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Oberlin Jazz Ensemble Performance Slated for Saturday, March 6, 8:00 P.M., in Finney Chapel
by Emily Manzo
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PROGRAM: • Conservation The Oberlin Jazz Ensemble: Hugh Ragin, director Alto Sax: Tom Bencivengo and Ian Young Tenor Sax: Brian Wesolowski, Kelly Roberge Baritone Sax: Peter Lyons Trombone: Andrew Hunter (lead), Erika Eichner, Shannon McLeod, Andy Chappell, Julian Pulido Trumpet: Kyle Lane (lead), Michael Reavey, Andrea Lindberg, Adam Jackson, John Quincy Whitcomb, Farnell Newton Piano: Ez Weiss, Allan Baker Guitar: Joe Friedman, Chris Parrello Bass: Matthew Mueller, Matthew Elliott Drums: Jason Brown, Josh Arenberg Percussion/Librarian: Alex Johnston |
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Hugh Ragin - inspiring teacher, creative musician and trumpet virtuoso - has once again returned to the Oberlin Conservatory Jazz Studies department as acting chair while Wendell Logan takes a second semester sabbatical. His first residency was in the spring of 1980. Local audiences will have a chance to see him perform when he joins the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble in concert on Saturday, March 6, 8:00 p.m., in Finney Chapel.
Ragin has been named "a trumpeter with very few peers in terms of imagination or technical command" by jazz biographer Francis Drake in his notes for the 1997 Live at the Knitting Factory recording with Roscoe Mitchell. Ragin has collaborated with musicians including David Murray, Anthony Braxton, Dizzy Gillespie, Spencer Barefield, Fred Wesley, Leo Smith, Maynard Ferguson, D.D. Jackson, Andrew Cyrille and poet Amiri Baraka, on recorded and live jazz performances that range from bebop and freebop, to the most 'out' of avant-garde improvising.
Yet
despite his success as a performer, Ragin insists on "being
an educator first." His life has formed as a compassionate
gesture "to share the knowledge, and bring more people into
music." For all areas of his teaching, Ragin puts a strong
emphasis on the fundamentals.
"I like to give enough material so that students can absorb what's useful, discard what is unnecessary, and add what is uniquely their own. It's like Charlie Parker said, 'First you learn the scales, then you forget them.'"
Drawing from personal experience, Ragin says that "technique includes the knowledge of the instrument as well as knowledge of the language." Ragin attributes his own astounding control of the trumpet to studying the basics.
"I got to a point in the early '90s where I would practice the entire H.L. Clarke Technical Studies for Coronet Book in three hours. Then I would read the Charlie Parker Omnibook for ideas and to get rooted in the jazz language. So I could, in six hours a day, get the technique and the ideas. All of this [in the Charlie Parker Omnibook], for a B-flat instrument in particular, doesn't challenge the range, so you don't get real tired playing it. In the H.L. Clake, if you really follow the laws of dynamics and you play it soft, you can do an eight hour day, even on trumpet."
Along with fulfilling the duties of jazz chairperson, Ragin teaches private composition lessons and one lecture/seminar in avant-garde jazz composition. In this class, Ragin discusses concepts that originated as classical compositional procedures, such as aleatoric and chance music. He feels that "we are in a period where everything [classical and jazz] is coming together. We're taking all this information and we're just processing it with out '2000'-millenium eyes."
When
asked if things have changed at the Oberlin Conservatory
since his previous residency in 1980, Ragin said, "No, and
in this case, no change is a good one. I still see a
superior level of musicianship and an intensity with the
students. There's a certain liveness, a certain energy that
just feels good and is inspiring to work with."
He also views the isolated town of Oberlin as a haven for productivity, and that "the beauty in the seclusion is that you get your work done."
To hear more from Ragin, check out his most recent recordings, including Nine to Get Ready, with Roscoe Mitchell on the ECM label (www.ecmrecords.com/ecm/recordings/1651.html), and an upcoming solo spring release entitled An Afternoon in Harlem. As a part of the Europe Jazz Network tours, Ragin will be a part of the David Murray Big Band Tribute to Duke Ellington (www.ejn.it/tours/lady-u.htm). The group will be celebrating "the obscure works of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn."
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