Articles about Tom Smith
Downbeat February 2006
Jazz On Campus
American-Style Jazz Education Lands In Romania
In 2000, Romania's lethargic jazz scene was enlivened by the arrival of two Fulbright scholars: trombonist Tom Smith and Stan Kenton alumnus saxophonist Rick Condit. At that time, Romanian jazz was filled with contradictions.
"Whle festival and club activities had actually increased, musician salaries continued their downward spiral," Smith said. "In no place was that more apparent than Bucharest, where musicians uncertain of their long-term futures stole gigs from their colleagues."
Last summer, Smith and Condit returned to Romania to fmd that this medium-size European country hides plenty of cultural opportunities in its provinces. This time the two professors brought along four other instrumentalists and jazz teachers: bassist Brian Torff from Fairfield University in Connecticut, guitarist Tom Wolfe of the University of Alabama, French pianist Florence Melnotte and Israel-born, California-based vibist Eldad Tarmu. They delivered lectures and master classes at the first Tibiscus University Romanian Jazz Seminar, held in the village of Jupanesti, a two-hour drive from the westem Romanian city of Timisoara.
The brainchild of Smith and Timisoara-based bassist Johnny Bota, the camp featured musicians from across the country. Its purpose was to train both teachers and students in jazz education practices and to prepare for the launch of a jazz school, which was established in October. Remote and rustic, Jupanesti served as the perfect setting for the seminar. There were no distractions and for six days the focus was on jazz.
The camp offered lectures, combo sessions and big band rehearsals in the morning, with more rehearsals and master classes staged in the afternoon. At night, the American instructors organized faculty jam sessions, where they were joined by some of Romania's fmest performers, including pianist Ion Baciu, saxophonists Liviu Butoi and Garbis Dedeian, bassists Bota and Pedro Negrescu, guitarist Toni Kuhn, and drummers Dinu Simon and Luq Dolga. And among the dozens of students, some distinguished themselves: vocalist/flutist Cristina Paduraru, viola player Sasha Bota, vibraphonist/percussionist Ovidiu Andris, trombonist Radu Cipa and keyboardist Sebastian Spanache. The fmal performances by four student/faculty combos and a solid student big band were staged in
Timisoara.
- Virgil Mihaiu
Jazz Times, October, 2002
The Jazz Detectives
Identifying Unknown or Mislabeled Musicians
Jonah Berman
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.......If you're a collector
of old jazz recordings you're familiar with these scenes:
While reading through personnel list you come across "bass player unknown,"
or"drums unidentified." Somehow, somewhere along the line, the
name of the musician who was playing that particular instrument on that
particular date got lost.
Or how about the times when you're listening to a record that is allegedly
by your favorite jazz musician, but deep down you know that the playing
doesn't sound like his style.
While many might not be bothered by such inconsistencies, dedicated jazz
aficionados often are. Fortunately, the jazz detectives have arrived.
Tom Smith and Gary Westbrook, both professors at Pfeiffer University in
North Carolina, are attacking the problem headon. Using SpectraPlus sound
wave technology, Smith and Westbrook analyze old recordings in an attempt
to name unknown or mislabeled musicians.
"It concerned me that when you go over these old recordings you see
'personnel unidentified,' "Smith says. "It could be this guy,
it could be that guy. And then when you investigate it, the guess is coming
from some guy who used to hang around the clubs, not a musician. Or someone
would say, 'Well, I used to play with this guy all the time,' so he thinks
he knows what someone sounds like. Or, 'It had to be this guy, since I was
on the session too.' It bothered me because jazz history is being written
now for the next 1,000 years, and it's either going to be what Donald Byrd
called 'the lie that's agreed upon' or it's going to be the truth. So why
not at least open the door and use some scientific technology as opposed
to this guesswork."
This is how their detective process works: Smith selects a recording that
is under question and brings it to Westbrook, who is the statistician. They
isolate the instrument being analyzed and compare the sine wave reading
to other recordings until they find a match. Each musician has what Smith
calls a "musical fingerprint," based on the amount of breath support,
the diaphragm and facial bone structure, among other things. Smith and Westbrook
work until they find an exact match before confidently concluding who the
musician is. "This fingerprint remains with you throughout your career,"Smith
says. "What's fascinating is that some people will change their style,
the way they play, or play differently when they get sick, but they come
up on the machine the same way. Sonny Rollins changed to ad just to Coltrane
when he went 'under the bridge.' But his 'fingerprint' comes out the same
as it was before he changed his style."
While much of their work deals with naming unidentified lesser-known musicians
on recordings, they have uncovered some fraudulent personnel listings as
well. "For some reason, the ones that seem to be the most contentious
are Bix Beiderbecke recordings," Smith says. "He sent so many
substitutes to gigs be- ' cause of his alcohol problems.If he got sick and
he had a session, he would just send somebody who sounded like him over
there, and that happened constantly with him. The producer would have to
sell it as a Beiderbecke session, because nobody would buy the music of
the sub. There was a guy named Andy Seacrest who was often sent out to the
Beiderbecke sessions, and he would get pretty close. But he wasn't Beiderbecke,
and our analysis tells us that We've also looked at a couple of Coltrane
imitators who came pretty close, but not close enough.
When they were first recorded, no one thought these jazz recordings would
be listened to in a hundred years,"Smith says. "And now we're
working through this cloud that was perhaps created intentionally, just
to sell a few records. With jazz, there's so much folklore, and so many
musicians were taken at their word, we need to double check to make sure
we have the facts right".
The professors have licensed their methods and presented their research
at the 2001 IAJE conference in New York. They also plan to release a book
within the next two years documenting their findings.
American Jazz Teaching Arrives in Romania
by Virgil Mihaiu for JJA (2003)
Lately, Romania's lethargic jazz scene has been livened up by the arrival of two very active Fulbright scholars. One of them - trombone player/conductor/arranger/professor Tom Smith - sums up the situation he encountered on the spot as follows: "At present, the state of Romanian jazz is filled with contradictions. While festival and club activities have actually increased, musician salaries continue their downward spiral. In no place is this more apparent than in Bucharest, where musicians uncertain of their long term futures in the newly evolving capitalist economy, regularly engage in stealing gigs from their colleagues. They use a variety of means to succeed at this practice, with price under-cutting being the most common. The end result is of course lower prices for all concerned. While a decent number of Bucharest musicians continue to make a go of it, the rest of Romania experiences an alarming jazz exodus, with Eurozone neighbors Hungary, Austria and Germany being the biggest unintentional profiteers."
Since February 2002, Romania has been awarded guest residencies from no fewer than three American jazz Fulbright Scholars. Of those three, two have held down extended professorships, courtesy of the U.S. State Department. Stan Kenton alumnus, and McNeese University professor Rick Condit arrived first, and established himself at the George Enescu School for Fine Arts in Iasi. During his successful five month term, saxophonist Condit taught jazz history courses and regularly participated in significant Romanian jazz concerts, while in the company of Ion Baicu, a gifted pianist who often performs with Tim Hagans Swedish Big Band. However, it was Condit's short term guest residencies in Bucharest that garnered the most attention, and led to a most improbable adventure with Romania's notorious National Radio Big Band.
After a successful Bucharest television appearance with Armenian based Fulbright scholar and New School (New York) faculty member Armen Donelian, Condit was approached by the management of Radio Romania to produce and direct a jazz program with the grizzled veterans of NRBB, a group not known for their tolerance of new initiatives. In fact, NRBB musicians rarely possess an inclination to perform at all, since they are paid a monthly stipend whether they play or not (one of the last remaining vestiges of the old broken down communist system). When the musicians discovered that Condit's charts would require more than a quick sight reading, they refused to play them. Not to be deterred, Condit turned to pianist Mircea Tiberian's jazz students from Universitatea Nationala de Muzica, and diligently rehearsed the same program with them for two straight weeks. The end result was a very successful radio and television presentation, and the birth of a new student big band for Romania's oldest and largest music conservatory.
Despite Condit's efforts, there was still a deficiency of arrangements, instrument supplies and jazz resource materials needed to sustain the band for the long term. Afraid that Condit's project would dissapear, Tiberian pressed the Fulbright Commission for assistance. To his surprise he discovered that yet another jazz Fulbright Scholar was scheduled to reside in the western city of Timisoara for an entire academic year. Tiberian already knew that Timisoara had lost most of its jazz population to emigration, and pressed the Commission to transfer this new scholar to Bucharest. Tom Smith, a director of instrumental music at Pfeiffer University, and initiator of over forty community and regional jazz ensembles in the United States was persuaded by the Fulbright Commission to accept a transfer, and by September 2002, he had accepted a temporary professorship at Universitatea Nationala de Muzica.
Smith established a level of artistic intensity rarely seen in Bucharest. He tended to see the growth of Romanian jazz as a kind of war game, with discipline and apathy being his principle targets. He immediately won over his colleagues by eliciting donations for over thirty thousand American dollars worth of music, recordings, improvisational methods and supplies; thus eliminating much of the resource deficiencies that previously existed.
Within three weeks of his arrival, he had already successfully directed the student big band in a nationally televised broadcast at the Bucharest International Jazz Festival. In the days leading up to that performance, it was said that Smith literally "beat" American concepts of articulation, style and discipline into Tiberian's initially surprised students. More radio and television broadcasts immediately followed, including a highly rated Christmas special, where the students served as backup band for most of Romania's top artists and entertainers.
If there was any one time when Smith infiltrated the consciousness of the Romanian jazz world, it was from mid January until late February 2003, when he performed in or produced no fewer than a dozen live radio and television broadcasts, while simultaneously leading all three of Bucharest's big bands. In addition to regular conducting duties, he regularly played trombone with Tiberian, saxophonists Nicholas Simion, Garbis Dedeian and Cristian Soleanu, Vlaicu Golcea's popular East Village Band, and Romanian jazz icon Johnny Raducanu. As had been the case the year before with Condit, Radio Romania approached Smith about guest conducting a jazz program with the Radio Big Band. Determined not to suffer the same insult endured by Condit, Smith instead offered the Radio Big Band a programme of music written and arranged by German band leader and Bucharest native Peter Herbolzheimer. This famed leader of Germany's Youth Jazz Orchestra, was well known to Smith, and had already given him over twenty of his arrangements for the university library. Although the concert proposed by Smith was every bit as difficult as the one offered by Condit, Smith knew that the RBB would never overcome the political arrows associated with dismissing one of Bucharest's favorite sons.
Within a period of ten days, Smith greatly surprised his audience with the quality of the NRBB's performance, and by doing so acheived a personal triumph that exceeded all of his previous Romanian efforts. But Smith's greatest triumph was to occur the following week when he staged a gala history of jazz concert, sponsored by the American Cultural Center. The main purpose of the event was to unveil his newly formed Romanian National Jazz Ensemble. For the first time in recent memory twenty-three of Romania's most important jazz musicians appeared on the same stage for a single unified cause. A capacity crowd attended the event, and has since been called "the greatest jazz concert ever held in Bucharest."
Two weeks later, Smith was again cast into the spotlight, this time as the recipient of a National Radio Music Award in Jazz. The fact that no one questioned giving this high honor to a foreigner was deemed even the more extraordinary. In the months following, Smith continued to expand his influence in Romania through a series of television programs not always associated with jazz, while presiding over numerous festival bands of all shapes and sizes.
Tom Smith concludes his remarkable ten month run under a cloud of uncertainty. At present he worries that no one exists over the horizon to continue the work started by himself and his colleague Rick Condit. Still, Romania is an unpredictable place, where many things can happen when you least expect them.
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American-Style Jazz
Education Arrives in Romania
by Virgil Mihaiu
copyright © 2005 Virgil Mihaiu
Romanian guitarist Tony Kuhn had seen many things in his 50 years, including communist domination, megalomanical dictatorship, revolution and poverty on a level few could ever understand. But never had he witnessed anything quite like what he saw from his vantage point atop a tall, grassy hill in the remote village of Jupanesti, a tiny, unmapped enclave, approximately two hours hard drive from the western Romanian city of Timisoara.
Peering down into a valley that had changed little over time, he saw the makings of an army, yet unlike any military aggregation he had seen. Situated on a makeshift concrete stage was the American Fulbright Professor Tom Smith, conducting a skilled big band, with his Fulbright colleague Rick Condit leading the saxophones. Twenty meters away, vibraphonist Eldad Tarmu rehearsed an advanced ethno-jazz combo featuring two violinists, and a crack rhythm section led by the Romanian bassist Artur Balogh. Over in the distance was American bassist Brian Torff, accompanied by French pianist Florence Melnotte coordinating a "hands on" seminar about the life of Mary Lou Williams, while University of Alabama guitarist and dean of music Tom Wolfe held master classes under a wide shade tree.
It was not long before Kuhn had been joined on that hilltop by a number of peasant farmers with animals in tow, as small children made their way down to the music, on their way back from a funeral ceremony held in the 18th-century wooden church nearby. They were carrying religious icons, which made the scene look like a sequence from one of Tarkovsky's surrealist films. Simultaneously, the village mayor raised both the American and the Romanian flags, as still more villagers applauded.
Then quite suddenly Kuhn was swept up in a wave of emotion, symbolic of witnessing Romania's first-ever jazz music camp. "For a moment I could not believe what I was seeing," he said. "We had waited all of our lives, and now it was really here.
"It was like science fiction."
The first annual Tibiscus University Romanian Jazz Seminar, with its rustic trappings and western sensibilities was the talk of the Romanian jazz community, and one of the most successful examples of Romanian international artistic cooperation staged in recent years. The brainchild of Romanian bassist Johnny Bota and Tom Smith, the seminar featured the best and brightest jazz talent from across the country, including but not limited to Timisoara, Bucharest, Iasi and Cluj. Its purpose was to train both teachers and students in western jazz education practices, and to bring order and discipline to (what Smith, after two longer Fulbright stints in Bucharest, extrapolates as) Romania's perenially disorganized and corruptible jazz scene. Principally, it was organized to prepare Romanians for the October 2005 implementation of a long overdue faculty of jazz, bearing the name of Richard Oschanitzky (1939-79), the creator of a genuinely synthesis between jazz and Romania's musical traditions. This vision pushed forward by Bota, and made tangible with the help of Smith and others, is about to become reality as a part of the Tibiscus private university functioning in Oschanitzky's native city of Timisoara. At an introductory session held in this elegant Central-European-styled city, Tom Smith and Rick Condit -- received by the local intellectual community as representatives of the fatherland of jazz -- pointed out that the brain-drain affecting Romania's elites since the country's liberation in December 1989 ought to be put an end to.
