~Out there in the spotlight... You're a million miles away...Every ounce of energy ...You try to give away ...As the sweat pours out your body...
Like the music that you play..Here I am... Up on the stage...There I go... Turn the page *....
~ Well...Here we are again. And as the page turns... it's time for Tim Price & Ryan Anselmi & Soulful Tenor Madness to take the stage at Berks Jazz Festival. Thursday night we open Berks Jazz Festival. We hit at 7:00 with a band I'm proud of for a few reasons. So here I go again, you don't form a band through an employment agency, job search or anything like that. In cases like this, in real bands, the end result is from playing and time spent on the bandstand playing. Finding out where it's at, what works and what doesn't. Sometimes it's fun-sometimes it's just plain nasty. People come, people go...music forms and there you go. This band came from knowing Ryan Anselmi as a student at where I teach in New York City at the New School University. He started as a private student of mine. Once after a lesson we were talking about the scene in NYC jazz. I mentioned that we should put a band together that hit hard jazz with some soul funk Chittlin Circuit stuff. Not just a project that was an organ group but a working band.
So we did, we started to play once a month gigs at The Garage on 7th Ave in New York City. The heart of Greenwich Village in NYC. I had my doubts, and was surprized at the reaction to the live audiences on weekend nights.Next thing I know- we got the place jammed with people. All kinds of people, tourists that came for dinner and stayed all night standing in front of the band loving it. Couples that enjoyed the funky ballads that brought on romantic mind sets. I dug it because it was what I've done all my life-eg- played with a band that _RELATED_to a live crowd and did four sets a night. Ending at 2:30 in the morning. The band got tighter, we added Tom Abbott on tenor, finally got Brad Whitley and were swinging from day one with Kim Gary. Tom and Ryan were saxophone-woodwind students of mine, so what I'm going to say could be a tad personal because I know what they can do and what they worked for. These two guys are two of the most focused and real young saxophonists on todays scene. WHY? They have roots in real music. That my friends is called paying your dues, and they have learned from it. You can hear that when they play. That's where it counts, when the tune is counted off. The talk stops then and the music starts. That's where I like to live. Count the tune and let reality speak loud. It all stops then.
Ryan holds the tenor saxophone gig with lazz legend Junior Mance. When Junior was on tour last year with James Moody, Ryan was right there aside of Moody playing. Tom Abbott holds a weekly big band gig on 46th street and plays a lot at the famed 55 BAR as well. They make me proud!
The bands roots are in the grease and groove of bands that I played with on the Chitlin' Circuit. I'm quite happy also that I am helping some young cats in this music. In 1973 when I graduated from Berklee, reality hits. You stare into the abyss, and the abyss kicks your ass with reality! Making a living. Now what?! There's no business course that can prepare you for what's there, and what's not there. Playing " Inner Urge" or " ESP" to a crowd of folks on a Friday night in Newark, Coney Island or Trenton could mean your life! Decisions need to be made, and the groove is on! The chittlin' band circuit is long gone but what I learned is not!
This Thursday night at Gerald Veaslys Jazz Base via the Berks Jazz Festival- we'll hit the stage. With a band that I'm proud of. Everyone in that band is worthy of mention. Brad is one of the organ players that gets the leslie speaker grind on the quarter note into the drummers high-hat. That grease that Mc Duff and his drummer Joe Dukes were famous for. That push and hit that Don Patterson and his drummer Billy James got. These are things I didn't read in a book or hear someone on the web say, they are things I learned by being there on the gigs, on the road 24/7 . As I used to gig with Don Patterson and McDuff a lot on the circuit. Drummer Kim Gary is from Kansas City- and she sounds it! She also holds the drum chair with jazz legend Junior Mance. To say the least I'm looking forward to this gig- and the music.
Info here;
http://www.berksjazzfest.com/artistsprofiles2011.htm#Tim_Price,_Ryan_Anselmis_Soulful_Tenor_Madness
I've played Berks Jazz Festival almost ever year since they started.
Last year- I was glad I was not playing due to this vitreous hemorrhage in my right eye. I'm on my way to being back to normal. This was no walk in the park I'll tell you! On the Jazz Fest vibe, I never thougt anything like this might ever happen in my local hometown. A great event that should be more than once a year! Reading Pa has turned out some legendary jazz players like Gerry Mulligan, Dick Hafer, Jim Ryder and Gary Klein just to mention a few that my teacher Sam Correnti taught while they were here. Sam by the way was one great man, a teacher who also knew the road- he was real. Ditto Joe Miller- another great Berks musician, fantastic guy and a real jazz player who taught me a lot as a kid. Joe was the best local Berks jazz saxist of that era- bar none. Joe and Sam both assets to Berks County. And so is this wonderful festival, the folks that produce it, are a total groove and work hard. I appreciate everyone of them. They do rock!
~ Last but not least, this Sunday I do a gig of another dimension. This one is a jazz workshop. Education which I've been a part of every chance I get.Why? To help the students and help they get in touch with the music- on a level that has REALITY.
It also helps the music bringing new blood into it.
Here are some details.
• The Tim Price Adventures In Jazz Workshop Series at Berks Jazz Festival at Boscovs East. Sunday March 27 th at 12 noon.
Any student may bring their horn and sit in. (Students only)Playing jazz should be just as natural and relaxed as talking. This is saxophonist Tim Price’s philosophy.Price is hosting a free workshop with a focus on blues and standards for students interested in furthering their jazz skills.
He will be joined by bassist Bruce Ketterer and former student alto saxophonist Nathan Bellott, as well as other hand-picked musicians, in offering students a fun and relaxing way to increase their knowledge of jazz.“Jazz In the Classroom at Boscov’s East,” part of Price’s Adventures in Jazz series, is an homage to the masters he associated with at Berklee College of Music in Boston.Tim Price’s mission is to promote jazz education and performance.
The band with tim on this workshop is; Nathan Bellott, saxophone, Charlie Sigler, guitar, Bruce Ketterer bass, Aaron Seeber, drums
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT...Another set of fun things to play and enjoy. Hope to see some of you there. If your not,hear Ryan and me at the GARAGE in NYC April 15. In any case, like I said, I feel good about it. Now dear reader you know why!
Till next week-I see ya'll on this RICO REEDS blog. Thanks.
As the sweat pours out your body... Like the music that you play.....*
~ Tim Price
* Lyric references- With great respect to Bob Seger .
He sure knows from where he speaks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe7yOccqdxI&NR=1
* On a personal note- I would like to thank a few people for being who they are. They helped me,made stuff happen and understood. Thanks to my wife Marcia, the entire Soulful Tenor Madness band- I love ya'll , David Cross, Claire Daly, Chris Langelotti, Junior Mance, Andrew Hadro, Rob Polan & Kupkake, Mac Rebennack, Kristin McKeon, everyone at Rico Reeds, Theo Wanne, Tom Wanne, Kenny Brooks, Bobby Weir, Larry Geiger, Patrick Selmer, Nathan Bellott, Jim Wardrop, Steven Tyler, John Ernesto, Gary Spencer, Dr . Fischer @ Wills Eye, Dr. Carim, Dr. Frank Tellez, Mj Jones, and Sue Moll. Lastly my mom and aunt for stopping at a E.J Korvette store in Jersey in the 60's where I bought my first Gene Ammons-Sonny Stitt- Jack McDuff record for 2.99. Soulful Tenor Madness is doing 3 tunes from that record! Dig it! Thanks all of you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wish I could be there, Tim! Bring the grease!
ReplyDelete