Thanks to my current jazz teacher (Mark Nilan, pictured in the far right), I was able to sneak into a “Groove Therapy” jazz workshop held by USC/CalArts professor Alphonso Johnson this past Friday. Though it took rushing out of school at noon and getting lost on the USC campus, it was pretty amazing sitting in a room full of twenty-something-year-old jazz fanatics — exactly where I want to belong.
Johnson basically talked to us about groove — how to get it; why it’s important to every musician — especially to the rhythm section of the jazz band. But the thing that I’ll always remember the most isn’t what he told me about groove — which, coming from this jazz professor’s mouth, was still pretty rich and enlightening — but it’s what he showed me in regards to a solid groove. He gathered together some active musicians in the Los Angeles area — Mark Nilan on piano (this was actually the first time I’d heard him play with a group live — and now I can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to study with him), Brad Dutz on percussion, and Oscar Seaton on drumset. Though I didn’t get a chance to hear the first tune they played, I did stay for the last one — Weather Report’s Teen Town. It was so locked in and induced an unreasonable amount of foot-tapping — the solos that Dutz and Seaton traded off between percussion and drumset were so intense — we were all leaned forward in our seats until the very last beat. When I relayed this to Nilan, he told me that it was the first time they’d ever played this tune together. (check out Nilan at www.marknilanjr.com and Seaton at www.myspace.com/oscarseaton)
And for someone who goes to jazz rehearsals every single morning five days a week, that’s pretty darn amazing.
Alphonso Johnson’s currently an associate professor of USC’s Jazz Studies Department, but in the past he’s played with names like Wayne Shorter and Weather Report — be sure to check him out at www.embamba.com. Here’s a bit of what he sounds like:
If you think that you’ve seen the guy pictured in the left before somewhere on this site, you’re right — he was in the post about upcoming jazz festivals (and not to mention, wearing pretty much the same hat?). But the even better part was that he asked if he’d met me before when I shook hands with him — yes, Brad Dutz, yes I have! The picture in that previous post was taken last year during a jazz field trip to the Jazz Bakery (when it was still around, of course) to see Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band — Brad Dutz is an active and super creative percussionist in the Los Angeles area — check him out at www.braddutz.com.
Back then, Dutz was some random guy we saw in the lobby drinking coffee with his Big Phat Band bowling-shirt-esque uniform on. (oh look, the hat!)
Now that I think of it, that picture I took with him is probably one of the most fateful pictures I’ve ever taken, period. Small world!
Be sure to also check out the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band at www.bigphatband.com. (I also can’t help but mention that he’s wearing this hat on the website as well.)
As a side note, here’s the Real Book Pick from Friday: The Lady is a Tramp from the 1937 Rodgers & Hart musical Babes In Arms.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: September/Earth, Wind, & Fire/Earth, Wind, & Fire: Greatest Hits
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Hi Rachel…see I finally took a look. This is a killer website. I am very impressed; especially by how talented you are! Keep it up and I look forward to reading further entries. I’m not going to lie, I don’t know much about Jazz or music, so it’s interesting to read a lot of this stuff :-)