Smith considers that young musicians should become aware of the opportunities they enjoy in their home country. Otherwise, after Romania's integration into the European Union, their places will be occupied by colleagues from other parts of the world. Staged over six days, and sponsored in part by the Augusta Foundation, the Fulbright Commission and the International Association for Jazz Education, the Tibiscus Jazz Seminar offered an educational variety never seen in Romania, with a disciplined agenda that would be its hallmark.
"Tom and I wanted something where there would be no distractions for the students," said Bota. "Romanian jazz musicians are too easily distracted. In Jupanesti, there were no TV-sets, computers or telephones. The shape of the surrounding Carpathian Mountains even kept the cell phones from working. Here it was about jazz and nothing but jazz."
The seminar certainly delivered on that promise, with educational historical and theoretical lectures in the mornings, combo sessions and big band repetitions before lunch, with still more repetitions and master classes staged in the afternoon hours. After dinner, the American instructors staged organized faculty jam sessions, where they were joined by professional Romanian performers like pianist Ion Baciu, saxophonists Garbis Dedeian and Liviu Butoi, bassists Johnny Bota and Pedro Negrescu, drummers Dinu Simon and Luq Dolga. As those sessions dissipated, new performances evolved from the Timisoara student contingent, an enthusiastic cadre who took up residence in makeshift tents situated by an adjoining creek bed. Several of these boys were no older than 13 years old. Some had lied to their caregivers about their whereabouts, or had simply run away from home. "What were we to tell our mothers: that we were playing jazz in the hills of Banat with Americans? No one would have believed us, and then we would have received some spanking for sure" one of them said.
In organizing this event, Bota and Smith were helped in no small way by faculty members themselves, who either donated their services, or accepted IAJE stipends, while the Fulbright Commission subsidized the salaries of two scholars and participating universities subsidized airfares.
"Tom essentially hypnotized American musicians into coming," said Bota.
"Still Johnny's participation in making both the seminar and the jazz school a reality was the key ingredient," countered Smith. "It is one thing for me to have an idea, but Johnny's follow through was absolutely amazing. Within a week, he had this place painted and a new stage built from the ground up. What he did was a miracle. I have no doubt that all of his dreams will come true. He wants this jazz school for all of the right reasons."
If Bota was the organizational brains behind the seminar, the programmer was certainly Smith, who actualized all the classes and imposed rigid adherence to schedules. The American jazz educator/trombonist/big band leader had livened up the Bucharest scene at the turn of the century, but that experience led him to the sad (and unjust) conclusion that the entire country might be contaminated by its capital city's Balkanic, disorderly lifestyle. Out in the provinces, where about 21 million of the country's almost 23 million inhabitants live, he was surprised to find out that Romanians are perfectly able to follow the concepts of western discipline, as all participants were required to attend the more than 20 events without exception. A humorous sidebar was Smith's antics in waking up the students for breakfast, some of whom had either performed or listened to jazz until the small hours of the morning. "What we saw this week was the American way of being successful," affirmed long time Romanian jazz programmer Florian Lungu. "It is no secret to us how Americans make their music education successful. But we had never seen it before with our own eyes."
Johnny Bota's initiatives in securing both the moral and financial support of the Augusta Foundation were nothing short of ingenious. The foundation's head, Mrs. Augusta Anca, is also the Rector at Tibiscus, a gregarious and enthusiastic woman who was present at many of the nightly events, and helped stage popular evening dinners, including a bonfire and a barbecue of mititei(a beef, lamb and pork concoction, similar to the Armenian shashlyk) on the final evening. Campers were also joined in an impromptu jam session by village musicians dressed in native folk costumes. Final performances were staged at Tibiscus, attended by two national television networks, as enthusiastic audiences cheered no less than four student/faculty combos and an impressive student big band.
The most obvious presence at the event was Bota, who either performed, emceed or stood next to a post grinning and laughing, as his once bizarre dream took true and resolute form. Opposite Bota stood Tom Smith, whose own attempts to establish an American jazz school had led to his greatest disapointment a decade before. "It's funny how life turns out," he concluded.
Science fiction indeed.
ROMANIAN "GRAMMY" AWARDED TO FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR
In ceremonies on Thursday evening, March 20, Professor Tom Smith, a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Romania and Visiting Professor at the National University of Music, was awarded the "National Music Award," the Romanian equivalent of the American "Grammy Award," by the Romanian National Radio. This was the first year that a National Music Award was given in the category of jazz, adding special significance to the fact that Smith is the first American ever to receive the prestigious and coveted award. During the award ceremonies, which were broadcast countrywide on Romanian National Radio, Professor Smith conducted the National Radio Big Band and performed several trombone pieces himself.
Smith's award and the National Radio Big Band performance
were widely covered in the Romanian press. Both in his teaching activities
at the National University of Music, Romania's premier center for music
and
musicological studies, and with his more than twenty major concerts for
national television and radio in the last six months, Smith has caused quite
a splash on the jazz and entertainment scene in Romania. Smith is a Professor
and the Director of Instrumental Music at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer,
North Carolina.
--
Most Rev. Dr. Chrysostomos
Executive Director
U.S. Fulbright Commission in Romania
Str. Ing. Nicolae Costinescu, Nr. 2
71277 Bucharest, Sector 1, Romania
commission-related e-mail: director@fulbright.kappa.ro
commission website: www.usembassy.ro
private/personal e-mail: directorprivate@from.ro
Mr. Smith Goes to Bucharest: Fulbright
Scholar's Return Energizes Romanian Jazz Musicians
Posted: 2004-07-12
By Jason West
When I first spoke to Tom Smith, during the summer of 2002, I considered
him a curiosity. Professor Smith - a trombonist and Director of Instrumental
Music at Pfeiffer University, near Charlotte, North Carolina - had accepted
the position of Senior Fulbright Professor of Music at the Romanian National
University, a ten-month teaching gig in Bucharest. Armed with only a cursory
knowledge of the Romanian language, Smith (along with his wife and teenage
son) planned to venture into a virtual jazz wasteland, aware Romanian jazz
musicians lacked discipline, written music, playable instruments, and -
most importantly - self-confidence.
As we talked on the phone, I reflected on my 2001 trip to Romania's capital city. I recalled visiting its only jazz club, Green Hours. I recalled meeting with its only university jazz professor, Mircea Tiberian. I recalled my visit to the jazz department (a closet-like practice room barely large enough to contain a beat-up piano and upright bass) to which I donated a dozen jazz CDs by Seattle artists. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of his monumental task, I wished Prof. Smith good luck, thinking he'd need it.
A year later I again heard from the professor, and I could hardly believe the news. Smith had collected donations from contacts in America and Europe for over $30,000 worth of music, recordings, improvisational methods and supplies. He directed the student big band in a nationally televised broadcast at the first-ever Bucharest International Jazz Festival. He staged a gala history of jazz concert, sponsored by the American Cultural Center, unveiling his newly formed Romanian National Jazz Ensemble to capacity crowd. He was awarded the 2003 National Radio Music prize for jazz. Lastly, and most importantly, he had accepted another six-month tour of duty (from January to June, 2004) at the National University in Bucharest.
Almost overnight, Tom Smith jump-started a rag-tag jazz program, quintupled enrollment, and instilled a measure of confidence and poise in musicians who were generally considered second-rate hacks, kilometers behind the classical musicians in respectability and reputation. The curious professor with his melodious trombone and Southern drawl had become an overseas hero-a goodwill ambassador of America's original music. His is an remarkable story, and it's not over.
All About Jazz: What were your expectations at the beginning of your initial Fulbright in Bucharest?
Tom Smith: In all candor, not very high. Although I was well aware of some
high quality musicians, I knew that the Romanian jazz infrastructure was
almost nonexistent. It was like dealing with a great team without uniforms
or a stadium. The whole thing was a big mess. Most of my trepidation came
from the email contact I had initiated with the Romanian jazz community.
Romania is a very strange place regarding issues of national pride. In fact
Romania may be the only European country in need of MORE nationalism. Most
Romanians harbor low opinions of their own personal accomplishments and
activities. They are a dazed, mentally fatigued population, and the jazz
community is no exception. In fact, some of the email letters were desperate
enough to use as means for securing free music-related donations. One bassist
in particular wrote a letter desperate enough to forward to the attention
of Jamey Aebersold. A few days later, he sent over a box of materials from
his publishing company. Pretty soon, a number of companies followed suit.
This was the beginning of everything.
AAJ: Describe the National University of Music (the conservatory) jazz program
when you first arrived there in the fall of 2002.
Tom Smith: I will never forget my first encounter with those guys. I actually
entered the university incognito on their first day of school. Like many
places in the States, administration was staging an orientation forum/concert
for the whole student body. I sat there for about an hour, and during that
time, I heard some very good classical music. This of course did not surprise
me. The Romanian National University of Music is a major European conservatory
with over a thousand students. I fully expected to hear great classical
violinists and pianists, and I was not disappointed. After a time, there
was a break, prompting me to believe everything was over. Just as people
were beginning to stand, a jazz quartet staggered on the stage in a haphazard
manner. They were dressed as if they didn't care, and talked on stage as
if no one was in the audience. Uh oh, I thought. This could go very badly.
Then a tenor player counted off a tempo, and they were off. It was “Joy
Spring,” and they played it very well. I was so relieved, since their demeanor
had demonstrated another very possible outcome. When it was over, they all
forgot to bow and the drummer knocked over the microphones with his high-hat
stand. This took my mind off the fact that he was only wearing one shoe.
The audience was half impressed, half confused. For that matter, so was
I.
That first encounter was a real message. From that moment forward I knew what my job was all about. These guys had to get organized and professional. Moreover, the process had to be fast, because I was uncertain if I could put up with too much of that stuff. Those first few months were a real war of wills. Not one of them owned a watch-not a one. They thought it was their God-given right as recently freed men to appear for rehearsals at any time that suited them. In those first few days, you would hear ten cell phones ring at once, and suddenly the music would stop. I thought I was going to kill them all. Then one day there was a breakthrough. One of the more enlightened musicians started taking notes every time I demonstrated something. Then he would gaze attentively at the behavior of his colleagues, and start taking more notes. I had no idea what he was doing, but you can probably imagine the things that ran through my mind.
Finally after three days of this, the guy supervised a huddle with the other guys, and then walked towards me grinning like a crazy man. “Professor Smith, my colleagues and I have considered your comments regarding the strong suggestion that we be silent during repetitions (rehearsals). To our delight we have discovered that when we are quiet, the music does in fact improve.” I was astonished. To him, this revelation had been the equivalent of an epiphany. “Do my colleagues concur?” he shouted to the others in the room. “We concur!” they all shouted back in unison. “Very well professor, we will never talk during the repetitions ever again.” And you know what? They never did. All of this now seems like a very long time ago. In the present they behave like any collegiate big band musicians from the West and the quality of their performances demonstrate that.
AAJ: How many students are currently enrolled in the conservatory jazz program?
Tom Smith: When I arrived there was a mere handful. But, it was easy to
see that scores of students were entering the tiny jazz room every day.
This prompted me to assist the jazz section in getting out from under the
composition section of the curriculum and into the performance section where
most of the students actually were. We also went to a lot of trouble to
see to it that anyone (irregardless of major emphasis) could be an active
participant in the jazz section. Once this had been achieved, the number
of jazz majors quintupled. I suspect there are at least fifty jazz majors,
with many more passing through for an exploratory adventure.
AAJ: What classes did you teach?
Tom Smith: At present I teach two big bands, a jazz vocal group, a couple
of combos, improvisation and jazz history. I also lecture weekly at the
University of Bucharest. It's a lot of work. But it's a great deal of fun.
AAJ: Did you find it difficult to adjust to Romanian culture, language,
people?
Tom Smith: English is pretty easy to speak within the intellectual circles of Bucharest. Initially, I was prepared to speak Romanian. But usually, my people always want to practice their English on me. For the most part Romania is a very comfortable country. Everything is inexpensive here, and food is plentiful. There is also a very practical and cheap transportation infrastructure in Bucharest. Romania does suffer from a crippling bureaucracy. It infiltrates all aspects of life-and it drives me nuts.
AAJ: Describe the jazz club scene in the city.
Tom Smith: There are two principal jazz clubs in Bucharest, and they exist
within a five minute walk of each other. Both clubs are always packed. Art
Jazz is the more mainstream venue, and is the one most frequented by music
students. In the past three weeks, I have performed a Dixieland concert,
a Bill Evans concert and a Keith Jarrett concert there. Green Hours offers
the cutting edge stuff, fusion, free jazz, midi overdoses, acid jazz and
jazz raves. In the winter months, it is mostly attended by the intellectual
underground and the beautiful people. During the summer months, everything
moves out into the courtyard and the music is a little more traditional.
Green Hours during the summer months is a very pleasant experience. There
are also a number of similar venues that feature jazz on a very regular
basis. Laptaria Enache is located right across the street from Art Jazz,
and it is the only place Johnny Raducanu plays. The club scene in Bucharest
is relatively small for a city of two and a half million people. But, what
does exist is frequent and of very high quality.
AAJ: How were you treated by the old guard versus the younger players?
Tom Smith: I am treated great by both groups. People here have never seen
the western traditions related to versatility. They stereotype even more
than we do in the States. So they are surprised that I enjoy playing all
the styles equally, and with any group that plays them well. Romanian jazz
musicians want you to be straight with them. For the most part, they are
a pretty suspicious lot. There are so many people trying to scam them, enough
that when you treat them with honesty, they love you forever. Anyone who
comes into Bucharest with ulterior motives is thrown out on his ear.
AAJ: Why are musicians undercutting each other instead of working together?
Tom Smith: Everybody is scared. They think all the money will disappear
tomorrow at six o'clock. Since there is no real music education infrastructure,
there are none of those music teacher day gigs. It must be very confusing
for them. Really, how can we judge these people considering what they endured
for fifty-plus years? Once they understand the delicacies of capitalism,
this will improve. It gets a little better every day.
AAJ: Is it true that you had a lot of opportunities to perform on Romanian
TV and the radio?
Tom Smith: Yes. Performing on Romania mass media is a piece of cake for
a jazz musician. Radio Romania broadcasts something like 40 hours of jazz
per month. That's a lot of jazz.
