The End of The World?

Welcome to 2012! Well, if we are to believe the Mayans (or at least their ancient calendar) this is the year it all ends. Solar flare? Pole-Flip? As yet unreported asteroid? Alien invasion (I personally would like to see that one, I mean “First Contact” could mean a whole new audience for jazz: you dig? I especially like the concept of the rouge planet Nibiru. Great place for a Blue Note club I’d say.) Well, NASA says that none of these events are scientifically lurking in the queue (check out the NASA article here)

Then there is this take from Dan Piraro of the hip comic panel Bizarro (check out his site…great stuff! Dan also has a killin’ blog, check it out here great bizarre writing…is it any wonder that I dig it so?)

So, what does all this mean for jazz? what does all this mean for The One O’Clock? Can I tie this thread together? But of course….

How would one define the end of the world? The Cubs in the World Series? (a boy can dream can’t I?) The rebirth of the theme song for tv shows? Less commercials and more content on tv? Jazz bursts out of the 1% portion of the “market” share and becomes more popular? If it is the latter, then I say, bring it on! In fact, we will be having fun with this concept throughout the Spring semester in a number of ways:

1. Work is now underway in making the first combined animation-music concept video for Lab 2012. We are working with the College of Visual Arts and Design to put this exciting project together, and you guessed it, its theme will be based on the end of the world 2012 concept.

2. Flying boldly into the face of dire predictions, the Lab 2012 cover art will also incorporate the 2012 doomsday theme (in some kind of satirically hip jazz kind of way)

3. As this will indeed be the last time the math allows us to do so for awhile, we will have some kind of CD party on 12/12/12

Well, you heard it here first friends, the world will not end in 2012. There is simply too much for The One O’Clock to do. And much of it takes place this semester. We have an action-packed schedule (watch our website for the complete update coming this week) as we spread the good word far and wide. And whether or not it is one of the last CDs ever made (the 2012 thread…kind of weak, but hey its the title of this post, so I’ve got to milk it) Lab 2012 promises to be a great project. We have a whole new group of student writers involved who are also members of the band (nothing against our incredible team of student writers from last year, but HEY…the current crop is always the best one!), and the band itself is ROARING! You all will certainly be kept in the loop as this one develops, it is likely to be quite special.

So, as the new year and new semester begins I look forward to the ever-thrilling mission of standing in front of this world-class one-of-a-kind ensemble-deluxe and making sure that the world gets to enjoy it as well.

2012 is not the end…it is just another great year of swinging delights brought to you by The One O’Clock Lab Band. And, as as Shakespeare once said:

“If music be the food of love…play on!”

The League of Heroic Raconteurs

The Complete NT Jazz Collection at The Sherman Jazz Museum

Hey, I told you I’d be back! It seems I am a spot-on NAILS prophet (as long as I predict only what I plan to do) …

The League of Heroic Raconteurs. So, how’s THAT for a sophisticated Shed title? Intriguing no? No? Well, dig further:

I wasn’t even familiar with the word raconteur until my good friend Cal Lewiston laid it on me at a marvelous event at The Sherman Jazz Museum. Oh sure, I had read the word before and even heard it bandied about amongst my fellow bon vivants in the midst of unbridled mirth-filled social exchanges (hey, that really does happen in jazz circles!) … but I was never really sure what it meant, until said champion of acuity (Cal Lewiston) told me: “Hey man, you are quite the raconteur!” Suddenly, I was empowered by a rare moment of social bravery, and found the courage to admit my ignorance and actually say: “Well, thanks…I think…just what is a raconteur?” Cal, ever the gracious savant answered: “It means a story teller, one who is very good at telling stories. You tell a great story man” WOW! Who knew? My family is a family of raconteurs! We live for the good story. At the holidays each year, we roll out stories that have been refined and retooled over the years like some folks pour over family albums. Wiest-folk love a good story. Indeed, perhaps in the far recesses of time amongst the mists of medieval England, one of my early ancestors may have passed on stories in the meticulous fashion of the troubadour or minstrel (my mother’s side DOES go straight back to Mary Boleyn … another blog for another time … ), or it could be that we just dig a story well-told. Who doesn’t?

