Bcrklcc - Berklee College of Music

Spring1993,
Bcrklcc
A Forumfol~ Contemporary
Musicand Musicians
12
ToshiikoAki!loshi’57: Pathfinder
for women
il~ jazz
17
Is di~lital audiobetterthananalog?
SPRING ¯ 1993
VOLUME ¯
NUMBER
IV
¯
3
Contents
LEAD SHEET by
President
Lee
Eliot
Berk
...........
2
BERKLEEBEAT
Berklee signs a fast track MBA
agreement with Suffolk University,
Womenin Music course offering, Kacinskas’ los~ Nonet to be played ....
FROMTHE LONESTARTO THE BLACKSTARby Earl Stewart
A Fulbright
lecturer
returns
after nine months in Ghana .......
ON THE COVER:Composer
Toshiko Akiyoshi’57 discusses her career and the
ride from Manchuria to
Manhattan, beginning on
page 12. Cover photo by
Tsutomo.
NEWSSPECIAL:OCTOBER
JOURNAL
I"NTRIES by Bernadette Colley
Faculty composerAllen Levines and his Travel Journal receive a musical
homecoming
in
Japan
................
8
¯ 10
TOSHIKO’SODYSSEY
by Mark L. Small ’73
Oneof the leading ladies of jazz, Toshiko Akiyoshi’57 talks of her life
and times,
and the business
of jazz
........
12
IS DIGITAL AUDIOBETTERTHANANALOG?
by Dave Moulton
Berklee’s MP&E
Department Chair sorts through the evidence to settle
the latest
flareup
in the digital
vs. analog debate ..........
17
HEARTANDFIRE ~N RUSSIAby Tom .Riley 78
Assistant Professor WayneNaus and a top-notch septet generate some
musical heat and light at Russia’s autumn jazz festivals
.......
20
ALUM NOTES
News,
quotes,
22
and
recordings
of
note
............
SHOP TALK
IAJE European Conference, ISME World Conference, SJW .
3O
CODA:MUSICOR WALLPAPER?
by A~ Di Meola ’74
A top guitarist speaks about creative music and radio reception o
32
LEAD SHEET
Berklce t o d
Valuing
Diversity
APublication
oftheOffice
ofDevelopment
Dean
of Institutional
Advancement
John
Collins
Editor
Marl<
L. Small
73
Feature
Editors
RobHayes
Director
ofPublic
Information
College
News
andAlumni
Features
Lawrence
McClellan
Jr.
Chair,
Professional
Education
Division
Music
and
General
Education
Features
Larry
Monroe
’70
Chair,
Professional
Performance
Division
Performance
Features
Robert
K.Myers
Acting
Chair,
Professional
Writing
Division
Composition
Features
Donald
Puluse
Chair,
Music
Technology
Division
Music
Technology
Features
Production
Consultant
Judith
Lucas,
Director
ofPublications
Copy
Editor
Stephen
Melisi
Assistant
Director
of Development
forAlumni
Relations
Sarah
Bodge
Annual
Fund
Coordinator
Cecilia
Navratil
Development
Coordinator
Chika
Okamoto
’87
As the alumni-oriented music magazineof Berklee
Collegeof Music,Berkleetodayis dedicatedto informing,
enriching, and serving the extendedBerkleecommunity.
By sharing informationof benefit to alumniabout college
matters, musicindustryevents, alumniactivities and accomplishments,and musicaltopics of interest, Berklee
to@serves as both a valuable forum for our family
throughout the world andan important source of commentaryin contemporarymusic.
Berkleetoday(ISSN1052-3839)
is published
threetimesa year
the BerkleeCollegeof MusicOfficeof Development.
All contents ©1993byBerkleeCollegeof Music.Address
changes,press
releases,letters to theeditor,andadvertising
inquiriesshouldbe
addressed
to Berkleetoday,Box333, BerkleeCollegeof Music,
1140Boylston
Street, Boston,MA
02215,(617)266-1400,
extension438.Alumni
areinvitedto mailin detailsof activitiessuitable
for featurecoverage.Submissions
accepted.
2
Berklee today
President
Lee Eliot
Berk
W
usic has always been regarded as an international
language promoting goodwill and understanding.
Nevertheless, we recognize an increasing need in our
society to proactively address diversity. This is particularly important as ethnic nationalism appears to be on the
rise in manyareas of the world, and in the United States
manygroups continue their struggles for equal participation and opportunity in Americanlife.
Because music has often symbolized promoting communication and understanding, musicians could be expected to have a special responsibility to contribute positively to society by valuing diversity. Yet, paradoxically,
music has always been a classic interpersonal networking
profession mitigating against equal opportunity.
Responding to these circumstances, Berklee has begun a specific diversity awareness programwith the assistance of a professionai consulting group selected in a
process involving the entire college community.A pilot
diversity awareness program was presented to entering
students in January, establishing the proper foundation
for the larger Fall 1993 entering class. Berklee personnel
will be specially trained to conduct future presentations.
As well, this spring there will be a numberof group
focus meetings on campus with the consulting group in
order to provide an interactive climate assessment outlining key needs and priorities. The results of a new, allcollege computerized survey will be used as a benchmark
against which to measure progress in subsequent years.
Another specific action occuring this spring is the
offering of a programto faculty and staff on sexual harassment awareness. With the advice of participating faculty and staff, it is expected that this programand others
will be presented on a regular basis to the student body.
Weare in the process of forming a college diversity
committeeconsisting of faculty, staff, and students. This
group will lead our diversity awareness program, receive
input from the college community, be a primary link to
professional consulting sources available to assist us, develop a diversity values statement for our college community, and plan our future diversity programming.
Our revised College Mission Statement includes specific reference to diversity. As a caring college community, we take these social matters seriously. The ongoing
process and results can only improve the quality of education we offer at Berklee, and our alumni will be even
better prepared to contribute positively to society.
Spring1993
Berklee b e a t
elect to take a number of
BERKLEE-SUFFOLK
Suffolk courses concurMBAAGREEMENT rently with their Berklee
load, further reducing the
time needed to complete
the M.B.A. requirements.
The newly forged relationship between Berklee
News of note
andSuffolkis a natural one.
Located one mile from the
Berklee campus, Suffolk
University has established
itself as a leader in the undergraduate and graduate
study of the liberal arts,
business, and law.
The university’s graduate management program,
founded in 1948, provides
an exceptionally strong
framework for studies in
the management of business and government,
drawing, as does Berldee,
on Boston’s resources as
one of the most dynamic
and competitive urban centers in the world.
"The Berkle.e
MB/M
program prepares musicians for a career in the
music business," stated Dr.
Donald Gorder, Berklee’s
MB/MDepartment Chair,
"and the Suffolk M.B.A.
accelerated program is its
logical extension. Because
a graduate-level degree can
lead to a higher level of responsibility in the musicindustry’s larger organizations, Berklee students ,vho
PresidentLee Eliot Berk, JohnBrennan
(left) andRon take advantage of this acSundberg
(right), Dean
andAssociate
Dean
of Suffolk’sGradu- celerated program should
ate Schoolof Management
after signingan agreement
cre- really moveto the front of
ating an accelerated
M.B.A.program
for Berkleestudents. the job line."
from about
town and
around the
world
Spring1993
On December 7, 1992,
Berklee and Suffolk University signed an agreement
creating a faster track towarda master of business
administration (M.B.A.)
degree for Berklee’s Music
Business/Management
(MB/M) majors.
The Suffolk University
M.B.A. accelerated program for Berklee students
allows graduates of the
MB/M major to waive
nearly one quarter of the
four semesters Suffolk requires, speeding their entry into the multi-billion
dollar music industry.
Berklee students who are
particularly industrious can
$25,000RAISED
IN
PHONATHON
Berklee’s first Annual
Fund Phonathon,
conducted in November, was
an unqualified success,
raising $25,755. Thirteen
Berklee students gathered
in Berklee’s Development
Office each night for three
weeks contacting thousands of alumni and a few
hundred parents of enrolled students throughout
the United States, garnering a total of 800 pledges.
Fifty percent of those
reached made a pledge or
expressed a desire to
pledge later in the year.
The phonathon also resulted in the correction of hundreds of old addresses and
phone numbers updating
Berklee’s alumni records.
Somedonors contributed specifically to the endowments of the new
Georges Delerue Film
Scoring
and NARAS
MP&Escholarships.
Nonspecific donations will help
maintain Berklee’s facilities and allow the purchase
of new recording studio
hardware and computers
andsynthesizers for labs.
The generous support
pledged in November is
greatly appreciated and
will enable Berklee to continue providing the very
best in contemporary music education.
Berklee today
3
"LOST"KACII~SKAS
NONET
TOBE HEARD
AGAIN
It has been55years since
the last strains of retired
Professor JeronimasKacinskas’ Nonetfadedto silence
after a performance
in London’s B.B.C. Concert Hall
in 1938.Kacinskasfigured
he wouldneverhear it again
after the scoreto this chamber music masterpiece and
those of all his other prewar works were destroyed
during his harrowing escape from Soviet-occupied
Lithuaniain 1944.
OnMarch4, at a Berklee Performance Center
concert set for 8:15 p.m.,
Kacinskas will hear his
Nonet again for the first
time since 1938. For the
very first time, he will hear
the work’s foui’th movement which was completed after the 1938 London
performanceat the International Society of ContemporaryMusicFestival.
The Spring and Summer
1992issues of Berklee today featured stories about
retired composition and
conducting professor
Jeronimas Kacinskas. The
first detailed his career as
one of Lithuania’s top
W.W.II-era composersand
conductors, and his flight
from his war-torn homeland (see Spring1992,p. 6).
The second article announcedBerklee’s acquisition of the parts to his lost
Nonet, whichlay on a shelf
in a Czech music archive
in Pragueuntil March1992
(see Summer
1992,p. 7).
Duringthe past months
Composition Professor
John Bavicchi has spent
countless hours recreating
the Nonet’sscore from the
recovered woodwindand
string parts to makethis
Americanpremiere performancepossible.
"This is a monumental
work,"stated Bavicchi."It
is an important piece of
Jeronimas
I(acinskas
circa 20th century chambermu1938.HisAVonet,
lostfor 55 sic. Jerry’s Nonetwasforyears,will beperformed
at ward-lookingin 1938, and
Berklee
orl March
4.
still is today."
One of the work’s innovativefeatures is the cadenzasection of the fourth
movementwhere each of
the nine instrumentsshares
in the cadenza.
Membersof the Bostonbased chamber group
Speaking in Tongueswill
perform the Kacinskas
workduring the first half
of the Composition Department’s concert tribute
to Berklee composers.The
secondhalf will feature selections by JohnBavicchi,
Composition Department
Chair Jack Jarrett, Associate Professor ThomasMcGah,and Assistant Professor LouisStewart.
Tickets for the concert
are $4, and can be purchased at the Performance
CenterBoxoffice. For further ticket information,call
the boxoffice at (617)2661400, extension 261.
