Jazz Workshop are (left to right) Judy Grass on guitar, Robert Jordan on drums, Paul Pieper on bass and Mike Doan on piano. Pieper started the popular workshops for amateur musicians, and leads about 18 sessions per week.
“I found there were a lot of people good at that, but not many who could teach a small jazz group,” he said. Pieper, who performs frequently in the Washington area, is so versatile that he fills in on piano, saxophone, bass, guitar or drums when there are gaps in the group. “In the weekly instrumental jazz sessions, you gain an appreciation for other instruments,” said Mike Kuzmik, 66, a dental surgeon who plays saxophone. “Paul’s ability to hear what is being played — and what should be played — is amazing.” Pieper’s classes, held every day of the week, are made up largely of professional and business people of all ages, “most of them with demanding career and family obligations,” he noted. Participants (who pay $65 per two-hour session) are placed
in groups according to their ability, ranging from beginner to advanced.
A wide variety of experience The sessions are held in a comfortable space within an office park at 8455-A Tyco Road in Vienna. Pieper likes to play recorded music between sessions, and there is a row of some of the greatest jazz albums posted along the wall. There is also a separate program for jazz vocalists called the Vocal Workshop, run by pianist Chris Grasso. [See sidebar, “A workshop for jazz singers,” on page 46.] Pieper’s sessions attract a few professional musicians who like to play straightahead jazz “with no compromise and no See JAZZ, page 46
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