The Commission Project’s Swing ‘n Jazz event in Rochester, New York, raises money to commission compositions, produce workshops and fund composer-in-residence programs in public schools across the United States. The four days of TCP’s ninth edition of Swing ‘n Jazz overflowed with music, most of which I heard. Here is a compact account.
Thursday, June 1: Intermittent rain nearly washed out the Community Drum Circle concert in a small public square across from the Eastman School of Music. Few listeners materialized, but a game group of drummers performed during the lulls. Some, from the Bush Mango Drum & Dance organization, played African drums. Master percussionist Bill Cahn and Eastman School professor John Beck demonstrated the precision of unison regimental drumming. Kristen Shiner-McGuire, director of percussion studies at Rochester’s Nazareth College, drummed in a jam session of a dozen or so percussionists, then improvised a dance. Good, damp, fun.
While we were sheltering from a squall, jazz trumpeter Herb Smith, who also plays with the Rochester Philharmonic, told me about his TCP project. He teaches elementary school children the blues. He has the kids create their own blues songs. “I tell them they have to write what they know,” Smith said. “It would make no sense for a fifth grader to sing, ‘Woke up this morning…and found my woman gone.'” What do they write and sing about? Here’s a new blues from a student at School No. 30.
School lunch blues
School food is so nasty it taste so bad
School food is so nasty, it taste so bad
It taste so bad, it just makes me mad
I wish I had some mashed potatoes with gravy on top
I wish I had some mashed potatoes with gravy on top
To drown out that nasty taste I need to drink some pop
I opened up the chicken patty, it smelled like French fries
I opened up the chicken patty, it smelled like French fries
It taste so nasty, I rather eat flies
I got the school lunch blues
I got the school lunch blues
It taste so nasty, I rather eat flies
Smith makes sure that his students learn not only how to apply lyrics to the blues, but that they know the form’s harmonic structure.
Friday, June 2: At the School of the Arts in a 9 a.m. class, José Encarnacion rehearsed the SOTA jazz ensemble. The band, one of several in this jewel of the Rochester school system, is mostly seniors. They tackled Jim McNeely’s tricky “Extra Credit” and nailed it. Next came “Some Skunk Funk,” transcribed and expanded from the Brecker Brothers recording. The big band dispersed, and the SOTA wind ensemble moved in. Under the tutelage and direction of Mario Belcufine, they played “Designs,” a TCP commission by composer and trumpeter Paul Smoker. The piece walks the line between jazz and classical. Smoker wrote it based on ideas suggested by the members of the ensemble. It has harmonic density, mass, wit and rhythmic variety. The youngsters played it beautifully. When I asked for a demonstration of the ideas they contributed, several of them played their seedling phrases and the whole band beamed.
Later at the Country Club of Rochester, members of the club who support TCP turned out for drinks, dinner on the lawn and Drummers Night Out. Cahn, Beck and Shiner-McGuire from yesterday’s Drum Circle were there, along with drummers Rich Thompson and Jason Wildman. The non-drum accomplices were bassist Jay Leonhart and vibraphonist Howard Potter. As at all of the major Swing ‘n Jazz events, the master of ceremonies was Rochester attorney Tom Hampson, who doubles as the city’s longest-running and best-known jazz radio host. The program consisted of a drumming retrospective beginning in Africa and ending in bebop. Cahn and Beck repeated their regimental drum duet. “Big Noise from Winnetka,” naturally, was a part of the proceeding, with Leonhart taking Bob Haggart’s role. He whistled through his teeth and played the chords with his left hand while Beck attacked the strings with sticks, a la Ray Baduc. The crowd went wild. For those who can’t get enough drums, it was quite an evening.
Saturday, June 3: The morning was devoted to the workshops reviewed here. At night, with a rainstorm pounding Rochester, musicians and listeners gathered at the Hochstein Performance Hall. Formerly the Central Presbyterian Church, the hall is domed and acoustically blessed. It is resplendent with mahogany woodwork and a pair of crème staircases sweeping down from the balcony to the main floor on either side of the stage, the balustrades accented with green baize. Among the many historical events this room has seen were the funerals of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass.
Swing ‘n Jazz musical director Marvin Stamm was in charge of marshaling twelve musicians in what was billed as a Gala Jam Session. The evening was a tribute to the late bassist Keter Betts. A huge color photograph of Betts hung like a tapestry above the rear of the stage. Through the evening, musicians turned to gaze at the man who was with them in this session a year ago. Stamm introduced the first set by tenor saxophonist Ken Hitchcock, trumpeter John Sneider, trombonist Scott Whitfield, pianist Mike Holober, drummer Rich Thompson and bassist Phil Flanagan. Like all of the Jazz ‘n Swing musicians, they donated their talents. All but Whitfield were regulars and not taken for granted, but Whitfield’s virtuosity seemed to catch the audience unawares. I heard sharp intakes of breath and murmurs when he was a few bars into his solo on “In Your Own Sweet Way.” Whitfield flew from Los Angeles to Rochester to do a workshop and this concert and headed back the next morning.