HIGHSCHOOL
JAZZ
FESTIVAL
AT25
lected by the National
Academy of Recording
Arts
and
Sciences
(NARAS)
to perform in the
Grammy All-American
HighSchoolJazz Bandthis
spring on the Grammy
Awardsbroadcast.
NARAS
personnel were
on hand to present their
"Grammy
in the Schools"
program,offering participants the opportunity to
attend panel discussions
with Berkleefaculty chairs
and musicindustry guests
on songwriting and publishing, career prospectsin
the music business, and
music production.
TheBerkleefaculty presented numerousclinics,
jamsessions, grouplessons,
and performances for the
students. The college also
held an open house in the
recording studios and high
techlab facilities.
chance to samplethe educational programswith the
faculty, and learn fromthe
adjudicators comments."
The 25th anniversary of
the festival capturedall of
the energy and exuberance
of the rising generation
making jazz--America’s
greatest indigenous art
form--their own.
Berklee celebrated the
25th anniversary of its
High School Jazz Festival
on February6 this year at
the Hynes Auditorium.
More than 130 bands and
2,500 student musicians
competedin the day-long
eventfor trophies, plaques,
and Berkleetuition scholarships totaling $100,000.
Berklee’sannualfestival
has becomeone of the three
largest in the country.During its 25-year history,
more than 20,000 students
in 1,300 bands have performed at the event. The
large numberof entrants
and their enthusiasm signal growinginterest in jazz
amongthe youth.
Twooutstanding student participants were se4
gerklee today
"One of Berklee’s objectives in hostingthis festival is to support the efforts of high school band
directors and musicians,"
stated Larry Bethune’71,
Berklee’sDeanof Students.
"It gives them experience
performing in front of a
large and appreciative audience. They also get a
Spring
1993
NEWDEAN
APPOINTED
President Lee Eliot Berk
has announced that John
Collins, formerly Director
of Development,has been
promoted to Dean of Institutional Advancement.
Collinswill overseethe areas of Development,Alumni Relations,andPublicInformationfor the college.
Thenewpostion reflects
increased emphasison external affairs as the college
seeks to provide resources
for scholarship and educational programs. Collins
will work with the Board
of Trustees,the Institutional Advancement Commitee, and the Commiteeon
Membership to meet the
objectives of Berklee’snew
missionstatement.
WOMEN’S
STUDIES
Berkleeis offering a new
course titled "Womenin
Music,"taught by Assistant
Professor SusanFleet. The
course explores contributions womenperformers,
composers,and conductors
have made to American
jazz and classical musicin
this century. The course
will be offeredin the spring
andfall of 1993.
Fleet will trace the careers of such figures as
Mary Lou Williams and
Billie Holidayand present
the context in whichthey
flourished. Thecoursewill
also examinethe socio-political factors andtrends in
American life and labor
contributing to small numbers of women
entering the
musicfield before the rock
musicboomof the ’60s.
In observance of National Womenin Music
Monththis March, Fleet
will moderatea panel discussion with five prominent womenmusicians on
March30 at 1:00 p.m. in
room 1A. The panel will
feature Dr. Judith Tick, a
historian and Northeastern
Universityprofessor, clasJohnCollins
sical pianist VirginiaEskin,
composer and New En"I look forward to gland Conservatory and
WheatonCollege professor
working in partnership
with the international mu- Pozzi Escot, conductor
sic industry," stated Col- Kay Roberts, and Leona
lins, "to provide linkages MaySmith, a septuagenarsupporting music educa- ian and pioneering female
tion. I also look forwardto trumpet soloist in New
celebrating Berklee’s 50th Yorkin the ’40s and ’50s.
anniversary in a meaning"Many womenin 20th
ful and enduring manner, century Americanjazz and
hopefully with sponsorship classical music have been
from major music and oth- nearly invisible," states
er corporations."
Fleet. "I’ve put the course
Collins also received and the panel discussion
Berklee’s Outstanding
togetherbecauseI feel it is
Leadership Contribution important for music stuaward this past December dents of both genders to
in recognition of com- learn about these people
mendableachievement.
andtheir careers."
Spring1993
FACUL’I3~
NOTES
Duringthe fall semester,Berklee’sfaculty members were ir, volved in numerousextracurricular
professionalprojects. Thefollowingis a partial list
of their activities.
Deanof CurriculumGaryBurton’62 and Professor AndyMcGhee
performedon the CBStelevision special "The KennedyCenter Honors"in a
segmenthonoring vibist Lionel Hampton.
Assistant iProfessor andsaxophonistdim0dgren
’75 is a guest artist on the newalbumby the Selmer
SaxophoneQuartet. The disc features six cuts
pennedeither by Odgrenalone, or in collaboration with Associate Professor JimKelly "73. The
cover illustration wascreated by Assistant Professor Lennie
Peterson
’79.
Associate Professor HalCrook’71 released an
albumwith his group Trio II, titled Improvising
for the OutlandMusiclabel. Thealbumalso features Assistant Professor DaveWeigert’76 playing
drums, and bassist HansGlawischnig.
Assistant Professorandvocalist Mill Bermej0
’84
released a CDtitled Ay Amor/forthe GreenLinnet label. Thealbumfeatures Bermejosinging her
originals and other Spanishlanguagesongs backed
by her husband Dan Greenspanon bass, and Mick
Goodrick’617on guitar.
Professor WayneWadhams
has released Ding
Dong/TheWitch Is Back on his ownBoston Skyline record label. Thealbumchronicles the career
of the ’60s pop group Fifth Estate, whichfeatured
Wadhamson keyboards and vocals, and alumnus
RickEngler ’66 on guitar.
Associate Professor [)avid V0se producedthe
album Goodbyeto Yesterday, recorded by contemporarysinger/songwriter JAPE.Vosealso arrangedseveral of the album’scuts.
Percussion DepartmentChair DeanAndersonis
the percussionist on the NEUMA
Records release
Musicfor C,~amberEnsemble,with Richard Pittman’s Boston MusicViva.
AnnePeckham,
assistant professorof voice, performs as a memberof the TanglewoodFestival
Chorus on The Green Album with the Boston
Pops Orchestra conducted by John Williams.
The booksRock Guitar Styles and CountryGuitar Styles, penned by Associate Professor Mike
Ihde ’72, will be distributed worldwideby Hal Leonard Publishing.
Assistant Professor RonMurrayproduced and
played bass on GypsyHeart, the debut recording
of pianist DeborahFranciose on the North Star
recordlabel.
Instructor DarrellKatz’s"Variationson a Theme
by Jimi Hendrix,"appears on Flux, the latest recording by the Jazz CoraposersAlliance Orchestra, released on the: NortheasternRecordslabel.
Berkleetoday
5
Tony Marvuglio,
Jim
Kelly, and Dave Mashpresented various music techThis October, a group nology demonstrations.
of Berklee faculty members
The faculty group, augtraveled to Spain to per- mented by saxophonist and
form and present music Professional Performance
technology demonstrations Division Chair Larry Monat a European music indus- roe, presented a hard-hittry trade show, and later,
ting concert on the last day
conduct a series of "Berk- of the event spotlighting
lee on the Road"clinics at their original pieces played
the L’Aula de Musica, an on MIDIinstruments.
independent contemporary
Further south in Barcemusic school in Barcelona. lona, the faculty members
The group touched
conducted three days of
down in Vic, Spain, 30 Berklee on the Road clinmiles from Barcelona, and ics at L’Aula de Musica.
set up at the Mercat de The sessions were enthusiMusica music market and astically received by L’Aula
festival. Originally a re- students and alumni and
gional show, it has contin- local musicians. L’Aulaitually expanded and now self has excellent facilities
attracts music industry
for providing contempopeople from several Euro- rary music instruction, and
pean countries. In affiliahas a number of Berklee
tion with L’Aula de Musi- alumni on its faculty, inca, a Berklee booth was set cluding Maria Lara ’92,
up in the exhibition area Enric Alberich ’90, and Anwhere faculty
members tonio Perai ’85. L’Aula
Matt Marvuglio, Ed Uribe, President Arthur Bernstein
BERKLEE
IN SPAIN
FINNISH
CDGIFT
ture contemporary classical music, but several jazz
and popular entries are also
Pirkko-Lisa O’Rourke, included. The donation is
the cultural attach6 of the part of an effort by the embassy to increase awareness
Embassy of Finland in
Washington, D.C., donatin America of the musical
ed 100 CDsof Finnish mu- contributions of top Finnsic to the Berklee Library ish composers. The discs
in December.
will be added to Berktee’s
Manyof the discs leaexpanding CDcollection.
ArthurBernstein
(left), presidentof L’Aulade Musica
and
LarryMonroe
¢Jiscussed
a Berklee/L’Aula
partnership.
met with Larry Monroe to
discuss details of a formal
partnership between the
L’Aula school and BerkIee
for the future.
Bernstein and a number
of the L’Aula trustees met
at La CovadeI Drac, a local jazz club where the
Berklee band gave a final
performance in Spain. The
club was packed with
L’Aula students. The band,
comprising Jim Kelly on
guitar, Larry Monroe on
alto, Matt Marvuglio on
EWI, Tony Marvuglio on
guitar controller,
Dave
Mash on keyboard, and Ed
Uribe playing drums and
electronic percussion, presented a lively set of contemporary instrumentals.
Afterwards, Bernstein
and the trustees voiced enthusiasm for a formal partnership agreement between
L’Aula and Berklee.
JAMES
G. ZAFRIS
LECTURE
SERIES
agement. The series will
complement the classroom
instruction for Berklee’s
Music Business/Management majors.
Twenty-five years ago,
James Zafris began consuIting with Berklee’s founder
Lawrence Berk over the
growing school’s financial
affairs, and soon Zafris was
named first chair of the
board of trustees. During
his chairmanship, BerkIee
experienced
explosive
growth, becoming a world
leader in the contemporary
music education field.
The James G. Zafris Jr.
Distinguished Lecture Series is an honor befitting
Jim’s long commitment to
the college. Zafris will continue to serve the college as
chair of the newly established Institutional
Advancement Committee.
In recognition of outgoing Board of Trustees Chair
James G. Zafris Jr.’s 25
years of leadership serviceto Berklee, the college has
established the James G.
Zafris Jr. Distinguished
Lecture Series for Music
Business/Management.
Theseries, Berklee’sfirst
endowedlecture series, was
made possible with leadership gifts from founder and
Chancellor Lawrence Berk
and Board of Trustees
Chair William Davis, and a
major gift from the Doris
L. Benz Trust. The lecture
series will ensure that a
public lecture is presented
each semester by an imporFrom
the left, librarianJohnVoigt,Pirkko-Lisa
O’Rourke,
and tant figure in the field of
AssociateDeanof Curriculum
RobertMyers.
music business and man6
Berklee today
Spring1993
VISITINGARTISTS
SHARE
THEIRiNSIGHT
A host of top musicprofessionals cert with faculty guitarist Garrison
from around the globe cameto Berk- Fewell; famedsession bassist Cbuck
lee to sharetheir talents, insights,and R0iney, whopresented a technique
experiences
withthe studentsthis fall. workshopand concert; and former’
TheVisiting Artists Series brings top Pat MethenysidemanMarkEganfor’
industry figures to the
campusfor one or several days to offer clinics,
master classes, and concert performances.
