RVANews

Compass Rose Orchestra

Aaron Williams — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:28:44 +0000

The Richmond jazz scene is all about bands. While the Compass Rose Orchestra has been around for a few years, they are gaining momentum and are quickly becoming one of the premier original music groups in Richmond. On Friday February 17th, Compass Rose Orchestra releases their first album. A self titled CD, Compass Rose Orchestra features seven tunes tunes that include three Fritz originals, a Berhanu original, a Munoz original and as well as "Crimes" by The Blood Brothers, and "Strange Brew" by Eric Clapton.

Compass Rose Orchestra is definitely worth purchasing and Compass Rose Orchestra is definitely worth seeing live. You can do both on Friday night at the Camel.

Compass Rose Orchestra and The Congress perform tomorrow night at the Camel:

The Camel, 1621 W. Broad Street

8:30 - Compass Rose Orchestra plays the entire album
9:45 - Compass Roes Orchestra plays some surprising covers...
10:30 - The Congress Free Before 8PM Admission
$10 (Under 21-$12)

Listen:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/01-Purple-UP.mp3|titles=Purple UP!|artists=Compass Rose Orchestra]

Compass Rose Orchestra is:
Lucas Fritz - Trumpet, Arrangements
Suzi Fishcer - Alto Saxophone
Jonathan Gibson - Tenor Saxophone
Alex Powers - Trombone
Paul Willson - Guitar
Devonne Harris - Wurlitzer, Piano
Andrew Randazzo - Bass
Abinnet Berhanu - Drums
Armando Munoz - Vocals

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Listening Back: UTV.chamber & Compass Rose Orchestra

Dean Christesen — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 11:00:57 +0000

In Listening Back, we chronicle the happenings at The Camel’s free weekly jazz series on Tuesday nights. Be there if you can. But if you can’t, stop by here every Saturday for a recap in sights and sounds. This week, UTV.chamber and Compass Rose Orchestra continued the series.

Listen to UTV.chamber:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/UTV%20Chamber030111.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel March 1 2011|artists=UTVchamber]

Listen to Compass Rose Orchestra:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Compass%20Rose%20Orchestra030111.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel March 1 2011|artists=Compass Rose Orchestra]

On Tuesday, a Mardi Gras party with the Fredericksburg-based Elby Brass continues the free series. The Camel is located at 1621 W. Broad St. in Richmond, VA. More information is available at thecamel.org.

Listen back to other gigs in Richmond

Photos by Amber Smith

Listening Back: Lucas Fritz Quintet and Old Soul

Dean Christesen — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 11:00:45 +0000

In Listening Back, we chronicle the happenings at The Camel’s free weekly jazz series on Tuesday nights. Be there if you can. But if you can’t, stop by here every Saturday for a recap in sights and sounds. This week, Lucas Fritz Quintet and Old Soul continued the series.

photos by Lauren Serpa

Presenting the next generation. They find a balance between blues shuffles and back beats, jazz standards and indie rock ballads, respecting where jazz came from and experimenting with where it can go. Trumpeter and band leader Lucas Fritz is that kind of student. With a slightly more straight-ahead angle than his larger Compass Rose Orchestra, his quintet still mixes in the funk- and hip-hop-influenced tunes, like Chris Potter's "Ultrahang" and Tigran Hamasyan's "Falling." Otherwise, it's originals from the almost-VCU-grad whose springtime senior recital approaches.

Listen to the Lucas Fritz Quintet:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Lucas%20Fritz%20Quintet%20at%20The%20Camel%20012511.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel January 25 2011|artists=Lucas Fritz Quintet]

Tenor saxophonist Jonathan Gibson, drummer Abbinet Berhanu, bassist Andrew Randazzo, guitarist Paul Willson, and Fritz
Gibson and Fritz
Randazzo

Guitarist Paul Willson's Old Soul is the next step in his musical progression after his previous group, the ECM-like Yellow Grass. With Marcus Tenney and David Hood on tenor and alto saxes, Devonne Harris on Rhodes, drummer Matt Coyle, bassist Evan Sarver, and singer Lydia Ooghe, the energy is more pumped up with Old Soul, but still in a meditative way (one piece abstractly deals with the concept of dreaming and the abrupt transition to consciousness). The singer-songwriter Ooghe lends her beautiful voice, Tenney shreds, and Hood sounds more Hodges-meets-Braxton than ever. There's gold in the details, but the best part is the big picture.

Listen to Old Soul:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Old%20Soul%20at%20The%20Camel%20012511.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel January 25 2011|artists=Old Soul]

Old Soul
Marcus Tenney and David Hood
Devonne Harris

On Tuesday, Devonne Harris's Reeverb Trio continue the free series. The Camel is located at 1621 W. Broad St. in Richmond, VA. More information is available at thecamel.org.

