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Local Guitarist Vincent Sims asks the question "Is That Jazz?"
CD Reviews: Dirty Dozen Brass Band "Medicated Magic"
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USF Jazz Studies Program by Philip Booth If it's a Monday afternoon, then that acoustic blast ricocheting around the courtyard of the University of South Florida's Fine Arts Building is no boombox-delivered guitar army. The mighty wall of sound instead is the handiwork of 18 young instrumentalists, all conspiring to make a richly textured noise as classic as the work of New Orleans innovator Jelly Roll Morton and contemporary as the compositions of celebrated New York composer Maria Schneider. Inside the band room, the musicians are being encouraged and only occasionally scolded by Chuck Owen, 46, the school's resident guru of jazz composition, a talented pianist and the tireless educator who built USF's jazz studies program from scratch. "The whole thing needs to swell up, like someone taking a knob and turning up the whole ensemble," Owen tells the brass and woodwind players, making a point about the sonic contrast called for during one particular passage. And later, to the rhythm section: "Watch the time - It's dragging." The members of Jazz Ensemble 1, the program's top big band, recently showed off the results of a semester's worth of thrice-weekly rehearsals. The group's spring concert, at Theater 1 on the Tampa campus, featured performances of Morton's "Black Jelly Stomp" and Schneider's "Green Piece," as well as Jim McNeely's "Empty House," John Fedchock's "Grove City Groover," Duke Ellington's "Star-Crossed Lovers," Rob McConnell's "T.O. Two" and compositions taken from the books of Count Basie, Art Blakey and the Mingus Big Band. "We're doing a huge, wide swath of jazz material, kind of something for everybody," Owen explains later. "In some ways, that differentiates our program from many throughout the country. We've done quite a bit of the classic jazz repertoire. We've probably done 50 charts of Ellington's, a fair number of Fletcher Henderson charts, and charts from Benny Goodman. "This is the first time we've gone back and done Jelly Roll Morton," he says. "It kind of fortifies the roots of where it all came from, in jazz. At the same time, I like doing absolutely cutting-edge stuff. A lot of university-level big bands across the country take a fairly narrow approach. Some of them don't go much beyond (before) the (Stan) Kenton band, and then they go to the '70s and stop there. That's only about a 20-year time period, whereas actually we've had almost 80 years of this kind of music." Owen's resume includes work arranging and writing for the "Tonight Show," the Cincinnati Symphony, Roger Williams and, more recently, his own Jazz Surge (Southeastern Repertory Jazz Ensemble) big band and Resurgence octet. "Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge," a well-received disc released in 1995 on Seabreeze, had pianist Warren Bernhardt, saxophonist Benny Golson, drummer Adam Nussbaum and the late Nat Adderley sitting in with Owen and a variety of top-shelf Florida players on a program dominated by the leader's forward-thinking compositions. His two-guitar Resurgence band, with former Pat Metheny sideman (and USF guest instructor) Danny Gottlieb on drums, created a buzz during the International Association of Jazz Educators convention in New Orleans. Jazz Ensemble 1, one of two such groups at USF, is among the most visible symbols of a program that has grown in strength, number and stature since Owen arrived in 1981. He immediately began developing a well-defined curriculum that now leads to undergraduate and graduate degrees in jazz studies, with students choosing tracks in either performance or composition. The program is one of the most highly regarded in the Southeast, along with the University of Miami and the University of North Florida. About 35 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled in jazz studies at the school's College of Fine Arts. Most of those players find their way into the four to six small groups organized during the fall and spring semesters, with some doing double duty in the big bands. The Jazztet, the top combo, in 1998 played the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy and additional concerts in South Africa. This spring's incarnation of the group, a quintet with saxophonist Ryan Janus and trumpeter Cameron Perret, recently documented their progress with a recording session at the Springs Theater in Sulphur Springs. The band, during an afternoon rehearsal, worked through a set of music including Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Groovy Samba," Manfredo Fest's "Arigo" Ralph Moore's "Freeway" and "Hopscotch," and an original composition. The atmosphere was relaxed, with Jack Wilkins, 42, named jazz studies director last fall, serving as a coach and facilitating a dialogue among the players. "It would be good if there was some kind of communication happening rather than three different ideas of what's going on with the A (first) section," Wilkins suggests to bassist Wolfgang Wein, pianist Per Danielsson and drummer Brian McLaughlin. This particular discussion of the American-bred music has an international flavor - Wein and Danielsson were born in Austria and Sweden, respectively, and Pervet hails from Vancouver, Canada. All the group's members auditioned for spots in the program's top small group. "We've been pushing the Jazztet as being the premiere group in the jazz department, featuring the best players here," says Wilkins, who appeared on the Jazz Surge disc and released his own solo album, xxxx, in xxxx. "The combo program is at the heart of the jazz studies program. That's where we work on all the skills learned in the classes. All the improv practice goes on in the combos." Owen, with the help of