"Tonight Show" band
leader Branford
Marsalis
’81 cameto Berklee and
spoke about the music
business and his career.
While on campus, President Lee Eliot Berk presented him the Alumni
Achievementaward.
Membersof Huehuetl, Members
of Huehuetl
playwithstudents.
an ensemble from Mexico, performedthe traditional musicof their ancestorson pre- a fretless basspresentationanda conColumbianinstruments. They also cert with his group Elements.
Nashville songwriter MikeReid
discussed indigenous Americancultures, andlater invited the students (whohas written for theJudds, Willto jam with themon their percussion ie Nelson,BonnieRaitt, andothers)
conducted clinics on the craft of
and woodwindinstruments.
BelaFleckandtheFlecktones
pre- songwriting,the musicbusiness, and
sented a clinic and performedjazz gave a performing workshop.
Jazz pianist, educator, andformer
standards as well as selections from
their new album UFOTofu. They Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderley,
and JohnScofield sidemanHalGalpanswered questions about their
unique approach to jazz improvisa- er ’58, gavea piano trio demonstraD0ckery,and
tion on whatare regardedas folk and tion with bassist Wayne
drummer
Steve
Ellington.
bluegrass instruments.
Othervisiting artists this fall inBass weekevents in October drew
top bassists BusterWiliiams
for a con-. cluded: saxophonist DoveLeibman,
bluegrassartist Alison
Kraus,classical composers JohnHarbison
and Robert Starer,
songwriter Hunter
Moore"77, trombonist
SteveTurre,Kevin
Gray
and other cast members of Phantom of
the Opera, Indian
classical vocalspecialist NiranjanJhaveri,
newagepianist Spencer Brewer
andviolinist SteveKindler,
iazz
bassist RonMcClure,
percussionist Chuck
Silverman,trombonist
RickStepton,
andjazz
flutist
Billy
Kerr.
JazzbanjoistBelaFleckfieldsaudience
questions.
Spring
1993
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FROMTHELONESTARTO THEBLACK
STAR
Tostate that myrecent sojournto
oneof the mosthistoric andculturally endowedmeccas of West Africa
was a dream cometrue wouldnot be
a clich4dexaggeration;it is actually
an understatement.
The groundworkfor this adventure did not begin with myreceipt of
a senior Futbright awardin 1991; it
started over a decade ago during my
doctoral studies at the Universityof
Texasat Austin. It wasmyclasses in
East and WestAfricanculture, literature, andlanguages,late-night discussions with myAfrican and Black
Americancolleagues, and mypersonal musical,philosophical,and spiritual inquiries that ignited the starship that wouldultimately transport
mefromTexas,the "LoneStar" state,
to Ghana, whosenational symbolis
the BlackStar.
Duringmyfirst two weeksin Ghana, I wasgiven a rigorous but entertaining andinformativetour of greater Accra, courtesy of the National
Commissionon Culture (NCC).
visited the beautiful and capacious
Aburi mountains, several museums
and national art centers, and a rehearsal of the National Symphony
Orchestra (NSO) of Ghana. Unbeknownstto me,this latter visit would
growin significance duringthe coming months.
7I spent muchof October compos
ing, preparing for the first of many
lectures I wasscheduledto give at
the W.E.B. Dubois Center for Pan
AfricanCulture, andassisting in the
planning of the Nkrumah/Dubois/
Padmore lectures--Ghana’s most
prestigiousannuallectureseries. I also
receivedan invitation to join the interim managing task force of the
Dubois Center.
November
took on quite a different character. In addition to lecturing, I travele,d with a delegationfrom
the NCCto Sunyani. During that
trip i recall beingstruckbythe splendor and hypnotic appeal of the forested, mountainousareas we were
passingthi~ough.
By December,I had completed a
composition commissioned by the
iX[SO.Theorchestra’s maestro, Professor N.Z. Nayo,also invited meto
serve as guest conductorwith the orchestra in addition to myother duties. FromFebruaryto August, most
of mytime wouldbe spent rehearsing or performing with the NSO.
In April, I conducted the NSO
and the chorus of the NationalAcademyof Musicin a special fund-raising concert at the AccraInternational ConferenceCenter. Weperformed
the hauntingly beautiful Hiawatha’s
Wedding Feast by Samuel Taylor
Coleridgeto a very appreciative audience. That concert Wasfollowed
by appearances at an American
Fourth of July celebration, one at
Kokrobite, and one at Ghana’s National Festival. Undeniably,myaffiliation with the NSOwas the most
fulfilling aspect of mytime in Ghana.
In retrospect, myFulbright year
seemedto be a spiritual experiencein
an. abstract sense. It wasa chanceto
examinemyowncultural essence by
makingcontact with the culture of
others. In this light, the similarities
inherent in our humandifferences becameas visible as the manyfaces of
ogJr oneness.
EarlStewart
withsouvenirs
of hisyear
--Dr. Earl Stewart
asa Fulbright
lecturerin Ghana.
Assistant Professor, Harmony
8
Berkleetoday
ItISIDE IMPROVISATIOtl SI:RIES
VOL
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STRUCTURE
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’~J
NEWS SPECIAL
October Journal Entries...
Bernadette
Colley
~l~n October, whenAssistant Professor Allen LeVines
finally stood atop the browsof misty mountains
and sat in Japan’s tranquil temples, it was a musical
homecoming
of sorts. The journey--one he’d hoped to
makefor morethan a decade afforded hima look at the
places where,300 years earlier, the celebrated wandering
Japanesemaster poet MatsuoBashohad written his travel journals.
These seminal volumesby Japan’s n’iost famousand
belovedpoet inspired LeVines’uniquelyoriginal musical
composition,TravelJournalfor String Quartet:BooksI-
III, a set of 17 miniaturesbasedon the haikuof the 17th
century poet.
LeVineshad studied Basho’s haiku masterpieces from
a distance for manyyears, and wasnowable to get closer
to the source of the original inspiration. Withthe support of a Berkleefaculty travel grant, the composeraccompaniedthe Portland String Quartet on part of their
tour of Japanwherethey presented LeVines’Travel Journal to hundredsof enthusiastic concertgoers.
"Japanese audiences are not knownto applaud wildly
whenthey like something,"stated Portland String Quartet cellist Paul Ross, "but we did
notice a markedattentiveness among
our Japanese audiences where we
programmedAllen LeVines’ string
quartet. Theywerefascinated that a
Westerncomposerhad chosen to set
an Eastern literary art formto music, and were impressed at howaccurately he hadcapturedthe aesthetic
of haiku."
LeVines’ piece won the 1985
Trinial WashingtonInternational
Competitionfor String Quartet, and
the 1980 Margaret Grant Composition Prize at Tanglewood.Its warm
reception during the Portland Quartet’s previoustwo tours of Japanled
ArabesqueRecordingsto makeit the
centerpieceandtitle selection of the
BernadetteColley is a musicianand
Thepeaks
of Yamagata
inspired17thcentury
dapa~nese
poetBasho,
whose
work a freelancewriter whospecializes in
is thebasisfor composer
AllenLeVines"
TJ’avel
Jo~,~rnal
fer StringQuartet.
researchon arts education.
10
Berklee today
Spring1993
new Arabesque CDby the Portland
Quartet. The ensemble’s October
tour of Japan was timed to coincide
with the release of the disc.
While in Japan, LeVineswas treated as a guest of honor at numerous
public gatherings. The first was on
October 18, at an outdoor concert in
Chiba, at the Iidaka Temple. The
event was organized by Tokyo Music Ensemble conductor Yoshiyuki
Yamagishi, and the program included three of the Travel Journal miniatures. Plans for a complete performance in 1994 were discussed, and
Yamagishi said he looked forward to
receiving scores of Levines’ orchestral compositions.
The next day, the entourage boarded the train to Zushi for a CDrelease
party at the home of composer and
Basho scholar, Dorothy Britton. Ms.
Britton’s "Chinoiserie" for soprano
and string quartet also appears on
the Arabesquedisc with Travel Journal. The two composers exchanged
gifts--for Britton the score of Travel
Journal, and for LeVines, Ms. Britton’s definitive translation of Basho’s
"Oku no Hosumichi" ("The Narrow Road to the North").
The highlight of the trip was
LeVines’ two-day visit in Yamagata
prefecture at the Fuga No Kuni conference center and museum.The complex, established in 1989, was dedicated to Basho and haiku poetry on
THEPOETRY
AND
qrHEMUSIC
....
Composer Allen LeVines first became attracted to Japanese arts
while working toward a double degree in English and music at Stetson
University in Deland, Florida. Matsuo Basho’s work began to influence
his music during the ’70s, and in 1980 he decided to pay homageto the
poet with a major work. The 17 miniatures of Travel Journal are not an
attempt to graphcially depict in music the images suggested by the text,
but to capture the aesthetic of ]3asho’s haiku. Typically, a haiku captures one momentfrozen in time. Bas[ho’s most famous poem(Travel
Journal, Book I, No. 4),
The mossy pond
A frog leaps in--
Splash
depicts more than the antics of an amp[hibian. The frog’s leap from land
to water symbolizes Buddha’s transcendence from one world to another, both physical and spiritual.
On another level, LeVines’ Travel Journal is a musical journey
through the history of Western music, commemorating
significant events
and places along the way. For .example, the first miniature in Book I
bears the subheading "March 26, Vienna," the date and place of
Beethoven’sdeath. Basho’s haiku whichinspired the piece is translated:
Last night of the month: no moon
Thousand year old cedars
Besieged by a storm
Musically, the piece contains allusions to a Beethovenpiano sonata,
and, according to tradition, on the night of Beethoven’s death a thunderstorm raged outside his homein Vienna.
seum LeVines viewed Basho’s original manuscripts and paintings. That
evening, beneath the backdrop of the
mountain Basho climbed 300 years
ago and LeVines had climbed a few
hours earlier, the Portland Quartet
again performed Travel Journal.
The audience was enthusiastic and
seemed proud that their cultural
statesman, Basho, had been honored
by an American composer. After the
concert, Yamagata government representative
Toru Masaki asked
LeVines to compose three pieces
based on the three sacred mountains
in Yamagatathat Basho visited three
centuries ago.
On his final night in Japan,
LeVines was brought onstage for a
mid-concert interview. He spoke of
his climb to the summit of Mr. Risshakuji and thanked the Portland
Quartet for their fine performance.
LeVines plans to return and ret~7ace Basho’s 161-day "Journey to
t!he North," mile for mile on the exPicturedfromthe left are PortlandStringQuartetviolinist Stephen
Kecskmethy,
Basho
CenterManaging
DirectorShuichiShiga,composer
Allen LeVines,violist act days of the month that Basho
JuliaAdams,
cellist PaulRoss,andviolinist Ronald
Lantz.LeVines’
TravelJournal walked in 1689. Watch the CDracks
for Travel Journal." Books IV-VI. ~
waspedormed
throughout
Japanby the PortlandQuartetduringOctober.
