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| Dave King: He's "Ringing Us" |
© Andrea Canter
Sunday’s Strib carried its annual Twin Cities
Critics Tally – a set of critics’ “best ofs” celebrating local
musicians, local songs, live acts and recordings. And as usual, jazz is barely
visible, with only Chris Bates’ Red Five debut album, New Hope, carrying the
banner for America’s
much ignored native art form. Not that there was a better example of what’s
great in local music, jazz or otherwise.
But we who
actually value and support jazz had no reason to expect more notice by
mainstream media, which is why we have bloggers, online sites and a few print
media hold-outs. Jazz in 2012, however, was noticed by Benjamin Schwarz, the
national editor of the Atlantic
Monthly, in what at first seems to be a review of Ted Gioia’s The Jazz Standards, but ends up as yet
another declaration that “Jazz Is Dead” (November
2012). Not long after, Scott Timberg,
in the e-zine Salon,
picks up where Schwarz left off, reiterating the theory that the American
songbook “killed jazz..” (I must have missed the obituary.) The
gist of the observation is that because jazz repertoire holds on to the songs
that made jazz popular through the mid-20th century (you know, all
that old stuff from Gershwin to Rodgers and Hart, from Crosby to Sinatra,
from Billie to Ella), it’s become stagnant, a “relic” to use Timberg’s term.
How can such claptrap as “Summer Time” and “A Child Is Born” keep pace with the
new music of the 21st century?
I wonder if
the downturn in audiences and CD sales in classical music is similarly a
natural consequence of the American orchestra’s reliance on Bach and Beethoven?
Perhaps the current battles between musicians and management that plague SPCO
and MO could be remedied by purging the 17th and 18th
century “relics” of their repertoire? Surely this is a much bigger problem in
the realm of classical music, where 21st century audiences continue
to be pelted not only with music going back to the Renaissance, but with
performances that rather tightly adhere to the original score. At least a new
recording of “Body and Soul” is likely to offer new interpretations via
improvisation.
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| Esperanza Spalding |
But I
digress. In the world of jazz in 2012, there are daily signs that jazz “is
alive and well,” borrowing the optimism from the Strib’s roundup of musical highlights. Not just the latest accolade
or honor paid (deservingly) to current icon Esperanza Spalding or even
(deservingly) to one of her golden predecessors, Diana Krall. In New York, consider the
body of work coming from the Brooklyn Underground. The Festival of New Trumpet.
The vitality of clubs like Cornelia Street Café and Small’s, as well as the
survival of legendary haunts like the Village Vanguard and Birdland. On the
West Coast, consider the forward movement of institutions such as the
Thelonious Monk Institute, Thornton School of Music, UCLA’s Herb Alpert School
of Music, and the ongoing success of the Monterrey Jazz Festival. In the Midwest, consider the rise from the ashes and continuing
growth of the Detroit Jazz Festival and its annual one million attendees.
Signs That Jazz Is Alive and Well in
Minnesota
So let’s
keep the focus on our local jazz scene. In 2012, there were many signs of the
vitality of jazz, across generations, across venues. These are just my personal
high points:
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| Tanner Taylor at Jazz Central |
Jazz Central. If I had to pick out only one
symbol of the present and hopefully future strength of jazz in our community,
this underground (literally) studio run by a pair of musicians generally
regarded as “mainstream” practitioners reflects all that is keeping Twin Cities
jazz alive and well. Drummer Mac Santiago has long been associated with
pureveyors of the Great American Songbook, while another generation removed,
pianist Tanner Taylor similarly is known as a hard-swinging performer and
arranger for small and large ensembles, and particularly vocalists. But if a
conservative line-up was what we expected when they took over a basement-level
studio space two years ago, we soon knew otherwise. Currently, Monday nights
highlight an often-underappreciated artist, perhaps someone rarely in a leader
role or someone in a new configuration. There’s no push to play the music
everyone expects—no club owner or benefactor to please. Monday nights are often
a golden opportunity to try out new music or new approaches to old music, to
hear unique pairings of artists. About a year ago, JC added Big Band Tuesdays.
And you might hear new arrangements of those great standards, but you are also
likely to hear new compositions that bear little or no resemblance to the
charts of Basie and Kenton. Now, JC has added a vocalists series on Thursdays,
and while the voices might be familiar, often the repertoire is brand new.
Again, it’s music that might raise eyebrows at established clubs where tickets
and drinks sold define success. If you hear it first, you probably hear it at Jazz
Central.