AAJ: You mentioned that there is a great deal of unreleased jazz recordings.
Would you like to have this music be released?
Tom Smith: Absolutely. There are so many creative people here doing the
homemade stuff, and so much of it is so, so good. It is funny though. A
guy will tell you, “I am going into the studio today to record a CD.” The
next day he is selling it on the streets, homemade cover and all. Studio
time is very inexpensive here. But you get what you pay for.
AAJ: You returned to Bucharest in January, 2004. Why quit your job and return
to a chaotic situation?
Tom Smith: When I left Bucharest the last time, I felt there was much unfinished
business to attend to. Before this Fulbright adventure I had initiated something
like 40 community and regional jazz and wind ensembles. In all previous
cases, there had been some type of conclusive outcome. Sometimes the outcome
was not to your liking, but it was an outcome nonetheless. In this case,
I felt like I had run like crazy, saw the finish line over the horizon,
then stepped off to have dinner while the whole thing finished out on its
own. Something about that outcome bothered me. I was especially concerned
about the future of the Romanian jazz musician. These people will join the
European Union in 2007, meaning that all Romanians will be able to work
anywhere within the borders of the EU. Now, it goes without saying that
many of these guys think they will cross into Hungary, and suddenly there
will be hundreds of high paying gigs for the asking. My concern is just
the opposite.
The flipside of the Romanian dream is that anyone from the EU will be allowed to work in Romania. At present all those large, high paying Elton John-, Whitney Houston-type shows (where the role of backup musician always goes to the versatile jazz musician) stop at Budapest before turning back to head west. After EU ascension, Bucharest will be a regular venue. This will also coincide with a proposed superhighway extending from Budapest to Bucharest. If the Bucharest musicians continue their divisive undisciplined ways, there will instead be a sudden reverse migration TO ROMANIA. Leading the charge will be German, Dutch and Hungarian jazz musicians, tired of waiting their turns in saturated, overly competitive markets. Once these guys discover that slightly above average musicians can get television contracts in Bucharest, the floodgates will open, rest assured. I believe there is the very real chance of a future Romanian musical culture devoid of Romanian musicians. Sadly, Bucharest will have brought this unfortunate turn of events upon itself. I hear all the time about musicians who say “we will pass a law to keep this from happening to Romanians.” But the EU scenario does not operate that way. Most Bucharest musicians live in a dream world. They will be powerless to stop the EU juggernaut. This situation also applies to the Bucharest classical musicians, who are probably the most undisciplined in Europe. After all, what conductors will need tolerate rehearsal tardiness and cell phones, when they can recruit westerners who are willing to work like Prussians?
On a personal note, my fourteen year old son Matt's experiences
here and his studies with Romania's preeminent drummer Vlad Popescu have
turned him into an amazing young jazz drummer. Moreover, my wife taught
English to Turkish kids at an International school, and after years of searching,
found her true calling. This story is not over, not by a long shot.
FULBRIGHT JAZZ PROFESSOR ON NATIONAL TV VARIETY SHOW
Professor Tom Smith, a Fulbright Scholar at the National
University of Music in Bucharest who has made himself a national figure
on the Romanian music scene, was featured on Romanian television's highest
rated late-night progam, "Taverna," on Friday, April 11. Smith,
whose appearances on national television in a number of spectacular jazz
and big band extravaganzas have sparked nationwide media coverage of his
activities, was interviewed by the host of "Taverna" and then
played a traditional musical arrangement on his trombone, with piano accompaniment.
Later in the program, Smith joined the David Letterman styled house band
for a fifteen minute blues jam session.The studio audience was thrilled
by the performance. Tom Smith is a professor of music at Pfeiffer University
in Charlotte, North Carolina.
--
Most Rev. Dr. Chrysostomos
Executive Director
U.S. Fulbright Commission in Romania
Str. Ing. Nicolae Costinescu, Nr. 2
71277 Bucharest, Sector 1, Romania
commission-related e-mail: director@fulbright.kappa.ro
commission website: www.usembassy.ro
private/personal e-mail: directorprivate@from.ro
private/personal telephone: (40/21) 211-7869
"The essence of intercultural education is the acquisition
of empathy
-- the ability to see the world as others see it, and to allow for the
possibility that others may see something that we have failed to see,
or may see it more accurately." Senator J. William Fulbright
from Bucharesti daily Curentual: Feb. 28, 2003. Translated by Adrian Sabu
GREAT CONCERT AT ARCUB
Many of the Bucaresti musicians and artists have marked down last night as when the banner was passed for jazz music in this country. After hearing maybe the best jazz concert ever heard here, Johnny Radacanu, the king of Romania jazz stepped up on stage to embrace Professor deFulbright Scholar Tom Smith. Since everybody knows what a character Johnny is, professor Smith accepted the stunt with good graces. But, it made the right impression, because Johnny knows what everyone else also knows. After producing all parts of last night and by disciplining the usually incorrigible Radio Big Band the week before, the new king of Romania jazz is an American.
Last night's concert was a History of Jazz, where Ruxandra Todiras narrated jazz music's development as a social affector of culture and creative thought. The band on the stage of a packed Arcub, was Smith's latest creation, something he calls the National Jazz Ensemble of Romania. It contained 23 musicians with some alternating their posts to let others participate. People were on the stage that no one would ever have believed could perform together. But they did perform together, making for the best jazz heard in Bucaresti.
There were so many great spots that it is hard to remember them all, although Allyn Constanciu and Garbis Dedeian were great. Also Mircea Tiberian and Cristian Soleanu, and of course Johnny who played two wonderful solo compositions. Let us not also forget Smith's great trombone playing either. The last composition was a long suite called Birds of Paradise composed by American Carla Bley. It featured the young George Dumitriu on violin, who was superb throughout. Before the performance, Professor Smith joked that this was the hardest piece of jazz music ever played in Romania. When it was over, no one disagreed. The work was dedicated to the astronauts of the American space shuttle Columbia, and was a perfect tribute.
Next to Ambassador Guest, Tom Smith is probably the best known American in Bucaresti. The US Cultural Center sponsored the event, so many Americans were present. His contribution to culture in this country is large. His rich compliments made about his musicians were deeply felt and most appreciated. It was an unforgettable evening of music.
Stefan Revenco
EXCERPT/ROMANIAN CABLE NEWS/APRIL 8, 2004/WITH TOM SMITH/ARAD,ROMANIA
RCN: Welcome back to Romania
TS: Multsemesc. But actually I have been back now since January.
RCN: Why did you come back?
TS: That is part of a very long story. Best said, there
was still much to be
done here, and I felt originally that the job had gone unfinished.
RCN: Is it going to be finished this time?
TS: I think the chances are quite good. Besides my new wonderful experiences conducting traditional band music with the Bucharest Wind Ensemble,The Romanian Conservatory (National University of Music)has really grown this term. We now have two strong big bands, a vocal group, and many, many combos. This past Fall, Mircea Tiberian was able to secure three very important adjunct instructors, and all concerts are well attended. I am especially happy with the quality of repertoire and the newly acquired work ethic of the students. Last week, we performed what the Smithsonian Institute said was the probable first concert of Jazz Appreciation Month, a worldwide celebration of jazz awareness. We performed on April 1st, at 2:00 pm Eastern European Daylight time. The hall was packed. Both big bands and the vocal group performed. Big Band I opened the concert with Buddy Rich's "Channel I Suite" in the original key. They really nailed it. The trumpets are so much better than they used to be. They closed the program with a Don Ellis composition using three drummers. When it was over, the Rector stood up and told everyone how great it was to see and hear such precision after witnessing so many less than special classical performances. We were really shocked. This was quite an admission. It also gave the jazz section a lot of new found credibility. Needless to say, Mircea was very happy. He had been looking for this kind of acceptance since the days immediately following the Revolution. We plan an all Duke Ellington concert for May.
RCN: Many people wonder why you do not just stay.
TS: As tempting as that is sometimes, there is a single prohibiting factor. My family and I are Americans. That is out home. That is where our extended families reside. That is where are roots are, and from a more practical standpoint, our finances. It is also my desire that my son Matt attends an American high school. America is also where the world's greatest music education resides. It is certainly the most cutting edge. No, we plan to go home for good after July, although we will never get Romania completely out of our systems. Too much has been invested to simply walk away.
RCN: Are there plans for return concerts?
TS: Absolutely.
RCN: Speaking of Mircea Tiberian, we hear that the two of you were involved in a very good Bill Evans concert in Bucharest.
TS: Yes, that was some good music. All of that is part of the tempting aspect I just described. In the past three weeks, besides the JAM concerts, I have performed a dixieland concert, several Keith Jarrett/Chick Corea concerts, a theater festival and an amazing MIDI based concert with a phenomenal sampler, where I was the only analog instrument. It was like a jazz rave. It went nonstop for two and a half hours, complete with video presentations and dancers. I was so tired when it was over. But what an experience. You cannot do things like this back home, and certainly not with this level of frequency. But you Europeans simply love the jazz. Bucharest is an especially fertile and versatile location. It also makes you want to play. I think this is the best my chops have been in at least ten or twelve years.
RCN: We really enjoyed your theater festival concerts this week here in
Arad.
TS: The Arad Week has turned into a wonderful annual event for the family. Mihalea Voingeanu is so organized. The high school competition is incredible. The drama in the plays is very deep and probing, much stronger than what you usually find in the American high school drama programs.
RCN: Was your music part of that same Keith Jarrett/Chick Corea repertoire?
TS: It was. It's funny. People my age used to play that music a lot back in our college days. Then it kind of fell out of fashion.Just before I returned to Arad, I accidentally came across some old lead sheets, and something got into me to play the music. Now it sounds so fresh.
RCN: How do you compare the Western Romania musicians with those in Bucharest?
TS: Well you were there. They are obviously great. The Arad bass player Pedro Negrescu is very famous in Eastern Europe, and (saxophonist) Liviu Butoi plays in our National Jazz Ensemble. These guys can hold their own with anybody. Believe me when I say that the honor is all mine.
RCN: Your son Matt played drums on the concerts as well. He is very accomplished. Do you hope he follows in your footsteps?
TS: That is a tricky question for me. What ever way I answer will bring forth the opposite response from him. Such is the mind of a fourteen year old. So regarding that matter, I reserve comment for the present.
RCN: Your wife is always present at the concerts. Such a friendly person.
TS: That is her nature. I am very lucky in that regard. Right now Sarah is having a great time teaching English to young Turkish children. I think she may have found a calling here in Romania.
RCN: Thank you again for speaking with us.
TS: RCN has been very supportive of my activities. The
thanks are all mine.
STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT FROM FULBRIGHT/ROMANIA
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
FULBRIGHT SENIOR SCHOLAR OFFERS A MOST SUCCESSFUL EVENING OF AMERICAN JAZZ,
CONDUCTING AND PERFORMING WITH THE ROMANIAN NATIONAL BROADCAST CORPORATION
BIG BAND
By Ioana Ieronim
Senior Fulbright Scholar, jazz conductor and performer Tom Smith had a very successful JAZZ CONCERT - with the NATIONAL RADIO BIG BAND of Romania (as a tribute to Bucharest native Peter Herbolzheimer). The performance included pieces by: Ch.Parker, D.Gillespie, N.Washington, P.Herbolzheimer a.o.The event took place at the Grand Concert Hall of the Romanian RAdio Broadcast, on Tuesday, Feb.18. The concert was broadcast live on the Romanian National Radio Broadcast and was also recorded.Thought has been given to produce a CD following this concert. As a conductor as well as trombone soloist, Tom Smith was rewarded with standing ovation by the general public, as well as by the members of the big band itself, on stage.
The audiences in Romania (where jazz music has big numbers of fans in a category of highly educated people, of all generations) have had a chance to enjoy a number of concerts for the past months due to Professor Tom Smith, while he has been in this country as a Fulbright Senior Scholar. Tom's performances have been just superb - as a conductor of the music student's big band of the the Bucharest National University of Music as well as in cooperation with the NAtional Radio Broadcast jazz musicians, and others. Tom Smith has brought a standard of performance to these groups,which is indeed admirable.
Let it be said that, like on several previous occasions, Tom Smith was introduced, at the concert on Feb.18, by Romania's most prominent expert in and presenter of jazz - Florian Lungu, who has revealed the accomplishment and top-level qualities of this American jazz performer, conductor and professor, Tom Smith, and repeatedly emphasized te privilege that Romanian conservatory students, professional jazz performers and lovers of jazz have, due to Tom Smith's activity in Romania as a Fulbright senior scholar, for a whole academic year. It was Florian Lungu who has also contributed reviews in some of Romania's newspapers - e.g. in a very popular daily, Curentul, on Tom Smith's successful activities in Romania and the broad impact he has, the difference that he makes.
It should be added that Tom Smith not only brings home among Romanians an idea about American jazz quality in a most direct, tangible way, through rigorous training (and not just by hear-say and recorded music), but he does his best to teach and inspire in the sense of instoring principles of discipline and cooperation which are the expected behaviour in the US. He has a very special involvement in this sense, trying to bring over a full awareness of principles of professional /-artistic/action to Romania, a country of considerable richness from a cultural poin t of view,as well as richness of talent - but which still has a way to go, in order to recover from effects of a long isolation. There is certainly a cultural difference between a Latin world and an Anglo-Saxon one - in general: the passionate and high-quality artist in Tom Smith makes him a very productive bridge in a profound Fulbright spirit.
EXCERPTED FROM INTERVIEW ROMANIAN CABLE NEWS, APRIL 29, 2003
RCN: What did you think when Societea Romania de Radiophone gave you the Grand Award of Jazz (National Music Awards)? You are after all an American.
SMITH: Well, I obviously believed it was a mistake, and I wondered how it was possible after only being here six months. There are some musicians in Romania like Marius Popp who should have already won. In a way I felt like handing my award over to him.
RCN: Are you as well known in America as you are here?
SMITH: (laughing) Good grief no! I had a very brief minor run in the mid to late eighties. Then I faded out of view for awhile. That is the way things operate in The States. It is always about "what have you done for me lately?" and revisionist history. Still, even if I was not in any kind of national American spotlight, I saw a number of my students and colleagues get there. So in a way, that was sort of gratifying.
RCN: Tell us about this revisionist history.