Spring1993
the 300th anniversary of his most celebrated journey across Japan.
LeVines’ stay there included a newspaper interview, a mountain climb,
and visits to the Yamaderamuseums
of Japanese crafts. At the Basho Mu-
Berklee
today 11
Toshiko’s Od~Fs;s,ey
A pathfinder for women
in jazz, ToshikoAkiyoshi’57
is on the moveagain with two newalbums
t’s beena long, eventful journeyfromManchuria to Manhattanfor jazz composer/
pianist/band leader ToshikoAkiyoshi’57.
For nearly three decades, Toshikohas beenthe
most celebrated female composer/instrumentalist in American
jazz. At variousports of call
during her musical odyssey, Toshikoperformed
with such greats as Charles Mingus, Sonny
Stitt, Clifford Brown,and dozens more. Her
most acclaimed work however, has been as
composerand leader of the ToshikoAkiyoshiLewTabackin Big Band, and the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. In her career she has
released more than 50. albums, garnered 11
Grammynominations, and topped countless
magazinemusicpolls in numerouscategories.
Jazz journalist Nat Hentoff places Toshiko
"amongthat relatively small companyof truly
original jazz composers--Jelly Roll Morton,
Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, George
Russell, Gil Evans, and Charles Mingus."Jazz
critic LeonardFeather declared that no other
woman
in jazz has received the kind of acclaim
that Toshikohas.
Her odyssey began in Dairen, Manchuria,
where Toshiko was born the youngest daughter of a Japanesetextile and steel industries
magnate.She beganstudyingclassical piano in
I
by
Mark L.
Small "73
Spring1993
Manchuria";chile seven years old. Following
the Japanesedefeat in WorldWarII, Toshiko,
then 15, and her family were forced to flee
Manchuriaa.s the Chinese Communistrevolution rolled over the country, and return to
Japan with only what possessions they could
carry. Thef~tmilytraveled hundredsof milesin
cargo trains and enduredweeksof stopovers at
makeshiftca.raps beforecompletingthe last leg
of their trip on a ship whichdeliveredthemto
Japanesesoil.
Not lont; after reaching Japan, Toshiko
foundworkas the pianist in a bandat a military dance hall. There she becameacquainted
with the manyAmericanjazz musicians who
were passint; through Tokyoon U.S.O. tours.
By1951she wasleading her ownquartet which
featured the youthful, rising saxophonestar
SadaoWatanabe
’65. Toshikoestablished a formidable reputation as a performer and band
leader, and becameone of Japan’s highest-paid
studio musiciansand arrangers. Oscar Peterson introduced Toshiko to jazz record producer NormanGranz, wholaunched her recording career in 1953 with the release of
NormanGranz .Presents Toshiko, the first
record on whichshe appears as leader.
In a quest for musical knowledge,Toshiko
Berkleet o d a y 13
profession~l per-
ou
former whenyou reach the
point where the audience
wants to hear you so badly
that they will pay.
wrote to Berklee founder LawrenceBerk, who,
based upon the recommendations of Granz
and Peterson, offered her an airline ticket to
Americaanda full Berkleescholarship.
After arriving in Boston,Toshikowashired
to play four nights a weekat jazz impresario
GeorgeWein’slegendary Storyville club. As
pianist in the houseband,she wasinvited to sit
in with countless jazz giants, including Miles
Davis, John Coltrane, and DukeEllington, who
were bookedat the club on weekends.
In 1963,Toshikoandher :first husband,saxophonist Charlie Mariano’51, had a daughter,
Michiru, whois well knownin Japan as film
star and vocalist "MondayMichiru." Toshiko
married her current husband, saxophonist Lew
Tabackin, in 1969. The two founded Akiyoshi’s most renownedensemble, the Toshiko
Akiyoshi-LewTabackin Big Band, in Los Angeles in 1973.WithLewas soloist andthe band
as her vehicle, Toshikogainedcritical acclaim
as a jazz composer. Jazz Is MyNative Language, an insightful documentaryby filmmaker Ren~eCho, chronicles Toshiko’s life and
times. Thefilm focuses on Toshiko’sdecision
to continue her odyssey--to leave Los Angeles
in 1983 and reform her group in NewYork.
WithNewYorkas her locus, Toshiko performs with both her trio and the ToshikoAkiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. This fall, Evidence
Records issued a recording of Toshiko in a
small group setting, and ColumbiaRecords
released the TosbikoAkiyoshi Jazz Orchestra
Featuring Lew Tabackin Carnegie Hall Concert. The Columbiadisc showcaseseight compositionswhichdisplay Toshiko’ssingular ability to take her oriental influences andwestern
jazz sensibilities, and weavethemtogether in
an innovativejazz orchestrafabric.
Thenewdiscs chart the latest coursein the
four-decades-longmusicalodysseyof a uniquely internationaljazz artist.
14 Berklee today
There is a great story about howyou began
playing jazz piano.
The year after I returned to Japan with my
parents after the war, I sawa sign outside of a
dancehall sayingthey neededa pianist. Because
it wasoccupation time, there were manydance
halls for the military people. A violin player
whowas an ex-Navy band conductor was the
musical leader. I played Beethoven’s "Piano
Sonata #3," and some fugues by Bach at my
audition. I got the job immediatelyevenafter I
told him I had never seen chord symbolsbefore. Hetold meto start that night and to just
play whatever I could. He told me he would
teach me about chord symbolsthe next day.
Theband consisted of accordion, alto saxophone,violin, drums,andpiano. I really didn’t
like the music,but I couldpractice on the piano
at the club duringthe day. This wasgreat since
myparents had to leave our piano behind in
Manchuria.Musiciansalso got paid very well at
that time too.
One night, a Japanese mancame into the
club and told mehe thought that if I studied a
bit I could becomethe numberone jazz pianist
on KyushuIsland [laughs]. He was a record
collector, and played meTeddyWilson’s"Sweet
Lorraine." That was it--I wantedto play like
that! I also listenedto WillieSmith,the lead alto
player with the HarryJamesband. I transcribed
one of his short solos and played it a lot. I
workedhard at music.
WasAmericanmusic popular in Japanthen ?
Yes, there wasa great appreciationfor American things; the people wantedto havea Parker
pen, taste CocaCola, and hear Americanmusic.
Howdid you end up coming to America?
Jazz producer NormanGranz was booking
Americangroups for U.S.O. tours of Japan in
the early ’50s. OscarPetersonhad comeover to
play and myfriends introduced me to him. He
invited me to his hotel the next day to meet
NormanGranz. Normanended up producing
a record for meand writing stories about me
for Metronomeand Downbeatmagazines.
At that time I knewthere wasa lot I had to
learn, but the information wasn’t available.
There wasn’t even a good tune book to learn
from. I wouldpick things up from the professional musicians whowere passing through. I
really wantedto go to the U.S. and play with
Americanmusicians.
TonyTeixiera, a musician from Boston who
later taught at Berklee,heard mygroupin Japan
and encouragedmeto write a letter to Lawrence
Berk. Mr. Berk ended up sending me a plane
ticket to bring meto Bostonto attend Berklee
on a scholarship.
Spring1993
cause the music and the music business have
There were probably very few women at
changed. Even the original tunes back then
Berklee in the early ’50s.
were
not that complicated. You could pretty
There were two others in school with me. I
much
follow after listening for a while. That
used to spend time with them, but they left
after a few semesters and put an all-girl band was true until WayneShorter came along.
I was playing with Mingus and Coltrane at
together. There was another lady who came
the next year. She was also a pianist and even- the Town Hall and Art Blakey’s band was
playing around the corner at the Showboat.
tually married Lennie Tristano.
Saxophonist Charlie McPherson and I went
Did you encounter skepticism when you over to listen. Cedar Waltonwas playing piano
and Blakey invited me to sit in. They were
began your career ?
SometimesI’d hear this thing about authen- playing Wayne’s tunes which are not simple.
ticity. People wouldsay, "She is Japanese, how Cedar was calling out the changes to me and I
authentic can the music she writes and plays was struggling through. Thinking they were
trying to make me look bad, Charlie McPherbe?" Somepeople resented that. In Japan there
is a saying: "Nails sticking out will be beaten." son got steaming mad and said to them, "Now
I think anybody who might be considered a you come over and play with us!" I felt a
certain camaraderie, he was being protective.
pioneer finds resistance.
I’ve done alright when I compare myself to Actually, since Art Blakey was the drummer,
someone like Bela Bartok who died of malnu- he probably had no idea ]how difficult Wayne’s
tunes were for a pianist.
trition. Somepeople don’t have their artistry
I always enjoyed sitting in back then; My
recognized until after they are dead, so I feel
husband Lewasks if I want to do that now and
very fortunate.
I say no. It is great to do while you are young,
You faced the dual hardships of raising your you can learn a lot. If you have too muchego
and are worried about looking bad, then you
daughter Michiru while supporting yourself
won’t learn anything.
and establishing a career as a jazz musician.
People figure I had a very hard time back in
Whydid you disband the successful Toshiko
the ’50s. I don’t rememberfeeling then that I
was having a hard time. But when I look back, Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big ~:and in Los AnI wonderif I could do it now-- I don’t think geles and move to NewYork in 1983?
Lew wanted to move back to NewYork to
that I could.
further
his career. He quit the "Tonight Show"
It was hard to be a single mother supporting
band
when
our band got too busy. Bnt after he
myself as a jazz musician in the early ’60s. I
quit
the
"Tonight
Show"there was :no reason
always felt so bad about leaving mydaughter
for
him
to
stay
in
L.A.
Historically, in all the
at night to go to gigs. In Japanese culture, the
mother’s first responsibility is to her children, best large jazz bands there was always a great
and I kept feeling I wasn’t being a goodmother soloist. As a writer, I have been lucky to have
because I had to leave her to workgigs at night. Lewin the band as my main soloist, but for
him, he was always playing my music, and he
I think sometimes that my daughter quit
music after seeing how hard Lewand I worked wanted to play his own too. Nowthe band is
at being musicians. Lewis very diligent about
practicing. Michiru used to get up in the morning and see that I had been up all night copying
parts. She probably got the impression it was
too hard.
Do you think sitting-in to get yourself heard
by great players is a thing of the past?
I think so. But whenI sat in, it wasn’t to get
recognized, it was to learn howto play or how
not to play. Whensitting in with top players,
you get a better feeling. I got to really learn
what swing was all about. Young players today have very little chance to do this anymore.
Todayjazz groups play their original music,
so it is not as easy to sit in as it was when
Toshikoperformed
with CharlesMingus
from1963-65.Sheis the feaeveryone was playing standards.
That’s true. These days it is different be- turedpianist onthe Mingus
ba~ld’sTown
Haft Concertalbum
of 1964.