Distant Relative of The Director of The One O'Clock Lab Band: Mary Boleyn (Rumor has it that she was also a good blues singer)

Which brings us to the title, just who is in the League of Heroic Raconteurs? I can name two right away who have been heroes indeed in getting the word out about The One O’Clock (ta da! You were perhaps wondering what all of this had to do with said Grammy-nominated ensemble no?)

Bret Primack and Bill Collins

Bret Primack (otherwise known as the Jazz Video Guy) is a writer and film maker who has made it his business to keep jazz from disappearing. Ya GOTTA love THAT! And he is doing a fine job in this area. His work documenting Sonny Rollins and Michael Brecker alone are worth enshrining him in the Jazz Hall of Saints (well there should be one). But he has also of late been a wonderful champion of jazz advocacy in the realm of jazz education. So, we pulled together some bread and invited him out to UNT. Dig what he came up with:

So how cool is THAT! MAN-OH-MAN! This is the kind of stuff that can change the world. For real! I have been sending these videos all over the cyberverse and they are really helping to get the word out about this amazing program. If you feel so inclined, please post them onto your favorite social (or arcane) media platform and help us spread said love. The more people hear this music, the more they will want to hear, and THAT my friends helps the body-jazz.

Bret filmed some 14 hours of interviews, rehearsals, life in the halls, and other goodies while he was here at NT, so there will be many more JVG Productions to come. Thank you Bret, you heroic raconteur YOU!

And then there is the mighty team of Bill and Susan Collins. Bill was a wonderful lead trumpet artist in the DFW area (One O’Clock class of Lab ’76 and ’77) who retired recently only to take up the herculean endeavor of putting together a jazz museum. Originally focused on jazz trumpet players, the Sherman Jazz Museum has now expanded and includes all kinds of amazing items. Bill simply wants to help preserve this wonderful history and, more importantly, get the word out to the next generation. He (along with Dan Cathy of Chick-Fil-A fame) purchased the entire Maynard Ferguson estate. Dan gave the complete MF library to UNT (where it is now safely filed away right next to Maynard’s mentor Stan Kenton’s library … history does come up with poetic niceties from time-to-time) and Bill put all of Maynard’s estate (horns, stage gear, awards, etc) on display as part of his wonderful museum.

A section of MF memorabilia at The Sherman Jazz Museum

A Dizzy Gillespie trumpet (silver) along with a copy (gold) made for Sammy Davis Jr.

In fact, the event where Cal Lewiston helped to expand my actual working vocabulary was a Maynard Ferguson tribute in Sherman Texas in partnership with Bill and Susan’s great museum. Wayne Bergeron, Denis DiBlasio, myself, and Lisa Ferguson gave a panel discussion on Maynard’s music, The One O’Clock, and all kinds of subjects as part of the festivities. What a great weekend! And most importantly: students from all over enjoyed it and got turned on to jazz! Mission accomplished.

So there it is. With the help of The League of Heroic Raconteurs, we can continue to get the word out. Let it not be forgot, that there is still a place called: Camelot!

One of the books that we used when I was with Maynard's band. You know you're getting older when the stuff you used to use is now in a museum. Just sayin'.

Still Alive and Well!

NT-Nation! Wow…where did the first two months of the semester go? I am indeed still alive. As you can see, The Shed has a new look (hope you dig it…kind of a fun comic-book super-hero kind of thing. Well, at least it looks like that to me) There is MUCH to tell you about, and I will do so this weekend. So, this is a placeholder for those of you who check in now and then. Stay tuned…

New Semester, New Band, Same Stunning Swing …

The New One O'Clock in Rehearsal: Fall, 2011

Welcome to Fall 2011! We have finally come up for air after a grueling two-week period of auditions.

1. Initial sight reading: this takes place in the individual studios

2. “Jazz Chair” improv auditions: level one in the afternoon with Mike Steinel and Brad Leali, then level two that evening with Steve Wiest, Jay Saunders, Brad Leali, and Mike Steinel.

3. Drum auditions (and final horn tweaking) This takes place the first full week of school with the One, Two, and Three O’Clock Bands.

Then, the results become final and written in stone (and displayed on the legendary “Board of Tears”). So, what does all this mean? Well, for one, this is the beginning of another year where “everyday is an audition” and close to 300 students of jazz constantly improve one another with competition, networking, love, and mucho time in the “shed”. And another thing: the bands all start to roar.