SMITH: You mean I have to explain revisionist history to a Romanian? (laughs) As you know, the music business is very political. Therefore, a number of games are played by all participants in order to as we say in The States, "get a leg up." One of them is to categorize and stereotype. Romanian musicians are probably more guilty of this practice than Americans, but they are more benign about their reasons for being this way. For example, I conduct symphonic wind symphonies at home. But, I seriously doubt I will ever be allowed within a hundred meters of a classical conductor's podium in Romania. Now that is not to say there is not a mutual respect between myself and the Bucharest classical community. Here, it is simply a matter of old habits. In Romania, I supposedly have my turf, and they supposedly have theirs. I believe the Romanian viewpoint is more like "why would he want to be with us?" as opposed to the more cynical exclusionary practices of Americans. Now with that said, Bucharest jazz musicians are as rabid towards each other as any group I ever been around, and I think financial considerations play a huge stake in this. People get a little crazy sometimes when there is not enough money to go around.
RCN: What do you believe are the American exclusionary practices?
SMITH: First let me preface by saying that I am not complaining.
Part of being in the music business is learning to develop a very thick
skin. I handle things a lot better now than when I was younger. You have
to in this business, or you just don'y make it. American music is the most
competetive in the world. We have two hundred thousand SCHOOL jazz ensembles.
Europeans cannot fathom how many American musicians are out there, and much
of that has to do with the hundreds of thousands of free band, choral and
orchestra programs in the American school systems. Because of the intense
competition, American musicians are often honored to play with anyone. With
that said, a large number of American musicians will do anything possible
to guard their territory. Therefore, in the minds of some misplaced individuals,
exclusion is necessary for survival. I remember back in the eighties, when
I had a top notch big band. As long as I was the non threatening new guy,
everyone was very polite and cooperative. That all changed when I started
to become the main guy in my region. That's when I saw the other side of
the music business dynamic. Still, you have to try not to sustain long term
animosities. Instead, you try to understand the insecurities inherent of
said behavior. Often, the dark stuff begins with the young musicians, although
this is not to say that veterans are exempt. Sometimes, these musicians
are merely frustrated, immature, or a combination of the two. But, you try
not to give up on any one musician, unless they are really asking for trouble.
Often, these same people eventually grow up, mature and become positive
influences on music.
The same kind of thing applies to Americam intellectual circles, although
these people are often loathe to admit their own personal trangressions.
There are some for example, who might categorize me as an intellectual light
weigt, merely because I do not habitually speak in a manner reminiscent
of the conversational dialogue forwarded by Einstein and Tessla in the 1920s.
And here I am a Senior Fulbright Scholar. I also write, and you better believe
that the literary world does the same thing. That's exclusion. I wish it
did not exist. But, I guess that's the nature of our business. I once wrote
a paper where I used the theory of relativity as a spring board for describing
the sentient nature of music. Now imagine me sitting at some table at the
club after a gig talking about that? That would exclude me for sure! (laughs).
RCN: Tom Smith, Fulbright Scholar, bandleader, honorary distinguished professor. Thank you very much.
SMITH: My pleasure.
Fulbright Jazz Scores at International Festival
On Sunday, May 19, two Senior Romanian Fulbright Scholars were featured performers at the Richard Oschanitzsky International Jazz festival in Iasi. Tom Smith and Rick Condit performed in separate, but equally acclaimed, concerts that generated no fewer than six curtain calls between them.
Saxophonist Condit (a distinguished alumnus of the 1970s Stan Kenton Band) was warmly received by a familiar Iasi audience that remembered fondly his first 2002 residency at the Enescu School of the Arts. He was joined on stage by acclaimed Swedish pianist Ion Baicu.
Trombonist Smith, a very well known jazz peronality in Romania, preceded Condit with the premier of his high-energy avant garde trio, which also featured Bucharest musicians Vlaicu Golcea and Vlad Popescu.
The Richard Oschanitsky Jazz Festival is an annual three-day event honoring the life of Romania's most celebrated jazz composer. The concerts were attended by an audience of over 700 people (with over 100 turned away at the door) and were broadcast live on TVR Iasi.
--
Most Rev. Dr. Chrysostomos
Executive Director
U.S. Fulbright Commission in Romania
Str. Ing. Nicolae Costinescu, Nr. 2
71277 Bucharest, Sector 1, Romania
commission-related e-mail: director@fulbright.kappa.ro
commission website: www.usembassy.ro
private/personal e-mail: directorprivate@from.ro
private/personal telephone: (40/21) 211-7869
"The essence of intercultural education is the acquisition of empathy -- the ability to see the world as others see it, and to allow for the possibility that others may see something that we have failed to see, or may see it more accurately." Senator J. William Fulbright
CONSERVATORY BIG BAND IMPRESSES
This past Wednesday, a capacity audience crowded into George Enescu Hall, at the National University in Bucharest, to hear the latest performance of that school's jazz big band. In a very short time, this remarkable twenty-two member ensemble has staked its claim as one of the premier collegiate jazz bands not only in Eastern Europe, but on the entire continent. Currently led by American Fulbright Scholar Tom Smith, this still new band enthralled audiences with its effortless readings of American music composed by Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker and Pat Metheney.
Special mention should be made of the band's outstanding soloists, including: saxophonists Alex Simu, Cataleen Milea, Bucharest legend Cristian Soleneu, at age thiry-five the oldest first year student in conservatory history,trumpeters Sebastian Borneche and George Moise, guitarist George Dimitriu, and the phenomenal young pianist Peitru Popa. In fact the ensemble featured a total of twelve soloists, all of whom could play with most of the professional big bands still in business today.
Among the highlights were the parade of soloists on Oliver Nelson's Stolen Moments, Soleanu's agile chord navigation of the Charlie Parker classic Scrapple From the Apple, and Borneche's sensitive rendering of Pete Wehner's arrangement of Thelonious Monk's Round Midnight. The concert closed with a solo free for all, on the upbeat This is Not for You, maybe the funkiest big band arrangement ever conceived. The very happy crowd did not walk away from Enescu Hall. They were blown away. Continued congratulations to Tom Smith and the boys at the National University of Music Big Band, and continued thanks to the American Fulbright Scholar Program for making his residency, and that of his jazz predecessor Rick Condit's possible. Smith's once ambitious discussions of a National Big Band now appear to be real, with a complete reading of Carla Bley's suite Birds of Paradise, already in the works. Jazz fans in Bucharest can hardly wait.
Olita Cintec
BIG BAND ROCKS BUCHAREST JAZZ CLUB
Since adopting a jazz policy several years ago, Laptaria Enache has produced outstanding Bucharest concerts by Mircea Tiberian, Austrian saxophonist Nicholas Simeon, and the legendary Johnny Radacannu. Last Thursday's performance of the National University Big Band was no exception when this popular twenty-member ensemble peeled paint from the club's narrow walls, and kept an overflow crowd on the edge of its seats.
The presence of a big band in a place not suited for such an ensemble was a novelty in itself. Horn players blared within arms distance of delighted patrons whose heads arched back every time the band performed an especially aggressive passage.
Director Tom Smith took full advantage of the electric atmosphere by programming as many intense selections as possible. These included several compositions from the band's well known repertoire, and new additions to the book which featured strong solo work from tenor saxophonist Catalene Milea, trombonist Iieronim Pogorelovski, and trumpeter Grig Grigrescu. As always, lead alto saxophonist Alex Simu provided fine solos and excellent student leadership.
The university big band will be on hiatus until March, according to Smith. This is not a surprise since he now leads all three of Bucharest's outstanding big bands, at least through February. Right now, he prepares the National Radio Big Band for a tribute concert dedicated to Bucharest native Peter Herbolzheimer on February 18, followed by the premier of the 20 in membership National Jazz Ensemble of Romania. This concert will take place Thursday February 27 at Arcub. It will include the long anticipated performance of Carla Bley's jazz suite "Birds of Paradise," a performance Smith has dedicated to the fallen astronauts of the space shuttle Columbia. Fulbright Professor Tom Smith will join me in a retrospective of his first four months in Bucharest, and an examination of his former band Unifour Jazz on Radio de Nationale Sunday, February 9 at 15:00. Some Romanians will probably recall Unifour from Radio Free Europe broadcasts before the revolution.
Mirela Stonescu-Tollea
 |
I Remember April
Primavara, de fiecare data, zilla Sfantului Gheorghe, patronul
spiritual al orasului omonim din apropierea Brasovului, a aduce in strada
pe locuitora SID, spre a asculta rnuzica, a se plimba, a manca mici si a
bea here, altfel spus, pentru ca sa se veseleasca si sa petreaca pe saturate.
in weekend-ul 23-25 aprilie, centrul localitata a devenit, ca si in ana
trecuti, 0 zona exclusiv "per pedes", iar trotuarele s-au umplut
cu sute de tarabe pestrite, lipite una de alta, de unde puteai cumpara absolut
orice. Invitat de un im¬patimit al jazz-ului, organizatorul IUliu Musat,
ill-am lasat prins la randu-mi in a¬cest val de buna-dispozitie, bucuran¬du-ma
sa revad si sa reascult scintilantul, dinamicul octet ungar de jazz traditional
Bohem Ragtime Jazzband, so sit din Kecskemet, una dintre cele mai bulle
for¬mata de gen ale continentului. Intemeiat acum aproape 20 de ani, din
initiativa si sub conducerea neobositului instrumen¬tistj 'vocalist jlider
jaranjor jselectioner al repertoriului jsofer al microbuzului for¬matieij
contabilj prezentator Ittzes Ta¬mas, grupul se recomanda printr-o impre¬sionanta
carte de vizita: concerte in Ger¬mania, Austria, Cerna, Franta, Grecia,
Olanda, Croatia, Canada, Polonia, NoIVe¬gia, Elvetia, Romania, Slovacia,
SUA si, desigur, Ungaria, unele dintre inregistra¬rile sale fund difuzate
la posturi de radio si de televiziune din Ungaria, Marea Brita¬rue, Finlanda,
Romania, SUA; 0 bogata discografie incluzand doua LP-uri si opt CD-un (plus
doua albume personale ale lID Ittzes Tamas editate in patria jazz¬ului);
doua prema intai (1994, 1995) la "National Competition For Hungarian
Di¬xieland Bands" si anul trecut dobandirea titlului "Jazz Band
Of The Year" in tara sa; colaborari de prestigiu cu instrumentisti
notora de peste ocean, precum clarinetis¬tul Joe Muranyi, pianistul Butch
Thom¬pson, trompetistul Zeke Zarchy, saxofo¬nistul George Kelly si alta.
Sa mai notam ca formatia gazduieste in fiecare an la Kecskemet, din 1992,
"International Bo¬hem Ragtime & Jazz Festival" si ca Ittzes
Tamas mai organizeaza anual un festival "Johann Sebastian Bach",
Stralucind prin diversitate, policromie sonora, molipsitoare vitalitate,
profesiona¬lism, velocitate, inventivitate improvizato¬rica, prill ingeniozitatea
elementelor de show investite in discursul scenic, Bohem Ragtime Jazzband,
adica: Falusi Alfred ¬baterie, Torok Jozsef - contrabas, tuba, Matrai Gyorgy
- chitara si banjo, Korb At¬ilia - trombon, pian, vocal, Matrai Zoltan ¬clarinet,
saxofon tenor, vocal, Lebanov Jozsef - trompeta, vocal, Lazar Miklos ¬ vioara,
vocal si liderul Ittzes Tamas - pian, vioara, vioara cu goarna, vocal -
au cantat si au improvizat, au schimbat instru¬mente, au dansat si au vibrat
intens pe lungimea de unda expresiva a jazz-ului vechi, cu daruire, dezinvoltura
si umor. in recitalurile sustinute la Sf. Gheorghe in seara si noaptea zilei
de 23 aprilie(in 24 si 25 aprilie formatia concertand la Odor¬heiu Secuiesc
si la Targu-Mures), atat pu¬blicul din rata scenei in aer tibeT la ora 18,
cat si tinera rani stransi in Clubul Com¬plexului Parc la ora 23.00, au
aplaudat frenetic grupul oaspete pentru momentele muzicale de neuitat oferite.
Mai mult decat Fulbright
Desemnat de Comisia Ful¬bright pentru Romania drept cadru
didactic asociat la Universitatea Nationala de Muzica din Bucuresti in anul
de in¬vatamant 2002-2003, americanul Tom Smith (nascut la 10 mai 1957 in
Green¬ville, Carolina de Nord) s-a dovedit a fi nu claar respectatul mentor
inzestrat cu experienta, tact pedagogic, discerna¬mant, rabdare si bunavointa
- care a pregatit anterior alte 14 tinere big band¬uri, unele dintre elf
premiate peste o¬cean, precum "Unifour Jazz Ensemble", recompensata
cu Premiul I la Concursul "Musicfest USA National Champions" -,
ci si un distills istoric, cercetator, publi¬cist si totodata un redutabil
instrumen¬tist. Animat de 0 incredibila energie, de 0 reala dragoste pentru
muzica pe care o promoveaza, Tom Smith s-a implicat cu trup si suflet in
miscarea no astra jazz¬istica, acceptand sa se alature cu diferi¬te prilejuri
unor formatii romanesti, diri¬jand si alte ansambluri decat "University
Big Band" a Conservatorului bucures¬tean unde este titular - precum
Big Band-ul Radio -, initiind concerte edu¬cative, participand la festivaluri,
dand interviuri, cunoscand in timp scurt ma¬joritatea muzicienilor romani
de gen. Considerat printre cei mai buni inter¬preti (celebra revista de
jazz "Downbeat" i-a atribuit locul al cincilea in lume la categoria
"trombon"), colaborator pe di¬verse scene cu nume ilustre, precum
Louie Bellson, Clark Terry, Eddie Da¬niels, McCoy Tyner, Herb Ellis, Jon
Fad¬dis, Joe Henderson, Bob Mintzer, Do¬nald Byrd, Carl Fontana, Sonny Stitt,
Charlie Rouse, Bill Watrous, grupurile vocale "The Manhattan Transfer",
"New York Voices" etc., dar si cu 0 serif de big band-uri si cu
ansambluri de muzica clasica, Tom Smith merita din plin admi¬ratia noastra,
a tuturor. Pe langa nenu¬marate distinctii si recunoasteri primite palla
acum, Tom Smith a fast recom¬pensat in cadrul Galei Premiilor pentru jazz
pe 2002, atribuite de Societatea Ro¬mana de Radiodifuziune in data de 20
martie 2003, cu Premiul pentru cea mai semnificativa contributie a unui
muzici¬an de jazz strain in Romania. La cererea sa, Tom Smith a fast readus
in Bucu¬resti pentru sase turn, de la finele anului trecut palla in iunie
a.c., interval de timp in care a pus pe picioare, la Universita¬tea Nationala
de M1izica, un al doilea big band de tineret si un grup vocal, a can¬tat
in concerte si prill cluburi cu muzici¬enii nostri si a reeditat acel spectacol
cu adevarat exceptional de evocaTe a istoriei jazz-ului, in fruntea unui
ansamblu sui generis de 25 de muzicieni romani.
