Fred Stride

I just finished up 2 weeks of teaching at the UBC Summer Music Institute which my now retired colleague at UBC, Marty Berinbaum, started 18 years ago. While there have been orchestra, choir and junior string programs over the years, the centerpiece of the camp has always been bands.

The camp is set up for day campers or overnighters. Most of the students are local, with a few coming in from other parts of the province. For the last 8 or 9 years we have had a group of students from Hong Kong and this year we had a large group from Taiwan.

My job at the camp (or “institute” for those wanting to avoid saying “band camp”), has always been working with the jazz students. For the first week I worked with students ranging in age from 12 to about 14 or 15. This years intermediate jazz band consisted of 5 saxophones, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 guitar, 2 bass players and 3 drummers, with a junior councilor (a senior high school student) in each of the horn sections. I played piano only when it was really necessary. I needed to be free to direct and teach. The philosophy of the summer institute is to help students better their musical and ensemble skills. This is what is foremost in my mind as I work with my students.

On the first day, Sunday, I had the band read through various charts so I could get a feel for what we might be able to play during the week and possibly perform at the Friday afternoon concert. Choosing repertoire is always a tough thing. Showing up for the first rehearsal I have no idea what the students might be able to play. You ask yourself a hundred questions. Can the drummer read? Can anyone read? Can the bass player read chord symbols? Can the first trumpet play above the staff? Can anyone improvise? So, I come prepared with a wide range of styles at varying levels of difficulty.

I like to have the students play as wide a range of repertoire as possible, particularly things they are not likely to play in their own school bands. As I pass out new music I play recordings and tell them a few things about the bands they are hearing and especially about the composers and arrangers. On that point, it’s been interesting over the years to note that many young musicians never look up at the top right hand corner of their part.

We began each day around 8:50 a.m., attendance was taken, decisions were made regarding recreation activities (swimming, playing games, practicing, going home, hanging out at the dorms, etc), then it was right into the music.

The daily rehearsals centered on specific pieces and the usual issues attached to playing ensemble music: reading and interpreting swing rhythms, jazz phrasing, articulations, attacks, releases, sound, falls, bends and balance and anything else that may show up as we play. I also like to spend time helping them learn to tune. The smaller number of students in the jazz band (as opposed to the concert band) allows me the luxury of having the time it takes to talk about this important performance issue. I go through the entire horn section, one player at a time, and deal with the common tuning issues as they occur. The rhythm section gets to take a break (supervised of course). The students learn to try to absorb the sound of the principal pitch source (a piano, which is very difficult, or another horn, which is much easier), to listen and try to hear the same pitch colour in their mind, take a big breath and play out. They then learn to listen for wobbly sound waves or “beats” that might indicate they are out of tune. I also talked about the confusion that can happen during this process, how easily we can become confused. Am I flat or sharp? Equally important is for them to learn to not listen to those around them telling them if they are flat or sharp. They need to learn to trust their own ears. As each student tunes I never tell them if they are sharp or flat, only that they need to make an adjustment (happily, most young players can tell when they don’t match the pitch source). I encourage them to experiment with their tuning and to follow the old adage “when in doubt pull out.” This procedure helps a player clear the air and clear up a confused state of mind. The resulting very flat, and out-of-tune, playing can be quite amusing.

When the students see that most cannot tell the difference between flat and sharp they begin to become comfortable with the process. Any young player can learn to tune properly given patience and confidence and the constant reminder from the director to not accept anything less than in tune playing. This constant reminder gets them to listen and adjust when necessary. This reminder has the added benefit of keeping them involved with the music even when they have a rest. Once a tuning session has ended and they play they start to hear the difference and begin to want to play in tune all the time. They become a little more conscious of their sound. What I have observed over the years is that the students quickly take this issue very seriously and will take it upon themselves to tune before their performances without being asked or for me to even be involved.

The musical portion of each day gave way to the recreational activities at 3:00 p.m., except Tuesday when the faculty performed for the students and their families. This “concert” is always eclectic. The students hear solo flute, opera arias, brass quintet, solo marimba, a jazz quintet and pretty much anything you can think of in between. All of this is crammed into less than an hour and a half.

I neglected to make note of all the charts we read through earlier in the week, but here are the charts I chose for the final concert.

