Person in Person

I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while, but I never got around to it until now.

A few weeks ago, Paul DeMarinis, Director of Jazz Studies here at Webster, was lucky enough to get Eric Person to come and visit Webster for a day. If you don’t know who Eric Person is….I will tell you! Eric is a world-renowned saxophonist that has played with some of the biggest jazz musicians in the world. His most famous gig was a three-year stint with the Dave Holland Quartet. Anyone who knows jazz knows that Dave Holland has consistently kept one of the most exciting jazz groups in the world in his quartet, and more recently his quintet. Eric was Holland’s sax player just prior to Chris Potter, who is my favorite modern saxophonist.

Needless to say, when I heard Paul had convinced Eric to come to Webster to critique our jazz masterclass and give a clinic for all the sax player, I was pretty excited. I had heard a few tracks of Eric playing with Dave, but I didn’t have a complete album. So a few days before Eric came, I headed down to the local record store here in Webster Groves called Euclid Records. It is probably about a hundred yards from campus, so I had time to go with a friend between classes. As it turns out, Euclid had one used copy of the one album that Eric recorded with Dave Holland, Dream of the Elders. That’s how Euclid is…you always find what you’re looking for!  

Anyway, Eric ended up providing some great insights at masterclass and gave a fantastic clinic for the sax players. He even signed my album, which was pretty cool. We even got to talk for a little while, which was even cooler! This was certainly an exerience I will never forget.

- Matt

A Post About The Rewards of Being A Good Student (Sort Of).

I’M SO BUSY! Bagel, class, lunch, class, rent a tuxedo for orchestra concert, study for a test, class tonight. This semester is crazy. Don’t ever take 21 hours, no matter how badly you want to graduate (or study in Vienna…). I suppose the best way to deal school is to take it one day at a time, and also to remember to take small breaks throughout the day. For example, I have 1001 things to do in the next week, but right now I’m sitting here, enjoying the rain and having a coffee, listening to Britten’s ‘Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”. It’s the little things that make the difficult things worthwhile, I suppose. Or something like that.

So. Reason #17 to be a diligent student: FREE STUFF! I never thought that just by checking my email hourly and by hanging out at the music building all the time that I would get a bunch of free stuff, but I was wrong. Yesterday, I got an email from Dr. Carter about free tickets to the SLSO this weekend. The email said that the first two people who responded would receive the tickets, and since I spend most of my free time on the internet, I was the first person to respond. Booyah, now I’m going to the SLSO for the third week in a row.

Also, there are many free scores to be found in the music building. I’m not saying that you should take every score that you see lying around, however the library often donates boxes of scores to the music department for student use. In the past few years, I’ve been extremely fortunate to find many GREAT scores and books, including (but not limited to): the Symphonie Fantastique score, all Brahms’ symphonic scores, a few Beethoven and Haydn symphonic scores, Book II of the Dover collection of Strauss’ Tone Poems, the full score to Mahler II, etc. I’ve also picked up a lot of awesome theory, orchestration and history books.

I feel pretty lucky to be in a program that has so much to offer me. It’s not even the actuality of having free things, as much as the fact that Webster really gives me a lot of opportunities to have great cultural experiences. Between the Film Series, getting tickets to the SLSO, studying abroad, the MCISA, and other things that happen around campus, it really pays off to keep an eye out for information about events that you might enjoy.

If there is a moral to this post, it would be: “Always check your email from Dr. Carter, and spend a lot of time at school so that you can get free stuff.” I’m going to see about having that engraved above the front door of Thompson.

- Adam

P.S. The last minute of this Britten piece is REALLY awesome- you should check it out if you don’t already know it.

A Quick Link

This week has been a whirlwind of activity, but I wanted to just take a moment to share a link to a great interview with the Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins.

As you may or may not know, Sonny made a visit to St. Louis a few weeks ago for a one-night show. Unfortunately, I couldn’t scrape up the cash to get a ticket, but I heard it was absolutely fantastic. The guy is 79 years old and still killin’!

Anyway, here is the link. The interview is focused mostly on Rollins’ facination with Westerns. It’s really a facisating read. Hope you enjoy:

http://www.jazzwax.com/2009/10/interview-sonny-rollins-part-1.html

Oh, and by the way, GO CARDINALS!!!

- Matt

I’ve Done Almost Nothing This Week But Listen To Mahler and Watch Dexter.

There’s always a reason I’m up this late. Tonight, it’s equal parts Mahler 1 and Beethoven 7.

It’s been an eventful week, both playing and listening. Last weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing the SLSO’s first concert of the season. I have to say, without reservation, that it was one of the finest concerts that I’ve seen there. They opened with Golijov’s ‘Azul’, which was a totally incredible piece of music. Part neo-Romantic, part post-minimalism, ‘Azul’ was a beautiful arrangement of sounds, colors, and ideas. I thought the hyper-accordion added a lot to the piece, as did the percussion. And the cello was unspeakably good.