Spring1993
Berklee
today 15
Toshikois shown
leading the po!ktoppingToshikoAkiyoshi-Lew
TabackinBig Bandat the 1976
Monterey
JazzFes~ival.Tenorsaxophonist
LewTabackin
is seatedto Toshiko’s
left in the front row.
called the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra,
and I add "featuring LewTabackin" to the title
whenhe plays with us.
to take advice.
People have said that as a writer I have been
able to bring something new and recognizable
to jazz. Mystrength is in writing. In the past 20
Howhas the business of jazz changed over years I have tried to bring something new to
the course of your career?
jazz without being entirely new. Basically, I
In the ’40s and ’50s there were many more dislike big band music. I like to think that my
minor labels here. Today there are more minor music is different, something newbreathed into
jazz labels starting up in Europethan in Amer- the tradition. I utilize what was done before by
ica. In Japan you need to have a name to get the great jazz masters and add something that
recorded: In Europeit is like it was here a long hasn’t been done before.
time ago; if you are an up-and-coming player
and they like you, they will record you.
Whatwould you tell people entering the jazz
American record companies today seem area of the business today?
more like movie studios--always looking for
Ideally, people should be in the business as a
blockbusters. I haven’t seen one blockbuster in result of their accomplishments.Youare a prostraight-ahead jazz. Mostclassical records don’t fessional performer when you reach the point
sell a lot either, but companieswill record an where the audience wants to hear you so badly
orchestra playing Beethoven’s Ninth Sympho- that they will pay. You achieve that because
ny because they see :it as cuIture. Jazz hasn’t you love what you do. If you love music you
fully attained that status yet; it wili someday. will put in a lot of time learning it.
I don’t think you should be a career-orientDo you have any personal observations from ed musician from the beginning just hoping to
your years as a band leader?
be in the business. Someyoungplayers aim for
WhenI formed myband 20 or 21 years ago, the business instead of the music.
I learned howsensitive musicians are. Women
tend to take everything so personally, and I
You once said that to be successful in music,
was no exception. By having a band I learned an artist must have a certain naivet&
not to do that.
I think it is true. Youneed to be optimistic
I’ve knownof female players in bands who even when you have more reasons to be pessicould not take suggestions from fellow musi- mistic. Without that optimism, I don’t really
cians. Youcan learn quite a bit from the older think you can keep on going year after year.
guys in the band. I would tell womenmusi- Andif you are not naive you won’t keep chaScians not to take everything personally, learn ing after the rainbows.
~
16 Berklee
today
Springt993
Is Digital Audio
Better Than Analog?
Tenyears after the advent of the CD,some
aren’t convinceddigital is better thananalog
thought the controversy over
digital audio sound was over.
Even audiophiles seemed to be
accepting compactdiscs. Cooled were
the formerly heated debates about the
relative merits of digital and analog
audio. Voices crying "analog is warmer, digital is steely and antiseptic"
seemedto be stilled. In our studios at
Berklee, the two realms have happily
coexisted with lots of analog decks
and consoles, lots of digital processors and decks, and manysynths and
computers with Sound Tools, Pro
Tools, and Studio Vision.
Given this, I was surprised to read
Neil Young’s vitriolic diatribe in a
recent issue of Guitar Player titled,
"Digital Is a Huge Rip-Off!" He
fanned the flames again, calling digital "a farce," likening its sound to
"ice cubes washing over you," and
grimly labeled the period extending
from the early ’80s through the next
10 to 15 years "the darkest time for
recorded music ever." The only technical observation he made was that
the samplingrate used for digital au-
I
by Da v e
Mo u I t o n
Dave Moulton is chair of Berklee’s
Music Production and Engineering
Department. This article was adapted from a piece he wrote for Home
and Studio Recording magazine.
Spring1993
dio (44.1 KHz. ) is too slow to provide adequate resolution for musical
hearing. The rest was rhetoric.
Since Neil’s piece appeared, other
publishers have reprinted it, and an
avalanche of letters to the editor has
poured in at Guitar Player. One reader called Neil’s piece a "nonsensical
rant-lest." Another said, "the techno-industry..,
has forced a stale
Manyclaim that cracker downour throats." A third
digital sound
iis noted, "Digital is a disaster.., digital
cleaner,but ana- is about money, not sound." A relog is warmer.
cording engineer charged that Nell’s
GRAPHIC
BYDAVE
MIBANDA
Berklee
today 17
editorial was"completelylacking
in substance." Oneletter intoned
with grave new-age conviction,
"Thenuanceof an individual artist’s timbreand tone is eradicated
with most digital recordings." I
guessthe debateisn’t over yet.
son of every analog recorder we had
versus a digital recorder. Werecorded a variety of sounds (finger cymbals, Ps popping,rude barnyardnoises, a variety of acoustic instruments)
on all the recorders. Wespent the
better part of an eveningcomparing
the quality of these recordings.
The digital recordings were the
best by far, they resembledthe sound
of the acoustical sourcemoreclosely
than did any of the analog recordings. Our formal conclusion: by direct comparison,digital recordings
moreclosely resemblethe input signal than do analogrecordings.
At an Audio Engineering Society
meeting in Toronto in 1986, I listened to a comparison between an
and havefound that the digital formatshaveno significant problemsand
that they equal or surpass analogaudio. There is general consumeracceptance of CDs, and DATsdominate in the pro audio community.
Inherent
LimitsandErrors
In theEarof theBeholder
In its mostbasic form(the electriHowcan it be true that digital
cal signal just out of the microphone),
soundis so bad, andcan that view
analogaudio is characterizedby a set
be reconciledwith scientific data?
of huge ranges (10,000,000:1ampliNell Youngis amongmany autude range 130 dB, and 10,000:1frediophiles who have staunchly
quencyrange flat response from 10
maintainedthat digital audio is
Hz. to 100 KHz.). This resolution
defective and that analog recordrangeis slightly larger than the resoings are more satisfying. They
lution of our hearing, so analog aupresentlittle hard evidenceto supdio, in its basicform,is wellsuited to
port their claims. Theyhear someour hearing.
thing differentin digital
The problem with anarecordingsin the privalog audiolies in its storage
cy of their ownhomes
(the recording/playback
and find analog recordprocess). The resolution
ings more satisfying.
limits of the analogstorage
They can’t measurethe
mediumare significantly
deficiency, but they
poorer than the limits of
knowin their hearts that
analog transmission. Any
somethingis missing.
analog signal stored and
There is an anomaly
then reproduced has sighere. Wehave reliably
nificant, audibleerrors indetermined that humans
cludedin its reproduction.
havecertain hearinglimDigital audio, on the
its whichare satisfied by
other hand, stores perfectdigital audio, and we
ly. However,it is no more
have objective tests
perfect than analog audio,
comparing analog and
o~ and in manyrespects less
digital audio whichcon~ so, except that it records
vincingly demonstrate
better. Whatit does is inthat humanscan’t tell
troduceits errors as a functhe difference between
tion of the conversion of
the two. On the other
the signal from analog to
at Berklee
thetworealms
havecoexisted
for digital rather than as a
hand, we have people In thestudios
decks
andconsoles
areintegratedfunction of the recording/
who consistently say years.Anarrayof analog
synthesizers,
andcomputers.
they prefer analog over withdigitaldecks,processors,
playbackprocess. Theresdigital. Whois right?
olution limits are defined
Personally, I’ve nevnot by the precision of the
er had a problemwith digital au- optimized analog deck (1/2" 30 IPS physical hardwarebut by the mathedio. I boughtmyfirst digital tape with Dolby® noise reduction) and
matical constraints imposedby the
deckbackin 1984andstill use it a ¯ digital masteringrecorder. Differenc- samplingrate (whichdeterminesfrelot. CDsalwayssoundedmorelike es betweenthe two were quite sub- quencyrange), the numberof bits
master tapes to me than analog tie, and neither deckwasconclusive- (the amplituderange), and the physidisks did. I’ve had two experienc- ly better. Myconclusion: analog and cal accuracyof the converters. Nell
es whichpretty muchdecided the digital recordings,at their best, are mayhave a point whenhe says the
issue for mein favorof digital.
virtually identical.
sampling rate is too slow, because
Giventhat myconclusionsare true there are in fact limits anderrors in
In the middle’80s, I wasconducting a recording workshopfor and verifiable (other people were digital signals due to samplingrate
National Public Radio. Werigged present and there was general con- limits. Butis the rate really too slow?
up a concert hall with the same sensus), why,after 15 years of living
audio signal goingto manydiffer- with digital, are peoplestill ranting AQuestion
of Money
ent recorders to makea compari- against it? Wehave studied hearing
In the digital realm,if youwanted
18 Berklee today
Spring1993
to throw some major-league
money at the problem, you
could come up with a very
powerful system. The limits are mathematicaland financial more than physical.
There is no technical reason
why we couldn’t build a
digital system with a sampling rate of 200 KHz. and
24 bits of resolution. That
would give us a frequency
range of 100,000:1(flat from
1 Hz. to 100 KHz.) and an
amplitude
range
of
10,000,000:1,whichis 140 dB, far surpassing the humanhearing range.
But memory requirements would
increase by a factor of 10, and would
put the current low-cost personalcomputer music production systems
right out of business. Memory
is still
so expensivethat it precludes storing
anything not vitally important. If humans can’t hear anything above 20
KHz., we can’t afford to store it.
Our current 16 bit resolution
(65,000:1) yields 96 dB dynamic
range, which is more than adequate
for our world and represents better
performance than the best analog recorder can manage. This has been one
of the big sales argumentsin favor of
digital recording, and is the basis for
the myth of "no tape hiss." There
actually is hiss, but it is about 10 dB
softer in any 16-bit digital recording
than in the best analog recording.
for the brain activity to
change, so after switching
from A to B, a change in
brain activity wasn’t noticed for 20 seconds or so,
and then it came on gradually. In other words, the
brain becomesconditioned
to its listening situation
and takes a while to perceive a change. Therefore,
long-term listening trials
reveal more than ABtests.
So Nell and the audiophiles are right, within limabilities. Thetest is rigorous, fair, and its. Someultrasonic material lost in
analog-to-digital conversion turns
objective, but seriously flawed.
out to be significant in terms of muFindings
sical satisfaction. But should we realA fundamental rule in scientific
ly go back to the analog format?
measurement is the "range rule."
Yourtest must fit within the range of RollCall
Personally, I find it easy to vote
your hypothesis. If you are testing
music as listened to at home, your for digital. Its limitations don’t troutest must involve music listened to at bite me. WhatI like about digital auhome (or a reasonable approxima- dio is it,,; improvedlow-frequencyretion). Innaccurate data has comefrom sponse, lack of wowand flutter, and
the ABtest. Wedon’t normally listhe transparency of high-level signals
ten to music by switching back and due to the lack of distortion.
forth between systems.
