The One-Off

Isn't flying fun?

I've had many conversations with older jazz musicians over the years, and inevitably, the topic of conversation turns to the old days and how many gigs there used to be(compared to now). Billy Hart told me that he wouldn't tour for weeks, he would tour for MONTHS. They would go to the West Coast for six months. A club gig would be many weeks in a row. Musicians stayed on the road for as much time as they could stand. Vincent Herring told me that even in the 80's, you could move to New York, decide who you wanted to work with, and stay on the road, OR, you could make a living IN TOWN if you chose that way. Sadly, those days are over, unless you are with a pop or rock group. Now, the days of the one-off are here.  A one-off essentially means one gig, although it implies that you had to travel, and maybe quite a long way, just for one hit. I've been doing one-offs in New York and North America since the 90's. And occasionally, there might be a one-off in Europe.(UGH!)

I suppose you could relate the one-off to a one night stand. The freedom of not being "tied down" to one band has a certain thrill. I've certainly benefited from playing with many different bands, as opposed to just a few. In 2001, I counted that I had played the original music of about 30 different bands, just within that year. And most of the bands had only one gig, or maybe a handful at best! Eventually, however, just as in personal relationships, you might want to develop something more than just the one-off. That takes possibly more than the jazz scene can offer these days. Without more than one gig, how can the musicians really develop the music and be a "band"? Still, we musicians persevere, and try the make the most out of the one gig every once in a while.

Donald Edwards

I wanted to give a round-up of some of the fun one-offs I did in the last few months. One was with drummer Donald Edwards. A promoter in Italy asked Edwards to put together a band for a jazz festival which featured drummers in San Remo, Italy. Edwards called Boris Kozlov on bass and Jaleel Shaw on alto saxophone. The four of us have worked together as sidemen with the Mingus Band. However, it was a pleasure to play Edwards' music instead, which was quite challenging. Also, Edwards' treated the gig as somewhat of a collective, so we could also bring in some charts to play. The performance was musically satisfying enough to warrant the almost 5 days of travel(including layovers and extra days in San Remo). This is what makes the one-off so frustrating;a lot of hours in transit for a small, intense amount of music. It's times like this that I wonder when they are going to invent teleportation!

E.J. Strickland

Speaking of drummers, I've been associated with E.J. Strickland for a few years. He's been in my trio and we've toured and recorded a bunch. However, Strickland has aspirations of his own, and has been working diligently on his composing. Strickland had a one-nighter at the Jazz Gallery in New York in July; the band consisted of Jaleel Shaw again on alto, Strickland's twin brother Marcus on Tenor and bass clarinet, and Dezron Douglas on bass. Considering that we only had one short rehearsal, the performance conveyed an actualized musical vision. Strickland's writing has really developed in the past few years, and he's become a bona fide bandleader as well, leading his sidemen with his compositions and with his interpretive drumming.

The next week, I got the chance to play with my good friend and guitarist Tom Guarna. Guarna has been plugging away in New York as a sideman and bandleader, and he's working on some music for a potential recording(which will hopefully take place this winter). Guarna is a very well rounded

Tom Guarna

musician, and knows everything from classical to rock. He's influenced by fusion, but he has a deep understanding of bebop and more traditional styles. Guarna booked a night at the 55Bar in New York, with Richie Goods on bass and E.J. Strickland on drums. I played Fender Rhodes and a midi keyboard controller powered by my laptop; Guarna was very specific about some of the keyboard sounds for each song. Guarna has a great concept, and if the gig was a preview to the recording, then it's going to be a winner for sure.

Ari Hoenig

I love the challenge of getting to play new music, especially with the kind of virtuosi that populate the New York jazz scene. One such virtuoso is drummer Ari Hoenig. He's been on the scene for years, and he's really developed a unique conception as a drummer and a composer. Hoenig is a master of metric modulation, and he uses those techniques to enhance his compositions. Although Hoenig has been influenced by drummers like Jeff Watts and Ralph Peterson, he has developed a melodic concept on the drums that is all his own. He's an energetic, exciting performer, and it takes a lot of energy on my part to keep up with his exuberance. I was thrilled to get a chance to play with Hoenig one night at Small's in New York. We had a young bass player named Sam Minaie, who helped to keep the foundation of the music, while Hoenig and I rhythmically battled it out in a friendly musical boxing match.

Sebastian Noelle

One more challenging gig in New York for the summer; Sebastian Noelle is a German-born guitarist who has lived in New York for a few years. His original music pushes rhythmic envelopes as well as harmonic envelopes. I had recorded with Noelle during the previous summer; Noelle asked me to join him again on a CD release performance at Cornelia Street. The band was impressive: Thompson Kneeland on bass, Tony Moreno on drums, and Marc Mommaas on tenor saxophone. All of these guys are amazing players. I felt more like an observer than a participant, in that the other cats were playing so much information, I was more interested in listening to them than my own stuff. Noelle's recording is called "Koan" and it's available on the Fresh Sound New Talent label.

Buster Williams

A one-off in your town of residence is acceptable in that you can sleep in your own bed when it's over. However, the one-off which involve hours, maybe days of travel, are annoying. However, if the music is inspiring, one forgets about all the jet lag and inconvenience. I had two fairly lengthy trips recently; the first was in Sardinia, a Mediterranean island which is part of Italy. My itinerary was as follows: Portland to Minneapolis, then Detroit, then Rome, then Cagliari(the capital of Sardinia), then a harrowing hour drive around winding mountain roads(I was almost sick) with a borderline reckless driver(maybe it's a cultural thing). However, the concert was with bassist Buster Williams, drummer Cindy Blackman, and alto saxophonist Mark Gross. Once I dragged my sleepy head up onto the stage for sound check, my troubles were over. I've played with Williams off and on since 1995; playing Williams' tunes fits me like an soft comfortable sweater. And Blackman and Gross, although newer to William's band, gave a new perspective to the tunes. Again, it's unfortunate that a band like this couldn't do more than one gig, but we tried to make it count!

Don Byron

Finally, a trip to, of all places, Bogota, Colombia, for a long running festival called Jazz En El Parque. This gig came up rather last minute, and for some reason, the flights had to be routed from Portland to New York, to Bogota. It seemed a bit circuitous, but this is the reality of the modern airline industry; a more direct flight last minute would have added thousands to the price tag of my voyage. I decided to bite the bullet and make the gig; fortunately, it was with another long-time employer, clarinetist Don Byron. The music was repertoire from Byron's "Ivey Divey" recording. This music normally employes a trio with no bass player(clarinet,piano,drums). We were fortunate to have drummer Mark Ferber rounding out the trio. Again, a long way to travel to play a 50 minute set, but the Colombian crowd was incredibly enthusiastic. Its a really well organized festival, and it's quite a big event in Bogota. Our trip was entirely too brief to do any exploring, but I did come away with a good vibe from the Colombian people. And it was a musical challenge and thrill to play with Byron and Ferber. Even if it was only a one-off.......