Florian Lungu
from Executive Director/Fulbright Commission/State Department Report
AMERICAN BIG BAND LEADER CONDUCTS BROADCAST
On Monday, December 16, twenty Romanian jazz musicians led by Senior Fulbright Scholar Tom Smith, performed seldom heard Christmas jazz ensemble music, and backed popular Romanian acts ASIA, Voltage and Partizan at Bucharest's five- thousand seat Paladalui Auditorium. According to Smith, the entire concert, to be broadcast nationally on TVRom 2, December 25 at 9:30 pm and on TVRom 1 at 9:30 pm, was prepared in only six days, adding further credence to his assertions of optimum prowess among the up-start Bucharest jazz community.
One of the evening's highlights was the performance of
Romanian opera star Felicia Felip, who under Smith's direction entertained
the audience with her poignant interpretation of "Silent Night."
The crowd's sustained cheers were interrupted only by the amazing sight
of artificial snow falling from the ceiling's lofty rafters. The concert
ended with Smith's direction of his band combined with a large military
choir. Their performance of Florin Radacanu's arrangement of a traditional
American spiritual, brought this enjoyable
evening to a conclusion.
FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR PERFORMS ON TVR TIMISOARA
Continuing a tradition initiated by 2002 Fulbright Scholar Rick Condit, Senior Fulbright Scholar Tom Smith was the featured musical performer at the International Youth Theater Festival in Arad, Romania. Smith performed a two-hour jazz concert for a capacity audience on Tuesday April 29, accompanied by a local jazz trio led by Timisoara pianist Tony Kuhn. Smith's thirteen-year- old son Matt also performed a featured composition. The younger Smith, a rapidly developing percussionist, has been seen recently in the company of adult Bucharest musicians, and in the words of his father "is much improved." The program was broadcast live on TVR Timisoara. Following the concert, Professor Smith was the subject of an extensive interview with Romanian Cable News.
--
Most Rev. Dr. Chrysostomos
Executive Director
U.S. Fulbright Commission in Romania
Str. Ing. Nicolae Costinescu, Nr. 2
71277 Bucharest, Sector 1, Romania
commission-related e-mail: director@fulbright.kappa.ro
commission website: www.usembassy.ro
private/personal e-mail: directorprivate@from.ro
private/personal telephone: (40/21) 211-7869
"The essence of intercultural education is the acquisition of empathy -- the ability to see the world as others see it, and to allow for the possibility that others may see something that we have failed to see, or may see it more accurately." Senator J. William Fulbright
FULBRIGHTERS HONORED BY UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
In ceremonies held on Wednesday, May 29, two Senior Fulbright
Scholars were honored for their significant contributions to the Department
of American Studies at the University of Bucharest. Dr. Victoria Seitz,
an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and
Mr. Tom Smith, Director of Instrumental Music at Pfeiffer University were
presented gifts by department director Rodica Mihalea for "significantly
enhancing the lives of students by contributing far more than what was required."
Dr. Seitz was recognized for her tireless dedication to students and "ebullient
classroom manner," while Mr. Smith was singled out for his innovative
teaching style during the Fall Semester. "Both of these professors
were the darlings of our department and the finest examples of the Fulbright
spirit," said Professor Mihalea. The ceremonies were attended by university
administration, Fulbright staff officers and Mr. Mark Wentorth, American
Embassy Chief of Staff. Dr. Seitz was present, as was Mrs. Sarah Smith,
the wife of Professor Smith, who accepted congratulations on his behalf.
Professor Smith could not attend due to a previous comittment.
--
Most Rev. Dr. Chrysostomos
Executive Director
U.S. Fulbright Commission in Romania
Str. Ing. Nicolae Costinescu, Nr. 2
71277 Bucharest, Sector 1, Romania
commission website: www.usembassy.ro
"The essence of intercultural education is the acquisition of empathy -- the ability to see the world as others see it, and to allow for the possibility that others may see something that we have failed to see, or may see it more accurately." Senator J. William Fulbright
Pfeiffer Jazz Ensemble Rated "Superior" at Reno Jazz Festival
Participating in their very first major jazz competition in Reno, NV recently, the Pfeiffer University Jazz Ensemble assumed its place among the elite in collegiate jazz music by scoring a "superiar" rating and garnering an impressive five outstanding musician awards at one of the most competitive festivals of its kindinthe world.
Pfeiffer's "superior" rating at the Reno Jazz Festival was one of only 17 given out of more than 300 participating bands. The group's strong showing was the source of much conversation among many of the nation's premier jazz educators who were attending the festival. "(Pfeiffer's) presentation absolutely floored me," said International Association of Jazz Education Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Wood, himself a 15-time community college national champion.
According to the director of Pfeiffer's Jazz Ensemble Tom Smith, loud cheers from an appreciative crowd punctuated the pfeiffer performances. I think the audience was responding to our east coast presentation, which is something not usually heard by west coast audiences," said Smith. "Our style is a bit more edgy and improvisational than the smoother style usually offered up by the bands from places like San Francisco, Seattle and other placeson the West Coast."
One of Pfeiffer's performances was made even more excitingby a freak snowstorm that ensued as the musicians walked the 200 yards from their warmup facility to the performance venue. Several instruments were frozen, causinga delay in Pfeiffer's start as Smith frantically attempted to retune the band.
Once the snow cleared and the band retuned, the group of Pfeiffer musicians went on to give one of their most impressive performances.
„We came to this event to compete against ourselves and
be as good as we could be, and I think we achieved that goal," said
Smith. "This competition put the Pfeiffer Jazz Ensemble on the map
and resulted in us receiving alot of respect from our peers. Our students
can be proud that they returned from Reno to North Carolina as national
powers in the world of college jazz."
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION /TOM SMITH / GARY WESTBROOK RESEARCH
From the issue dated June 20, 2003
The Case of the Mysterious Cornetist
From here, it's a long way to the jazz joints of New York
and the art form's birthplaces, like New Orleans and Kansas City. Here at
Concord College, on a damp, green ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, Gary
Westbrook doesn't exactly resemble a ghost of Dixieland as he peers at a
laptop computer. A sequence of contorted lines shudders across the screen.
"It's all in the tone," he says.
Mr. Westbrook and a colleague, Tom Smith, say that in readouts like these
are the solutions to mysteries that aficionados of early jazz, a proudly
fanatical breed, have fixated on for decades. Was it, for example, really
the cornetist Bix Beiderbecke on that 1929 recording of "Baby Won't
You Please Come Home"?
Accounts of who played on what recordings were often incomplete, sometimes
purposely. Louis Armstrong and Muggsy Spanier, among numerous early jazzmen,
recorded at times under assumed names. Some -- Beiderbecke, famously --
had other musicians sit in for them while they, say, recovered from a drinking
binge. Sometimes the producers colluded to keep unpleasantness concealed
from the record-buying public.
To identify uncredited or miscredited performers, jazz experts have depended
on their own ears, a practice that in almost all cases leaves room for disagreement
-- and further speculation. So, aficionados who venerate 78-rpm platters
and earlier wax-cylinder recordings will surely be disappointed if Mr. Westbrook
and Mr. Smith are right in their claim that they can ascertain lineups by
using modern sound-analysis software, backed by biographical research. They
say that the software lets them differentiate players by measuring their
tonal characteristics. The method's limitation, the two researchers say,
is that it works only with instruments that produce tone, such as horns
and woodwinds.
"At worst," says Mr. Westbrook, a percussionist who is an adjunct
professor of music at Concord, "we can reduce it to, well, there may
be four people it could be, but it couldn't be so-and-so because he was
in Tokyo that day."
He stares at the patterns that syncopate across his computer screen. They
do not readily surrender their secrets to a nonspecialist. In any case,
one has the distinct impression that something is missing.
Sound!
No cornet or clarinet or trombone is heard. Mr. Westbrook does not analyze
heard sound at all. He converts selected recordings to digital files, which
his sound-analysis software works on in silence. An onlooker can only imagine,
or recall, Armstrong with his blatting power and tireless invention; Spanier,
his tone fat, his growl exuberant; Beiderbecke, sonorous and quicksilver
in lyrical solos.
Mr. Westbrook and Mr. Smith, who is a jazz trombonist and a professor of
music at Pfeiffer University, four hours south of here in North Carolina,
depend for their detection on sound-wave-analysis software called SpectraPlus.
It measures tone in terms of how comparatively loudly the musicians characteristically
play in various parts of the spectrum of sound that their instruments produce.
The two-dimensional spectrograms on Mr. Westbrook's screen register frequency
on one axis and amplitude, or strength of sound, on the other.
In a three-dimensional mode, they can also show how frequency and amplitude
are related over time. Mr. Westbrook switches to that mode and points to
one region of the display, which resembles a topographical map of a mountain
range. "See that ridge there? On most Bix solos, right around 11,000
hertz there seems to be this peak that's just way out on its own. I went
back and looked at all my Bix examples, and that peak was present in all
of them."
No humans, he notes, have ears so finely tuned that they can say, "Oh,
he has a very high 11,000-hertz level." Rather, one hears the combination
of such characteristics as the player's tone.
Mr. Westbrook and Mr. Smith say they have found that just as trumpets, for
example, share a characteristic sound, each player produces characteristics
of tone that the software program can register. In a sort of sonic fingerprinting,
the researchers compare various recordings and determine whether they were
made by the same player.
"We've found that we can take an artist in his 20s who to the naked
ear sounds completely different at 60 years of age, but when we test him
it is almost identical," says Mr. Westbrook. Certain emphases within
the spectrum of the sounds that a player produces never change, he says.
The researchers presume that this distinctiveness results from the physiology
of a player's mouth, trachea, and lungs; the embouchure; and the diaphragm's
strength and action.
Mr. Westbrook has analyzed several dozen recordings, using a test of statistical
significance to compare them with recordings on which the lineups are known
for certain. That produces likely matches. In the case of Beiderbecke, the
two researchers have weighed in on which of his supposed recordings actually
were played by a substitute, Andy Secrest. Throughout Beiderbecke's playing
career -- which alcoholism brought to an early end -- the cornetist often
missed recording dates and gigs. Secrest, a skilled imitator, often was
called on to take his place.
Once a technical diagnosis is complete, Mr. Smith sets to work to try to
substantiate the findings with biographical research. "All the mystery
recordings have a story that's so fascinating," says the music historian,
by telephone. Among early-jazz fans, he says, fact is often a matter of
"the agreed-upon lie." His investigations are attempts to set
the records straight. He is gathering them into a book he plans to call
The Jazz Detectives, a sobriquet that colleagues have come to attach to
him and Mr. Westbrook. The book will be full of "Sherlock Holmes-type
scenarios," says Mr. Smith. "Musician X spits blood and falls,
another guy has to fill in -- that sort of thing."
Although the mainstream press has been quite vocal in their support,the
jazz press has been fairly quiet about the two researchers' findings, although
JazzTimes did report on their work in October. But some academics are skeptical.
They doubt that the technology can do what the researchers say it can. The
measurements are not sophisticated enough; factors like microphone placement
affect qualities of the recorded sound; background noise make it nearly
impossible to isolate a soloist's sound in order to be sure what SpectraPlus
is analyzing.
Such objections frustrate the jazz detectives. "We have covered those
factors as thoroughly as is possible with present technologies," says
Mr. Smith. "We have argued ourselves silly with reputed experts everywhere,
who are never satisfied."
He ascribes the skepticism to two causes: He and Mr. Westbrook are "treading
on the sacred turf" of "reputed sound-technology experts,"
and "when we come up with this research, it kills their fun. I hate
to be rude, but we really don't care. We're historians."
Doubters also wonder about the jazz detectives' claim that their research
involves a proprietary method, one that no one else can use without their
permission. Why, then, don't they file for a patent, so that the details
of their testing could be made public? "We have," answers Mr.
Smith.
Mr. Westbrook is not too bothered by these critics. He simply asserts that
the method works. "Our system doesn't have anything to do with the
rhythms or actual individual notes musicians are playing. It's just analyzing
their sound," he says, as more patterns dance silently across his computer
screen. It doesn't even matter if a musician is playing the same notes from.
one sample to another. "It's still him playing that horn."
By PETER MONAGHAN
Reprinted from RADIO ROMANIA
Un profesor
American de jazz
la Bucuresti
Emisarii jazz-ului din Statele Unite ale Americii veniti la Bucuresti au fost de-a lungul timpului artisti si jurnalisti. De la sfarsitul anului trecut, activeaza la Universitatea Natienala de Muzica din Bucuresti un jazzman american cu statut de profesor.
Trombonist de elita in Statele Unite, Tom Smith este si un maestru al pedalogiei jazz-ului. Intre 1984 si 1992 a format si a condus mai multe ansambluri de jazz in colegii din Carolina de Nord Formatiile dirijate de Tom Smith au fest premiate la festivalurile de jazz si au intrat in clasamentele realizate de revistele de specialitate. In anul 1988, ansamblul Unifour Jazz a castigat concursul "Musicfest USA National Champions" si a fost clasat pe locul opt la sectiunea "Cele mai bune formatii de jazz" in prestigioasa revista Downbeat.
Tom Smith are numeroase realizari si ca solist, el sustinand
concerte alaturi de Louis Bellson, Clark Terry,
Jee Hendersen, Herb Eliis, Eddie Daniels, McCey Tyner. Experienta sa, debandita
fie in turnee alaturi de marii jazzmeni americani, fie ca dirijor al uner
big band-uri de tineret, va fi de folos in acest an studentilor de la Universitatea
Natienala de Muzica din Bucuresti. Cativa dintre ei au fost selectienati
pentru a alcatui o orchestra de jazz. Dupa cum afirma Tom Smith, tinerii
muzicieni remani sunt bine pregatiti, stapanesc tehnica instrumentala, insa
trebuie sa invete sa lucreze disciplinat, erganizat.ln cazul big bandurilor
centeaza mult unitatea ansam blului. "Odata ce muzicienii incep sa
sa sincronizeze si sa actioneze unitar, sub indrumarea dirijorului, performanta
orchestrei de jazz se va imbunatati" spune Tom Smith. Pe langa maniera
de interpretare a instrumentlstilor-imprevizatori In cadrul bigband-ului,
jazzman-ul american le va preda studentilor bucuresteni parti inedite din
istoria jazz-ului.