I also like the ease of digital reTwoyears ago, Japanese researchcording. The audible differences beers decided to approach things diftween the two media are pretty small,
ferently. They didn’t use ABtesting,
particularly when compared to the
and they didn’t ask the listeners to big differences between microphones,
tel1 them anything. Instead, they loudspeakers, and playback rooms.
made a recording of acoustical inFinally, there is an economicbenstruments which had frequencies up efit derived from digital audio proto 50 KHz. Next, they made a copy duction that we are just beginning to
of that recording and filtered out all realize. It is far cheaper to do signal
sounds above 20 KHz. They played processing via mathematical algoboth versions for their test listene, rs rithms than by hardwired analog
while observing their brain activity
physical units. As our digital workvia electro-encephalograph machines. station systems mature, this benefit
The filtered recordings produced will becomesignificant.
muchless brain activity than did the
broad-band recordings. The research- Tlhe Bottom
Line
Digital audio is beginning to be
ers learned that the brain noticed, a
difference. Next, they asked the sub- cheaper and easier to use than anajects to commenton the quality of log. I recommendthat people devote
the recorded sounds, and discovered the time and money digital audio
that the listeners found the original saves on improving the actual music.
broad-band sounds to be interesting,
Ultimately, makinga great recording
satisfying, and beautiful much more meanscapturing the ineffable spirit,
often than they found those qualities
personae, and qualities of the perin the frequency-limited sounds.
formers and music--more a spiritual
From there the researchers worked exercise than a technical one.
backwards to reconcile these findIt’s the power and meaning in the
ings with the fact that in ABtests
music that matter most. Those elelisteners couldn’t hear any difference. ments transcend the quality and charThey discovered that it takes a while acter of the recording medium. :tt
find the audible
ferences between the two
mediaare pretty small.
ScientificTesting
To makesure that these things are
true, engineers and scientists have
measurednoise floors and thresholds
of pain and listeners’ responses to a
wide variety of digital and analog
storage and processing schemes. The
data seems conclusive: humansdon’t
hear sounds above 20 KHz. or below
20 Hz., and the dynamicrange of our
noisy environment (90 dB at best)
suggests that the 96 db dynamicrange
of 16-bit digital audio is adequate.
But science is exacting and doesn’t
take sides. To date, we have relied on
listeners telling us what they hear.
We have employed "double-blind
AB"testing, where listeners switch
back and forth between two different systemsat will, listening and comparing carefully to the limits of their
Spring1993
Berklee
today 19
WayneNaus’76 brings Heart and Fire
to Russian
jazz festival ~,~udiences
n a visit from Russia to the U.S. in
IOctober 1991, Vladimir Feyertag was
in Boston to visit his friend Anna
Tomsinskaya,a Berklee student. He stopped
by the college one afternoon and heard Assistant Professor WayneNausrehearsing the Buddy Rich Ensemble.A fan of big band music,
Vladimirlistened to the groupfor a while. He
and Waynetalked briefly afterwards and
Vladimir recognized Wayneas the lead trumpeter in an important edition of the Buddy
Rich Big Band.The two were thrilled to find
O
by Tom
Riley’78
they shared such a close musical connection
while living half a world apart and hopedto
meetagain.
Oneyear later, in his capacity as president
of InterJazz (the Associationof Jazz Musicians
and Managers) in St. Petersburg, Russia,
Vladimir wrote to Naus asking if he would
assemblea group for a brief tour of Russia to
be co-sponsoredby InterJazz and Berklee. Naus
was amazed that such a unique opportunity
resulted from a chance encounter. I soon becameinvolvedin arrangingtour plans andultimately traveled with the
group as road managerand
collegerepresentative.
Naus selected six top
students and a recent graduate for the tour. Thefront
line featured three American musicians: Naus ’76
trumpet, Pat Loomis ’92
alto saxophone,and Sal DiFusco ’93 guitar. The
rhythm section included
bassist JohnySjo ’93 from
Norway, and three musicians from South America:
TomRiley 78 is Executive
Assistant to the President
Thegroup
Hear~
andFiregave10performances
in threeRussian
cities at Berklee.Thetitle of this
during
November.
Pictared
in F~ed
Square,
fromtheleft, arePatLoomis,article, abovein Cyrillic
HelioAires,PernellSaturnino,
Wayne
Naus,Sal DiFusco,
Fernandocharacters,
is a literal transMartinez,
andTom
Riley.Bassist
Johny
Sjois notshown
in this shot. lation of HeartandFire.
20 Berklee today
Spring1993
tumn Rhythms. St.
Petersburg, modeled after Vienna,
Venice, and Paris,
is extraordinarily
beautiful with its
squares,canals, and
palaces. Here we
got to hear a number of excellent
Russian groups.
Heart and Fire’s
electric music and
high-energy stage
presence, however,
stoodin contrast to
the moreacoustic,
straight- aheadperformances of the
other bands, and
engaged the audiences whowouldcheer until the band
cameback for an encore.
Duringa visit the next day to the
Mussorgsky College of Music, we
met the director of this prestigious
institution, AlexanderMironov,and
the musicdirector Igor Chernyshov.
Also present was Berklee alum and
saxophonist Igor Butman’89. All
were enthusiastic about Berklee and
look forwardto building positive relationshipsin the future.
The Sunday evening concert at
Lensoviet Hall on November15 was
the finale of the festival andwouldbe
the last showof the tour. Heart and
Fire sharedthe stage with the Siberian Big Bandand other top Russian
groups before a crowdof 2,000 people. After the performance,the audience showeredflowers on the band
memberswhostayed signing autographs long after the house lights
went up.
On November16, we lifted off
from St. Petersburgfor our return to
Boston. Weleft with the impression
that, despite the enormouspolitical
and economicdifficulties in their
present society, Russia’s musicians
and composersare creating musicin
ja;,~z andpopularformsequalto their
country’s rich musicalheritage. The
friends and musicalcolleagueswemet
in this formerly closed society are
eagerto addtheir soundto the crosscultural voice of contemporarymusic. It is a soundthat the rest of the
world needs to hear.
~
keyboardist Hello
Alves ’92, drummer
Fernando Martinez
’92, and Latin percussionist Pernell
Saturnino’93.
In rehearsing
Wayne’s compositions and arrangements, a band sound
began emerging
which was an energetic blend of American jazz and rock
played over Latin
rhythms.Wayne
suggested naming
the group Heart and
Fire to capture the HeartandFirereceives
applause
aftertheirperforman,ce
in Lensoviet
Hall.
spirit of the music.
Moscow
Wewere greeted at the airport by
our host VladimirFeyertag and Vasily Nesterovwhowouldbe our translator. Immediately,
the tour of 10 performancesin three cities wason, and
we found ourselves immersedin the
lifestyle andcustomsof a vastly different culture for the next 12 days.
The first stop was the Moscow
College of ImprovisingMusic and a
visit with its Director YuriKozeriv.
Thecollege, celebrating its 25th anniversary,is the oldest schoolin Russia with a curriculumdevotedto jazz.
The college enrolls about 300 students, manyof whomwere practicing andrehearsingat 10:00p.m., not
unlike Berklee on a weeknight.
Heart and Fire’s first performance
was the next afternoon at Tchaikovsky Hall in the center of Moscow.
Thebeautiful, 75-year-old auditoriumseats about 1,000 people. The
bandwas extremelywell received and
got a taste of what wasto becomea
post-concert norm throughout the
trip--people flocking to the stage for
their autographs.
That evening, the band played
again and held a jam session at the
Literature House,hometo the Soviet Writer’s Unionfor more than 50
years. Gary Burton often performs
here whenin Moscow.
November7 markedthe 75th anniversary of the OctoberRevolution,
the date Lenin and the Bolsheviks
overthrewTsarist Russia and estabSpring1993
lished the communist
system of government.Annually,military parades
and festivities in RedSquare have
commemorated
this date, but this
year it passed without celebration.
Instead, we witnessed a march and
demonstration by a group of communists who ceremoniously laid
flowers on Lenin’s tomb. It was a
very controlled but tense event. That
night weboardeda train for an 11hour ride east to NishnyNovgorod
(formerly Corky).
NishnyNovgorod
Nishny Novgorodis ancient and
beautiful. Apeacefulcity on the River Volga, it is hometo 2.5 million
people.Closedto all foreignvisitors
for 60 years during the communist
era, the city wasinfamousfor its political exiles. HeartandFire wasthe
first American
jazz groupever to performthere.
The group’s performancesand jam
sessions over the next three dayswere
an importantcultural event, attracting large, enthusiasticaudiences,television and radio coverage, and the
warmthand friendship of the entire
community.An enormouslysatisfying place to perform, it brought out
the best in each of the musicians.
St. Petersburg
After a 20-hourtrain ride northwest, wearrived in St. Petersburgfor
a series of performancesas part of
the St. PetersburgJazz Festival, Au-
Berklee today 21
Alum n o t e s
Film composer Arthur
Kempel "68 won a 1992
Rob Jaret
"93
Emmynomination for outstanding score to a television movie A Fire in the
Dark. Arthur has also written the critically acclaimed
score for Jean-Claude Van
Damme’s Double Impact
and scores for several episodes of Steven Spielberg’s
"Tiny Toon Adventures."
JackWnlrath
"68 is trumpeter and musical director
for the Mingus Dynasty.
He also has a new album
under his own name due
out this spring entitled Out
of the Tradition, featuring
MikeStern"77hasreleased his own arrangements of
a much
anticipatedstraight- jazz standards.
aheadjazz recordingtitled
Pianist Alan Broadbent
Standards
(andothersongs) "69 released the albumFine
for theAtlanticJazzlabel.
and Dandy on the Ode laCompiled
22 Berklee
by
today
Richard
Franke
"69, "pianistto thestars,"recentJy
performed
for Vanna
White(right) andMiltonBerle.Healsoserved
musical
advisorfor the RobReinerfilm Triple Indemnity.
bel. The album, recorded
in NewZealand, is a compilation
of well-known
standard tunes.
Drummer and former
Percussion
Department
faculty
member Robert
Kaufman"70 has completed
writing a drum book entitled The Art of Drumming.
It will be published by Advance Music in English,
French, and German. The
book has been enthusiastically endorsed by Elvin
Jones, Roy Haynes, and
Albert "Tootle" Heath.
Robert has been teaching
privately and performing at
jazz clubs in the San Francisco, CAarea.
Richard
B. PretatJr. ’70
lives in Milwaukee,WI, and
plays double bass for the
Milwaukee Symphony.
Trombonist Arthur Baron"71 is playing with the
Lincoln Center Jazz Or-
chestra in NewYork City
and is leader of Duke’s
Men, a group made up of
Duke Ellington Orchestra
alumni.
Latin jazz saxophonist
dustoAlmario’71 has released Heritage on the
Bluemoon/Moo label. The
disc also features guitarist
RicardoSilveira ’77 and
bassistAbeLaboriel"72.
SaxophonistCrispinCioe
"71 and the Uptown Horns
have just recorded their
second album under their
own name. The group has
earned an enviable reputation over the last 12 years
as sidemenfor such diverse
acts as James Brown, the
Rolling Stones, Sammy
Davis Jr., Twisted Sister,
and Ray Charles.