Listen back to other gigs in Richmond

Jazz in the East

Lucas Fritz — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:47:03 +0000

all photos by Lucas Fritz except where noted otherwise

Emre Kartari is living everyone’s dream: having your own dream come true. He's a graduate of VCU’s Jazz Studies Program whilst under the direction of Doug Richards. He went on to get his Master’s degree from New York University. Yet even with all the contacts and networks he had created here in the states, Emre decided to move back to his homeland to do for the kids there what had been done for him here: educate them in jazz.

With the help of Skip Gailes who was named a Fulbright Specialist, Emre started the first ever Turkish Jazz Program at Hacettepe Conservatory in September. Hacettepe (pronounced "Ha-jet-teh-pay") Conservatory is located in the heart of Ankara, the governmental and financial capital of Turkey. Students begin their studies at the conservatory as early as age 10 and can continue until they turn 24. Not only is the duration of one’s education different from here in the states, but everyone attending Hacettepe is on a full scholarship. (When I tried to explain partial scholarships and still having to pay for things back home, the students just did not seem to understand.)

Skip and Emre spend all day with the ten knowledge-hungry students in the program, teaching them everything from theory, to jazz history, to improvisation. To celebrate the beginning of this wonderful program and Emre’s great accomplishments, the university funded the Hacettepe Jazz Festival to be held from November 22-27 ending with a commissioned piece by Doug Richards titled “Ben Seni Variations” for symphony orchestra, jazz octet, and kanun. (Ben Seni is a traditional Turkish folk song.) I was fortunate enough to be asked to accompany and assist Doug in his rehearsing and performance of the piece.

photo: Emre Kartari performing at one of the many gigs through the week, this one at Tenedos. By Emre Topak

There were seven musicians flown into Turkey to help perform Doug’s piece and give workshops throughout the week. Rex Richardson, VCU Professor of Trumpet and Jazz Trumpet flew in from a one week stint he was finishing up in Germany. Skip Gailes -- as already mentioned -- was already in Ankara and had been working with the students all semester. VCU Guitar and Jazz Guitar teacher Adam Larrabee flew in with Bob Hallahan who now teaches Jazz Piano and Jazz Improv at James Madison University. Howard Curtis, Emre’s teacher while he attended VCU, flew in from his home in Austria where he teaches at the University of Graz. Tim Collins, a vibist-drummer-pianist flew from his home in Munich and Mike Richmond, bassist and one of Emre’s teachers at NYU flew from New York City. Emre, one of the most genuinely nice and caring people I have ever met, was constantly stating his overwhelming gratitude for the ability to have his mentors and friends in Ankara and as a part of such a wonderful event.

Each day was structured almost exactly the same: workshops at the conservatory from 10-1, lunch break, rehearsal with the orchestra from 3-6, and then dinner at the club where the gig was. The workshops varied as much as the faculty’s backgrounds. Bob Hallahan spoke about phrasing and how lines can swing or not swing with a misplaced accent. Howard followed suit with a drum clinic on various swing patterns to be played on the ride cymbal. He played trio with two students also on drum set, forcing them out of their comfort zone and to try new things. Tim Collins (one of the best musicians I have ever had the privilege to meet or work with) gave some wonderful insight into composition through ear training. Doug talked about (what else but) Duke Ellington and the enormous impact Duke’s music had on the future evolution of jazz. Adam Larrabee talked about different approaches to practicing, which followed a similar workshop with Mike Richmond about playing in front of, behind, or right on the beat.

Adam Larrabee plays duo with student Onur Mulayim during a masterclass.

Each workshop offered new insights to not only the students of Hacettepe* but to myself and the two other VCU Students, trumpet player Ben Heemstra and bassist Andrew Randazzo, that gave up their Thanksgiving to have turkey in Turkey (yeah I know, had to put that joke in here somewhere). The best part about having the talented faculty in residence the entire week was that after their lecture brought up new questions or insights, they were available to hang and explain/discuss concepts in more detail with the students.

Watching and helping Doug rehearse an orchestra full of non-English speaking musicians that have never met him before was a sight to be seen. Many musicians in Richmond and even in other parts of America know Doug, his mannerisms, and the way he expects people to act in his presence. These students had no idea what to expect. The first rehearsal on Tuesday afternoon, to put it nicely, could have gone better. The language barrier (which we experienced all week) was a huge part of it. Doug would say things and without a response from the orchestra, assumed they understood. It is also hard to get an entire symphony orchestra to swing, let alone a Turkish symphony orchestra that hasn’t grown up with jazz somewhere in their lives.