Sean, William, and Brian in Rehearsal Fall, 2011

The One O’Clock however, has to roar right away:

Three rehearsals into the semester, The One O’Clock plays a three set concert at The Syndicate (our venerable on-campus night-club-deluxe) with all of the students and local fans in attendance to check out the new group. Don’t you know THAT is both exciting AND a trial-by-fire for the new members of the band! And this year, out of 19 members … only 4 were returning from last year! How did THAT work out? Well, that result, perhaps more than any other single factor is the very definition of what makes North Texas Jazz so great. The band was burning, killing, and very, very swinging! YES, there were mistakes … silly mistakes … stupid mistakes … breakdown of concentration mistakes … but the overall vibe of the first Syndicate concert was: WOW! They did THAT after just three rehearsals with a band staffed by 15 new students and 4 returning veterans?

Welcome to the One O’Clock.

Greg Sadler: Fall, 2011 One O'Clock Drummer

Dramatic? Yes. Hyperbole? That’s me! True and accurate? Absolutely! This tradition and program produces a stunning group of like-minded and very talented students who pull together in an amazingly short period of time and become one of the best modern large jazz ensembles on the planet. EVERY YEAR! After spending the summer with Craig Marshall and Phil Bulla working on Lab 2011, I began to worry that ,with such a turn over, the Fall, 2011 band would be in trouble. When will I learn? No worries. The new school year equals a new One O’Clock with the same killing swing that has been firmly in place around here since the 1946-47 school year.

Let me introduce you to the new One O’Clock:

Trumpets: Tyler Mire (Lead) Jake Boldman (Tpt 2) Miranda George (Tpt 3) Jordan Gheene (Tpt 4) Miles Johnson (Tpt 5)

Trombones:Kevin Hicks (Lead) Jennie Kellogg (Tbn 2) Julie Gray (Tbn 3) Jon Gauer (Bass Tbn 4) Sean Casey (Bass Tbn 5)

Saxes: Justin Pierce (Lead Alto) Alex Fraile (Alto 2) Dustin Mollick (Tenor 1) Aaron Hedenstrom (Tenor 2) Spenser Liszt (Bari)

Rhythm: Sean Giddings (Piano), Brian Casey (Bass), Greg Sadler (Drums) William Flynn (Guitar)

Fall, 2011 One O'Clock in Rehearsal

As you can see (and I will probably wear this out very soon, but I really dig it) the “gender barrier” has been completely destroyed! Three very talented women made the band this year: Jenny Kellogg, Miranda George, and Julie Gray. So, no longer will the question “Why are there no girls in The One O’Clock” be applicable. A-men!

I am looking forward to a wonderful and exciting year with this new group as we find out our musical identity and work towards Lab 2012. (There are at least four writers in the band and a big batch of gifted writers this year who are not in the group but want to write for the band, so that tradition is also firmly in place). And all along the way, we can all take heart in the fact that the tradition at UNT just keeps swingin’!

To see the line up of gigs for Fall Semester: click here.

The Fifth Shade (Lab 2011)

Introducing the artwork for Lab 2011! (click the image for a larger version)

Ain’t it hip? This incredible bit of artistry is by our very own Dustin Mollick (UNT student and baritone sax for the 2010-2011 One O’Clock Lab Band) Whereas last year we had a world-wide search for great cover art (and FOUND it via the super talented Mr Kutz from the U.K.), this year we had to look no further than our own back yard. Dustin is featured on Lab 2011 in both musical and cover art capacities and he excels in both areas.

So, dig the ultra-hip retro nature of this cover! I love the blue shades…in fact, that is where the enigmatic, cryptic, ambiguous..yes even arcane name of this article (The Fifth Shade) comes from. Here is a post from Dustin’s Facebook to elucidate: “I wanted to use exactly four shades of blue for the entire cover, but Steve’s Santa hair & beard required a fifth shade.”

Santa hair and beard?! Well…I suppose so. In fact, in Dustin’s rendition I look like the caption could read: “Santa goes clubbing”…but I digress…Not only did Dustin’s post render the title of my next One O’Clock chart, but it points out some of what he was up to. The cover is in shades of blue and has a hip retro jazz vibe to it. Reminiscent of Blue Note Records a bit, while also hinting at a “Charlie’s Angel’s 1970s kind of vibe.  Not that I’d like to see any of these guys on a remake of Charlie’s Angels..at least not in the lead roles…but there is a healthy does of wah-wah guitar-laden 1970′s funkiness on this project as well as the usual compelling and exciting One O’Clock fare. So, I think Dustin’s cover art nails it.

