Liberace Jazztet to play NYC

by Mark McGowan

Like any good musicians, the six members of the NIU Liberace Jazztet can communicate without words.

Like superior musicians, they barely need their eyes.

During a Friday afternoon rehearsal, tenor saxophonist Mark Johnson is deep into a solo when drummer Iajhi Hampden suddenly – and drastically – alters his timekeeping enough for Johnson to look up. The others are waiting to solo.

Several minutes later, after solos from trumpeter Ralph DiSylvestro, alto saxophonist Benny Hill, pianist Sean Higgins, doghouse bassist Josh Ramos and Hampden himself, the rotation starts again. The second round of solos is shorter, with Hampden filling the gaps between each of his bandmates’ improvs.

The tune ends after another pass at the chart’s head and a coda featuring more licks from composer Higgins.

Ron Carter, director of jazz studies at NIU, likes what he has heard.

Of course, Carter has some advice and praise – quieter here, a few loud snare drum pops there, an acknowledgment of the “daylight” in Ramos’ solo – and the players listen attentively. In just a few weeks, their sounds will fill the stage of Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the new Jazz at Lincoln Center facility in New York City.

The Jazztet plays the 140-seat Dizzy’s at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 14. The club offers views of Central Park, the Manhattan skyline and, most likely, some jazz greats.

“Anyone comes from outside, there’s a feeling you shouldn’t be there,” Carter cautions his group. “You have to kill a fly with a sledgehammer. That’s just the way it is.”

Johnson, a Rockford native who lived and gigged in New York City for a decade, understands the challenge.

“In New York, you can’t blame the audience for not being hip. It doesn’t matter where you’re playing; there’s always someone in the audience guaranteed to know what’s hip, if not the whole audience,” Johnson says. “And if you can’t bring your ‘A’ game in New York, believe me, there’s 1,000 other guys who can.”

His younger bandmates nod.

Only Ramos, a native of Chicago and the only undergraduate member, hasn’t played the Big Apple before. The idea that important names might find seats in the audience – that the potential is good for these young guys to “be heard” by the right people – will fuel a nervous energy come show time.

“Everything we do involves going to the stage and performing,” Hampden says. “The stage is like an altar.”

The NIU Liberace Jazztet sprang to life in 2001 with a generous donation of $10,000 from the Liberace Foundation. The Foundation has renewed funding each year since, and in 2003 agreed to boost its annual provision to $12,000. Paul Bauer, director of the NIU School of Music, wrote the initial grant proposal.

Meanwhile, the various music students who’ve passed through the Jazztet’s shifting ranks have recorded a CD of mostly original works while lifting the relatively new ensemble’s international stature through performances at conferences and festivals around the globe. The current lineup will record the second disc this spring.

On Tuesday, March 15, they will perform and conduct a clinic for students at New York City’s legendary “Fame” school: Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

“This trip will have NIU’s students performing as professionals on a professional NYC venue, performing with and learning from professional jazz artists on a professional NYC venue, and performing for and teaching students in a school environment,” Bauer says.

“It is important to note that the NIU Liberace Jazztet has been invited to perform within the first six months of the opening at the first-ever facility specifically designed for the acoustics of jazz.”

After the Liberace’s 90-minute set, Dizzy’s “house” drummer Ali Jackson Jr. will lead his veteran trio in 9:30 p.m. jam session that will include the NIU sextet and special guests from the audience.

The plum gig comes from Carter’s realization that only New York area groups were playing the Monday night “UPSTARTS!” series at Dizzy’s. Carter, who is active in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Essentially Ellington” program, mentioned this to its assistant director. She, in turn, recommended the Liberace to the man who books college groups for the UPSTARTS! series.

Back in the rehearsal room, Carter encourages his group to memorize all the charts before the March 14 concert. “I feel we play better when we know it,” he says.

Again, the group is receptive. Mostly graduate students, some of them came to NIU to immerse themselves in a “well-rounded” program they couldn’t find elsewhere or simply for the chance to work with Carter, passing up opportunities in Chicago and other places.

“It’s great to be in a setting where you know the other five cats have the same dedication you do,” says DiSylvestro, a native of Philly with a bachelor’s degree from Temple University.

“It’s nice to have everyone play better than you,” adds Ramos, provoking a knowing laughter among the others. “Really.”

Hampden, who along with Hill and Higgins hails from North Carolina, says the group benefits from the varied backgrounds of its members.

“We all come from different experiences and bring that to the table,” he says. “It’s nice to have the opportunity to be in a group you can rehearse with, write tunes with and write tunes for.”

For more information, visit http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/dccc/e_ethos.html.

2-28-05