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| Fat Kid Wednesdays at the Icehouse |
Icehouse. Adjacent to Vertical Endeavors in South Minneapolis, one might consider Icehouse a musical
vertical endeavor. In addition to a well-executed, mostly light menu and busy bar,
Icehouse sports a rather large stage and a wide ranging series of nightly
music. JT Bates curates his “Implosion” series on Mondays, right out of the old
Clown Lounge scene and featuring music largely drawn from the local 30+/40+
generation of improvisers, both established ensembles like Fat Kid Wednesdays
and the Atlantis Quartet and new bands (Red 5, Gravatt/Linz/Wozniak). If you’re
a Baby Boomer, you might notice that most of the Implosion audience is barely
out of school, but talk about ensuring the future of the music! Jazz is
featured during dinner sets on weekends, usually piano/bass duos with some of
the area’s best (Bryan Nichols, Peter Schimke, James Buckley, Chris Bates), and
other nights might bring in a monster veteran like Anthony Cox or an
up-and-coming ensemble like Koplant NO (an Iowa-based quartet on the early
January schedule). In some ways, this is how that Late Night series at the
Dakota started out when Jeremy Walker was curator.
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| Babatunde Lea at Studio Z |
Jazz at Studio Z. Guitarist/impresario Zacc Harris is armed with
a second MRAC grant (Metropolitan Regional Arts Council) and is in the midst of
a second season of monthly events pairing a free workshop with a performance in
this intimate Lowertown space. The
featured musicians range from beloved veterans like Dave Karr to nationally known area newcomers like Babatunde Lea to local innovators like Dave
King, Chris Bates and Harris himself.
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| 2012 TCJF at Mears Park |
Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Producer Steve Heckler keeps finding grants, sponsors, and top jazz acts that maintain the festival in Mears Park each summer, without transforming the event into a more generic music fest or charging admission. It’s become a mini Detroit Jazz Festival, and, like Detroit, is dangerously close to outgrowing its perfect location. And you have to admire Heckler for effectively balancing local and national talents, which of course can never be done to anyone’s satisfaction, given two large stages and only 16 or so hours of schedule time. The 2012 melding of Francisco Mela, Delfeayo Marsalis and Joshua Redman/Bad Plus with the likes of A Love Electric, Connie Evingson, Twin Cities Seven and Phil Hey, plus a Youth Stage, among many others, was as good as one can imagine for a free festival in this area, and the overflow crowds Friday and Saturday night confirmed the level of interest in jazz locally.
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| Zosha Warpeha and Freeman Ryan, PipJazz Youth |
Pipjazz
Sundays/PipJazz Youth. Vocalist Pippi Ardennia came to the Twin Cities a few years ago
with a vision for bringing jazz to new audiences and creating opportunities
for young musicians to learn their craft from their elders—the way Pippi
learned in her native Chicago.
Now after two seasons of PipJazz Sundays at Landmark Center,
Pippi has collaborated with a long list of area stars and legends, from Irv
Williams and Barbara Leshoure to Debbie Duncan and Dennis Spears, to rising
stars Jason DeLaire and Solomon Parham. More important to the future of jazz,
Pippi introduced a youth artist program that puts at least one student (college
age or younger) on stage with the veteran house band at each monthly concert,
and has recently added her third “Youth Artist in Residence” to that house
band. The opportunity for such young artists to rehearse and perform with a pro
band is unique here. And there is no doubt that jazz is alive and well for
every student touched by this program, now supported by the new PipJazz
Foundation.
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| Chris Bates |
Chris Bates. 2012 was a break-out year for Bates as he jumped to the front as bandleader,
finally. A lauded composer dating back to his years with the Motion Poets,
Chris now has outlets for those compositions in bands of his own direction,
including the Good Vibes Trio with Phil Hey and Dave Hagedorn and his stellar
quintet Red 5, responsible for one of the top local recordings of the year (New Hope) – recognized well beyond the jazz
community. Chris brought the magic of improvisation and composition to a wider
audience, holding three “open sessions” in preparation for the Red 5 recording last spring. And as long as he holds bass duties in some of the area’s
most exciting bands (Atlantis Quartet, Framework, How Birds Work, Red Planet,
and the Minnesota
edition of A Love Electric), we can count on a long and happy reign of
forward-moving compositions and performances.
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| Adam Meckler |
Adam Meckler. This still “under
30” trumpeter is fast becoming one of the top horn artists in town and beyond,
as well as one of our most creative composers and bandleaders. He leads his
quintet; he leads one of the most intriguing quartets in the area—Lulu’s Playground
(trumpet, guitar, accordion and cello); his performance magic helps push wife
Jana Nyberg’s “Group” far beyond most vocalist-led projects; and his Adam
Meckler Orchestra, a monthly fixture at Jazz Central, offers an open palette
for his composition and arranging chops. If that’s not enough to keep him busy,
he also lends his horn to such popular bands as Jack Brass Band and Todd
Clouser’s A Love Electric. Not sure how he manages it all (along with
teaching), but as long as Adam is alive and well, so is local music.
