'The Philadelphia Series'

Huntingdon Valley's Jeff Baumeister embraces avant-garde jazz...

2006-10-26T03:33:00.000-07:00

By Kyle Schulz, Oct. 25, 2006
© Montgomery Newspapers

Discovering the jazz greats when he studied at Bucks County Community College, Jeff Baumeister found his new calling there and the challenging avant-garde jazz style he still enjoys playing.

What is it about avant-garde jazz that appeals to people?
The awkward tempos, the jagged rhythms and outright madness of the genre may seem too challenging for most listeners, but as Huntingdon Valley resident and jazz pianist Jeff Baumeister explains, the trick is to please the ear while forcing listeners to explore new realms of music.

"It always has to be appealing to the ear," Baumeister said. "But the theory behind it is to actually push your ear into new territories."

In other words, it has to grow on you. For many fans, avant-garde jazz seems like a fresh burst of air to the tired arrangements of contemporary music. But despite the apparent randomness of the music, Baumeister said there are actually underlying structures to his music, with a fair share of improvisation spread throughout. "I give players a series of notes to use as a starting point and an atmosphere to work in," he explained. And like many jazz compositions, Baumeister never plays a song the same way twice. Although on the surface his music seems to stem from the same vein as avant-garde pioneers such as Sun Ra, Baumeister creates his experimental compositions with a dose of conventional songwriting methods. "It's a combination of 20th century classical techniques and free jazz," he said. Baumeister's composition, 'The Realization of a Line' uses the twelve tone technique, introduced by classical composer Arnold Schonberg, as the basis for collective improvisation. Besides Schonberg, Baumeister also borrows compositional techniques from Paul Hindemith and Vincent Persichetti.

Although he spent most of his young life playing music in grade-school bands and exploring different instruments, Baumeister didn't find his true calling until he began attending Bucks County Community College in the 1980s. It was there that he met professors Uri Caine, Tom Lawton and Sam Bellardo, who introduced him to the vast piano repertoire of Bach through Hindemith and the music of jazz greats such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Baumeister immediately became obsessed and went searching for as many records as he could.

"That's all I wanted was to hear more of that stuff," he said. "The biggest influences I have are from my teachers at Bucks." But Baumeister soon found himself drawn to the complex and sometimes strange world of avant-garde. "It was out of the norm," he said. "It wasn't the regular stuff you would hear. There's a unique sort of tension and release involved with that music. As a player and listener you have let go of your expectations and just let it happen. It's just a different experience."

After going on to earn a master's degree at the University of the Arts , Baumeister returned to Bucks County Community College in 2003 to work as a part-time jazz teacher and inspire a new generation of fans and musicians. "I really find a strong connection with the students and the whole idea that Bucks gave me so much that I now have the opportunity to give back," he said.
The same year, Baumeister formed the Jeff Baumeister Quartet with drummer Dan Capecchi, bassist Peter Paulsen and saxophonist Greg Riley, who released their album ’Useful Music’ in 2005. The album, with its collection of trippy jazz explorations, received heaps of praise from the Philadelphia Inquirer, All About Jazz and Cadence magazine, as well as from his old professors. Read reviews from All About Jazz and Jazz CD Reviews .

Baumeister will perform songs from his album during the four-day Slought Jazz Fest this week in Philadelphia. The festival will also feature performances by Steve Beskrone Group, the Cliftones, the Chance Trio and others. For Baumeister, the concert offers him a chance to showcase his compositions in a city which he says has a huge, thriving jazz community. "People who go out to perform are playing a standard repertoire and don't have the opportunity to venture on their own," he said. "But with the festival, performers are encouraged to display their own original work."

IF YOU GO
Jeff Baumeister
will be performing
at the Slought Jazz Fest,
at the Slought Foundation,
4017 Walnut St., Philadelphia,
Saturday, Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $15 or $45
for a four-day pass.
Info: 215-222-9050
or www.slought.org

Reprinted by permission. Much thanks to Frank Quattrone.
© 2006 Montgomery Newspapers

Uri Caine 10/12/06

2006-10-21T05:27:00.000-07:00

Uri Caine - keyboard

Raising Caine - The Philly jazz shapeshifter traces his eclecticism back to its roots.

by Shaun Brady,
Oct 11, 2006 © City Paper

Given his usual unpredictability, it's almost impossible to foresee what Uri Caine will come up with in a solo show, freed from the context of a set band or repertoire. Just a glance at the pianist's gig schedule gives some idea of hisrange: encompassing straight-ahead jazz shows with Bootsie Barnes, who Caine has accompanied since his early days in Philly; his electronic trio Bedrock (whose recent CD, Shelf-Life (Winter & Winter), is an often hilarious overview of the electronic keyboard, from Headhunters grooves to drum 'n' bass to '70s TV-cop-show themes to spacey electronica); takes on classical compositions; and a project in Hungary inspired by the folk music studies of Bela Bartok. Fresh from that trip, Caine discussed the shaping of his musical polymorphism in advance of his inauguration of Slought Foundation's new Philadelphia Jazz series .