Sneider introduced his composition “New Level” as “kind of a bossa nova.” He is a study in stillness when he plays, and the trumpet seems barely to touch his lips during his effortlessly fluid solos. I haven’t heard Hitchcock’s vigorous Coltraneish tenor since his days with Charles Mingus and Louis Bellson and knew Holober only on record. Both are fine soloists. I had been listening to Holober’s Thought Trains CD and heard in his chord voicings on the piano the wellspring of the deep harmonies in his big band writing. The set ended with a romp through “Donna Lee.”
Flanagan and Leonhart did a kaleidoscopic bass duet on “Blue Monk,” with Leonhart’s singing-bowing solo, the two alternately accompanying and soloing both arco and pizzicato, plucking the time together, and ending with Flanagan bowing and Leonhart plucking the melody in unison. Hip stuff. Then came the satirical moment that had some in the audience in tears. Leonhart accompanied himself and sang his new song, “Nukular.” Fair warning: if you follow the link to Leonhart’s website, be prepared to spend the day. Please come back.
Holober and Stamm played “My Funny Valentine.” Stamm’s solo was exquisite, ending in a note held longer than normal lungs can keep supplying air. As far as I know, he does not use circular breathing.
Drummer Anthony Pinciotti joined Holober, Hitchcock, alto saxophonist Carl Atkins and Leonhart for an uncompromising major blues, then the same rhythm section with trumpeters Sneider and Paul Smoker for an equally committed minor blues, “Birks Works.” Pinciotti drums with buoyancy and quick rhythmic adaptability, making it clear why he is in great demand in New York City jazz circles. You will find a brief biography of Pinciotti here (scroll down). Atkins, a veteran of bands led by George Russell and Jaki Byard, is the former president of the Hochstein School of Music and Dance. In everything I heard him play, his soloing was notable for cogency of line and an inclination toward the blues. Atkins, Smoker and Stamm played Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa.” Stamm soloed with crystal clarity and Pinciotti executed a drum solo based on melody. The sexet followed with another jam session standard, Miles Davis’s “Four.”
Stamm brought on two youthful musicians for “Afro Blue.” Tenor saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown is a 6-foot three-inch high school student with a big sound who has mastered his instrument. His conception owes something to John Coltrane, something to Sonny Rollins, something to Michael Brecker, but not so much that he doesn’t have his own identity. It will be interesting to follow the development of this accomplished young man. Drummer Evan Smoker, Paul Smoker’s son, connected nicely with Lefkowitz-Brown.
For the finale, Stamm brought all of the musicians on stage for a long “Caravan.” It had few jam session low points and a fair share of high ones, none more amusing than the “Night in Tunisia” riff that developed among some of the horns. Thompson, Pinciotti and young Smoker alternated on drums, Leonhart and Flanagan on bass.
In the lounge of the Lodge at Woodcliff, I relaxed with Stamm, Holober, Leonhart and Pinciotti as we listened to pianist Gap Mangione and his quartet. Mangione has been a fixture at the resort hotel since he came off the road several years ago.
Sunday, June 4: This was the day of the golf tournament that gives double meaning to the “swing” in Swing ‘n Jazz. Golfers who support The Commission Project played a round or two at the Greystone Golf Club, contributing their fees–and in many cases more money than that–to help TCP carry on its work. Several of the musicians, including Hitchcock and Leonhart, hit the links. When the last putt had been sunk, everyone assembled in a huge white tent of the kind used for wedding receptions. Following an awards ceremony in which Leonhart spoke hilariously for his winning threesome, there was a buffet dinner, then Swing ‘n Jazz IX closed with another jam session. The cast of musicians was essentially the same as Saturday’s, with trombonist Mark Kellogg replacing Whitfield and drummer Akira Tana and guitarist Bob Sneider joining. Tana flew in from San Francisco just to be a part of the evening. His crisp, swinging drumming was a pleasure to hear. Sneider, John’s brother, teaches at Eastman. He plays with intensity and deep feeling. He was new to me, and I want to hear more of his work.
I won’t give you another blow by blow account. It was a jam session, a good one, a fine conclusion to an interesting and rewarding four days.