We are on the verge of finishing the final mix and Prince Bulla-The Deluxe is nearing the stage of mastering the project. Also, we are deep in the throes of finishing studio videos for ALL of the tracks along with a montage to promote our Grammy chances yet again. I believe this is the strongest project that I have been associated with (remember, I will say that each year…nothing personal Lab 2010 crew) and that you will all enjoy it tremendously. Here is the track listing:

1. Modus Operandy: composed Michael Brecker, arranged: Kevin Swaim

2. Duplicity: composed and arranged by Colin Campbell

3. Perseverance: composed and arranged by Rich DeRosa

4. Doublethink: composed and arranged by Sean Nelson

5. Hip Pickles: composed and arranged by Lou “Blue Lou” Marini

6. Nail in the Coffin: composed and arranged by Kevin Swaim

7. Special Interests: composed and arranged by Neil Slater

8. Yesterdays: composed Jerome Kern, arranged Bill Holman

9. The Last Theme Song: composed and arranged by Steve Wiest

I think you will enjoy the music muchly and once again, the cover art is just as hip!

Guests of Honor

What have we been doing!? No blogs for months? What’s up? Well, a semester of magnificent concerts for one, getting ready fro Lab 2011 for another (New blog on the way)…and, well check this out:

So, how cool is it to have a job where you get to hire your heroes and people whose music you love to come to your crib and hang. Such a deal! And such is the case here in NT Jazz Paradise. Along with our main job of (Can it really be called a job? Isn’t a job something you hate…where you can’t wait for Friday? Oh well, let’s just say I am “blissfully employed”) promoting our world class student musicians, we are also in the business of (can it really be called a business? …ok I’ll stop with the parentheticals)
bringing world-class professionals to inspire our pros-to-be.

Here are some of the ways we bring these magic people here:

The Annual One O’Clock Fall Concert
Small Group Forum Guests
The North Texas Guitar and Bass Club Guest
The Glenn E. Gomez International Artists Endowment for Jazz Studies Guest
The Jazz Lecture Series
Visiting Artists in other Contexts

For real? All those opportunities to learn from human textbooks, to  Q&A with your living muse, to spend quality time with the very person who inspired you to get into music in the first place? In a word: yep.

Many of these guests rehearse with and perform with the One O’Clock, and since this is a blog about all-things-One O’Clock, I’d like to thank all the Guest-Cats this year who worked with the band by telling you all about it:

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Tim Ries and Bernard Fowler

The cool poster that was made for our special 50th Fall Concert with Tim Reis and Bernard Fowler

Professor Ries and I go WAY back. Tim was one of my road brothers in the 1980′s with the Maynard Ferguson Band. Ohhh, the stories we could tell! However, due to a mutual agreement of at least affecting a facade of respectability, I will refrain from relating said road-warrior escapades.

Tim’s career has been magical: a string of killing recording projects as a leader, soloist for Maynard, Maria Schneider, work with Bob Brookmeyer, Joe Henderson, and now soloist and keyboard with The Rolling Stones. It was his association with The Stones that gave us our music for the Fall Concert this year. We performed large ensemble adaptations (by arranger extraordinaire Matt Harris) of Tim’s great work from his two Stones-projects: The Rolling Stones Project and Stones World: The Rolling Stones Project II. The music was wonderful, and Tim sounded great. He is and always has been such an inspiration. And this time, he brought his fellow Stones compatriot the extraordinary vocalist Bernard Fowler. What an incredible musician! Just drop by Bernard’s website and try to guess what type of singing is his main style. Impossible! This guy can do it all, plus he is one heck of a gentleman and nice chap. Together, these two wonderful musicans made for a beautiful hang, and powerful show, and of course; a priceless opportunity for the musicians in The One O’Clock to learn.