City Paper: How did growing up in Philly influence your musical direction?

Uri Caine: I started really getting serious about music when I met Bernard Peiffer, who was a French pianist living in Philadelphia. He really opened my mind to a lot of different types of music, and as a high school student I used to hang out in different clubs trying to soak up a lot of music. I was also really into different aspects of other music that were happening in Philadelphia, a lot of the soul music and Philly International, and I used to go to the Philadelphia Orchestra a lot. I guess all those things at a certain point start creeping into your music. The basis of a lot of the music I'm still doing is the experience of growing up here and really being lucky to have a lot of very good mentors.

CP: What music were you exposed to early in life?

UC: They were various. My parents listened to a lot of classical music, but also the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Tom Lehrer, very different types of music. They were very much into the Hebrew language cultural renaissance, so I listened to a lot of Sephardic music, a lot of music from places like Yemen and Morocco. When I was about 10 or 11 my uncle gave me records by Miles Davis and John Coltrane, which was the first jazz music that I heard, and I started to get really interested in that.

CP: Your parents' tastes seem to have influenced your own studies of music from different cultures.

UC: It's interesting that you say music from different cultures, because I wasn't being taught that they were different cultures. I think my parents really wanted to move to Israel when we were young, and they spoke Hebrew to me and my brothers and sisters. It was only later that Irealized that there's Ashkenazic music and Sephardic music and it comes from different partsof the world, and a lot ofthe music that my parents were playing in my househad nothing to do with what was on the radio.

Osvaldo Romberg, Jeff Baumeister, Uri Caine

CP: But you have continued to study and assimilate music from other traditions into your own playing.

UC: Absolutely. On this Hungarian trip for instance, I didn't really know that muchabout Hungarian music, and I tried to study that through what Bartok was doing: reading his writings about folk music and then going on the Internet and finding a lot of different recordings, contacting record companies in Hungary, talking with the musicians when I was there, just trying to build up some knowledge. I wouldn't say that I'm really an expert on a lot of that stuff, but in a certain way I'm just trying to get an impression of it. Having a chance to travel and to see musicians who are playing their ass off in Japan or in Cuba or in India, you start to realize that there're so many worlds that it would be pretentious to think you can master all these things, but I'm really interested in how all these different musical cultures work.
CP: Your parents' tastes seem to have influenced your own studies of music from different cultures.

UC: It's interesting that you say music from different cultures, because I wasn't being taught that they were different cultures. I think my parents really wanted to move to Israel when we were young, and theyspoke Hebrew to me and my brothers and sisters. It was only later that Irealized that there's Ashkenazic music and Sephardic music and it comes from different partsof the world, and a lot ofthe music that my parents were playing in my househad nothing to do with whatwas on the radio.

CP: Do you have to make conscious distinctions between these varied influences when you're playing?

UC: Yes and no. Yes in the sense that I'm not sure that saying "everything is everything" is always correct. Even within a jazz gig, I'm not sure I would start playing like Cecil Taylor behind a singer. At the same time, I'm always questioning that kind of thing. I guess I'm happiest when I'm not really thinking along those lines and just in the music. But I also don't want to get into a thing where you're not respecting the aspect of the music that makes it specifically that music. If it's time to swing, then you wanna swing. There's not necessarily one way to do anything. I like the combination of studying about it, trying to be really deliberate, and trying to totally go against all that and just go for it.

Uri Caine played Thu., Oct. 12, 8 p.m., $15, Slought Foundation, 4017 Walnut St., 215-222-9050, www.slought.org

Slought Jazz Fest Thursday through Sunday, Oct 26 - 29

Slought Jazz Fest - Oct. 26th - 29th

2006-08-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

This four-day Jazz Festival is the second event in The Philadelphia Series.

$15/12 for students
$45 four - day pass

215.222.9050

Pianist and music curator of The Philadelphia Series Jeff Baumeister along with Artist/Senior Curator Osvaldo Romberg of Slought Foundation will be joining Jeff Duperon for a discussion about Slought's 2006-07 Jazz Season on WRTI 90.1 FM, Friday, Oct. 6 at 6:30pm. Music from the upcoming festival as well as Uri Caine's Oct. 12th, appearance will be featured.