Un interviu cu Tom Smith, acest entuziast mesager al jazz-ului american, veti putea asculta in emisiunea "Colectia de Jazz", la Radio Romania Muzical "George Enescu", duminica, 9 februarie, incepand cu ora 16.00
DANIELA NICOLAE
Reprinted from Curentul, ROMANIA
Intalniri si despartiri
Datorita perioadei in care toata lumea se pregateste de Sarbatorile Criiciunului si ale Anului Nou, eoneerte de jazz in sali de spectaeol nu au fast, eel pu_ in Capitala, eu 0 singura excep_ie, reusitul recital oferit in data de 4 decembrie de Big Band-ul Universitiitii Natibnale de Muzici din Bueuresti, ehiar "la section,' in sala George Eneseu, sub condueerea profesorului, istorieului si eereetatorului american Tom Smith. Programul pretenpos, eu un grad 1nalt de dificultate, a fast prezentat eu nerv si aplomb, intervenpile so[istie-improvizatorice fiind sus_inute de saxofonistii Cristian Soleanu, Alex Simu, Catalin Milea, trompetistii Sebastian Burneci, Mitch Matthews, Laurentiu Moise, pianistul Petru Popa, chitaristul George Dumitriu, bass-istii Arthur Balogh, Radu Dumitriu, bateristul Laurentiu Stefan. Sa nu uitam cii aeest valor os cinar ansamblu stUden_esc si energieul sail dirijor, impreuna eu trioul pianistului profesor Florin Ra. ducanu, au evoluat lolli, 16 deeembrie, la Sail Palatului linde, in eadrul eoncenului umanitar intitulat "Suflet de eopil", a realizat un ariginalliant sonar intre numerele seeniee aereditate de grupuri rock si pop, de solisti de opera si instrumentisti de foldor. De menponat lansarea, eu 0 saptamana in urm!, a impresionantului disc de eolinde avandu-i drept interpre_i, in uncle eazuri si autari, pe voea!isla Maria Raducanu, pe bass-istul Vlaicu GoIcea, pe ehitaristul Sorin Romanescuj CD-ill de colinde, al cirui prim tiraj fUnd deja eplJizat, se reediteaza in aceste zile, spec a putea fi proeurat din duburile de jazz - ne reo ferim, desigur, Ia cele trei importame Jacasuri de lmalnire a muzidenilor cu fanii lor, dubuJ Laptaria lui Enache din complexui Teatrului Na_ional, Art Jazz Club din subsolul Galerillor de Arta Orizom si Clubul Green Hours de pe Calea Victoriei 120.
Exista lnsa, din pacate, si stiri imristiitoare. Daua disparipi au indoliat de curand lumea jazz-uJui. Unul dintre marii saxofonisti ai lumii, Bob Berg, In varsta de numai 51 de ani (el ne.a fost oaspete In aprilie 1993), si-a pierdut viata lmr-un tragic accident rutier In data de 5 decembrie, automobilul sail ftind distrus lmr-o coliziune cu un carnion greu. Cu trei zile lnainte, In data de 2 decem brie, se stin
gea dintre cei vii, Ia Bruxelles, capus de cancer, pianistul de culoare Mal Waldrom 10 varsra de 75 de ani. Pe Mal Waldrom, coIaboratorul unui num_r record de muzideni de gen dintre cei mai mari (sa-i amintim doar pe Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, John Coltrane), interpret cu 0 discografie uriasa, I-am aplaudat spre finele deceniuJui trecut Ia Festivalul clujean ,Jazz Napocensis", unde a evoluat lmpreuna cu vocalista Jeanne Lee si cu saxofonistul Nicolas Simion. _i ftindca vorbim des pre acei minuna_ disparu_ a caror amintire se eternizeaza gratie mostenirii discografice si filrnice, se covine sarememoram ca In ultima zi a acestui an se implinesc 10 ani de cand un mare saxofonist roman de jazz, Dan Mandrila, nu mai este printre nolo Nascut in 1938 la Chisinau, Dan Miindrila a Ufmat cursuri de clarinet Ia ConservatoruJ "Gprian Porumbescu" din Bucuresti, devenind, din 1%3, un membru marcant alorchestrei Eiectrecord, cu care a intreprins 0 serie de tuenee in Germania, Cehoslovacia, PoloRia, Finlanda, Suedia. Considerat In anti 70 until dintre primii exponenti europeni ai saxofonului tenor in jazz, Dan Mandrilii a fast selectat In "East European All Stars Big Band" care a inregistrat si un disc la Fraga (1970) si In grupul "The Nonconvertible All Stars"; a participat Ia importante festivaluri de gen peste hotare (Ljubljana, San Sebastian Spania, Zagreb, fostul Berlin Occidemal, Vaqovia, Fraga), jar 10 lara a lilac parte Ia majoritatea manifestarilor festivaliere, a sus_ut numeroase concerte, a efectuat multe lnregistcari Ia casa Eiectrecord si In studiourile Sodetiipi Romane de Radiodifuziune, ftind 10 uJtimii ani component al Big Band-uJui Radio. Este greu de rezumat In cateva randuri activitatea sa fervema 10 aria muzicii, comributille majore marcate de elIa evolu_ jazz-Will autohton. Deocamdatii, sa pastram 10 suflete un moment de reculegere 10 amintirea lui.
Dar ftindca viata merge lnafire, sa-i mentionam - spre
a-i pastra In memoria noastra afectiva - pe nativii acestei luni: Johnny
Raducanu, care a implinit Ia 1 decembrie 71 de ani, bass-istul catalin Rasvan,
care pe 14 decembrie a aniversat 42 de ani, trompetistul sibian Leopold
Reisenauer (emigrat In 1986 in Germania), care la 18 decembrie si-a sarbatorit
44 de ani de viata, chitaristul timisorean Bela Kamocsa - 58 de ani la 24
decembrie, urmat de pianistul clujean Iancsi Korossy (stabilit acorn mai
bine de trei decenii 10 SUA), care va lmplini 'pe 26 decembrie venerabila
varsta de 76 de ani, si dirijorul german de centime international Peter
Herbolzheimer (nascut Ia Bucuresti), ce-si va aniversa implinirea a 67 de
ani In ultima zi a anului.
, Ce!or care realizeaza ziaru! "Curemul", ca si cititorilor s:li
cele mal bone ganduri si urari de sarbatori, de la mesagerii artel muzicale
a creativitatii. La multi ani! si La multjazz! .
Florian Lungu
Pfeiffer’s Tom Smith a jazz detective
BY KATIE SCARVEY
SALISBURY POST
..........Tom Smith has been making waves in
the music industry as a self-styled jazz detective. Smith and Gary Westbrook
have pioneered a computerized tone recognition system which uses sound wave
technology to help them identify mystery solos on jazz recordings. Westbrook
covers the tech angle; Smith is the jazz history expert.
According to Smith, there are numerous extant jazz recordings for which the solo instrumentalist is not identified. Sometimes, a soloist has been inaccurately identified, which turns into — as Smith puts it —“ the lie that is agreed upon.”
Recently, a segment about the Smith and Westbrook method aired on “Tech Live,” a popular cable TV program on Tech TV. Their technique was also discussed on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and “Weekly Edition.”
“We’ve identified about 60 jazz recordings so far,” Smith says. “The ultimate goal is to give musicians their due and to compile an accurate history of jazz.”
Smith says that a person’s playing style is as distinctive as a fingerprint, and he feels that his identification method is more than 99 percent accurate.
“We’ve done longitudinal studies studying a person over a period of many decades,” Smith says. “Even a person’s last gasps on a horn would identify him.
“People in the science field think our research is sound, but the musical field is less enthusiastic, more skeptical of what we’re doing.”
A book chronicling the duo’s musical investigations, “The Jazz Detectives,” will be published by Michigan Press. Smith expects the book to come out in about a year.
Smith recently received his fourth Outstanding Service to Jazz Education Award from the International Association of Jazz Education for his innovative jazz history research. Smith is also working on a book called “Charlie’s Left Turn” about a jazz musician named Charlie Ventura. He hopes the project will also turn into a documentary film.
In December, Smith was awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to Romania. Because of the current world situation, Smith’s travel plans are tenuous at best. Originally, Smith intended to fly to Romania with his family this October, but could be delayed as much as a year.
During the residency, Smith will lecture and do research at the University of Timisoara in the Carpathian Mountains and work to initiate community music groups, an area in which he has a great deal of experience.
Smith is known for starting the Unifour Jazz Ensemble in the 1980s, a 20-piece band which was considered by many to be among the world’s best jazz big bands. Because of the tremendous success Unifour enjoyed, it has spawned numerous community jazz bands with similar organization all around the world.
The rest of Smith’s musical resume is equally impressive. He has played for the Glenn Miller Band and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and has been “one of the guys in the dark” backing up such singers as Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Crystal Gayle and Cher. He turned down a chance to play with Madonna years ago, he says, because he was too “tragically hip” — although he admits that he’d accept such a gig now in a heartbeat. Smith also did a stint directing cruise ship bands, which has provided him with plenty of story fodder.
Un Eveniment - Unicat:
Bucuresti Jazz Festival 2002
New academic jazz quartet
Big band-ul Universitatii Nationale de Muzica
Florian Lungu
Pe la inceputul anilor '90, de cand la Universitatea Nationala
de Muzica din Bucuresti se infiinta, din initiativa lui Mircea Tiberian,
prima Clasa I Specializare de jazz din Romania la nivelul unui institut
de invatamint superior muzical (actualul rector Prof. Dr. Dan Buciu fiind
unul dintre sustinatorii acelui proiect) , interesul pentru jazz al studentilor
conservatoristi a crescut constant. Astle!. a aparut cu un an in urma "New
Academic Jazz Quartef', prin vointa unor tineri impatimiti - studentii Alexandru
Simu - saxofoane (21 de ani, Universitatea Nationala de Muzica, an III),
pianistul Petru Popa (22 de ani. an IV), bass-istul Arthur Balogh (22 ani,
an III), bateristul Laurentiu stefan (21 de ani, an II), "New Academic
Jazz Quartet". grup studenlesc vizand proiectia in actualitate a unor
mijloace de exprimare tiplce jazz-ului modern, fiind insEt utilizate Ierne
din repertoriul international contemporan, I-am aplaudat pentru prima data
pe cei patru inzestrati instrumentisti chiar la sediul activitatii lor,
cantand pe scena Salii "George Enescu" din stirbei Voda, in deschiderea
concertului sustinut in luna martie a,c. de tanara orchestra germana a Gimnaziului
din Geretsried. in data de 26 aprilie, Saia ArCuB a gazduit maratonul muzical
numit Gala "Academic Jazz" care a etalat, limp de peste patru
are, intr-o perindare de patru momente scenice distincte, evidenla unor
Idei, concepte, nazuinte si pasiuni specifice reprezentantilor veritabilei
pepiniere de talente, depasind prin realizarile lor conditia "invataceilor"
aflati in plin proces de formare la scoala artei sunetelor - ne referim
la unii participanti, studenti ai Universitatii de Muzica din capitala.
si in acest context, "New Academic Jazz Quartet" a !asat 0 buna
impresie, in special saxofonistul si pianistul oferind audienlei, etalonul
talentului lor improvizatoric. In sesizabil crescendo valoric de la 0 evolutie
scenica la alta, grupul s-a prezentat la Cluj (intr-6 formula de Pe la inceputul
anilor '90, de cand la Universitatea Nationala de Muzica din Bucuresti se
infiinta, din initiativa lui Mircea Tiberian, prima Clasa I Specializare
de jazz din Romania la nivelul unui institut de invatamint superior muzical
(actualul rector Prof. Dr. Dan Buciu fiind unul dintre sustinatorii acelui
proiect) , interesul pentru jazz al studentilor conservatoristi a crescut
constant. Astle!. a aparut cu un an in urma "NewAcademic Jazz Quartef',
prin vointa unor tineri impatimiti - studentii Alexa ndru Simu - saxofoane
(21 de ani, Universitatea Nationala de Muzica, an III), pianistul Petru
Popa (22 de ani. an IV), bass-istul Arthur Balogh (22 ani, an III), bateristul
Laurentiu stefan (21 de ani, an II), "New Academic Jazz Quartet".
grup studenlesc vizand proiectia in actualitate a unor mijloace de exprimare
tiplce jazz-ului modern, fiind inset utilizate Ierne din repertoriul international
contemporan, I-am aplaudat pentru prima data pe cei patru inzestrati instrumentisti
chiar la sediul activitatii lor, cantand pe scena Salii "George Enescu"
din stirbei Voda, in deschiderea concertului sustinut in luna martie a,c.
de tanara orchestra germana a Gimnaziului din Geretsried. in data de 26
aprilie, Saia ArCuB a gazduit maratonul muzical numit Gala "Academic
Jazz" care a etalat, limp de peste patru are, intr-o perindare de patru
momente scenice distincte, evidenla unor Idei, concepte, nazuinte si pasiuni
specifice reprezentantilor veritabilei pepiniere de talente, depasind prin
realizarile lor conditia "invataceilor" aflati in plin proces
de formare la scoala artei sunetelor - ne referim la unii participanti,
studenti ai Universitatii de Muzica din capitala. si in acest context, "New
Academic Jazz Quartet" a lasat o buna impresie, in special saxofonistul
si pianistul oferind audientei, etalonul talentului lor improvizatoric.