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Kurt Rosenwinkel

Kurt with One O'Clock musicians: Jacob Smith, Duran Ritz, Adam Hutcheson, Mark DeHertogh

One of the first “new” guys I learned about on the scene today when I began working at NT was Kurt Rosenwinkel. With the composition students, you weren’t hip unless you knew Kurt’s writing. And the guitar students..well Sir Rosenwinkel was beyond mortal…achieving true guitar-hero status. So it was with great pleasure that I learned about his music, phenomenal guitar playing and his creative, beautifully intense personality as he worked with us this semester. The week that Kurt spent with us as our Gomez Artist was full of musical discoveries, and musical challenges. In the tradition of Lyle Mays last year, our arranging students wrote some masterful adaptations of Kurt’s music for the One O’Clock (the first set of our concert featured Kurt with his great band; Aaron Goldberg: piano, Ben Street: bass and Ted Poor: drums…phenomenal musicians all) As an added treat, Kurt also played a new chart by recent One O’Clock alum Evan Weiss, and in so doing, demonstrated some formidable sight reading skills. (check out Evan’s website…a phenomenal writer in his own right!)

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Darcy James Argue

Darcy James Argue rehearsing The One O'Clock

Anyone with a website and band called “Secret Society” is an instant favorite of mine! Add to that the fact that this guy is one of the freshest and most exciting large jazz ensemble composers in the world today and you can see why we were thrilled that Darcy James Argue joined us this Spring for our JazzLecture Series.

The Jazz Lecture Series: this is an amazing class where students have two opportunities to see and hear presentations by 8 guest artists every Spring semester. Begun by Neil Slater in the early 1980′s, this event has turned into a stunning parade of “who’s-who” in jazz over the years. Check out the list of the mighty ones who have been our lectureres since 1982!

So Darcy…up for a Grammy this year for his first Secret Society CD “Infernal Machines” …brought his charts for the One O’Clock to play under his direction. We booked a three hour open rehearsal at Denton High School (thanks to jazz director Jesse Woolery!) and Darcy lit into the band one phrase at a time! What a rehearsal…what great music! What a relief that I wasn’t conducting!! …just sayin…. Argue’s composition Zeno alone was a metric riddle wrapped in a rhythmic conundrum… (here is a video of Secret Society playing said riddle…) But the very cool thing about Darcy’s music is that, as complex as it is, it is WELL worth the effort to work up. Intelligent, creative, and sublimely exciting, this is modern big band writing at its absolute best.

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Ravi Coltrane

Ravi Coltrane rehearsing with the One O'Clock

Which brings us to the final guest artist of the year…Ravi Coltrane. I must admit that in preparation for his visit that I got a special charge out of saying things like “Yeah, I spoke to Coltrane’s manager today and…or “We should plan on Coltrane rehearsing with the band on…” etc. etc. You dig?

So, Ravi being no stranger to this phenomenon, slayed the giant elephant in the room right away during his first lecture by relating the entire history of his ascension into jazz stardom while dealing with the shadow of his father, John Coltrane. It was a very moving story and set the stage right away for the main event: Ravi’s music itself. As a musician, Ravi has a unique and very creative approach and vocabulary. All of us enjoyed his restless, searching solos tremendously as he performed Bill Holman’s Yesterdays, Thad Jones‘ Three in One, and yes he did…Giant Steps!

And as a person, there is none better than Ravi. What a great hang! Very talented and very hip and very respectful of and interested in the students that are pursuing careers in this music. Can’t ask for much more in a guest artist. What a treat!

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As my career has advanced, there has always been a “Yoda” at every crossroad. Sometimes it was just hearing a hero in person  relate an epiphany-causing platitude. Case in point: I once heard Dizzy say “The more I learn, the more I learn there is to learn.” What a great thing for a young musician to hear from a hero!

AND, what a treat it is to see this kind of life-changing interaction happening with the students here in Jazz Paradise via our magical guests from Swingsville. Life is grand indeed.

Charles Dickens Loves Jazz…

(the above smokin’ portrait of the mighty Chucky D is from The Collection of Court Jones. Go buy some of his work! The caption was wistfully added by yours trully)

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We are officially back at it for Spring Semester 2011. The Lab Bands just finished auditions (we do indeed audition every semester, not only is “every day an audition” around here, but we also make it official at the beginning of each long semester…keeps everyone on their toes) and the first concert by the One O’Clock was Wednesday, January 26, followed by January 27, and another January 28 in Southlake Texas.. Back at it and swingin’ …right out the gate.!

How about last semester? We played a boat-load of concerts and the band represented not only UNT, but jazz itself VERY well.

