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Michael Philip Mossman '82 Returns for Two-Day Jazz Residency and Performance with the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble, Saturday, May 6, 8 P.M., Finney Chapel
THE PROGRAM
Blues in the Abstract Truth, by Oliver Nelson
Black, Brown and Beautiful, by Oliver Nelson
All the Things You Are, by Don Sebesky
Think On Me, by George Cables
Nica's Dream, by Horace Silver (Mossman arrangement)
Meditations, by Chalres Mingus (Mossman arrangement)
Ah-leu-cha, by Charlie Parker (Mossman, arrangement)
Papiro, byMichael Mossman
Duke, by Dave Brubeck
Blues for Pablo, by Gil Evans
Miles Ahead, by Miles Davis/Gil Evans
My Ship, by Gershwin/Weill
La Nevada Blues, by Gil Evans
RELATED
When Michael Philip Mossman '82 returns to Oberlin this
weekend, he'll offer master classes and perform again as a
member of the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble (OJE). Mossman, director
of the Jazz Studies program at the Aaron
Copland School of Music at Queens
College/CUNY, describes his
membership with OJE as a highlight of his undergraduate
years.
Michael Philip Mossman '82 is now director of the
Jazz Studies program at the Aaron Copland School of
Music at Queens College/CUNY.
"Young musicians," says Mossman, "can profit from the OJE experience, and college education in general, by performing as much as possible. The practice time is essential, but in rehearsal and performance we gain special insights that serve us well when we enter the professional world. These insights, based on experience, cannot/should not be 'taught.' They are observed and managed by us as we encounter them in a social setting."
Mossman's Residency Will Include:
General Master Class, Hales, 1:30 p.m. Rehearsal with OJE, 4:30 p.m., Finney
Brass Master Class, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Warner Concert Hall Oberlin Jazz Ensemble Concert, 8 p.m., Finney Chapel,
Directed by Wendell Logan
The Concert:
The OJE concert will feature works by Oliver Nelson, Don Sebesky, Horace Silver, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, Dave Brubeck, Gil Evans, Miles Davis, George Gershwin and Kurt Weill. One of Mossman's original pieces, Papiro, will be showcased and he has also arranged many of the concert's pieces. A special treat for the Oberlin audience will be the concert segment featuring Mossman with Kenny Davis, teacher of jazz ensembles and trumpet, in a celebration of the collaborative work of Miles Davis and Gil Evans.
"For this concert," explains Wendell
Logan, director of Oberlin's
Jazz Studies, professor of African-American Music, and
director of OJE, "we obviously wanted to maximize the
residency of Michael Mossman, a top arranger and composer,
I've wanted to highlight the music of Gil Evans for many
years, and all the concert music features a trumpet so we're
having Michael and Kenny Davis take care of it.
Wendell Logan, director of OJE and Oberlin's Jazz
Studies, and professor of African-American Music.
Photo by Ramon Owens.
"There's nothing like the work of Gil Evans in the jazz literature. His arranging exploits the coloristic possibilities of the jazz ensemble. Evans offers a unique voice in the history of jazz arranging and composiing. Many of his collaborations with Miles Davis are historic now: Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain. These are important pieces in jazz history."
OJE, founded in 1973 by Logan, is comprised of both jazz and classical performance majors. The ensemble is a component of a four-year curriculum in jazz studies, leading to bachelor of music degree with a concentration in performance and/or composition.
Tom Bencivengo, double-degree senior from Burlington, Connecticut, is in his sixth semester with OJE. He says with a laugh, "There are always surprises in OJE depending on Wendell's mood. Sometimes the surprises are good (i.e. he's not picking on me) and sometimes they are bad (i.e. he is picking on me). The part about OJE that I love most is the repertoire. It's hard to find good big band music that has some depth to it and I think Wendell does an exceptional job at selecting the music that we play. The most challenging aspect of playing in a big band is really listening to everything that is going on around you and reacting to it. Playing in a big band is a very sensitive thing, even though there are 20 people in the band."
Bencivengo adds, "In terms of playing professionally, OJE helps me with my doubles (flute and clarinet), which is very important. It also teaches me how to blend into a group ensemble and play in tune. Having a band like OJE helps keep Jazz Studies in the forefront in both the College and the Conservatory because our concerts are always well attended."
Spring semester 2000 marks Andrew Hunter's sixth semester
as a member of OJE. Hunter, a double-degree junior from
Grayling, Michigan, has performed with OJE since the first
semester of his freshman year. He says, "It has always been
a real pleasure to perform with this band. In my freshman
year I was especially inspired by the attitude Wendell
brings to performances. It's not just a matter of going onto
the stage and playing for myself; Wendell makes it a
community event: right before every concert starts, there is
a tradition that everyone in the band gets together
downstairs in a circle and holds hands while Wendell talks a
bit. He always has something to say to remind us about the
way this music we're playing is for sharing a few moments of
happiness with people, about celebration, I suppose. It's a
little something to humble our thoughts before the show, and
remind us of what we're doing this for: to bring something
good, no matter how small, into the lives of the people
there with us that night."
left-to-right: Sophomore Ian Cronin-Young (alto
sax), a double-degree junior Andrew Hunter
(trombone) and double-degree senior Tom Bencivengo
(alto sax) in a 1999 OJE concert.
Hunter continues, "A top benefit of the OJE repertoire is that Wendell really knows so many people who are active on the scene right now that we always end up with access to music a lot of other college bands would have no way of getting. For example, the band sometimes plays charts from Joe Henderson's big band album. These charts aren't available for purchase. The only way OJE has them is because Joe Henderson gave them to Wendell."
"A career development benefit of playing with OJE is that we work on concepts: section playing, reading parts, playing the music stylistically correct. I work now about three nights a week with various groups in Cleveland and most of this work has come through people I've met playing with the Ernie Krivda Fat Tuesday Big Band. The concepts I've learned and been working on in OJE prepared me precisely for what I needed to do to play that gig well, and playing well in that gig is solely responsible for making other professional musicians in the area feel comfortable hiring me for other work."
Hunter adds, "The content of a jazz band, of course, greatly depends on the personnel. That extends to the styles of the players, even their attitudes and energy they bring to the group. Wendell has always been a unifying center with OJE. He keep us honest and humble about the music. This music has humble origins - gritty even - like the blues. It's direct expression and Wendell doesn't let us forget that. Whenever we neglect to pay the music the proper respect, he's there and ready to set us straight and it isn't always comfortable or pretty. But I admire that: he's not afraid of confrontation at all, in fact, he's very willing to meet it head on."
Brass Master Class:
Of his Brass Master Class, Mossman says, "In my master class, I will speak on how to integrate advanced harmonic/rhythmic concepts into the type of material that we wind players must practice everyday. I will stress the need for practice in fundamentals in tone production. The message will be, however, that in practicing these fundamentals, more sophisticated content can and should be worked in. In this manner, our expanded language used in improvisation will become as natural as playing long tones."
He adds, "I have had the pleasure of seeing my present students (including my four Obies, Adam Jackson, Kevin Louis, Cathy Elliot and Greg Glassman) breaking into the scene here in New York. I enjoy watching them adapt their academic skills to their new working environment."
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