Festival Schedule,
sets begin at 7:30pm

Thursday, Oct. 26
Steve Beskrone Group
The Cliftones

Friday, Oct. 27
The Chance Trio
Bobby Zankel / Edgar Bateman - Heart to Heart Communication

Saturday, Oct. 28
'Useless Music' - Jeff Baumeister Quartet
'CEPHALOPOD' - Ben Schachter Ensemble w/ Jef Lee Johnson

Sunday, Oct. 29
Shot x Shot
Tom Lawton Trio - Music Without Category

photo by karen baumeister

Slought Jazz Fest - Oct. 26th, 7:30pm

2006-08-09T06:07:00.000-07:00

7:30 Steve Beskrone Group
9:00 The Cliftones

$15/12 for students

Steve Beskrone Group...

Steve Beskrone- bass
Sid Simmons- piano
Craig McGiver- drums

Steve Beskrone

The Cliftones
Tony Miceli - vibes,
Jeff Pedraz - bass,
Eric Johnson - drums

The Cliftones

Slought Jazz Fest - Oct. 29th, 7:30pm

2006-08-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

7:30 Shot X Shot
9:00 Tom Lawton Trio

$15/12 for students

Shot X Shot
Dan Capecchi – drums, Matt Engle – bass, Bryan Rogers – tenor saxophone, Dan Scofield – alto saxophone

Shot x Shot is an improvisational acoustic quartet performing original compositions steeped in jazz tradition, but with experimental sensibilities. Formed in 2003, while the members were students at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, has quickly established itself as one of the most groundbreaking bands in one of jazz’s most important cities. On its self-titled debut, the group showcases its compositional dynamism and transcendental vibrancy creating a unique balanced sound that is often missing in improvisational jazz.

Fellow Philadelphian, jazz critic and author Francis Davis hears the band’s vitality. “Something fresh and exciting is unfolding in jazz, and these talented young Philadelphians are doing their part to speed it along,” writes Davis. “It’s been ages since I’ve heard a debut recording this adventurous and assured.”

Downbeat Magazine writes “3.5 stars... Shot x Shot takes deceptively simple, bare-bones structures and turns them into spacey, infinitely layered improvisations... I wonder what’s next for this excellent young quartet”.

WNUR, (April 2006) Pick of the Week: This is a remarkable album and a rare event in that we hardly ever see a debut recording... The interplay between musicians can be so beautifully layered one doesn’t know what to listen to first. The playing itself is truly experimental as Shot x Shot doesn’t fall into any of the neatly organized categories for modern jazz. Part of the reason is that it doesn’t follow closely to a particular aesthetic. Shot x Shot’s emphasis on ambiance and texture draws it closer to post-rock while its instrumentation and emphasis on improvisation puts it squarely in the jazz/free improv camp... Shot x Shot's debut represents a meaningful step forward in jazz’s evolution.

...give a listen

Tom Lawton Trio - Music Without Category
featuring;
bassist Lee Smith and
drummer Jim Miller

Tom Lawton performs frequently in many configurations from solo piano to the big band led by Bobby Zankel, the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound. In addition to leading his own groups, Tom was a founding member of Monkadelphia and the pianist in composer/saxophonist Norman David’s Group Four.

Tom has played in the U.S. with Ben Schachter, Tim Hagans, George Garzone, Larry McKenna, Tim Warfield, David Murray, Dave Liebman and many others. In Europe with Don Byron, Dave Douglas, Mark Feldman, and Diane Monroe.

Retrospective/Debut, a double CD released in 2004 was Tom’s first as a leader. It features his original compositions for quartet and quintet with this trio at its core. The concert will feature these as well as new pieces written for a 2005 PA Council on the Arts Grant and even more recently written trio pieces.

The group distinguishes itself in its ability to seamlessly from chord changes to free improvisation and everything in between.

About Retrospective/Debut

“ A diverse affair that mixes post-bop with free jazz that leans to the expressionistic...”
John Kelman, All About Jazz.com

“Superbly performed, full of complex textures, exciting solos and imminent discoveries”
Don Williamson, Jazz Review.com

About Tom:

“A formidably two-handed approach to the piano that slips easily between mainstream and more outside styles”
Cadence Magazine

Slought Jazz Fest - Oct. 27th, 7:30pm

2006-08-09T04:41:00.000-07:00

7:30 The Chance Trio
9:00 Bobby Zankle / Edgar Bateman
- Heart to Heart Communication

$15/12 for students

The Chance Trio
Bart Miltenberger - leader, trumpet, flugelhorn, Matt Davis - acoustic guitar, Michael Taylor - upright bass

"Like a street band in some Mediterranean capital, albeit one with a thorough mainstream and free-jazz grounding" (Philadelphia Inquirer), The Chance Trio is an intimate and acoustic, Philadelphia-based improvisational trio of trumpet, guitar, and bass.