longtime bass instructor Mark Neuenschwander and adjunct faculty members including drummer David Via and guitarist Corey Christiansen, has overseen a program that has attracted attention nationally. USF jazz groups have released eight recordings over the years, participated in the Clearwater Jazz Holiday and appeared at several of the annual conferences organized by the International Association of Jazz Educators. The big band, in 1990, traveled to Helsinki, Finland, to play the International Society of Music Educators conference. "I've always been an admirer of what they've built and have enjoyed seeing it grow," says WUSF, 89.7 FM jazz director Bob Seymour, who began working at the radio station the same year that Owen was hired. "I think the program's grown in about every way that you can measure those things. From going to IAJE conventions, I've seen the great respect that they get from their peers, as individuals and for the program here on its own. Chuck's Resurgence group performed this year to a good crowd, and a couple of years ago Jack did a clinic on some aspect of playing. You couldn't get into the room." Wilkins, on the faculty since 1993, brought talents that seemed to complement those of Owen. The accomplished saxophonist, a solo artist and a veteran of concert and recording work with everyone from trombonist J.J. Johnson and trumpeter Bobby Shew to rocker John Mellencamp, is a highly regarded expert on the art of improvisation. He teaches improvisation, coordinates the combos and during the off season serves as a faculty member with Jamey Aebersold's summer jazz workshops. "Jack has a really organized system," says Janus, 24, a graduate student from Michigan. "By the time you come out, you're very much familiar with the jazz language - how to create logical, nice-sounding solos." Adds Perret, a 20-year-old sophomore: "It's really about learning the jazz vocabulary, and becoming fluent in the language. There's a balance between playing emotionally, and getting a foundation." Jazz studies majors, in addition to taking lessons and completing basic theory courses, spend their days learning the music's core repertoire, transcribing solos, performing in ensembles and taking courses in jazz theory, composition, improvisation and history. Evenings and weekends, for the most dedicated students, are given over to even more practice and, in some cases, gigs informally lined up by faculty members. The course work is augmented with a little real-life exposure, via seminars, clinics, master classes and concerts given by a variety of name artists. John Abercrombie, Nat Adderley, Louis Bellson, Art Blakey, Paquito D'Rivera, Peter Erskine, Benny Golson, Lionel Hampton, Joe Henderson, Max Roach, Red Rodney, Mike Stern, Billy Taylor, Clark Terry and Phil Woods are among the internationally known jazzers who have participated in the residency series over the years. Trombonist Fedchock visited earlier this month, trumpeter Tim Hagans and saxophonist Mike Smith (with the Surge big band) in March and pianist Frank Kimbrough in February. Those four musicians also appeared on the Monday night jazz series, open to the public and slated to continue this fall. The program, according to faculty members, is designed to offer students the experience and knowledge required to get a jump-start on careers in music. "The idea is that we set that as the standard - to develop all the skills and musicality needed to put yourself on the way to becoming a performing jazz musician.," Wilkins says. "But they could play Broadway shows, for example, because they've learned (for woodwind players) how to play saxophone, flute and clarinet, and they've learned all of the styles. The next night they may be playing in a Latin band, the next night they may be playing in a jazz quartet, and the next night they may be subbing at Disney World or playing at the Performing Arts Center." The success of the curriculum might be measured by the resumes of its graduates. A long list of those who earned jazz studies degrees or participated in the program at USF have become active participants on the Tampa Bay area's music scene. Several have landed highly prized posts as music instructors at universities around the country. A few, including drummers Rick Craig (Rare Silk) and Jason Harnell (Maynard Ferguson), and guitarist Paul Buzin (Blood, Sweat and Tears) have managed to tour and record with nationally known artists. Others are employed as producers, recording engineers and music publishers. Guitarist LaRue Nickelson, 25, a recent attendee, has parleyed his educational experience into a busy schedule playing a variety of area hotels, nightclubs, book stores, festivals and special events. Nickelson, also a private teacher and head of the guitar department at the Players School of Music in Clearwater, notched 25 gigs during one month recently. "It's a real meat-and-potatoes kind of school," he says. "There were no frills like, 'We're going to show you how to be the baddest cat around.' What I learned from there was how to build on the traditions of what jazz was, and make my own contributions, to build on the foundation they gave you. Jack understands the whole history of improvisation, pretty much from the beginning of jazz. And Chuck has the other side, the composition. "It's really up to each person. Some guys never move beyond those basics, but other guys have really gone on to do unique things. It's up to you what you do with it." Full Disclosure: Philip Booth, music editor for Groovewell.com and a bass player, occasionally works as a jazz DJ at WUSF, 89.7 FM. He has performed and recorded with several of the musicians mentioned in this story. For more information on the jazz studies program at the University of South Florida, go to http://www.arts.usf.edu/music/ (This story originally appeared in the Tampa edition of the St. Petersburg Times) |