Doug Richards rehearsing the orchestra. Oh, Baby!!!

In the notation of his piece, Doug was forced to be as literal as possible, notating legato-stacattos, triplets, and stacatto-accents to aide in the jazz phrasing. After a full rehearsal and then some of a many “BAAAAABY!”, “Oh, my heavens!!!”, and “Aye-yi-yi-yi-yiiiiiii” (a la James Brown), the students began to loosen up and understand Doug’s aural way of rehearsing an ensemble. After three full and productive rehearsals, they were ready to perform Doug’s monumental piece.

Each night consisted of dinner and a gig at different clubs around town. These ranged from a bar where we had to move tables to find room to play, to a two story music venue in which the bands performed down in the basement, to Fige, an upscale Jazz club with a stage and a piano. Although primarily Skip and Emre’s gigs, the faculty and visiting students (myself included) sat in on many tunes creating a wonderful sense of community.

Audiences in Turkey are very different than in America. First, they are there... According to the students I spoke with, people in Turkey don’t like to sit at home and watch TV, they would much rather go out and DO things (like hear live music!!!). Secondly, they are attentive and appreciative. Playing for a club full of faces smiling at you, enjoying every note you play is a wonderfully satisfying experience. When you leave the bandstand you are bombarded with people telling you “congratulations” (yeah it’s weird, their word for ‘good job’ translates as congratulations...took some getting used to).

The grand finale of the week was a concert performed at the University’s concert hall about three miles from the conservatory.** With a sound check just long enough to figure out you couldn’t hear the winds in the hall, the orchestra left the stage so that the vocalists and others could prepare for the evening. Andrew Randazzo and myself, being Doug’s ears in the hall, set up microphones throughout the orchestra and virtually ran sound for the entire concert.

photo: Bob Hallahan, Andrew Randazzo, Skip Gailes, Merve Erdal, Howard Curtis, and Adam Larrabee perform at Fige Jazz Restaurant and Bar.

Although not a perfect performance, Hacettepe Conservatory’s Symphony Orchestra brought Doug Richard’s “Ben Seni Variations” to life with character in front of a sold out crowd. After the performance, people were speechless. Emre spoke with many people who told him they had never heard anything like that before in their lives. Emre himself compared the piece to Ellington’s Far East Suite saying that nothing had really blended eastern music and jazz since.

Everyone backstage after the performance of Doug Richard’s Ben Seni Variations.

It was an emotional concert and evening. Doug and Howard were able to see one of their students succeeding in making his dreams a reality. Emre was finally realizing that he did it -- he brought jazz education to his homeland of Turkey.

The week, as a whole, was a success. Emre was able to bring those that had taught him so much through the years to his school and have them pass their knowledge onto his students. He set the wheels in motion and lit the fire of inspiration that nothing can stop or put out.

*Now is a good time for me to explain that just because there are only 10 enrolled jazz students, doesn’t mean that there were only 10 people at each masterclass. The hall, comparable to a small movie theater, was packed for each and every talk. Even the classical students came to see what these great American Jazz musicians had to say.

**Hacettepe Conservatory and Hacettepe University are the same school, but are separated in a similar way to VCU-Monroe Park and VCU-MCV campuses.

Andrew Randazzo and Skip Gailes performing at Tenedos.

Thanksgiving dinner at Fige.

Skip Gailes, Emre Kartari, and student Yunus Muti perform at Fige.

Ankara at night

Andrew Randazzo, Ben Heemstra, and Fritz with Paul Hindemith and Bela Bartok outside of Hacettepe Conservatory

Richmond Jazz Collective: Anticipated premiere

Dean Christesen — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Two months later, it's happening: the premiere of the big band that was to rival any other like it in Richmond. This band is actually way more than two months in the making, though. The Richmond Jazz Collective started out as an idea by VCU students Ben Heemstra and Lucas Fritz that turned into rehearsals of a workshop-type band in the fall. I sat in on one of those rehearsals in November as they prepared for their big debut, which was originally to take place on February 1.

So why, after two months, have their sounds been contained to Muse Creative Workspace -- their rehearsal space in Shockoe Bottom -- and the occasional member's recital?

The fellas raised some eyebrows when their methods of acquiring the charts that they would be performing in February came into question. Narrowly avoiding legal ramifications concerning copyright law, they learned their lesson and they now own their charts fair and square.

Some other things have changed since those first several meetings. For one, the band's line-up saw some changes including the vacancy of the artistic director position left by Taylor Barnett as well as a trombone chair by Bryan Hooten, both VCU faculty.

The band has pressed forward regardless. Sitting in on another rehearsal on Monday, this one their last before their big premiere, I see that despite these obstacles, they really do sound good.