And Mahler 5… what can anyone even say about it? Susan Slaughter totally nailed it (and my musical mind immediately makes the connection between her nailing her part, and nailing a coffin because the first movement was a funeral march… sorry… NOT FUNNY!) But seriously, it’s an unbelievable symphony, and the SLSO offered one of the most intelligent and inspired performances I’ve heard of it.

I feel like Matt said what needed to be said about the Webster Symphony Orchestra. Playing with them is going to be a pleasure.

Concert forecast: Tonight I’m driving to Columbia to see Grizzly Bear. This weekend, SLSO is doing a great program, which I will paste from their website instead of rewriting it (because I’m lazy):

COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2
HARRIS Symphony No. 3
JANÁČEK Sinfonietta

Also, the Wind Ensemble concert is on Monday. It should be pretty cool, so check it out if you have a chance. That’s about all I know at 2:30 a.m.

- Adam

P.S. Derick Tramel got me hooked on the T.V. show Dexter. I hate T.V. and never watch it (except for Lost), but I’ve gone through these DVDs pretty quickly. I have to say, the show is really exciting. Check it out if you have hours and hours to waste (I don’t, but somehow I’m making the time this week). I started Season 1 earlier this week, and I’m now almost through Season 3. Reading that, I’m embarrassed. Goodnight.

Symphony Time!

Tonight was the first full rehearsal of the Webster University Symphony Orchestra. Adam, Colton, and myself were all there. I played clarinet on Williams Grant Still’s “Afro American Symphony” and saxophone on George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”

As you may have guessed, the focus of this concert is on American composers. In addition to the Still and Gershwin, the orchestra is playing Aaron Copland’s “Rodeo” and “Fanfare for the Common Man,” as well as Donald Grantham’s “Exhiliration and Cry.” With it being Dr. Davis’ first concert as maestro of the orchestra, it’s going to be a packed house…and I am so excited! The group sounded great tonight.

If you live anywhere near the St. Louis area and want to hear some great music, come to the concert on October 11th. It’s going to be a blast!

I’m getting too excited about this….I need to do homework and go to bed.

The Jazz Ear

I just got done reading a great book by Ben Ratliffe, the jazz critic for the New York Times called The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music. Basically, Ratliffe went and talked to some of the greatest living jazz artists (Wayne Shorter, Roy Haynes, Joshua Redman, Brandford Marsalis, Maria Schnieder, etc.) and asked them a simple question: “What music do you listen to, and why?” Some of the answers were quite shocking and amazing.

For one, I thought it was VERY cool that Wayne Shorter is into Vaughan Williams. He specifically references “The Lark Ascending,” the Vaughan Williams violin concerto for orchestra, which is my all-time favorite piece of classical music! How cool is that?

Also in the book, Ornette Coleman has a lot of interesting choices of music and knowledge to share, and Maria Schneider’s explanation of how she hears music is absolutely stunning. Roy Haynes speaks mostly in riddles, and Hank Jones talks about playing with practically every great jazz player ever. So cool to hear stuff straight from these guys’ mouths.

If you are into jazz, or simply into how great musicians hear music, get this book now!

I’m Tired Why Am I Writing This Go To Bed.

Man, it’s so late. Listening to Radiohead after midnight should be prohibited in this country… Anyways, I really should go to bed, but I wanted to share something first.

I frequent the blog of concert pianist Jeremy Denk. I think he really has a lot to say, both as a pianist and a musical thinker . Reading his blog makes me really appreciate the internet- I think it’s great that we can have instant access to the lives and minds of great musicians. It’s interesting to consider how the avenue of musical thought has progressed in the past 200 years; it was in the early 19th century that musicians moved past the idea that music was just another job that one did to earn a living. I mean, while Bach is considered one of the greatest musical minds in history, he wasn’t exactly rockin’ the boat in the ‘music=art’ department. On the cover page of the Well Tempered Clavier, he wrote: “for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study.” For the pastime! For PASSING TIME! Clearly, one of the most revered musical compositions of the common practice era wasn’t written just for passing the time!

Enter Beethoven, who wanted more. His music, especially symphonies, provoked even the most knowledgeable musicians to wonder if there was really more to music than just passing time. Somewhere in this beautiful music was a hidden message, as if to say “this music is ABOUT something!” Not quite programmatic, but definitely not purely vocational, Beethoven falls into a class all by himself, perhaps at the crux of one of the most important transitional periods in music history. And now, 200 years later, we sit at the computer and read what musicians have to say about other musicians’ work. Because it means something.

I really didn’t mean to write that much. Just inspired, I guess. Here’s a link to Jeremy Denk’s site. Some of his posts are hysterical, others are incredibly intuitive. Enjoy.

http://jeremydenk.net/blog/

- Adam

What A Surprise!!!

