ComposerJones

Thursday night brought a concert by the group ESP in the pavillion at Lakeland Park in Cazenovia.  What a relaxing night!  The breeze was blowing in from the lake, the sky was clear and blue, and the band was great!  Round it out with a picnic dinner, and it was pretty much a perfect evening.

ESP did a great job.  The quartet, consisting of Matt Vacanti on bass, John Magnante on guitar, Brian Scherer on sax and flute, and Karl Sterling on drums played for two hours (with a short break in the middle), and it was all original music.  Some traditional jazz, some latin influence, and I know I heard some Charlie Parker and Pat Metheny influences – these guys are worth seeing!

Much of the music was from their current CD, Time’s Up, and I’ll be picking that up very soon.  With other CD titles such as First Album, and Well . . . We’re Huge in Europe, they’ve also got a great sense of humor.  As they wound down their final set, they announced the premiere of a piece written specifically for this concert.  The title?  Lakeland Park Blues, Because We Don’t Know What To Play Next – in other words, let’s improvise – we’ve got time to fill.  But what a time it was!  Scherer picked up his tenor sax and just went for it – and nearly 10 minutes later (with plenty of help from his friends, of course) he finished to great applause.  They went straight from their improv to Phat Rodney from their First Album, for a rousing close to the night.

By all means, go see these guys whenever you get the chance!  They play at the Mohegan Manor in Baldwinsville, NY just about every Thursday night, and seem to keep busy in between.  Check out their website at www.espjazz.org for full details on the band.

And don’t forget to check back tomorrow.  Reviews of the Art Walk, the JT Hall Jazz Ensemble, and the Musical Storytime at the Caz Library will be up!

The 29th season of Cazenovia Counterpoint kicked off today with an absolutely fantastic program! St. Peter’s recital hall on Mill Street in Cazenovia was filled with enthusiastic listeners. Three talented young performers presented an hour of music, spanning the 16th century all the way through the 21st century. All three are award winning, and all are new high school graduates.

The program opened with pianist Rhimmon Simchy-Gross. Beginning with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in d minor no. 6, he showed incredible poise and sensitivity at the keyboard. He moved onto Earl Wild’s Somebody Loves Me (on a theme of Gershwin), leading into William Albright’s rag, Sweet Sixteenths, showing as much ease and comfort in the jazz of Gershwin as in Bach’s prelude. He rounded out his established repertoire with Movement IV of Alberto Ginastera’s Sonata op. 22, No. 1. This is a particularly difficult piece, but Rhimmon handled it with grace and aplomb.  Too often young performers become intimated by the frantic ending of this movement, but he maintained his control and energy, and received an enthusiastic and well-deserved ovation as a result.

Last on Rhimmon’s program was the premiere of Abstractions Before a Composition by Alex Graham.  Rising Stars is dedicated to partnering emerging composers with young performers, and this piece was commissioned specifically for this event.  Most of the time, when attending a program such as this, the performer memorizes all but the new piece, stopping the flow of his program to pull out music for that one, single premiere.  Instead, Rhimmon simply sat back at the piano and played Alex’s composition with as much commitment and insight as he had given to the rest of his program.  Alex describes the piece as trying to “express the abstract of the process of creating music, through music.”  The piece began with a concrete, coherent foundation, and built carefully and thoughtfully on the opening motives.  Patterns and intervals emerged, intertwined, and were restated in new and exciting combinations, before coming to a gentle close.

Next on the program was tenor Daniel Fields.  Again choosing a program that spanned the centuries, Dan showed remarkable maturity and expressiveness in his performance.  From the works of Caccini and Scarlatti, to Schubert’s Die Schone Mullerin, he told stories with his whole being.  Next on his program were two pieces by Samuel Barber, Daisies and The Monk and his Cat – the latter one of my favorites, and Dan sang it beautifully.  He moved on to This is my box from Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.  An exciting piece, not only sung well, but acted well by Dan.

Last on his program was his premiere, I arise from dreams of thee by Paola Marquez on a poem of Percy B. Shelly.  Paola set the text very lyrically, and included a piano accompaniment that wove in and out of the vocal line as you might expect from a dream.  The piano, at times seemed to overpower the vocal line, unfortunately.  The room at St. Peter’s is very lively, and I think that, combined with Dan’s still young voice, conspired to overpower him.

The third performer was David Raschella on horn.  I must confess I was a little let down when I saw his performance would consist of only two pieces, Eugene Bozza’s En Foret, op. 40 and the premiere of Elizabeth Luttinger’s I Break the Thunder.  However, realizing that En Foret was originally written as a final examination piece for the Paris Conservatory, and this is understandable.  It is a tremendously difficult piece, challenging for any horn player, and includes advanced techniques including trills and glissandi.  Dave did a marvelous job, and will surely be a stand-out when he enters Julliard in the fall.

Last on the program was Elizabeth Luttinger’s I Break the Thunder. In some ways, this was the most complete and comprehensive of the three premieres on the program.  Liz used the full range of both the piano and horn, quite idiomatically.  It had shape and form that genuinely reflected a coming storm.  Puzzling to me, however, was the point where the horn player set his instrument on his lap while the piano played an extended solo, almost a cadenza.  On the one hand, it fit very well into the shape of the piece.  On the other, I found myself wondering if the horn was out for the count – a real shame since the piece was intended to be written specifically for Dave.  Still, it was a well-written, emotionally charged piece.

Before leaving you (after this very long post!) I must make special mention of Sar Shalom Strong.  Sar accompanied both Dan and Dave (and is scheduled to play many other venues throughout Cazenovia Counterpoint).  Sar is an incredible pianist, and did a great job despite the overly lively acoustics in the performance space, and the occasional addition of lawn mower accompaniment.

This is only the first of almost a dozen events in Cazenovia over the next 10 days.  Keep checking back for reviews and announcements, and by all means, come to Cazenovia for the festival!  All but two events are free of charge, a price that can’t be beat.