"An unusual and striking trio" (Philadelphia Inquirer), The Chance Trio is a one-of-a-kind Philadelphia-based acoustic jazz trio. Started in 2001 by Bart Miltenberger (leader, trumpet, flugelhorn), Matt Davis (acoustic guitar), and Michael Taylor (upright bass), The Chance Trio has performed their adventurous, passionate and humorous original compositions all over the Philadelphia area including energizing showcases at the 3rd and 4th Collective Voices Festivals and a long-standing residency at The Highwire Gallery. The Trio will also be a featured act at the Dave Douglas-curated 2006 Festival of New Trumpet Music in New York City. Influenced by Jazz, Blues, Folk, Rock, and the Avant-garde, The Chance Trio is excited to be performing in the "Philadelphia Series" at Slought.

Bobby Zankel / Edgar Bateman
- Heart to Heart Communication

Award winning author, Norman Weinstein declared in his book, A Night in Tunisia. "Bobby Zankel deserves any Talent Deserving Wider Recognition Award the jazz press might offer." In a review of Zankle’s cd 'Emerging from the Earth' Jazz Times wrote, “Zankle is headed to the status of a prime jazz innovator . His alto playing has been called, a unique amalgam of the rhythm and intricacy of bebop, with the soul and drive of hard-bop, and the spirituality, creativity and intensity of the avant garde. Ornette Coleman biographer, John Litweiler described Zankel in Downbeat (9/71) as “a skillful young altoist with a powerful music at his fingertips."

But who is Bobby Zankel and where has he been?

Brooklyn born composer and alto saxophonist, Bobby Zankle first began attracting national attention around 1971 while a student at the University of Wisconsin and member of Cecil Taylor’s group ‘Unit Core Ensemble’. Zankel’s studies were a combination of his performing and research with Cecil Taylor (legendary jazz master and Mac Arthur Fellow), and private saxophone studies with the renown Fred Hemke. He was also a member of drummer George Brown’s quartet that featured the brilliant under appreciated organist Melvin Rhyne.

Zankle’s “underground” reputation grew in the early 1970s when he took part in New York’s Loft Scene where he performed with William Parker, Ray Anderson, Sonny Murray and Akhmed Abdullah. He continued his apprenticeship with Cecil Taylor’s large group which at times included Jimmy Lyons (who Zankel studied privately with), Hannibal Marvin Peterson, David S. Ware, and Andrew Cyrille. He also worked with one of Brooklyn’s most popular R&B groups , the “Soul Casters”, and the Kenny Gill/Claude Bartee Quintet

In 1975, Zankel moved to Philadelphia to raise his family and to expand his artistic vision without heeding to commercialism or the trends of the times. Since arriving in Philadelphia his performances as a sideman have ranged widely from the Sonny Gillete/Hank Mobley Quintet , Jymmie Merritt’s Forerunners, the Dells, NRBQ, Odean Pope’s Saxophone Choir, La Herencia, Los Mercenarios de Merengue, Johnny Coles’ Mill Creek Orchestra, Tyrone Brown’s Orchestra and Choir, Edgar Bateman Quintet the Visual Music Ensemble. He also continues to work in different ensembles lead by Cecil Taylor throughout Europe and New York.

Zankel has recorded as a sideman with Tyrone Brown, Samrai Celestial’s Cosmic Millennium Gold, and Ruth Naomi Floyd’s group which included: Gary Thomas, Craig Handy, Terri Lynn Carrington and James Wideman. Zankel’s years of intensive study of tonality with maestro Dennis Sandole (teacher of John Coltrane, and James Moody among many others) have been a big part in his developing into one of the most brilliant and original composers of our time.

Zankel’s tenure in Philadelphia has been marked by a series of acclaimed collaborations with choreographers, visual artists and writers funded by a variety of grants and awards, that have resulted in three ballets and a jazz opera. In 1995 he was awarded the prestigious PEW FELLOWSHIP. Zankel’s compositions are characterized by a stunning blend of rhythmic layers, a highly personal complex chromatic harmonic language, and a hauntingly beautiful melodic lyricism. The six CDs he has recorded as a leader have received outstanding reviews and four have been on Best CD of the year lists. Those six CDs have featured such magnificent musicians as Johnny Coles, Odean Pope, Uri Caine, Ralph Person Jr., Marilyn Crispell, Tyrone Brown , John Blake, Sumi Tonooka. The introspection of a composer’s life has been balanced by over 20 years of sharing musical ideas with the inmates in the Pennsylvania prisons.