Today was a great day. Why? Well, my roommate surprised me and my girlfriend with tickets to see the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra play “Blue Planet” for our one year anniversary! I suppose I had mentioned it to my roommate when I first heard about it. They are going to show scenes from the television show “Blue Planet” on a huge screen while the orchestra plays the music from the show live. It’s probably won’t be the most musically moving show the symphony has ever performed, but it still sounds like a neat idea. I’m very excited to go see it!

Speaking of great live music, Kenny Garrett, probably the jazz alto saxophonist for the last 15 years or so, is coming to Jazz at the Bistro next month, and I’m pumped! I’m transcribing one of his solos for my private saxophone lessons right now, and it’s been a real challenge (great fun though….I love transcribing!).

Today, Peter Mayer, longtime guitarist for Jimmy Buffett, did a clinic at the Music Building about the music business and his life in music. The guy is a great musician and had lots of wisdom to share. I almost didn’t go (I was super busy today), but I’m very glad I did.

I’ll leave you with a link to a great mashup of Radiohead and Dave Brubeck Quartet. Doesn’t sound possible? Well check it out, and prepare to be proven wrong.

If Paul Desmond were alive today, he’d fit right in with Thom Yorke and the boys.

http://jazzy.blog.bg/muzika/2009/08/07/radiohead-vs-dave-brubeck.375949

- Matt

Which music is which…?

I read an article today from the NY Times that introduced me to a project of Ronen Givony called “Wordless Music.”  Its based around the ideas and his opinions that new indie music and music from the classical realm aren’t the extreme opposites that they are seen as.  The performance method is a programming of both genres on a concert.  Basically, someone that goes to see, say an indie band, also sees a classical performance.  Of course, it works the other way around, as the classical patron sees the indie band.

I’ve blogged previously about the mixing of musical worlds, such as indie and rock music performed in conjunction with an orchestra (examples include The Moody Blues, Sufjan Stevens, and Metallica).  I find it to be interesting that rather than combine them by writing either orchestral music incorporating rock oriented processes or rock music with an orchestra, the concept is that they aren’t necessarily worlds apart on their own… therefore can be played on the same program to one audience.

On a side note, there has been a recent resurgence of vinyl pressings as indie bands are getting into vinyl, along with mainstream groups getting back into to the media form.  I have always preferred a vinyl album, or even an 8-track, to a CD because of the difference in sound quality that exists.  What do you think?

-Colton

http://www.wordlessmusic.org/

A Bach Joke, Some Musical Outings, Bach The Serialist.

Some studio producers are making a movie about the lives of J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart. They want to hire some big name actors to play the roles, so they call Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Hanks. The studio doesn’t care which actor plays which composer, so they let the two actors decide. “Which one do you want to be?” Arnold asks Tom. “Oh, I don’t care at all, you should decide,” Tom says. “Ok,” says Arnold. “How about you be Mozart and I’ll be Bach.”

Bad joke. I guess that one only works if you say it out loud.

Last night I went with some friends to see The Dusty Brothers- a band that includes both current and former Webster Music students. They were playing at The Pageant, which is a pretty big deal for student musicians. I thought they played very well; they didn’t appear nervous at all. Guitar solos were rippin’, drum fills were bangin’, and the vocal harmonies were solid. All in all, a really fun and exciting show. It’s really cool to see people your own age (from your own school!) getting out there and succeeding in music. Serious props to Mike Murano, Nate Gilberg, Nick Kargacin, and Dan Roth.

Then, I went with some buddies over to the Delmar Lounge, where we heard the best live jazz band I’ve seen in a long time. I don’t know the name of the group, but we watched them for almost three hours. They even had a vibraphone player, which is a real treat to see live. The bass player was unbelievable, and the drummer was great. Their ages ranged from young to old- the vibes player was probably in his 40s and the drummer looked like he was 80. They had a younger guy stand in on bari sax for a few tunes, and he was probably  16 years old. They played a lot of stuff that I didn’t know, but I did recognize Afro Blue and A Night In Tunisia. The Delmar Lounge is a totally good place to see quality jazz shows on weekends. Plus they have tasty food and cheap drinks. What more can you ask for out of a Friday night?

Today, I heard an interesting story on NPR. They were talking to a musicologist who found a tone row in Bach’s Prelude in A Minor from WTC Book II, and he was discussing whether or not Bach did it on purpose, or if it was just a coincidence. It’s certainly an interesting idea, but I feel like if people have been playing Bach in the past 100 years since serialism was invented, many people have already come to this conclusion. The story didn’t go into the theory of that particular theme, or discuss anything about the links between Bach and serialism. But who knows, maybe this is a huge discovery. I’m certainly no Bach scholar. Either way, it’s a cool story to listen to if you have a few minutes, it’s only about 3 minutes.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112602288