Guys trickle in around 10pm to the rehearsal on North 19th Street on Monday night. There are a couple latecomers, but it's no big deal. They set up in formation -- which extends nearly halfway into audience seating, so luckily it's just me there -- and get their tunes in order to run the set. There's a little bit of the expected fare for big band in there: two Thad Jones charts, a Frank Foster tune made famous by Count Basie, and a couple Sammy Nestico pieces.

But of the eight tunes that will make up Monday's set, three stand out from the rest. There's the Björk song "Unison," arranged for big band by Fritz, who also plays the Dave Douglas-inspired tune with his octet Compass Rose Orchestra. Guitarist Karl Morse arranged the St. Vincent song "The Party," a downtempo jam that better accompanies the after-party complexities than the during-party carefree vibe. The third is "Easy Gentle," an original flowing waltz by band member and trombonist Ballard Midyette that will feature David Hood on soprano saxophone and Mark Ingraham on cornet.

The standard literature for the sacred institution that is the big band isn't as up to date as these three are, but they can still pack a punch. The set opener, Thad Jones's "Back Bone," is a heavily driving feature for the trombones. Even Frank Foster's "Shiny Stockings" and Sammy Nestico's "Rachel" -- a beautiful feature for trumpeter Rob Quallich -- result in peaks in intensity and decibels despite calmer beginnings.

Opening up the set will be a smaller ensemble under the direction of Doug Richards performing works from Duke Ellington's "Unknown Sessions" for small group and Miles Davis's legendary "Birth of the Cool" nonet. The ensemble is essentially a class for the eight VCU students plus one alumnus that make up the group. They meet several times a week to work on the repertoire under the guidance of Richards, who has either strong emotional or personal connections to the work of Duke Ellington and the Miles Davis Nonet.

Better late than never, the Richmond Jazz Collective begins their monthly adventure at The Camel on Monday night. A promising group that has the potential to become part of the realm of modern and unique big bands, they're taking it one step at a time. Patience, after all, is one quality they've proven to attain.

View event details

---

Richmond Jazz Collective is: David Hood, Suzi Fischer, John Lilley, Marcus Tenney, Jonathan Gibson: saxophones; Stefan Demetriadis, Alex Powers, Ballard Midyette, Reginald Chapman: trombones; Rob Quallich, Mark Ingraham, Ben Heemstra, Lucas Fritz: trumpets; Devonne Harris: drums; Andrew Randazzo: bass; Karl Morse: guitar; David Tennenholtz: piano.

Small group is: Lucas Fritz: trumpet; Suzi Fischer: alto saxophone; Jonathan Gibson: baritone saxophone; David Hood: tenor saxophone; Nate Lee: trombone; Ben White: piano; Andrew Randazzo: bass; Sam Sherman: drums; Stephanie Fairbairn Ycaz: tuba.

The Camel: VCU Jazz’s new home away from home

Dean Christesen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:13:43 +0000

VCU Jazz Studies major and trumpeter Lucas Fritz is stirring up activity off campus. Fritz is the curator of the VCU Jazz at The Camel series, which begins tomorrow evening and will take place on the third Wednesday of every month between now and May 2010 at The Camel. His goal is to allow VCU and student-run ensembles to perform full sets of music in an environment that is conducive -- and realistic -- for the music.

At VCU, playing in combos and small ensembles isn't only a necessary skill to have, it's a required part of the curriculum for jazz studies majors. In addition to the school's two Jazz Orchestras, there are six Small Jazz Ensembles (SJEs), each directed by a full-time or adjunct faculty and that rotate members every semester based on auditions. Near the end of the semester, five of the ensembles perform a concert to showcase the pieces that they have created throughout the semester, whether they are arrangements of jazz standards or original compositions by the students or directors.

Being in an ensemble presents students with some challenges, like how to program a fifteen-minute performance -- the maximum that each group is allotted -- to represent the best of the ensemble's work. While a semester together produces much more music deserving of performance than a quarter of an hour allows, the students have to select no more than three -- and sometimes only two, or one -- pieces of music to present.

Another challenge is how to make the music come alive in a concert hall environment. Trumpeter Taylor Barnett has written about dialogic music, in which musicians improvise and affect each other and the mood and reactions of the audience can also influence the players,

The concert hall stage is, quite simply, not an ideal place for music like that to be presented. How much communication can take place when the band members are spread out on a large stage and when the audience is removed from the performance both physically and through standard concert hall etiquette?

Of course, there are advantages of performing in this type of venue, he notes, like playing to the most attentive of audiences. And it's up to the musicians to decide if what they're creating is even open to influence from the audience. But Lucas likes to think that it applies to all jazz. "It's more of a formal concert," he says about the SJE concert, "whereas today jazz isn't as formal as it's made out to be in the collegiate setting."