Slought Jazz Festival - Oct.28th, 7:30pm

2006-08-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

7:30 Useless Music
9:00 CEPHALOPOD

$15/12 for students

Useless Music
Jeff Baumeister Quartet,
feat: Peter Paulsen-bass,
Dan Capecchi-drums and
Bob Meashey-trumpet

Verbrauchsmusik - Music without lasting value, written to be used and discarded quickly.

As a follow up to pianist Jeff Baumeister’s debut release Useful Music , the quartet will present new works soon to be recorded. According to Jeff, “the new pieces for this project will follow a similar path as ‘Useful Music’ but with a more ‘free bop and groove’ approach.”

Since its release in the summer of 2005, ‘Useful Music’ continues to receive international attention with airplay and sales throughout the United States, Europe and Asia . It has been named Publisher's Top Picks for 2005 and Editor's Choice - Best of 2005, New Discoveries by All About Jazz and also Top Ten Best Albums of 2005 by Jazz Views. AAJ's Senior Editor John Kelman writes, “Useful Music establishes a new player and writer - and a new group, who, if there's any justice, will attract the attention of those who know the reach of modern jazz extends well beyond the narrow confines of more traditional convention.”

...read Tony Rogers' review from jazzcdreviews.com

Jeff Baumeister teaches jazz studies at Bucks County Community College and is a regular contributor to DownBeat Magazine.

...give a listen

CEPHALOPOD
Ben Schachter Ensemble
featuring special guest,
bassist Jef Lee Johnson

In Ben’s own words “For the gig, I wanted to try something different from my usual "blow for the Cosmos" approach. I intend to use a larger band consisting of 2 guitars, 2 basses, 2 saxophones and drums to present some music I've been writing that can best be described as odd groove tapestries. I'll be using some of the fine young musicians I've met while teaching at Temple and UArts”.

"If the news hasn't reached you, then listen up! Philadelphia-based saxophonist Ben Schachter is one of the sharpest improvisers in modern jazz." - AllAboutJazz

Ben Schachter is a powerful and original saxophonistand composer. As a leader, he has five recordings on his own label and a sixth in the works. He has performed in the U.S., Europe and Asia with; Sam Rivers, Tim Hagans, Conrad Herwig, Jeff "Tain" Watts, John Zorn,Gary Bartz, Jef Lee Johnson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, George Garzone, Marc Ribot, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Jack Walrath, etc. As a composer, Ben has been recognized with grants from the American Composers Forum (2003), Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (2001 & 2005), and Pew Fellowships in the Arts (1999). Ben has been active in education for many years. He taught at Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA) from 1986-88, at Bucks County Community College (Newtown, PA) from 1991-96, and has been a clinician at other colleges and Universities. In Philadelphia he has been on faculty at Temple University since 1993, and at The University of the Arts since 2004.

...give a listen

Uri Caine - Thursday, October 12th, @ 8pm

2006-08-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

$15, $12 students

This concert is the first event in The Philadelphia Series.

Uri Caine is a classical and jazz pianist and composer. A Philadelphia native, Caine began playing in bands with Joe Jones, Hank Mobley, Johnny Coles, Odean Pope, Jymmie Merritt, Bootsie Barnes and Mickey Roker. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and studied music composition with George Rochberg and George Crumb. Since 1981 he has performed and recorded professionally, releasing 16 albums that pay homage to jazz pianists like Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock, and classical composers Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler. His third CD, "Urlicht/Primal Light", featured arrangements of the music of Gustav Mahler and won the international "Composer's Hut" award for Best Mahler CD of 1997. During the past several years, Caine has worked in groups led by Don Byron, Dave Douglas, Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco, Clark Terry, Rashid Ali, Arto Lindsay, Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul, the Woody Herman Band, Annie Ross, the Enja Band, Global Theory and the Master Musicians of Jajouka. He has recently recorded Bach’s “The Goldberg Variations”, Beethoven’s “Diabelli Variations” (an arrangement of Beethoven's Opus 120 for piano and orchestra with Concerto Koln), and released a collection of Mahler’s songs, titled “Dark Flame.”

Caine has received commissions from the Vienna Volksoper, The Seattle Chamber Players, The Beaux Arts Trio, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, and, in Philadelphia, Relâche Inc. He has received grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Foundation, and was named Director of the Venice Biennale for Music in September 2003, where he also premiered his new work "The Othello Syndrome."