To illuminate…

As I have said in print in a couple of different places, I feel that jazz is currently experiencing “the best of times and the worst of times” (Charles Dickens would have been a huge jazz fan I think…he did like to write about poverty quite a bit…but I digress…)

The best of times? We are in the midst of an era where students can Google and YouTube virtually ALL of the information and recorded footage on the entire history of jazz. How cool is THAT? Jazz programs are flourishing (unless they get cut via the ignorant chopping block of economic downturn…that sounded dark no?) and there has never been so many incredibly talented young jazz artists in the world.

The worst of times? Fewer-and-fewer people are even aware that jazz exists! I believe that the general public isn’t so much against jazz or doesn’t care for it, as much as they have just never really heard it!  Oh yes, EVERYONE enjoys Vince Guaraldi ‘s incredibly hip “Charlie Brown Christmas” during the holidays, but that is about it. And they aren’t even aware it is jazz when they are hearing it. (that being said, Vince’s music and the plethora of great arrangements that blanket all media during the holidays is one of my favorite parts of the season…would that such spirit could remain with us throughout the year…)

How did this happen? The ultimate out-of-whack supply and demand scenario? A topic for another blog…but more importantly what can be done about it? How about 23 concerts in one semester in as many places as possible by the world’s greatest university modern jazz large ensemble for starters? To a person, my experience with the public has been that when they hear the One O’Clock for the first time their reaction is a positive one. In fact, they often tell me something along the lines of “I never knew I liked jazz! I love this music!” So, it seems to me that the more we can get out there and get this music in front of people, the more the health of the music itself will improve. This is an old technique, most often referred to in the corporate world as “advertising”.

The entire music business is in bad shape (let’s welcome the rest of the world to the house of jazz), check out the doom-and-gloom in this New York Times article that has been making the rounds. (Further discussion here via an article that UNT’s recording and tech guru Blair Liikala )WOW! So, what can we do for jazz? Jazz is currently a minuscule portion of a mega biz that, as we see in the article, is itself not feeling very good. I suggest to all of my colleagues that we take our exciting swinging ensembles to the public in any way we can: live, Facebook, streaming videos, downloads, mail-delivery-owls….be creative!

And therefore (and to-wit) we now have an explanation for “Charles Dickens Loves Jazz”. The One O’Clock will continue to find ways to get this music to where our listeners live…both physically AND virtually.  In our own backyard, on the road, across the nation, and across the pond! Our internet presence will increase within the next few months, we will expand our phone app to include the Android operating system,  and we even have big plans in the works for regular radio and internet broadcasts.

Once the public is hip to jazz, there is no stopping this music.

The Castle, The Cliffs, and London

The One O’Clock was a big hit in London and we all made it back safe-and-sound, but before I get to that…I have to get us caught up! So, where were we….Ireland!

The last day in Ireland was a beautiful itinerary of sights around Dublin and then out to Malahide Castle. In having a good look at Dublin itself we were struck at the nice juxtapositions (I worked in the word “juxtaposition” into a blog…Woo Hoo!) of the old and the new in the city. Check out these shots from the bus:

Then off to Howth which is right on the coast of the Irish sea:

And then…time for another castle! This time it was the unique and fabulous Malahide Castle. Unique in that it was still used as a residence until the recent demise of the owner’s family line. Fabulous in that it had a great cafe that afforded us an opportunity to load up on Irish delights. Jazz musicians do love to eat, after all.

On the way to Malahide Castle

Then, off to England! Our first stop was at the Royal College of Music where the band performed for the students of Mark Armstrong, who also performed for us. It was a wonderful setting (as everything is in London!) right across the street from the Royal Albert Hall. Mark’s students were a joy and very receptive. We all enjoyed playing (even if we did have to leave Dublin at 4:00am…OUCH!), then we all took a break in the Royal College of Music pub. Hmmm…might be a nice idea for UNT? Just sayin.

On stage at The Royal College of Music in London

A sleep-deprived but fully-functional rhythm section at the RCM

RCM's Mark Armstrong working with his band and the One O'Clock sax section

Bob Curnow discusses the finer points of 3,2,3,2,2 measure groupings with RCM students.