In sesizabil crescendo valoric de la 0 evolutie scenica la componenta augmentata
la sapte componenti), cucerind juriul si publicul competitiei muzicale studentesti
derulata sub genericul "Jazz Napocensis 2002" (18 - 22 mal); in
consecinta, interpretilor bucuresteni Ii s-a atribuit "Marele Premiu"
al acestui Festival Concurs in care si-au disputat sansele numerosi tineri
din Cluj, lasi, Timisoara, Sibiu si din capitala. Au urmat aparitiile de
succes in cadrul Concertului "Academic Jazz" derulat in data de
15 iunie, la Sala "George Enescu" a Universitatii Nationale de
Muzica din Bucuresti si, sub denumirea "Petru Papa & Alex Simu
Quartet", la Clubul de jazz "Laptaria lui Enache", in cadrul
manifestarii "La Fete de la Musique" organizata de Institutul
Francez din Bucuresti. In recitalul sustinut vineri 18 octombrie la Sala
ArCuB, "New Academic Jazz Quartet" 'a dat din nou masura inzestrarii
pentru jazz a tinerilor instrumentisti, de asIa data ei interpretand patru
compozitii originale de grup - "Journey", "Impromptu Roumain",
"Passing By", "You" - si compozitia profesorului lor
Mircea Tiberian, intitulata "Ian us" (in talmacirea careia, Geier
patru Ii s-au alaturat saxofonistul Cristian Milea si trompetistul Sebastian
Burnecl). . In continuarea serii, am trait 0 surpriza de proportii, urmarind
Big band-vi Universitatii Nationale de Muzica din Bucuresti, pnigatit in
numai o saptamana si jumatate de repetitii, de reputatul profesor, cercetator
si istoric american de jazz - totodata si remarcabil instrumentist la trombon
- Tom Smith, adus la noi de Comisia Fulbright. Cu un entuziasm energizant
si cu competenta asigurata de 0 indelungata experienta didactica. Tom Smith
i-a incitat pe studenli sa dea ce au mai bun, ei reusind sa of ere un notabil
n'ivel interpretativ Geier cinci dificile plese alese din repertoriul modern
si contemporan al big band-urilor profesioniste de peste ocean "Runaway
Hormons", "Heartland", "Stolen Moments" (Ia aceasta
piesa fiind invitat ca solist saxofonistul Cristian Soleanu, de curand student
la amintita Universitate), "The Ring", "This Is Not For You".
Interpretari investite, gratie ingeniozitatii dirijorului, cu atributele
unui autentic show, mult gustat de public!
Lenoir News Topic
January 1989
Smith, Unifour Place in Music Poll
 |
Jazz trombonist Tom Smith, formerly the visiting artist
at Caldwell Community. College, recently received the fifth highest number
of votes in the world in the 53rd annual "Down Beat Magazine"
readers poll. Smith's North Carolina big band,Unifour, also appeared in
the poll, receiving the eighth highest number of votes in the big band category.
The appearance of Smith and his band in the poll was the first time an individual
or group had ever received votes. without the aid of a major booking agent
or recording contract. It is also the first time a full-time resident or
band from North Carolina had appeared in the poll since the Hal Kemp big
band appeared in the 1930’s.
The 53rd Annual Down Beat
READERS POLL
BIG BAND:
1. Count Basie
2. Gil Evans
3. Mel Lewis
4. Sun Ra
5. Rob McConnell
6. Toshiko Akiyoshi
7. Illinois Jacquet
8. Unifour Jazz
9. Bob Mintzer
10. Woody Herman
TROMBONE:
1. J.J. Johnson
2. Steve Turre
3. Bill Watrous
4. Ray Anderson
5. Tie / Tom Smith / Carl Fontana
7. Curtis Fuller
8. Craig Harris
Down Beat spotlights young musicians deserving wider recognition
 |
..........TOM SMITH, is part-jazz trombonist, part-music missionary. Currently Artist-in-Residence at Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute in Lenoir, NC, he has founded a pair of 21-piece big bands in that town-the CCC & TI Jazz Workshop and the Unifour jazz Ensemble, the latter of which has recorded the album First Steps. "Something I've thought about since high school, "says Smith," is that the contribution I can make to jazz is to start community jazz ensembles. We have a lot of towns the size of Lenoir which want a cultural arts group but can't afford a symphony orchestra," Smith began playing trombone at nine under the guidance of his father, a renowned dixieland trombonist and former member of the 'Boston Symphony, and went on to win a record half-dozen berths on the N.C. High School All-State Band. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, Smith went on to tour with such acts as Donald Byrd, Isaac Hayes, Les Elgart, and Sonny and Cher; and he continues to tour with trombone-and-flute-oriented duos, trios, and quartets.
A 'Jazz Man' Bids Lenoir Farewell
By Sara Moore (Senior Staff Writer)
 |
..........In just one short
year Tom Smith has worked wonders. As Caldwell Community College's artist-In-residence,
he began with a core of interested local jazz musicians and transformed
them into a twenty-five member cohesive, unit, now known as the Unifour
Jazz Ensemble. So successful have Tom's efforts been; in fact, that a second
band, the Jazz Workshop, and a support group, the Unifour Jazz Society,
have been established to further the acceptance and appreciation of the
broad spectrum of jazz throughout the four county area and beyond.
After a long, hot summer of practice, Tom took the Jazz Ensemble to Millers
Creek's Star Studio where they logged twenty hours worth of recording time
spread over three sessions. To be released around December 1 on the Jazz
Society's new Unijazz label, First Steps documents the big band's swinging
music at its best.
Recorded live in the studio with minimal overdubbing thealbum's six long
tracks have Something for almost everyone. A swing arrangement of Van Morrison's
"Moon Dance" should pique the rock crowd's interest. Beginning
with Bill Earnest's sprite quitar play, the horns are kept quietly under
wraps while vocalist Todd Woods manuevers Morrison's sinuous lyrical lines.
Fred Stein breaks loose with a supple baritone sax, solo. Trembling trumpets
build in intensity until they've nothing left to give, finally ripping through
Into the song's blaring conclusion.
Blues aficionados will find enjoyment in the old "Blues In My Shoes."
The LP's, longest tune, it was caught on the first take and features Charlotte
tenor saxman Doug Henry, who first played with the Ensemble at Newton's
Jamdango this past summer. Tim Phillips shatters glass with his double high
C trumpet blasts while guitarists Earnest and Jamie Shew trade licks on
a classical versus fusion duet section.
With a touch of soul and Bird with Strings, the Western Piedmont String
Quartet accompanies vocalist Woods on Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia On
My Mind," a soog Ray Charles made famous. Bill Alexander's mournful
alto sax glows in the caressingwarmth of their lovely rendition. For fans
of newer jazz, there's the convoluted passages of „Gyral Spiral.”
This take off on the popular band Spyro Gyra, written by Pete Wehner - a
friend of Smith’s from New Orleans - especially for the band, features intricate,
shifting patterns and an interesting drum solo gone crazy by Rick Dilling.
JAZZ PROFILE: Tom Smith
By George Scheibner
..........He may also be based in Salisbury, but there is no mistaking trombonist bandleader Tom Smith for similarly named Tom E. Smith, spokesman for Food Lion and Terry Holland's evil twin. Tom Smith the musician is a short, intensely energetic man of 32 who wears his thinning hair parted down the middle like one of his early heroes, Bix Beiderbecke.
For the past six years, Smith has been the organizer and chief motivating force behind the award-winning Unifour Jazz Ensemble, a community college-based big band of 21 pieces. Under his guidance, Unifour has grown into a tight, highly respected unit boasting some top-rate players who, for no pay, faithfully drive long distances to rehearsals and gigs. 'We get the local professional musician," says Smith. They come from as far away as Boone and Burlington - a 2OO-mile area - every Wednesday. It used to be that had to beg players to come in. Now thankfully, there's a waiting list to come for nothing.
The outspoken Smith was born into a musical family. His father, also a musician and educator, plays trombone and for years led a Raleigh-based band called the Royal Carolinians. Tom, who was born in Greenville, grew up in Boston, New Orleans and a host of small North Carolina towns as his father changed bands and teaching positions. Some of his early heroes were and continue to be trombonists Frank Rossolino, J.J. Johnson, Jack Teagarden, and Chicago Symphony trombonist Jay Friedman. He was also impressed by the big bands of Duke Ellington and Woody Herman. After finishing high school, Tom studied at North Texas State and then the University of Southern Mississippi where he graduated with a music education degree in 1979. He has been teaching and playing music ever since. He has even dabbled in classical conducting and reputedly demonstrates great promise.
Smith founded the Unifour Jazz Ensemble in 1984 when he
became a visiting artist at Caldwell Community College in Lenoir. The group
and its attendant junior and senior ensembles represented the college and
community at everything from supermarket openings to Spoleto in Charleston.
Invitations to festivals like Spoleto increased as more and more talented
musicians filled chairs in the flagship Unifour Ensemble. “We have quite
a few members now who are either music educators or professional musicians,"
Smith says.
In early 1987, the Unifour Jazz Ensemble won first place in the downbeat
magazine-sponsored Musicfest USA performance competition in Chicago and
1988 saw the group place eighth in the big band category of downbeat's annual
reader's poll. Smith himself rated fifth in the trombonist tally. However,
he regards his band's award winning performance at Musicfest where they
arrived complete unknowns, as a truer gauge of their talent and hard work.
The Unifour Jazz Ensemble has also recorded a couple of
albums, 1985's First Steps and Roadwork (cassette only) which was recorded
directly to twotrack digital in 1987. Smith feels that the group sounds
even better now. He wants to record a pre-game warmup tune for Charlotte's
basketball Hornets. "Something for when they're doing layups."
chuckles Smith. 'We'll call it 'Hornets' Nest' or something."
Currently Smith is winding up a two-year stint at Rowan-Cabarrus Community
College. "It's a year-to-year thing . Next year I'll finish this visiting-artist
tenure and it will be time to take the band somewhere else. Running bands
like this is what I've always wanted to do, but people don't realize how
hard it is to keep something like this together, especially when you can't
pay anybody."
Tom Smith's abiding passion continues to be creating good
music with the best local people he can find and simultaneously drumming
up community support for the music. "I get a little frustrated with
it at times," he says, "but the flip side is that I have become
a good administrator. I possess certain insights about the business that
some other artists may not have. He'd like to take the Unifour to the Swiss
jazz festival at Montreux. "We've been invited now two years in a row
to perform for the big band night, but we don't have the money to go. They
give you $3,000 for the gig, but it would cost us $30,000 to send the group."
Over 200 musicians have come through Unifour in its six years of existence
and Smith has seen some go on to bigger and better things. "Bill Spencer,
one of our third players, went on to play lead with Woody Herman's band."
Asked why he finds so many top-caliber players in North Carolina, Tom Smith
laughs. "This state has a tremendous jazz history. You have world-class
players in every imaginable location.
Jazzing up Salisbury
New visiting artist hopes to create musical
Mecca
By Jane Lunsford (The Salisbury Post)
...........There's another
Tom Smith in town. Like Food Lion's president, this Tom Smith is a good
businessman and perhaps a bit of a workaholic. But the new Tom Smith also
plays a mean trombone.
Smith moved to Salisbury earlier this month to become visiting artist at
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.
"We wanted to get back to the performing arts this
year," says Jerry Chandler, dean of personnel and administration at
RCCC, in explaining the college's choice of a jazz trombonist as this year's
visiting artist. The school broke with tradition last year when it selected
Sadie Bridger, a photographer, as visiting artist. Earlier visiting artists
were usually folk musicians. The switch to jazz reflects a trend, Chandler
feels.
"Big band music is making a comeback," he says, "particularly
with the so-called yuppies. I think the community will learn to appreciate
it."
The visiting artist program, which started 17 years ago, matches artists with the 58 community colleges in the state. Artists vary from storytellers to painters and sculptors. The purpose of the program is to enhance the arts in North Carolina.
Worked In Lenoir Smith comes to RCCC from Caldwell Community College in Lenoir, where he spent two years as visiting artist and two more as director of instrumental music. The 31-year-old musician sees himself as a jazz missionary of sorts. His four-year stint in Lenoir resulted in, the formation of the Unifour Jazz Ensemble, a 21-piece group that has recorded its own albums and per'formed at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., for the past two years. "In four years, Unifour played to half a million people," says Smith.
Does he hope to form a similar group here? "I think this area is ready for jazz," he says with a nod. "There are many fine musicians here, already. "Jazz in general, you know, is not something you make a living at. A lot of these people have whole other lives. "They're just as good as professionals," he adds. "They just don't have the pressure of performing for money." He already has a nucleus group lined up.
Bass player needed
"We still need a bass player," he says. "We're
interested in any musician who is willing to invest a little time."
Practices will probably be held weekly once the group gets off the ground,
Smith says.
Smith will also be conducting jaiz workshops at RCCC and at area high schools.
Cabarrus County is targeted for special emphasis. A six-month performance
series is also in the works. Workshops will likely include at least a smattering
of what Smith calls "the business of music" the mechanics of planning
and running a jazz ensemble, a rock band or a classical quartet. Musicians
are some times sadly lacking in business skills,. Smith says, which sometimes
leads to others taking advantage of them.
Smith sees such activities as a means of bringing area musicians together.
Jazz Ensemble Debuts First Album
By Bobby Bush, Focus Music Editor
..........In just one short year Tom Smith has worked wonders. As Caldwell Community College's artist-In-residence, he began with a core of interested local jazz musicians and transformed them into a twenty-five member cohesive, unit, now known as the Unifour Jazz Ensemble. So successful have Tom's efforts been; in fact, that a second band, the Jazz Workshop, and a support group, the Unifour Jazz Society, have been established to further the acceptance and appreciation of the broad spectrum of jazz throughout the four county area and beyond.
After a long, hot summer of practice, Tom took the Jazz Ensemble to Millers Creek's Star Studio where they logged twenty hours worth of recording time spread over three sessions. To be released around December 1 on the Jazz Society's new Unijazz label, First Steps documents the big band's swinging music at its best.
Recorded live in the studio with minimal overdubbing thealbum's six long tracks have Something for almost everyone. A swing arrangement of Van Morrison's "Moon Dance" should pique the rock crowd's interest. Beginning with Bill Earnest's sprite quitar play, the horns are kept quietly under wraps while vocalist Todd Woods manuevers Morrison's sinuous lyrical lines. Fred Stein breaks loose with a supple baritone sax, solo. Trembling trumpets build in intensity until they've nothing left to give, finally ripping through Into the song's blaring conclusion.
Blues aficionados will find enjoyment in the old "Blues In My Shoes." The LP's, longest tune, it was caught on the first take and features Charlotte tenor saxman Doug Henry, who first played with the Ensemble at Newton's Jamdango this past summer. Tim Phillips shatters glass with his double high C trumpet blasts while guitarists Earnest and Jamie Shew trade licks on a classical versus fusion duet section.