Student bassist Jonathan Wheelock points out another obstacle for members of SJEs: being faced with instrumentations that can be somewhat unusual. Ensembles, which are assembled and distributed at the beginning of every semester by Director or Jazz Studies Antonio Garcia, may include interesting features like several horns and two guitarists, or no bassist. One SJE nonet consists of tenor saxophone, trumpet, two guitars, two pianos, bass, vibraphone, and drums. (The unique characteristic of the ensembles is usually in the rhythm section) Arranging music for unorthodox instrumentations can be a valuable experience for the students, who are all required to contribute at least one arrangement to the group each semester.

Jonathan is looking forward to the freedom that the series will bring. Along with having freedom to choose his band, he adds, "We're not under anyone's direction, so how are we going to make this interesting?" While he, and any of the other musicians, could have the same freedom only by starting a band outside of the SJE confines and booking it themselves at a club, there's an added level of motivation to form a group when a playing opportunity like this arises.

And like anyone who creates playing opportunities for other musicians, Lucas is to be heralded for not only doing so, but also managing to fit his own projects in here and there. His SJE, directed by Bob Hallahan, performs tomorrow night, and his group The Compass Rose Orchestra performs on the December event's bill.

Third year jazz studies major and trumpeter Ben Heemstra is excited about the possibilities of the series. "Jazz is a community music, and it has to be connected to the community," he says. "I think this is a really exciting step forward to help connect VCU to what's going on in Richmond."

Ben and some other students in the program share the wish that students can get SJE credit for their independent and already existing ensembles, ultimately freeing them from odd instrumentations and lackluster rehearsals that can be the result of a contrived arrangement of players.

This could be a cool idea that could lead to more groups that actually sustain a life past one semester, but are these student grievances against the current SJEs not the catalysts for them to go start their own groups (or series of concerts), and isn't that the ultimate goal? Calling the SJEs unsung heroes may be a stretch, but many students fail to see the effect that the ensembles have on their playing habits.

So it's a great thing that Small Jazz Ensembles, in their not-so-small and oddly arranged glory, and the two Jazz Orchestras will be on various programs in the VCU Jazz at The Camel series; they'll be out of their element. And Lucas, whether in the wings or on stage, will be gaining valuable insight into being a concert presenter. Since creating the opportunity for the series to happen was the big step, let's say if Making Things Happen 101 were a class, Lucas would get an A.

Check out VCU Jazz at The Camel every third Wednesday between now and May 2010, sets at 9pm and 10:30, all ages, free. Tomorrow evening, the Bob Hallahan SJE performs first, followed by the Karl Morse Trio. View event details. December: The CMP Trio (Chris Harrison, Paul Willson, Marcus Tenney), The Compass Rose Orchestra. January: Connor Thompson/Jon Wheelock/Kevin Johnson, Dean Christesen/Karl Morse/Andrew Randazzo. February: VCU Jazz Orchestra II, Phunk Boys of Richmond. March: TBA. April: Jazz Orchestra II, Jazz Orchestra I. May: TBA.

RVA Magazine: The State of Jazz

Dean Christesen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:00:00 +0000

By Dean Christesen

This article was originally published in the July 2009 Music Issue of RVA Magazine. It is reprinted with permission here.

photo: Dean Christesen

It's Wednesday night and Cous Cous is packed. I can hardly make it back to the bar to get another beer, so I stand with my empty glass watching Fight the Big Bull play raucously to a full restaurant. The bar is loud and the music is energetic, yet when the music reaches a hushed moment, the audience becomes silent, both out of respect and of genuine interest.

Four or five people sit, legs crossed, engaged in a Brooklyn-based avant-garde trio's performance at The Camel. A dividing wall in the club can't contain the sounds of a dance party in the venue's other half. Management tells us it's fifty people versus five, and there's nothing he can do to stop the intruding noise.

In Richmond, both scenarios are not only mere possibilities or outliers on the spectrum of potential audience turnout, but are regular occurrences that happen weekly, even nightly. Our city's small size can be blamed: there are just only so many people who listen to avant-garde or "out" jazz. But luckily, we benefit from having a unique and creative populate. Even if there's not necessarily an audience, there's still a steady output of original and forward-thinking music.