Easy Money - Benny Carter; arranged by Michael Sweeney.

This chart, which I recently learned is out of print, is a great, non-stressful, opener. The main melody, as in the original version for the Basie band, is in unison and octaves and gets everyone playing together right off the bat. This was the line I used to work on the legato-slur combinations jazz players use in their swing phrasing. This is an excellent chart for the young jazz player. I hope it comes back into print.

Manteca - Dizzy Gillespie; arranged by Fred Stride

I wrote this arrangement about 10 years ago. This chart allowed me to have both bass players on the latin groove and shifting to a single player for the swing sections. I was also able to have 2 drum sets going with the 3rd player playing various percussion during the latin sections. While multiple drummers takes more care and attention, it does allow more players to be involved and stop kids from sitting around. After all, this is a summer camp and I want to keep everyone involved as much as possible.

The Minor Goes Muggin’ - Sy Oliver; transcribed/adapted by Fred Stride

I’ve always loved Sy Oliver’s writing. The original version of this chart written for Tommy Dorsey had him playing a solo rendition of the melody. Our version, down a minor 3rd, assigned all the trombones to the melody. For some reason the trombone players liked playing this one.

Watermelon Man - Herbie Hancock; arranged by Mike Kamuf

This is a new arrangement of a classic tune. I heard it in Calgary last February and pickup a copy when I got home. A nice feature in this chart is the horns-alone chorus. This section was fun and forced the students into providing their own inner groove, without the aid of the rhythm section.

Blue Monk - Thelonious Monk; arranged by Michael Sweeney

I always try to put something on every program that is not too hard to play. This is one such chart. The only tricky aspect is the across-the-bar-line triplet figure in the melody. While this sounds a little daunting, it always seems to come together without too much pain. It just requires patience and diligence from the players and the director. I had the students sing the phrase quite a few times, then had them try to play what they heard in their mind, from when they sang the phrase. I realize this is fairly close to Professor Harold Hill’s ”think system” (from The Music Man), but this way of learning helps remove the intellectualizing of the concept and gets them closer to feeling the phrase, which is when the best music is played. This is also a great chart for assigning solos to those that missed out in the other charts, or those that are soloing for the first time.

Do Nothin’ ‘Til You Hear From Me - Duke Ellington; arranged by Sammy Nestico

There are no real solos in this beautiful ballad treatment of this Ellington classic (which started out life as Concerto for Cootie). This chart can be played as either a slow swing ballad or with even quarter notes. I choose the latter this time out. There is a short written piano melody on the bridge of the second chorus which I reassigned to the guitar, who then went on to improvise a beautiful solo.

Chameleon - Herbie Hancock; arranged by Michel Sweeney.

This chart made for an exciting program closer and also allowed me to have both bass players and all 3 drummers play at once. I talked to the drummers about taking care to not duplicate what another drummer was playing, especially any cymbal work. They also moved the lead spot between them, on their own I might add. The lead drummer was the player who played the main groove and ensemble figures. This worked like a charm and seeing 3 drum sets on stage at once is an impressive site.

The band really peaked on the concert. They were concentrating and trying to play everything as they had in rehearsal. Another wonderful Intermediate Jazz Band concert.

For more information about the UBC Summer Music Institute click here

I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BMus in May 1976 and, typically for most young people just finishing their schooling, I was trying to figure out what to do next. So, at the urging of my dear friend Brian Fairholm we decided, along with another friend, Rodger Owens, to attend the Stan Kenton Jazz Clinic in Sacramento, California. Brian had attended a Kenton Clinic at York University in Toronto the year before and was full of enthusiasm for attending another one.

The clinic was held at the University of California at Sacramento and we were housed in the dorms with the sound of the Kenton ’76 LP seeming to come from of every room. It seemed everyone was into the experience. We then had to audition for placement in one of the many big bands. Tim Hagans, who was about the same age as me, handled my audition.

Besides playing in one of the bands we also took theory and arranging classes. I ended up in the advanced arranging class with Hank Levy (I still have the class handouts). I don’t remember too much, but I do remember Hank as being a very nice person and quite open with his knowledge. I was happy just sitting there, soaking it all in.