AbeLaboriel"72has released a new album with
his group Koinonia. Their
self-titled albumfeatures a
Spring1993
mixtureof vocalandinstru- and is a guest lecturer on
mentalcompositions,six of early childhood education
whichwere written or co- throughout NewEngland.
Trumpeter Jeff Davis
written by bassist Labori’75
is living in Denmark
and
el. SaxophonistJustoAImarl0"71is also spotlighted teachingat the RoyalDanish Music Conservatory
on the album.
Pianist DavidMatthewsand the Conservatory for
’73 has recorded the first RhythmicMusic in Copenalbumin severalyears with hagen.Jeff is also free-lanchis group the Manhattan ing with jazz groups and
Jazz Quintet. Manhattan theaterorchestras.
MartinKratochvil
’76 is
Blues features bassist Edinvolved
in
entrepreneurdie Gomez and drummer
Steve Gadd, with alumnus ial ventures in CzechosloJohnScofield’73 playing vakia. He is part ownerof
Bonton, a record and film
guitar on three cuts.
JeannieDeva’75 has production and distribuwritten the Contemporary tion companycatering to
the local appetite for pop
Vocalist Improvement
Course, which is being music and films. Martin’s
published by Rock Publi- business took off whenhe
cations. Shehas also been obtained licensing agreegiving frequent seminarsin ments with CBSfor the
Boston and NewYork and Rolling Stones’ Steel
led a vocalpaneldiscussion Wheelsalbum. Kratochvil
at the NewEngland Fall and Bontonhave also produced Czechoslovakia’s
Music Conference.
first privately produced
moviesince WorldWarII.
Composer/orchestrator
Hummie
Mann"76 won a
1992 Emmy
for his role as
chief musicarrangerfor the
AcademyAwards ceremony. Healso recently finished his first major motion picture score for Year
of the Comet.
George
Garber
’77 is director of bands at David
Prouty High School in
Hummie
Mann"76
Spencer, MA. The band
took second place in the
JVCrecordingartist Ti- MassachusettsInstrumengerOkoshi
"75playedtrum- tal ConductorsAssociation
pet on the new CDCrea- Field Show,andparticipatture Future by saxophonist ed in the PresidentialInaugural Music Festival in
JerryBergonzi
"68.
Composer
DavidPolan- Washington D.C.
FredLapatino’77 has
sky’75 has been involved
been
nameddeveloper rein creating musicfor chillations
managerfor Kurzdren. His children’s albums
I Like Dessert and Animal well MusicSystems.In his
Alphabet A-Z have won newposition, he will be
him an Artists Foundation providingtechnical support
Fellowship and ASCAP to cooperative developers
special awards for seven whosesystemsare used in
years in a row. Davidper- conjunction with Kurzweil
forms children’s concerts electronics, andactingas an
Spring1993
CLASSCONNECTIONS
In October, I made
a four-day, whirlwind
trip to Los Angeles,
San Francisco,
Nashville to meet with
alumni. Thetrip wasa
lot of work,but it sure
wasgreat to meetpeople whowe, re previouslyjust namesto me.
OnJanuary 17, the
Los Angeles alumni
kicked off 1.993 with
Bodlge,
Assistant
Dithe Fourth Annual Sarah
for
Alumni Brunch. Ran- rectorof Development
alumni
relations.
dy Crenshaw
’83 performedwith his a cappella group, Vocal
Nation, and really got the party going. Thehighlight wasthe presentation of DistinguishedAlumni
Awardsto guitarist Steve Vai ’79 and bassist Stu
Harem
’80--bothmusiciansof international stature.
A future L.A. event will be a day-long seminar
featuring five panels, each with top alumniprofessionals with exper:ise in film scoring, engineering
and production, jingl0s, and songwriting. Anyone
interestedin being a panelist, shouldcontact meat
(617) 266-1400,extension479.
NewYorkers got together for a January brunch
at Ti0 Pepe’son West4th Street. Theyare planning
an alumnishowcaseand~,etworkingsocial. AnApril
educational event will also be held in conjunction
with the BrassConference.
San Francisco alumni are putting together an
AlumniShowcaseto be held in March. If you are
interestedin performingor assisting, contact Gary
B0ggs’82 at (415) 491-0973.
Nashville’s alumni showcase and networking
eventwill be held March14 in conjunctionwith the
NSAIConference. This premier showcasefor Nashville alumniis receivinglocal sponsorshipthis year.
For the Bostonclub, the DanDobek’79 Concert
and Receptionwill be held to benefit the Emanuel
Zambelli Sclholarship Fund. Watchyour mailboxes
for yourinvitatior~.
To update our records, a short alumni survey
will be sent to youthis spring. All too often an alum
will Call for help in contactingan old schoolfriend
but wewon’t have their current information. Our
last alumni survey wastakenin 1986. Sendus your
latest addre~’~s.Thi~;surveywill helpus help you.In
advance,I thank you for your cooperation.
--Sarah Bodge
Assistant Director of Development
for AlumniRelations
Berklee today 23
Vocalist Rachelle
Ferrell cher has co-written the play
’80 has recorded a self-tiPhobias which will be pertled debut album for Capi- formed at the Boston Centol Records. Her single "Til ter for the Arts in April.
You Come Back to Me"
Guitarist/singer/songmadeit into the top 20 on writer Peter Rubissow
"80
Billboard’s Hot R&BSinjust completed a two-week
gles chart.
tour of the Commonwealth
Brazilian saxophonist
of Independent States perLeoGandelman
"79 released
forming in Belorusse, RusVisions for the One Globe sia, and Ukraine, and on
Music label. Gandelmanis
television and radio spots.
Brazil’s top-selling con- Rubissow will headline at
temporary instrumentalist.
the opening day of the 1994
CoreyAllen ’80 co-pro- Grushin Festival. His muduced and arranged two sic video "Hypnotized"
cuts, and played piano on and a CDare slated to be
three songs on Cheryl Ben- released soon.
tyne’s latest CBSrelease,
Drummer David Brown
Something Cool.
’81 is president of DistorPianist LarryHoliday"80 tions Records, specializing
recently
finished a tour of in unreleased ’60s music.
LeniStern"79releasedTenSongsfor
Lipstickrecords.Stern
the southeast with Boston David has also produced a
penned
all 10 compositions
andplayedguitar on the disc.
blues legend Z.Z. Hill. He new LP for the psychedelWayne
Krantz’76 is alsofeaturedonguitar.
is currently a student at ic group The Electric NuKentucky University.
bians, and freelances on
intermediary between en- been her sideman for 10
Christopher
Klatman
’80 is drums in Philadelphia, PA.
gineers and product proto- years, and is living in
scoring music for televiSaxophonist JennyHill
type testers.
Northridge, CA.
sion. He recently wrote the ’83 plays with the Burning
Trombonist William
Pianist and composer main title and other music Brass, a three-woman horn
Gibson’77 is director of the Safy Boutella"79 released for the CBSseries "Bodies section. The group, which
Northlanders Jazz Band at
of Evidence."
includes fellow alumnus
AugustanaCollege in Sioux digo label. Safy’s composiJohnSchumacher
"80 is
NildaRichards
"83, just comFalls, SD. Bill is also a tions blend Algerian music co-founder and managing pleted a world tour that infreelance arranger and per- with jazz, rock, and Euro- director of Centastage Per- cluded concerts in Hong
former in his local area.
pean influences.
formance Group. Schuma- Kong, Japan, Guam, and
Composer Curt S0bel
"78 won an Emmyin August in the "Best Song of
i991" category for "Why
DO I Lie" from the HBO
film Cast a Deadly Spell.
NEW¯ USED ¯ BUY ¯ SELL ¯ TRADE
Curt has written music for
IN STOCK-SelmerMARK
VI and
such films such La Bamba,
Balanced
Actionin original lacquer.
The Flamingo Kid, and
BACH
RICO
BOBBYDUKOFF
CONN
OMEGA BERG LARSEN
Bright Lights, Big City.
KING
OTTOLINK OLIVIERI
Drummer/vocalist Don
BUFFET BARI
ARMSTRONG
YAMAHA BEECHLER VanDOREN
T0mlins0n
’78 lives in PittsMEYER LA VOZ
CLAUDELAKEY
burgh and has been perARTLEY BRILHARTIVI~RAPHONE
DeFORD
LOREE
GEMEINHARDT
forming with the oldies
FOX
BUESCHER CABART
band the Magic Moments
GETZEN EMERSONMITCHELL LUP~I
SELM£R HOLTON SCHREIBER
for the past three years.
Professionaland
HAYNE£ AL CAS$ KRUSPE
personal
service
by
CalvinTaylor"78is livLeBLANC JET-TONE ALEXANDER
EMILIO LYONS
BENGE SCHILKE YANAGISAWA
ing in Detroit and playing
alto saxophone with the
Servingprofessionalmusicians,students,musicschoolsanduniversities since 1939.
NewBreed Bebop Society
Orchestra.
Guitarist PeterHume
"78
continues to perform with
263
HUNTINGTON
AVE.,
BOSTON,
MA 02115
(NEXT TO SYMPUO~Y HALL) 617-266-4727
Melissa Manchester. He has
IMPROVE YOUR SAX HFE
24
Berkleet o d a y
Spring1993
Hawaii with Maxi Priest.
Singer/songwriter Don
Breithaupt"84 is leader of
the Canadian~ band Monkey House. Don co-produced the group’s debut albumfor Aquarius Records.
It is distributed in Canada
by Capitol Records.
Gustavo
Farias’84is president of Farias Productions
in Van Nuys, CA. He has
arranged and produced atbums for recording artists
Yuri, Juan Gabriel, and
MonaBell and jingles for
such companies as CocaCola, McDonald’s, and
Bank Of America.
JohnDonahoe
Jr, ’86 returned to Sioux Falls, SD
to perform at the tenthyear reunion of the Rocky
Mountain Oysters. The
group recorded 3 albums
in the ’80s. John lives in
Concord, MA, and owns
Rhymeand Reason, a music production company.
Saxophonist
Tommy
Smith "86 recorded a solo
album titled Standards for
Blue Note records. Also
featured on the disc are pianist NielsLanDoky"84 and
drummerlan Froman
"84.
Singer/songwriter John
Wackier’88has released his
first solo album, John
Wackler and the Lone Wolf
Band. The album of original country songs was produced by Steve Inman’86,
the left, HikaruTst,kamoto
’92, GarretSavluk"91, John
andfeaturesDaveLimina’86 From
Vanderpool
"83,
and
Henley
Douglas
o1[ the HeavyMetal
on keyboards, Larry JackHorns,
recently
toured
Europe
with
A&MI
artists Extreme,
son’86 on b~ss, KevinBarry
’86 onguitai~, SteveBankuti
’86 on drumsand BobSau- ’87 is touring southeast .Asia consultant for concerts by
with the Music of Andrew Louise Mandrell, Willie
er ’85 on backing vocals.
Lloyd Webber review.~ He Nelsgn, and other country
Vocalist/songwriter
Julie Gibbons"87 and her is also working on his mas- artists in Branson, MO.