Everyone has their own answer to the question, "What is 'jazz'?" Like any other city, here there are purists--who believe it must swing and must stem out of the blues to be jazz--and there are those who feel that the jazz aesthetic is one of improvisation and can be open to the influence of contemporary music styles. The purist, straight-ahead jazz artists are alive and kicking in Richmond. Organizations like Richmond Jazz Society play a large role in the music's preservation and performance, and university music programs like the one at VCU tend to teach fundamentals of purist jazz, including bebop and big band music. This type (many will call it the only type) of jazz is available all over America and worldwide. No matter your location, driving 100 miles in any direction will most likely lead you to more great straight-ahead jazz.

Lately, a trend is forming right inside our city limits involving the more liberal definition of jazz music: bands are forming to play music that ties together all of their influences, with the same improvisational aspect that embodies jazz still intact. These bands are creating identities for themselves that depend wholly on the band's members. Young musicians here are seeing the successes of their older role models--few of which are much older than 30--in these types of bands and strive to follow in their paths. The older musicians are touring the U.S., making names for themselves and for Richmond, which, until recently, has been overlooked and unannounced in discussions about strong and thriving scenes.

photo: Lindsey Prather

Like any modern punk or rock band, these Richmond bands are breaking new ground and existing to do things that have not yet been done by extending their necks way out of the jazz realm that most of them were educated in. No BS! Brass Band is party music with the soul of New Orleans and improvisational chops of the finest musicians in the city. Glows in the Dark's brand of avant-garde jazz breathes life into sound like color to cinema. Ombak crystallizes trombonist Bryan Hooten's sharp, angular thoughts into math metal beats and frantic group improvisation. Fight the Big Bull conjures gospel-laced back-roads big band music with some dance grooves thrown in and surprises (like Michael Jackson's Thriller or Weezer's Blue Album) around every corner.

Drummer Brian Jones plays drums in Ombak and percussion in Fight the Big Bull, but ultimately makes up a league of his own in Richmond music. His scope of influence in Richmond extends way beyond his sensitivity behind the drum kit: nearly everyone looks up to him for his massive catalog of creative output he has achieved through the years. Jones constantly composes and records music for his own bands, and not one product has the effect of sounding like a mediocre attempt or a rushed effort to record and move on to something else. From his Guitar Quartet, Double Quartet, Wurlitzer Trio (each preceded by his name) to his duos Jones + Kuhl, + McCavitt, + Curtis, Jones has branded himself a musical identity.

Jones is also a valued member of the music community as a guy who gets things done. Mingus Awareness Project is an event founded in Chicago to benefit research for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) that Jones picked up to organize in Richmond. With two of them under his belt now, he has made M.A.P. the jazz event of the year. October's event featured stellar performances by his own M.A.P. Trio and M.A.P. Big Band, both assembled for the occasion to perform music by Charles Mingus, and Fight the Big Bull, which performed new music inspired by Mingus.

His Musicircus, a re-simulation of the John Cage creation, has occurred six or seven times now (even he cannot recall which). In September, at least twenty musicians--some organized in duos, trios, quartets, or beyond, and some solo--claimed their spot among bookshelves at Chop Suey Books and played music independent of his or her neighboring performer. The result for the wandering audience member was cacophonous yet beautiful, improvisational and changing at all moments.

Jones's group Boots of Leather was given a set alongside Sex Mob front man and trumpeter Steven Bernstein--who performed with Fight the Big Bull--at RVAjazzfest in February. Set at The Camel, the night also included a performance by Glows in the Dark and acted to give the spotlight to music that doesn't often receive overwhelming support in Richmond. People of all backgrounds came: straight-ahead jazz listeners, avant-gard

e connoisseurs, and people who would not even call jazz a favorite genre. Bernstein's week-long visit to Richmond covered three performances and a recording session with FTBB and gave him insight into the grassroots nature of the scene as well as an opportunity to witness some of the bands that help make Richmond music worthy of attention.

photo: David Hood

These bands that are considered at the forefront of the jazz scene are still young bands, and the last year has unarguably been the most active one for each of them. No BS! Brass released their most powerful album yet, and their monthly "With Our Powers Combined" series has the group collaborating with other area bands like Ilad, Gull, and Old School Freight Train, and packing The Camel while they're at it. Fight the Big Bull is preparing to release their second album, this time with Steven Bernstein and again on the prestigious Portuguese record label Clean Feed, and will play at a National Public Radio party in New York City later this month. Ombak and Glows in the Dark have both put out debut albums and continue to gig locally and regionally.

The younger musicians on the scene aren't missing a beat. They're at every show they can get into, dreaming up their own ideas for bands and following the blueprints of their older friends. Use The Vastness (aka UTV, which includes members of No BS!), Yellow Grass, and The Compass Rose Orchestra are just three examples of very new bands that are bringing unique musical ideas to the table. These young composers look at their role models' listening habits and how they shape the bands they lead, like Fight the Big Bull's Matt White and his reverence of The Staple Singers and Randy Newman, or Ombak's Bryan Hooten and his affinity for György Ligeti and The Dillinger Escape Plan. The question "What music do I love and how can I make it work with what I learn in music school?" is the catalyst for these bands and their creative decisions.