At the beginning of the week all the students were encouraged to write something for the Kenton band to play sometime later in the week. I remember the reading day as being a marathon event, with far too many arrangements of Barry Manilow’s I Write The Songs written in the Kenton style. Yikes! A number of other students just wrote a single chord. I guess that was enough for them.

Typically for me (even then), I wrote an epic. It was one of those slow-fast-slow things. I had written a tune just before leaving Vancouver and I wrote the arrangement during the clinic, being inspired by the Kenton band. In the double time section I included space for some solo work by Jeff Uusitalo and Tim Hagans. I remember handing out the parts and Dick Shearer, on noticing Uusitalo’s solo spot, telling me that he could solo as well. Of course he was smiling as he made the comment.

The chart came out fairly well and after I collected my parts and started to leave the stage Stan motioned me over and congratulated me on my chart. I was in heaven.

In front of the stage was a table. I don’t remember everyone that was sitting at the table listening to the student charts but I do remember Bob Curnow. He motioned me over and asked me what I was up to and was I going to school. Little did I know that many years later I would get to know Bob fairly well and that he would publish some of my big band music.

Here is a picture of me conducting the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the summer of 1976. Seated in the chair attentively listening is Stan Kenton with Dave Bardhun playing piano. The saxophones are Terry Layne (alto), Roy Reynolds (tenor) is behind Ramon Lopez (congas) and Alan Yankee is on the end playing baritone. I cannot remember the other visible saxophone player’s name. Gary Hobbs is the drummer and John Worster is playing bass. You can just make out Tim Hagans, Steve Campos, Dave Kennedy and Joe Casano in the trumpet section (I’m standing directly in front of Jay Sollenberger). The tuba/bass trombone player is Doug Purviance and Dick Shearer is just barely visible. I have a cassette of my chart around somewhere.

Fred Stride conducts the Stan Kenton Orchestra

On the last day of the week long clinic all the student bands were to perform a few tunes (I remember our program included Jerry Dodgion’s arrangement of Marian McPartland’s Ambiance and Pat William’s Mr Smoke). Well, there were so many bands (20 I think) performing on the final day that the Kenton band never played their final concert. Still, while that was a bit of a disappointment, we did get hear them play quite a bit during the week, especially their rehearsals of the music for their upcoming recording - Journey to Capricorn.

That week was a great experience. I loved every minute of it and it is burned into my memory.

Have you ever gone to a concert knowing you will hear some good music, but then when its over you feel like that you have just had one of the best listening experiences ever? Well, that was my experience last Sunday evening at The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. On the first half of the double bill was drummer Terry Clarke’s trio with Don Thompson (bass) and Phil Dwyer (tenor sax). Both Don and Phil moved over to the piano on occasion, but this was essentially a chord less trio. Terry has long been one of my favourite drummers and I looked forward to hearing his group.

They did not disappoint. Their playing was excellent throughout the set, particularly the bass-less ballad, where Don had moved over to the piano. They ended their portion of the program with an exciting performance of Sonny Rollins’ Freedom Suite. My only quibble was the sound man had added a little much “high end” on the cymbals which tended to detract at times.

After an intermission, which is never much fun in the cramped lobby of the Centre, a new Steinway piano and Chick Corea entered. I’ve seen Corea perform several times over the years, but always with a band of some sort. This time he was on his own.

I had never heard, or at least I don’t remember hearing him, address the audience. He was very casual and funny, sometimes referring to his performance as personal practice time. Well, if that is what it is like to hear him practice…

I could run through all the titles, but I don’t know if that is really necessary. What hit me most was the range of expressiveness he has. His impeccable time and rhythmic sense, his beautiful touch and melodic inventiveness and his impressive harmonic vocabulary.

Besides playing some of his own music, including some wonderful improvisations on some of his Children’s Songs, Chick also played tunes by Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington and Bill Evans and Alexander Scriabin. Actually I feel a little uncomfortable referring to Scriabin’s piano work as a tune. Anyway, I guess we tend to forget that players, like Corea, who write and play their own music, can also play the classics. But in the case of these standards he did not play straight up versions following the form. In each case he deconstructed the original structurally, melodically and harmonically, breathing some great new life in to them. Of course I never mind hearing yet another version of ‘Round Midnight, or any of the other tunes he played. Corea’s solo piano versions of these very familiar tunes were something else.