With a touch of soul and Bird with Strings, the Western Piedmont String Quartet accompanies vocalist Woods on Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia On My Mind," a soog Ray Charles made famous. Bill Alexander's mournful alto sax glows in the caressingwarmth of their lovely rendition. For fans of newer jazz, there's the convoluted passages of „Gyral Spiral.”
This take off on the popular band Spyro Gyra, written by Pete Wehner - a friend of Smith’s from New Orleans - especially for the band, features intricate, shifting patterns and an interesting drum solo gone crazy by Rick Dilling.
Unifour Jazz Ensemble Takes Top Honours
By Vicki Reeves
..........The Unifour Jazz Ensemble, an area jazz big band, took top honors last month in a national contest in Chicago. The approx imately 22-member jazz team, based at Caldwell Community College in Lenoir, traveled to Chicago for "Musicfest USA," a national competition sponsored by Downbeat magazine. The group reached the finals from over 5,000 audition tapes entered from allover the country.
Director Tom Smith organized the Unifour Jazz Ensemble a few years ago while working as a visiting artist at Caldwell Smith recruited excellent jazz musicians for the ensemble from Lenoir, Boone, Hickory, Wilkesboro and Winston-Salem. According to lead alto saxophonist Todd Wrightof Boone, Smith's recruiting is a key to the success of the band. "Tom is really to be commended.” He knows how to rehearse a band. He utilizes rehearsal time very well. He does a fine job. It's a great group to be in. One fact that amazes me is the caliber of some of the musicians he has pooled together to be members of the organization," he said.
Smith's direction and organization led the ensemble to Chicago to win the gold award (first place) in the stage band category. The award means national recognition in the next issue of Downbeat, for the young band. Wright talked about the competition. "No one in Chicago had heard of North Carolina, let alone Lenoir. And we are the Unifour Jazz Ensemble. I heard they were calling us the uniform band, but when we played, people began to listen."
"The day before the competition, we had an exhibition performance in the bar for people to come in and listen. There weren't many people in the room when we started, but before long, the room was packed. People were trying to see who these unknowns were," Wright said.The "unknowns" then walked away with the coveted gold. "I don't know what helped us to win," Wright said. "We just played our best."
Playing their best always mean having fun playing together. "I've never played in a group that has so much fun," Wright said. "There's always competition in groups like this. But these dudes have fun. There's a lot of high energy." In two weeks, the Unifour Jazz Ensemble will belt out its award-winning sound for folks attending the Spoleto Jazz Festival in Charleston, S.C. The annual event will feature such jazz greats as Count Basie. Nancy Wilson and Stan Getz this year.
The band also has an upcoming concert scheduled for June 25 and a July date at Whispers in Charlotte. A second album called Road Work wiIl'be underway "in the very near future," Wright said.
With the band in the glowing spotlight of a national award, Wright says the ensemble's future is "a pretty bright picture. It is definitely going to be a band to keep an eye ,out for in the immediate future because it swings. That's jazz lingo for "it really cooks."
What People are Saying About The Unifour Jazz Ensemble
"An inspired big band, filled with crack North Carolina musicians."
Herb Wong, International Jazz Critic.
"The ensemble plays with a fine ensemble blend
with Tim Phillips riding herd over the trumpet section with sterling presicion."
Owen Cordle, Down Beat Magazine
"Magnificent."
Hal Crook, Chairman Jazz Composition Department Berklee College of Music
"The soloists in this band are marvelous."
Herb Ellis, World Famous Jazz Guitarist
"These guys can hold their own with anyhbody."
The Arts Journal
"It's no mystery why this band won Chicago."
Tall Charles, Focus, WXRC
"Did you hear that band from North Carolina?
Whew!"
Overheard at Musicfest USA
Unifour Jazz Ensemble
"1996"
THE RETURN OF THE UNIFOUR JAZZ ENSEMBLE PART I
by: ORDELL MCQUEEN
Remember the Unifour Jazz Ensemble, the eighteen-piece swing band that entertained
audiences around the world, throughout the 1980's? Well, they are back.
But not without undergoing a journey that could be set in the pages of a
Machavellian novel or on the celluoid of a made for television movie. It
can best be said that this is not your typical big band revival.
From 1984 to 1991, the group that originally started as a small-town community project was one of the most respected jazz ensembles of its kind. During its's existence, it won every award and accolade a group of its kind could receive.
In 1987, Unifour broke out in a big way when it became the first winner of the Downbeat magazine "Musicfest USA" competition; the most prestigious contest in all of jazz music. To the amazement of more than a few people, a small, little-known geographic region in the North Carolina foothills shared its name with one of the elite American jazz ensembles.
Ironically, the band's disappearance was as fast and unexplainable as its ascension. In the opinion of its workaholic and often mecurial leader, Tom Smith, it was due to a number of factors. Most significantly, according to Smith, it was a matter of too much, too soon.
The Caldwell band had been one of the great success stories of the North Carolina Artist-in-Residence Program. Smith had started it as a prototype forcommunity jazz ensembles nationwide. For four years this initial version of Unifour rose from an above average amateur ensemble to a world-class jazz big band with one of the busiest performance schedules in the nation.
In 1987, the Unifour Jazz Ensemble performed or rehearsed 116 times. The band's popularity had risen so quickly that Smith could not even find the time to assemble a road crew. It was not uncommon for him to load and unload equipment, line up musicians, contract arrangers for the music, write press releases and pick up musicians to take them to to the engagements.
When Smith reorganized Unifour in its new Salisbury location, a fresh life had been reinstated into the group."A lot of good things happened,"said Smith. "For one thing, we were closer to to the bigger cities so it was easier for us to get the top players. For another, Rowan-Cabarrus was better equiped to support the band's activities in a financial way. This is not to say that Caldwell did not try to do their best for us, because they did. It was just that the Salisbury move gave the band a little more financial breathing room, and at the time, the band really needed money."
The move did not come without risks. Despite the advantages of being based at Rowan-Cabarrus, Smith had only a two-year contract to get the band on it's feet. In the meantime, he was also required to perform all of the regular duties of the Artist-in-Residence Program. This included solo performances for any non-profit organization that asked for them.
With the clock ticking, Smith began soliciting locations across North Carolina from where he could permanently situate the band. As much as he wanted to relocate the band in the original Unifour region, (the area surrounding Lenoir, Hickory, Morganton, and Taylorsville), he knew that the support base was simply not available to him at the time. "As for keeping the band in Salisbury, the people at the community college there, had already been so nice to us," according to Smith. " I just couldn't bring myself to even breach the subject with them. I mean, you don't go to people who have supplied you with thousands of dollars over a 2-year period, and then say, Now do this for me."
Smith's answer was to permanently try to base the band in Charlotte. For years, it had been Unifour's most reliable audience base. It had also featured many of the city's best known jazz musicians for a number of years. It was one of a number of jazz groups that rode on a crest of popularity during a Charlotte-based jazz boom in the mid to late eighties.
For over a year, Smith lobbied to base Unifour in a Charlotte educational institution. He felt he had found a location when his plans were sidetracked again when a member of Unifour itself argued successfully to keep the band out. According to long-time Unifour trumpeter Tim Phillips." This guy had been given a part-time job at this place and Tom felt that the guy wanted all the glory for himself. It really killed any long-term plans for the group."
To be continued.........
Part II
Final installment of this article.
At the eleventh hour, Smith found a residency at Blue Ridge Community College, in Hendersonville. The area included a number of upscale Florida transplants who had both the financial and personal initiative to support the band. They were also very knowledgable jazz afficianados.
Unfortunately, Smith's latest problem was location. Hendersonville was over one-hundred miles away from his operating base. Although he had the patron support to finally secure Unifour's ongoing existence, he now faced the agonizing problem of being too far away from his musicians. Without immediate funding for personnel to travel to his location, his new found support base was of no use to him.
For six months the band did nothing while Smith took every moment of his free time to search for a new Unifour location. In the meantime, he became friendly with a handful of Asheville based musicians that he hoped to include in his future plans. They included drummer, Byron Hedgepath, and bassist and Grammy award winner Eliot Wadopian.
In November of 1990, Smith arranged to temporarily locate Unifour at Mitchell Community College in Statesville. The school was attempting to initiate their own community jazz ensemble. Many at Mitchell felt that having Unifour there would provide the public interest needed to help motivate support for their ensemble.
This third Unifour incarnation was in many respects the strongest band of all. It featured a larger number of Winston-Salem based musicians and performed an abbreviated schedule, as Smith adjusted to driving 140 miles to be with his own band.
The new band lasted for eight months, until Smith surprised even himself by breaking it up the day of one of its greatest successes.
"I had wanted to produce a Duke Ellington program with an Ellington alumnus for years," said Smith. " We had performed with Ellington trumpter Clark Terry a couple of times, but we weren't playing an Ellington show. I wanted to do one more show with Louie Bellson."
Smith secured funding to bring Bellson to the Brevard Jazz Festival with Unifour. He dilligently rehearsed the band for over two months before dress rehearsals were scheduled. He spent an even longer period of time convincing some musicians to travel over 200 miles to play the concert.
"The Ellington show was a big deal to Tom," said bassist Clayton Krohn.
At 2:00 am the night before the Brevard show, Smith received a call from a trumpet player who had at that moment contracted chicken pox. "All he said was you will have to get a sub for me. Then he hung up," said Smith. Bellson was already in town, and a dress rehearsal had been scheduled in eight hours. I called Tim Phillips and he miraculously got a trumpet player at 4:00 am. I went to bed at 6:00, got up 7:00, splashed some water on my face and went to the show. I knew at that moment that this would be Unifour's last performance."
Unifour's final concert was described by many in the local and national press as a triumph. The Mississippi Rag, an international publication for jazz afficianados, even wrote a two-page review of it. Smith thanked his musicians and then walked away from the band the last time. He did not tell anyone except his immediate family of his decision. He finished his last year of his residency at Blue Ridge quietly. In 1992, the N. C. state legislature cut the Artist-in-Residence Program from its budget. Smith once again was required to find new employment.
Smith then did the unthinkable by going back on the touring circuit as a road musician; most prominently as a solo trombonist for the Glenn Miller Orchestra and then as a musical director for a cruise ship company. During this period he seldom performed in North Carolina.
Smith then began to hear reports of former Unifour players attempting to bring the old band back. They started calling him at his home to inquire as to the availability of the music.
During Smith's absence, bands based on many of Unifour's techniques were formed around the nation. In North Carolina, Unifour alumnus started their own community groups. Those bands that had already been in existence became better when musicians with the old Unifour work ethic became members.
According to trumpeter Tim Phillips, "it was a funny thing. In the past, Tom had always done the lion's share of the work, and people would kind of react to whatever he was doing. Now, people found themselves forced to come up with their own ideas if they were going to continue to perform with world class bands. There are a lot of people with great bands now who have that original Unifour band to thank. Most will never admit it, of course. They will always say they were planning it all along, but most of us know better. Unifour raised the standards for community jazz around the world, and that is an indisputable fact. Before Unifour, there was nothing."
Smith sprung into action when the solicitations for a Unifour revival became more vocal. When it appeared that others were willing to do the organizational work and limit his requirements to the more relaxing duties of musical director, he authorized a full-scale resurgence of the band.
Last fall, the band booked trumpet superstar Jon Faddis to be their first guest artist. "I have finally learned that there are other things in life," said Smith. I played a lot this summer with the USAir Jazz Ensemble, and I paid close attention to their great orgainizing skill. They had ten different people doing what I used to do all by myself. All I want to do now is show up and direct the band. For making this possible, I have to thank a lot of people like Mike Sherrill and especially Tim Phillips. It looks like there may still be some life in the band yet. I'm gratified about that."
The band features several new faces including emmy winner Eliot Wadopian, drummer Byron Hedgepeth, Greensboro standout Scott Adair and internationally acclaimed trombone artist Rick Simerle. Smith seems especially pleased that the group is finally back home in the Unifour region, recieving the support he had always hoped for.
Maybe you can come home again.
Durham Morning Herald, April 4, 1990
Full Swing Ahead
Sunday, April 8, The ArtsCenter: The Italians are back, only this time seated at a table (one of the great things about the festival is that the musicians get to hear all the other musicians). With them is Duke's Paul Jeffrey, the impresario, the man who invented the N.C. Umbria Festival, which now has grown to be the International Festival These and a goodly crowd are on hand to hear one of the shining beacons of the jazz world, trumpeter-flugelhornist Clark Terry.
Terry is situated on a stool off-angled from the piano, dressed from hair to shoes in gray, bespectacled, grinning up a stonn while behind him one of the tightest, most powerful, together bands we have heard in a long while is putting out the mega-bels. This is a band from western North Carolina, loaded with splendid professionals, led by a trombonist named Tom Smith and so good that as Terry told the crowd he was having fun just listening.
The band plays "Another Frame," a loopy, Basie-esque blues derived from Slide Hampton's "Frame for the Blues," and then Terry is playing "In a Mellotone" and, afterward, "Caravan" from the Duke Ellington book. with Solos by tenor man Doug Henry and trumpeter John Thornton. On Thelonious Monk's "Straight No Chaser," Bill Hanna, the trombonist, impersonates Bill Hanna the pianist this Charlotte jazzman is truly versatile and still a joy to hear.
Perched atop the stool, Terry lets his horn speak. behind vocalist Todd Woods on "Body and Soul" (as the Italian, Morgera, listens intently from down front) and, later on, in the Jimmy Van Heusen Johnny Mercer ballad, "I Thought About You," which he reads. Then he announces Ellington's "Take the A Train," with the gag about Lawrence Welk introducing it from the bandstand as "Take a Train,"' and stays out front as the band knocks it down in splendid style, with some high-noting from the trumpets, especially a young woman named Liesel Saegertz. (Where has this band been hiding'? When will we hear it again? )
Terry is an entertainer as well as a musician. At the
end he is ready to do "Mumbles,"' his take-off on the jazz singers
whose lyrics are unintelligible. Terry's lyrics are all delightful nonsense.
and he supplies "Svedish" and other international accents including
a touch of "Eye-talian," with a tip of his hand to the guests
and leaves the crowd in a happy, happy mood. And more coming this week,
including Jeffrey and the all-stars with the great trombonist, Curtis Fuller,
Saturday night at Duke's Page Auditorium. Fuller is also playing at 8 p.m.
Thursday in Baldwin Auditorium. with the Duke Jazz Ensemble.
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