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| Miguel Hurtado |
Miguel Hurtado. Drummer Miguel graduated just a
couple years ago from the Manhattan School of Music, but by then he was a
veteran Twin Cities performer, starting out in teen bands (with Owen Nelson,
Javier Santiago, Chris Smith) and progressing to utility drummer with the Twin
Cities Jazz Festival before graduating from South High. Back home after MSM,
Miguel in two short years has become a first call drummer, bandleader, composer
and arranger, bringing ensembles to the Artists Quarter and summer jazz
festival, and managing the trapset for a long list of top musicians, including
homecoming visits from John Raymond and tonight’s debut with Jeremy Walker’s
Boot Camp. There’s a vital legacy of jazz drumming in the Twin Cities and now
there’s ample evidence it will flourish for decades to come.
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| Maud Hixson |
Songs for All. From new releases from area veteran
singers to new performance venues to keep the songs in front of live audiences,
2012 was a good year for jazz songs. Arne Fogel initiated a series to
complement the traditional vibe of The Lexington, and presented a wide range of
fellow vocalists; as noted above, Jazz Central started a vocalist series on
Thursday nights, offering the intimacy of a cabaret experience with the open
experimentation of a house party; a number of songbirds released (or prepared
to release) fine recordings, from Connie Evingson's golden ninth (Sweet Happy Life) to Maryann Sullivan’s
debut (Coffee Time) to Patty Peterson's long-awaited fourth (The Very Thought of You), with upcoming
releases from Connie Dussl, Dorothy Doring and more. And one who always assures
us that jazz, including or perhaps especially the jazz from earlier times, never
loses its charm, Maud Hixson successfully launched a Kickstarter project that will take her
to New York
to record long-neglected and newly-discovered songs of Mickey Leonard.
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| Todd Clouser |
Minnesota Exports. Perhaps one of the best reasons for
optimism regarding the local jazz scene is the impact of Minnesotans on
the larger world of music. In 2012, former resident, guitarist/composer Todd Clouser recorded three times with
his A Love Electric Band. That’s one ensemble, three distinctly different
projects, the first two riding on a tide of critical acclaim as he prepares to
formally release the third in February. Trumpeter John Raymond, now settled in Brooklyn, continues to light up stages
from Dizzy’s to Small’s, celebrating his debut full-length recording last
spring, participating in the famed Festival of New Trumpet, bringing trio and
quartet groups to Manhattan stages, and returning home throughout the year for
gigs at the Dakota, Artists Quarter and Jazz Central. Recently back in town for
a vacation gig at Jazz Central, Minnesotan Aaron
Hedenstrom is working on a graduate degree at the University of North Texas.
But even before classes were underway, he was named winner of the 2012 Detroit
Jazz Festival's Large Ensemble Composition Award.
And vocalist Nancy Harms seems
to grow by leaps and bounds, finding perfect companions in the Big Apple and
bringing the music back home, including her collaboration with pianist/composer
Jeremy Siskind on the remarkable Fingersongwriter
project, and with bassist Steve Whipple and vocalist Emily Braden for Double
Bass/Double Voice. (Yes, the world can appreciate yet another version of “Bye
Bye Blackbird,” if sung with Nancy’s
interpretative inventions.)
Beyond the Bad Plus
In his Salon commentary, Timberg finally gets
around to noting some of the leaders in contemporary jazz who are keeping jazz
alive, even when standards/pop hits enter their playlists – Brad Mehldau, Vijay
Iyer, Fred Hersch, and The Bad Plus are specifically and appropriately noted. But
for each of these high profile artists, there are dozens more moving in the same
directions, as has been true since the early days of bebop when such jazzers as
Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell drew critical ire for messing with “standards” –
not because critics were tired of the Great American Songbook, but because they
revered it. Sometimes I wonder if one thing keeping jazz alive, rather than
putting it in its grave, is the fact that the music is so diverse that it draws
both praise (always evolving, respecting its history) and condemnation (stuck
in the past, too removed from its roots) – can an art form be dead if it keeps generating controversy?
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| Dave King |
Maybe Dave
King, the Bad Plus drummer based in the Twin Cities, deserves the
“keeping jazz alive” crown for 2012. In addition to his ongoing contributions
to one of the most controversial and successful jazz bands of the new
millennium (one that seldom covers a “songbook standard” yet built its
credentials on both original compositions and reinventions of modern pop/rock),
this summer Dave released his debut trio recording, I’ve Been Ringing You. And except for the spontaneously recorded
title track, the album is all standards. Working with Bill Carrothers and Billy
Peterson, King makes those “relics” all the evidence I need to confirm jazz as
both timeless and futuristic.
Apologies to all artists, bands, venues, presenters, commentators who contribute to the vitality of jazz in the Twin Cities, who are not mentioned here.... because the list would go on and on.