At the end of his performance I wanted to run home and practice. I was truly inspired. Sunday, June 27, 2010, will go down in my book as one of those great, memorable concerts I have attended over the years.

On the heels of my Rob McConnell post here are Rob and The Boss Brass in California in 1981.

I have been very lax about getting off my butt and posting something to my blog. There always seemed to be something else to do, particularly writing music. Well, the recent passing of Rob McConnell has finally caused me to write something.

Thinking about Rob’s passing and listening to his music again has brought a few things to mind.

The day after I heard of Rob’s passing I hauled out my large collection of Boss Brass recordings and spent the entire day listening once again to some of my all time favourite big band arrangements - Just Friends, Body and Soul, Street of Dreams, Out of Nowhere, Portrait of Jennie, My Bells, Easy To Love, Autumn In New York, You Took Advantage of Me, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, A Time For Love, Take The “A” Train, Blue Hodge, Louisiana. In fact, I’m having a difficult time stopping this list. They are all great. Let’s just say that, much like one of my other favourites, Bill Holman, Rob never wrote anything less than a great chart.

I cannot remember when I first heard the Boss Brass. I could have been, and probably was, one the early brass ensemble pop LPs Rob recorded for the CTL label. But, it could also have been a Jazz Radio Canada program. Jazz Radio Canada, a CBC program that ran once a week nation wide in the 1970s, featured Canadian jazz groups in either live or studio sessions. I was addicted to the weekly program. Coincidentally, this was also the program on which I got my first professional writing gig, contributing arrangements for a Bob Hales big band program in 1976.

Listening to the weekly broadcast, it seemed there was an abundance of great big bands in the Canada, at least it seemed that way to me. From Vancouver we heard Bob Hales and occasionally Doug Parker, Edmonton had Tommy Banks. Other names escape me for the moment but I would be sure to have heard bands from Calgary and Winnipeg. From Quebec we heard Vic Vogel. There were groups from the Atlantic provinces and from the Toronto area we heard the big bands of Phil Nimmons and Rob McConnell. This program created a strong sense of Canadian jazz. It made us all aware that there were other players and writers out there creating some great music.

Of all of those bands, the one that struck me the most was the Boss Brass. I was probably 19 or 20 years old and, unlike my peers, I had grown up listening to the old big bands - Harry James, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman (yeah I know, I was a little weird). So the great sense of swing and the strong contemporary sound of the Boss Brass really grabbed me. I was a major fan from the first note I heard.

For starters, I was struck by the sound of Rob’s band. The virtuosity of the ensemble work, led by the stellar trumpeter Arnie Chycoski. Of course I simply loved the beautiful flugel horn playing of Guido Basso, who is blessed with a singular sound and style that is immediately recognizable (by me singling out 2 trumpet players you can probably guess my instrument of choice). No less wonderful were the saxes, playing those seemingly impossible solis, the beautiful trombone section led by Ian McDougall and the great rhythm section, particularly drummer Terry Clark.

I remember catching the Boss Brass on a CBC television special, probably in the mid 1970s, in which they played things like Mr. Tricky Nervous and Come Back To Jesus, Or I’ll Kill You which were never committed to disc. We also heard A Time For Love and That’s Right on the program (to be honest I only remember these exact titles because I recorded the program on cassette).

While all of Rob’s recording are great, there are 5 Boss Brass recordings that stand out to me:

The Best Damn Band In The Land was my favourite easy listening Boss Brass CTL recording, and my first BB disc. Of all Rob’s early CTL LPs this was the jazziest, featuring a wonderful, but short, chart on Louisiana and an exquisite Santa Claus Blues.

The Jazz Album. The first Boss Brass jazz LP was an lp I eagerly anticipated and it didn’t disappoint. Great charts and playing throughout, but Rob’s arrangement of Body and Soul was a standout. This arrangement has it all - a great reharmonization of the original tune, a sax soli using rich 5 part writing, great ensemble lines and a powerful shout. While I think it’s a highlight of the recording I understand, from several sources, that Rob didn’t care too much for this chart. Portrait of Jenny is another great arrangement and features wall to wall Guido Basso.