Our last performance on the trip was at the venerable Bull’s Head jazz club in Barnes (an area of London). Good friends new and old came out to enjoy the cats in an intimate setting. The band absolutely roared through such classics as “The First Circle: (with Bob), 1989′s Grammy Nominated “Got a Match”, and Neil’s masterwork “Values”, stretched out on “All of Me”, and tore up “The Oracle, “New Cydonia” and “Sword Fight” from Lab 2010. And yes…once again Thad’s words wrap it all up:

“A good time was had by all!”

Warming up at The Bull's Head

As far as London and England sight seeing…WOW! We pretty much hit the mother load. Dig the following:

Thumbs up for Big Ben living up to expectations.

Me and The Curnow’s with the universal (posed) “look-at-THAT” gesture at Westminster

“These are not the Druids you’re looking for…”

On the way to the Tor at Glastonbury

Not as easy as one might think to find the Isle of Avalon

Too many meat-pies the night before the Tor-climb?

On the Tor-top. Choose your favorite caption: A. "The Hills Are Alive With The Sounds of Druids" or B. "The Fool on the Hill"

So, after all was said-and-done, The One O’Clock Lab Band put another successful international trip into the books. What a treat and an honor to be able to bring the music of these dedicated students to all parts of the world. With the sad demise of regularly touring road bands (The Count Basie Orchestra is a happy exception!), these students are the closest thing to those days of yore. They ARE still in school however, so we are limited as to how long we can go out each semester. But go out we will wherever and whenever possible. There is simply no substitute for experiencing this band live, and for the musicians in this band to learn from 24/7 high-octane road-warrior performing. A happy two-way street that will educate and entertain all, as well as help to keep this music alive. Pay attention record industry: jazz is alive and well and its future is in very good hands indeed!

Seeing The Sites (The One O’Clock in Ireland-England: Part 2)

Along with spreading the good word of jazz far-and-wide, part of the mission of an international tour (happily) is learning about the history and culture of your host country. The next two days in this adventure provided just such an opportunity for the One O’Clock. With our erstwhile tour guide/coordinator-deluxe Stephana DeLa Torre at the helm, we set out after our Guinness concerts for Dublin and all points in between.

(Stephana’s tour company is called The Global Gurus…I recommend them highly!)

Sunday, October 24: Today, the Groove Knights of Denton made their way across the state-of-the-art pastoral countryside of Ireland between Cork and Dublin. We have found that Ireland really IS the “Emerald Isle”. Everywhere you look, you see variations on the shades of clover. (Green Lantern himself probably owns a cottage in County Cork)

The Emerald Isle (a view from Carraig Phádraig)

…An aside that has nothing profound to do with Ireland itself…but I found interesting: In evidence were many SERIOUSLY happy cows. They live in the best possible quality cow-food in the world after all. Perfect-grass of the heartiest type everywhere you look. This Irish cows seem to be so contented, well fed, and relaxed that rarely do you see one standing. At best, they lay on the ground with their legs curled up under them. Some of the true hipster-heifers are actually sprawled out on their sides in full chill-mode. An interesting observation yes? No? …but I digress:

Dotted across the country side are the towering remains of fortified manor houses; very hip looking isolated castle-like towers (round towers or “keeps” depending on original use). Just when you think you might be driving around in the back woods of Wisconsin…BAM, the ruins of a 12th Century castle!

The band approaches Carraig Phádraig; "The Rock of Cashel"

Inside Carraig Phádraig with Carraig Marshall: One O'Clock Manager.

Speaking of castles, we toured our first one on the way to Dublin: Carraig Phádraig “The Rock of Cashel” the traditional seat of the famed kings of Munster (also spelled Muenster). St. Patrick himself is said to have converted a King of Munster in the 5th century. A famous monument erected to that event in that time survives as part of an amazing collection of Celtic art and architecture.

The famous "St Patrick's Cross", remnants of the monument erected when St. Patrick converted the King of Muenster in the 5th Century

Found under loads of plaster in Cormac's Chapel, and long thought to be lost to time, an original mural painting was discovered. It is believed to be the oldest and most complete of its type in all of Ireland

After “The Rock”, it was on to Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath), the capital of Ireland (many in Cork would argue that distiction, but the official capital today it is). Click here for more on the great city of Dublin. Once in dublin, we set up camp in a beautiful hotel with its own pub. Most of the Cats went out on the first night to find the best food in the city and some traditional Irish music. I’m happy to report that they were quite successful on this quest.

Ireland Part 3 Tomorrow.

