April 8, 2004
Jazz orchestra comes ‘home’ to UW
The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra’s April 17 concert at Meany Hall, a centennial birthday celebration of Count Basie, is a homecoming of sorts for the orchestra, which has strong roots on campus.
Back in 1992, Michael Brockman, lecturer in the School of Music, pulled together a top-flight group of local musicians for a special concert called “An Evening of Duke Ellington” at Meany Hall.
“We sold out the hall and had to turn away about 200 people at the door,” recalled Brockman, who is SRJO’s executive director as well as artistic co-director. The audience that had tickets was rewarded with an evening of rare Ellington works that Brockman transcribed from vintage recordings specifically for the occasion.
“When the concert was over, people came up to me and said they wanted to hear more music more often from this group of musicians,” he said.
From these humble beginning has grown a performing group that is regarded as one of the treasures of Seattle’s jazz community.
The group officially formed as the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra in 1995, and for nine years has been presenting concerts year-round. These have included tributes to Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton, Thelonious Monk and many others, plus the ever-popular annual Concert of Sacred Music by Duke Ellington sponsored by Earshot Jazz.
Shortly after the SRJO’s founding, a governing board was assembled to support it. The first president was Tony Greenwald, UW professor of psychology and longtime jazz fan. “Tony had been involved with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra in Ohio,” Brockman says. “He’s a huge jazz enthusiast and was exactly the right person to put together our first board.”
The SRJO now plays a regular series of weekend concerts at the Nordstrom Recital Hall in Benaroya Hall, as well as at the Kirkland Performance Center. For the past several years, SRJO has played to capacity crowds and has featured guest artists such as Clark Terry, Arturo Sandoval, James Moody and local favorite Dee Daniels. SRJO’s mission is to provide authentic performances of the great works of jazz, drawing on the entire 100-year history of big band jazz. The orchestra also works to educate Puget Sound area audiences about jazz as an authentic American art form.
The Count Basie concert will feature jazz classics made famous by the Basie orchestra between 1936 and 1984. These include Jumpin’ at the Woodside, April in Paris and One O’clock Jump. Brockman also looked at the origins of the Basie band and transcribed pieces from the group’s early period, to help tell the story about its evolution and growth.
For this special performance, Brockman and musical co-director Clarence Acox — a busy performer in his own right and director of bands at Seattle’s Garfield High School — have tapped guest performers with roots in the Basie tradition. These include Kenny Hing, a tenor saxophone player who performed with the Basie band for more than 30 years; Buddy Catlett, a bassist who can be heard on many early Basie recordings and who also toured with Louis Armstrong before settling in Seattle; and James Caddell, a favorite Seattle vocalist who will be featured on numbers made famous by Frank Sinatra and Joe Williams.
The concert also will include rare vintage film of the Basie band in concert during its heyday.
One of the unusual strengths of SRJO is Brockman’s transcriptions of historically significant performances. “It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle,” he says. “First I listen to the lines of the melody from individual instruments. I begin at the most obvious parts and transcribe, note for note. Next, I work on the bass. That gives the two extremes — the upper (melody) and the lower. That’s the frame, and those are the easiest to transcribe.
“Then I use my knowledge of the arranging practices of the period, plus the harmony of the tune, to begin to assemble the other pieces. Sometimes, I can hear very clearly what particular orchestration devices are being used. Other times, I make an educated guess based on my knowledge of the composer and what I would write if I were living in that period, writing for those particular musicians in that ensemble. To do this right, I am forced to get inside the head of the composer and understand what he or she was thinking at the time the piece was created. It’s serious research, and I have to use all my musical skills, knowledge and intuition to discover the hidden secrets of the composer’s work. It’s sort of like being a jazz scientist.”
SRJO also is blessed with musicians who have studied the great players of previous eras and can play in their style without shifting gears. “Of course, there’s no requirement for strict adherence to the original performance,” Brockman says. “We expect our musicians to bring their unique talents and abilities to the performance as well.”
Band members include Floyd Standifer, a veteran of Seattle’s jazz scene as well as tours and recordings with the Quincy Jones big band; Bill Ramsay, a touring veteran of the Basie orchestra and Benny Goodman’s bands; and Larry Fuller, a pianist who gained national attention for his work with the late Ray Brown.
Brockman says the highlight of the performance for him will be a multi-movement work composed by Basie band member Frank Foster as a tribute to Basie. It has been performed only a few times before, and never in Seattle.
SRJO performances are like a family affair. The audience is familiar with many of the tunes, and the musicians are well-known figures in the local jazz community. The performances exude an air of informality and fun, which Brockman says is genuine.
“We are always having fun in this band — that’s what we are about.”
Tickets for the Basie concert are available at the UW Arts Ticket Office, 206-543-4880. Special discounts are available for school and community groups, and for larger blocks of seats.