Big Band Jazz. What’s not to like about this 2 disc recording? This was a limited direct to disc LP set (mine is #01204). While there are a couple of very minor performance glitches, they take nothing away from this great set. I played this disc over and over and over and over and over and… Every arrangement is a gem. I would class this as one of the best big band recordings of all time. The opening track of Just Friends with the unbelievably together stop time tutti, the tricky trombone line coupled with the bass, the solos and the big, powerful shout. Then there is Street of Dreams, Dirty Man, A Tribute to Art Fern, and Porgy and Bess Suite. Writing about the quality of all the arrangements, and the fantastic playing on this recording, could easily take up multiple blogs.

Present Perfect. First of all, the sound of this lp was fantastic. Rob always had first class engineers and the recordings were always sonic delights. You Took Advantage of Me and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes are real high points on another album full of highlights.

The El Mocambo: Live In Digital. This was the first time I saw the band in person and provided a real “ear opening” experience. The band was at this club in Toronto for about 10 days and I was there almost every night. The virtuosity of the ensemble work was as stunning live as it was on disc. The dynamic range, even when I considered my previous experiences listening to Count Basie and Stan Kenton live, was breathtaking. Without microphones I could still hear every woodwind part. The entire band moved and breathed as one single entity.

All the subsequent discs, including those by the tenet, are equally wonderful, but the ones mentioned here are some of the first recordings I acquired so they have a strong place in my own musical identity.

Despite the great tradition of big band music, Rob McConnell managed to develop a big band style and sound that was all his own. Even his earliest recorded arrangement, that I am aware of, for Maynard Ferguson of Come Rain or Come Shine has some of those now classic McConnellisms - beautiful harmonization, great lines, great voicings, a great dynamic range and a superb sense of structure. Rob never wrote simple arrangements, consisting of a melody chorus followed by a long solo section with a few simple backgrounds and a return to the melody. His charts always had something substantial for the ensemble. Rob would often follow his opening melody chorus with some new, often virtuosic, ensemble writing. His charts would often have multiple climaxes. I found the same qualities in his own solo work, within his big band or small groups. Even the wonderful duet recording with Ed Bickert, Mutual Street, is loaded with great musical drama.

Certainly Rob, like all of us that write for big bands, borrowed and learned from the masters. However, I have always been impressed by someone that can create something singular, an identifiable sound, while still acknowledging the past. Rob, like Bill Holman and Bob Brookmeyer, fits this category. However, while Holman and Brookmeyer seem to want to reach beyond their past accomplishments, Rob seemed content to remain within his sense of the tradition. This does not mean that any one of these three writers is better artistically than the other. But rather there is, in my mind anyway, a place for all of them. Good music is good music.

If one had to single out one distinctive feature of Rob’s writing it would probably be his sense of harmony. His harmonic work really reminds me so much of pianist Bill Evans, always full of beautiful tension and release. He also maximizes these harmonic colours by using rich, full ensemble voicings along with a great sense of orchestral colour, especially with the additional french horns and woodwinds.

It’s not only Rob’s manipulation of harmony that allows him to stand out, he also had an equally deft hand with melody. And, although not known as a composer as much as an arranger, Rob’s own tunes, that are scattered throughout his recordings, were always a highlight. Even his larger scale big band jazz originals were always tuneful. Check out the beautiful middle section of That’s Right.

Finally, on top of all of Rob’s qualities as an arranger, composer and player, there was always Rob’s sense of humour, which would often come out of nowhere in the music. A favourite moment is the return of the melody in Louisiana where he changes key after the first bar.

As much as I love the sound of any good big band, it’s the writing that always seems to draw me back repeatedly, to listen over and over. To this day, after almost 40 years, I can still hear the sounds of those early Boss Brass recordings vividly in my mind and I know those sounds have had a very big effect on the big band music I create for myself. I have been told I am a harmonically oriented writer, who loves to write virtuosic ensemble passages. Well, I’ve always known where that came from. Now you do.

I know I will go on for the rest of my life enjoying the sounds of Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass.

Thank you Rob!

Let’s see, where is that CD with Phil Woods?

Well here we are - finally! It has been a long time coming, but I’m beginning to feel a part of this century.