Today (Tueday October 26, we landed in London…the adventure continues…)

 

The One O’Clock in Ireland

The One O'Clock Performing at UCC (the hand-claps at the beginning of "The First Circle")

Hello From Ireland! The One O’Clock began our 2010 tour on Friday, October 22 with performances at The University College Cork and The CIT Cork School of Music. These concerts are all part of the magnificent Guinness/Cork Jazz Festival, with artists such as Herbie Hancock and Charlie Haden. The UCC crowd was one of the best audiences I have ever witnessed. Warm, friendly, and ultra-hip. Who could ask for anything more?

After the UCC, we performed with John O’Conner’s group at CIT as well as the Dublin City Jazz Band. Both ensembles were very good and a joy to work with. We each took turns playing material for each other, then I worked with each group using members of The One O’Clock as fellow clinicians and guest artists to demonstrate musical points. This was all part of an event affiliated with the festival called Cork Jazz Camp.

Along with us this trip is one of the best friends of UNT and jazz education in general: the great Bob Curnow. Bob is of course a marvelous composer/arranger and is the sole publisher of all of our music from the Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson libraries via his Sierra Music publishing company. A great friend of Neil Slater’s since both of them worked with Kenton in the 1960′s, Bob has contributed multiple works to One O’Clock CDs and helped us all out tremendously over the years. It is a real pleasure to give back to this marvelous friend in this way on our tour.

Each concert, we bring up Bob to conduct his classic arrangement of “The First Circle” And each time he does, I get to stand back and listen and am happily reminded why I got into music in the first place: for the sheer joy of having one’s emotions uplifted by the universal language of jazz! It is also a treat to see Bob work with the band…I’m not sure who is enjoying this whole thing more, but it can be said without a doubt that everyone is digging it muchly.

Bob conducting his classic chart "The First Circle"

Speaking of a good time, John O’Connor has done two wonderful things for the band. First of all, as we were on the bill the second night at the same time as Herbie Hancock (separate venues) John arranged for us to spend some time with the great Mr. Hancock during Herbie’s rehearsal session (see the pictures below) what a grand treat for all involved. Our pianist Colin Campbell now has the “hot-hand” that shook the hand of the man who wrote “Eye of the Hurricane” and added to the style of jazz piano playing itself from Miles Davis to the present day. Considering the way Colin has been playing lately, perhaps some of the magic was transfered. All beware, I don’t think Colin has plans in the near future to wash that hand…don’t share a sandwich with him. Just sayin.

Herbie greets Dan Foster, a CIT student and Yours Truly before our clinic

 

Colin "Hot Right Hand" Campbell hangs with Herbie, Devin Eddleman records it for posterity

Saturday, October 23 began with all of us sleeping in a bit and then taking some time to explore the beautiful city of Cork (Irish: Corcaigh). While retaining the warm feeling of a village community, this marvelous town explodes with activity during the weekend of the Jazz Festival. There were street musicians everywhere, performances associated with the Festival in every pub, and vendors under canopies lining the main street: Patrick’s. I took the chance to load up on goodies for my family and to snap some shots:

EVERY shop gets into the jazz act!

After a glorious day of the sights and sounds of Cork, we gathered at CIT once again for our main headliner concert. John O’Connor’s group played first and his band was swingin’. John is one of the heroes in Ireland who has had a jazz program since 1983. He has done amazing things with his students over the years and it was a pleasure to work with them and to hear them play. Then the One O’Clock took the stage to a sold out standing-room only house at the Curtis Theater and performed for what is surely the best audience any jazz group could ever hope for! They listened attentively and quietly during the soft tunes and raised the roof during the exciting pieces. After multiple standing ovations we played two encores, one of which was Don Sebesky’s classic arrangement of “Danny Boy” (ala Maynard Ferguson circa 1960) Our own Danny Boy: Dan Foster bravely stepped up for the occasion and brought the house down yet again. What a crowd and what a night!

After the show, our new best friend John O’Connor took the proceeds and spent it on a marvelous meal for both bands at Luige’s and Malone’s in Cork. and once again… a good time was had by all! (one of my favorite Thad charts…thus the recurring reference)

At the end of each show it has become my custom to end with the words that Duke ended his shows with “We love you madly” and in the case of the good people of Cork, Ireland…truer words have never been spoken!