These younger Richmond bands are often the ones creating new performance opportunities, and in doing so saying goodbye to the formal booking process at established venues. Lucas Fritz, VCU student and leader of The Compass Rose Orchestra (formerly The Fritztet Offensive), started a potluck barbeque in his own backyard. With two occurences already this summer (sequentially titled the Vine St. Rumble and Vine St. Re-Match), Fritz quickly made people eager for another Vine St. Melee.

Reggie Pace, co-founder of No BS! Brass, and Larri Branch created the Thompson & Grace Balcony Concert Series last summer as an excuse for bands to perform on a second story balcony at Saturday afternoon block parties. It's going strong again this year with concerts already by The Great White Jenkins and Verbatim.

UTV and Yellow Grass somehow found the space to hold a gig at Black Hand Coffee recently on a Friday afternoon. With the sun still shining and the audience sitting within reach of the band, it made for an interesting but totally welcomed concert experience.

A couple hours later across town in the large, open, and sophisticated listening room that is Muse Creative Workspace in the Bottom, Glows in the Dark, Fight the Big Bull, and internationally recognized saxophonist Matana Roberts hit as the sun began to set.

While such eclecticism exists in any artistic city, what Richmond jazz does currently offer is growth at an explosive rate with a consistently high quality of music. This music depends on friendship, trust, and community, which is probably why musicians and bands stick together, hang out together, and play music together. The Richmond pride is communal around here, and they want you to feel it.

photo: Dean Christesen

RVA Magazine is free and is available throughout Richmond in the Fan, Shockoe Bottom, Shockoe Slip, around Virginia Commonwealth University, and Church Hill. You can also view current and past issues online at rvamag.com

Rumble on Vine Street

Dean Christesen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:13:00 +0000

by Tom Beekman
RVAjazz contributor

Beekman, in his first RVAjazz contribution since the website's anonymous days, reviews last Saturday's "Vine St. Rumble," a backyard barbecue-styled all-day affair at which several up-and-coming groups performed.

I need provisions. Getting me out of the house has been quite the task these last couple of weeks. For this quest, I will require: beer and cigarettes. I’m getting ahead of myself.

I wouldn’t consider myself a 'jazz guy.' I do not play jazz. I, at one point, owned every Dream Theater CD, and, at another point, every release from the Dave Matthews Band. I like TV. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used the word 'killin', and it's usually to describe a Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich. I don’t think that musical merit is completely based on technical ability or overt weirdness. Now, you might say "Tom, there isn't a protocol to liking or disliking jazz" and I would say I agree. But, for the purposes of this article and the blog it will be published on, I will NOT pretend to know everything about Ken Vandermark or pretend that Miles Davis single-handedly quelled the Vietnam War. Call me crazy, but this made me the ideal candidate to write about this concert.

It's hot. The first day of the year that it was really, really hot. On the bike, I immediately pass a quartet of girls in their summer clothes, which makes me think of that Springsteen song "Girls in their summer clothes" but I need to shake these Boss thoughts out of my head, I have a jazz-b-cue to attend.

If you asked me after a few minutes of biking in this weather what the most refreshing thing I could think of was, I would say standing in the beer cave at the Trolley Market, which is precisely what I did. I elect to bring six Rolling Rocks because they are cold and green bottles make me feel like a hipster for some reason.

Tenney, Hicks, Chapman, & Hood of Use the Vastness

Rolling up to the Rumble, I am immediately greeted by a horn band called Use the Vastness. David Hood, Marcus Tenney, Chelsea Temple, Brett Ripley, Mary Lawrence Hicks, Reggie Chapman and a drummer I don’t immediately recognize (Stuart Jackson) are jamming away on a kind of busy New Orleans shuffle tune. To a lay person, they might sound unrehearsed, but the cacophonous, thick textures and dynamic changes they lay down could never go unnoticed. This is Stravinsky jazz: a little weird but always retaining a sense of groove and freshness. I make a grave error of sitting in the sun for the duration of this group.

Ripley & Jackson of Use the Vastness

People mill around me and I'm slowly getting drunker. A friend of mine once told me that when you drink in the sun, the sun wins every time. After just one beer I am feeling it, so I elect to hit the water pretty hard instead--gotta keep my brain up so I can do my journalistic duties.

