A Jazz ‘n Swing Workshop

When Paul Desmond made his observation that jazz can be learned but not taught, he had in mind the core jazz skill of improvisation, rather than the ability of musicians to be effective in large aggregations. Marvin Stamm, the musical director of this year’s Swing ‘n Jazz, recalled that he taught himself improvisation by playing along with his brother’s collection of jazz records, memorizing solos and eventually absorbing the basics of chord changes and rhythmic competence. That happened after he had learned the rudiments of music, become an accomplished teenaged trumpet player and was mastering the classical repertoire. Some variation of that experience is how all jazz players began learning to improvise. But, Stamm insisted, the fine points of ensemble playing can be taught. In a workshop–a sort of master class–at the Commission Project’s Swing ‘n Jazz event, he and the New York City drummer Anthony Pinciotti demonstrated.
The beneficiaries of Stamm’s and Pinciotti’s education were the Rochester Music Educators’ Jazz Ensemble. The ensemble is a big band directed by Howard Potter of the Eastman School of Music. Its members are music teachers at public schools in the Rochester, New York, area. They rehearse on Monday nights, but for Swing ‘n Jazz, they assembled at the Eastman School early on Saturday morning.
Stamm and Pinciotti listened to the band run through a Sammy Nestico piece called “Hay Burner.” Passersby on the sidewalk paused to hear the music drifting through the big street-level windows of the rehearsal room. Stamm complimented the musicians, then he and Pinciotti began to work with them. Stamm asked the trumpets, in the back row, to stand so that their sound would project over the band and have greater clarity. He suggested that the two rhythm guitarists play more lightly, evoking Count Basie’s Freddie Green. Green, he said, often propelled the Basie band as much by being felt as by being heard. Pinciotti asked the drummer not to get locked into the shuffle rhythm of the piece, but to vary his approach. Later, playing air drums as he spoke, he demonstrated how the drummer could swing harder by relaxing. Stamm urged the lead alto saxophonist and the rest of the reeds to phrase Nestico’s folksy melody more loosely and lower their volume, but not to lose the intensity crucial to the piece.
Turning to the rhythm section, Stamm said, “Not once did I see you five guys look at each other. Check each other out. Get off the paper. You’ve played this enough times that you don’t have to read the changes.” To the horns he said, “Leave space in there–air–don’t overphrase.”
I had thought that the initial performance of “Hay Burner” was impressive, but the next time through, there was palpable improvement in the band’s dynamics, expression and time. Stamm’s and Pinciotti’s tutorial had not transformed the piece; Nestico’s work was still as he created it. By applying the workshop tips, however, the band advanced their interpretation of the piece, polishing it and learning principles that would help them in approaching other music. Next came “Ray Gun,” an impressive large composition by Tom Davis, a member of the trumpet section, then Charles Mingus’s “Haitian War Dance.” Both received Pinciotti’s and Stamm’s lapidary attention. During the same two-hour period, other Swing ‘n Jazz faculty members were conducting workshops at the Eastman School, elementary schools, the School of the Arts and Nazareth College. Student musicians were getting the benefit of the experience and wisdom of twenty-seven professionals who volunteered their services.
“The important thing,” Stamm told the band members at the end, “is that you take the things we have discussed back to your students. That’s what this is all about. Transmit your enthusiasm and love of this music.” Ned Corman, the founder and guiding spirit of The Commission Project, sat at the back of the room, smiling. Stamm and Pinciotti had just put his philosophy into practice.
The next gig for the Music Educators Jazz Ensemble will be on June 13 as part of the Rochester International Jazz Festival. The festival starts June 9 and headlines McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Phil Woods and Toots Thielemans.