I chat up the bassist of the next group, who claims his band sounds like folk and folk-rocker Sufjan Stevens. I debate him on this claim, due to the obvious lack of a wind quintet, and we agree to pick up where we left off after the band finishes. He also reminds me that they were in the 2008 RVA Mag "Bands to watch out for" section.

Wow. A group that actually has their shit together. Jungle Beat is a quartet of acoustic instruments, guitar, violin, upright bass, and drum kit. While the songwriting may be Sufjan, the lead singer's voice hearkens something different, a little earthy and yearning. I decide that I love this band immediately and so does the jazz crowd bobbing their heads around me. A violin playfully banters with the male vocal, and three part harmonies come and go. I decide that three of the four band members are in love with each other, and make up all sorts of funny Fleetwood Mac scenarios in my head. My girlfriend will later tell me that only two of them are in love with each other, IRL.

Best moment of this band: An older gentleman saunters up to the edge of the backyard smoking a nice cigar and drinking a Miller Light from the bottle, listens to 4 songs, then abruptly leaves.

Yellow Grass follows. At this point, an overall malaise has drifted across the backyard. I've been in the sun for more hours than since the summer of 2008. Slow jams are in the cards however, making me more pre-occupied with breaking the line of ants that are crawling around my cargo shorts, they get so discombobulated. BUT! You cannot write this group off as being boring, oh no.

Randazzo, Wilson, Gibson, & Heemstra of Yellow Grass

Paul Wilson's compositions float through the summer air and the group is tighter than I expected. I am informed that this is the band's maiden voyage, and they did not play Maiden Voyage--so much for jazz jokes. Wilson utilizes the upper-mid range of the guitar much better than I had originally expected. Solos smooth like Metheny, drip with overdrive and sing with reverb--sonorities tensioned and slackened while Andrew Randazzo (bass) and Sam Sherman (drums) groove away. Jonathan Gibson (tenor) and Ben Heemstra (flugelhorn) add subtle touches to the texture, and give some great solos in their own right. I decide this is epic-guitar jazz, because Wilson makes the guitar not only an accompaniment instrument but a soaring, majestic hawk flying over Richmond on this warm evening. I decide this transfiguration is scary, so I duck inside to grab another beer.

Between groups I finally grab a chair and chat with a few folks. By this point, there are at least 30 people in the backyard, most of which I am well acquainted with, and some of which I've never met. Lucas Fritz is a fine host, dancing around the party in his sideways hat and his Bulls home-red Jordan Jersey. He grills, he mingles, he greets the new people that have come into his yard. Now it is his turn to play.

The Fritztet Offensive sets up and I am immediately expecting some interesting things. Devonne Harris sits in front of a pretty Wurlitzer electric piano, Ben White in front of an analog synth. Sam Sherman takes a seat on his drum throne and Chris Harrison, from the aforementioned Jungle Beat, takes a spot in the middle with a bass. The frontline: Wilson (guitar), Suzi Fischer (alto), and Fritz (trumpet). Lucas informs the gathering crowd that they are the Fritztet Offensive and I laugh--I'm always game for a good 'Nam joke.

They play arrangements of some of Fritz's favorite songs. Cream, Bjork, Rufus Wainwright. Not straight-up arrangements, but some interesting re-imaginations of the tunes

. The front line are all accomplished soloists and they show it during their spots. Fischer, with her oh-so-silky tone, commands respect from the rest of the band to just shut up a little and listen. Fritz, who holds a trumpet to his face like he's drinking through the coolest, silveriest, most trumpet shaped straw ever, takes me on a journey through different mutes, sounds, and ideas while he improvises over the Bjork song.

White, kicks it old school at one point, mimicking those 'what are they?' sounds you asked in 1992 when The Chronic first came out. Harris, a spectacular keyboard player in his own right, dresses the music up nicely with his often-sparse, clustered, playing. I was afraid him and Wilson would get into a battle for the middle-range, but they stay out of each other's way pretty well.

Riding home, I couldn't help being surprised by what I had heard. Lucas Fritz not only put together a top-notch beer-b-cue, but he also highlighted some new, good groups that are often overlooked. With all due respect to these groups and their members: it was nice to go to a jazz concert and not see Big Bull or Ombak. It gives me hope that the jazz idiom in Richmond is thriving beneath the radar.

Tom Beekman is a monster. At 6'5" he dominates the basketball court and the kitchen. A music education major, he hopes one day to dominate the classroom with ferocity. Maybe not. In his free time he likes to work on his jump shot, grow beards, and occasionally practice classical guitar. Among his favorite people in Richmond are Eric Maynor, Lindsey Prather, Dean Christesen, and Pete. Cous Cous makes him smile, so does Commercial Taphouse. His favorite movie is Annie Hall, and his favorite month is March, the reasons should seem obvious.