REcording Engineer Anband Rescue Squad won ter’s degree in jazz at Mandrew Roshberg
’88 is workfirst place in a battle of the hattan School of Music.
ing
,for
Criteria
Recording
bands at the Shanty in BevDanPalen ’88 is vicepresident
of
Palen
Music
Studios
in
North
Miami,
erly, MA.Julie has also reFL. He was second engileased a solo cassette titled
Center, Missouri’s largest
musicretailer. Dan has also neer for the recording of
Indian Summer;
Pianist JonathanSmith been a MID1engineer and R.E.M.’s Automatic for the
EVERYTHING
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Spring1993
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Berklee
today 25
THEWINI~ERS
CIRCLE
Berklee alums have taken top honors in recent national and international
musiccompetitions.Four of the 15 finalists in the TheloniousMonkInternational Jazz DrumsCompetiton held at Lincoln Center in NewYork City were
alumni, d0rgeR0ssy"90 wonthe competition’ssecondplace prize of $10,000and
Tonydeffers0n"85 tied for the $5,000third place prize. Also competingin the
competitionwereHenrique
Almeida
’89 (fourth place) and HansSchuman
"90.
Pianist FrankCarlherg’90 and his trio wonthe $10,000first prize at the 1992
CognacHennesseyBest of Boston Jazz Search. Philippe Crettien "84 and his
group, the Bill Lowe-PhilippeCrettien Quintet, took the $2,500secondprize.
MikeMorris"83 took first place in the jazz category of the Fourth Annual
Billboard SongContest in Nashville. His song, "AnotherPlace, AnotherTime,"
wonhim $5,000 and a Technics keyboard.
TheTribulations, whichfeatures alumni,JoshNeuman
"91, IVlike Brodsky
’91,
StaceyJones
"92, Jason
Lytle’91, andLeeHamilton
"91, wonthe Yamaha
Soundchecknational contest in Los Angeles.This entitled themto represent the United
States at the Yamaha
’92 MusicQuest: international competitionin Japan, where
they wonone of five gold medals.Betweenboth contests, their winningstotalled
$30,000in cash, equipmentand prizes.
KeyboardistJennifer Smith"85 and her band the Sextons wonthe northeast
regional finals in the TanquerayRockscompetition in November.The Sextons
beat out the competitionat Boston’sParadise theater, winning$1,500and a Les
Paul Studio modelguitar.
People, the AllmanBrothSinger/songwriter Fawn the Jazz-4-Everlabel.
ers’ Seven Turns, An Drake"89 wrote, sang and
Drummer
Patrick
Evening with the Allman recorded"Oneday,"the ti- Skvoretz
"89is co-leaderof
Brothers and Gloria Este- tle song for the Oneday the Chicago-basedalternafan’s double platinum re- Corporation,a charity for tive rock group House of
lease, Cuts Both Ways.
children with AIDS. The Tomorrow.Their self-tiClaudioSavoldi"88 is songhas raised seven mil- tled debut CDhas beenrewriting and producingjin- lion dollars, and airs on a leased on the independent
gles andfilm scores at Cre- television commercialfea- TwoWorld label. Patrick
ativity, his ownrecording turing JoanRivers.
also plays with the band
studioin Italy.
DrummerStephenGlo- StrangeFruit.
JoeTaylor"88worksfor ve ’89 is nowperforming
MattTap’89 is currently
Coffey Music Companyas with the UnitedStates Ma- teaching musicin the Lexa music education service rine Corps Bandat Quan- ington, MA,public schools.
representative. Previously, rico, VA.
Vocalist Liz Zitzow’89
Joe was director of bands
Kevin
Kooko.gey
"89grad- recordedthe single "SunIs
at Bishop Feehan High uated from TempleUniver- a Star" with the bandBrainSchool in Attleboro, MA. sity School of Lawin May dance for Don Henley’s
RichLamb
’88 is work- and is workingas a music Rock for Wood CD. Proing as an assistant engineer attorney in Nashville, TN. ceeds will be used to prefor Skyline Studios in New Guitarist/composer
YorkCity.
Frank
Mobuls
"89is leaderof
Conductor/faculty
the avant-gardejazz group
memberChristopheChag- Der Rote Bereich in Nurnard"89is musicdirector of emberg, Germany. The
the NorthwestSinfonietta grouphas toured extensivein Tacoma, WA.He also ly in Europeover the past
serves as musicdirector of two years, performing at
the Greensboro Festival
majorjazz festivals suchas
Chamber Orchestra in Jazz East, Jazz West and
North Carolina and as As- the MoersJazz Festival. In
sistant Director of the the springof 1992their first
Brookline SymphonyOr- CD,featuring JimBlack"90
chestra in Massachusetts. on drums, was released on Christophe
Chagnard
"89
26 Berklee today
serve Walden Woods.
Braindance was nominated for Best NewBand in
the 1992 Phoenix/WFNX
musicpoll.
Guitarist/engineer
GavinLurssen
’90 will be
featured on Stereophile
magazine’sannual sampler
CD, and is working on a
solo guitar disc with producerClair Marlo’81. Gavin
worked on re-mastering
the Pink Floyd boxed set
and albums for Roger Waters, BarbaraStreisand, the
Yellowjackets,and others.
Guitarist/musicdirector
Fernando
Tarres’90 released
his second album with the
Arida Conta Group. On
the Edgesof Whitefeatures
Berklee alumni Danilo
Perez’88, OleMathisen’88,
JavierGirotto"90, Anders
Bostrum
"89, DiegoUrcola
’90, Jameshied
Sharifi’85,
FernandoMartinez "92,
Fernando
Huergo’92,
and11
other Berklee alumni.
Keyboardist Vincent
Asc01i "90 has openedhis
own production company,
Vinsounds Incorporated.
Heis also lead vocalist and
synthesist for NewJerseybased recording artists
DeadpanCircus.
Damon
Booth
’91 is living
in Chicago where he is a
Midwest membershiprepresentative for ASCAP.
He
also belongs to the Chicago chapter of NARAS.
Songwriter Tamara
Feinman’91 performed in
Spring1993
ARTIMITATESMUSIC
Whenpianist JohnNovello"73
turned his energies from being an
L.A. sideman to music education,
he hadn’t considered an undertaking like the one he just completed. Novello recently traveled
to Riga, Latvia, for 10 weeks to
work for TVand film writer/director Paul Haggis (of "thirtysomething," and "Facts of Life"
fame) to teach his cast of Hollywoodactors how to convincingly
appear on camera to be playing
instruments they don’t knowanything about. The film, Red Hot,
stars Donald Sutherland, Belthazar Getty, Carla Gugino, and
Armin Mueller-Stahl.
The story details the travails of
a group of young musicians in the
’50s trying to play rock and roll in
the Soviet Union, and their skirmishes with the KGBwhen one
of the musiciansfalls in love with
the KGBleader’s daughter.
Director
Paul Haggis explained, "Duringthe late ’50s, rock
and roll was labeled the devil’s
music in the U.S., but it was considered propaganda in the Soviet
Union. The consequences for being involved in it were serious."
For his part, Novello worked
with the actors in scenes featuring
rehearsals and club appearances.
"Basically, I had to learn the
score well enoughto show the ac-
tors howto movetheir hands in time,
in the right direction for the passages
being filmed," stated Novello. "With
the pianists, I would consider the
camera angles and then reduce the
finger motionsto the bare essentials.
He also worked with the drummer, guitarist,
and bassist, and
coached Mueller-Stahl for his violin
and harmonica playing spots. Red
Hot is scheduled to be released during the summer.
His film assignment aside, Novello has madeserious contributions to
music education through his critically acclaimed method book The Contemporary Keyboardist. The 551-page
book covers all bases, from Novello’s philosophy on music, to improvisation, voicings, equipment, and
advice on the music business. The
tome was voted Music Book of the
Year by the Pacific Coast Review in
1987. Under a new agreement, it will
be divided into two volumesand distributed by Columbia, along with
Novello’s three instructional videos.
Novello has worn a variety of hats
during his years in Los Angeles. He
composedthe score for the film
Pcdr, which was released in Europe.
His r6sum4lists performance credits
with such artists as RamseyLewis,
Hubert and Ronnie Laws, Richie
Cole, Donna Summer, Howard Roberts, and albumcredits with the Manhattan Transfer, Mark Isham, and
Chick Corea. His own fusion group
has been a mainstayat L.A. jazz clubs,
for years, and will release its second
album this year. The new material
movesaway from the synthesizer textures which have characterized his
previous work, and towards a more
acoustic concept.
"I think I’ve stumbledonto a niche
for myself with this acoustic sound,"
states Novello. "The audiences love
it and three major labels have expressed interest in signing us because
we stand out from all the R&B
groove-oriented instrumental groups
out there. In the year ahead, I am
finally going to work on my solo
JohnNovello"73 servedas musical career--which is what I cameout here
to do 14 years ago."
coachfor the film RedHot.
Spring1993
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insoleabla
condilioo.No
Manhattan at the women
in MusicSongwriterShowcase at the Bitter End,and
the National Academyof
Popular MusicShowcaseat
the Lone Star Roadhouse.
DanielGold’91 is working at the Twentieth Century Fox MusicLibrary as
an orchestrator/copyist/librarian. Daniel also arranged the song "Don’t
Fence Me In" which will
be featured in the upcoming film RisingSun.
ScottKinsey
"91is keyboardistwith Tribal Tech.
Scott is on the Illicit album and toured the U.S.
and Europewith the band.
Lawrence
Martus’91 is
guitarist and leader of Curious George & the High
Voltage Fence. The group
performs in the Denver,
CO,area.
Pianist/composer/arrangerYumiko
Murakami
’91
led her Yumikonian Orchestra in performancesin
Japan last September.Featured in the lineup were
Berklee alumni B0h lang
’74, DiegoUrcola"90, and
Gustavo
Gregorio
"91. They
performedin BuenosAires
in Decemberand January.
CynthiaSchulz’91 and
husband
RobertSchultz"91
teach in the Ysleta Independent School Systemin
E1Paso, TX. She is teaching elementary school music, he is banddirector.
WindplayerRobHall ’92
is teaching music in Cambridge, England. He also
leads the group Profusion.
DrummerBlake Windal
"92is pursuinga career as a
studio musicianin Los Angeles and workingfor Am-
THINK ABOUTTHE BARPROGRAM
Berklee AlumniRepresentatives(BAR)visit dozens of high s.chools, conferences,and college fairs
each year, talking about their Berkleeexperiences
and answering questions about the college from
talented youngmusicians.
If you are interested in sharing your time and
talent to help us reach the next generationof music
industry leaders, call us at (800) 421-0084,or mark
the BARinfo box in the form below. Wewill send
you more information on the BARprogram along
with an application. Join us.
nesty International.
Stephen
C[~inn"92 is
teaching at the Mamaroneck Avenue :School in
Mamaroneck, NY, and
performing in the New
York City Area.
TonyDiMito’92 arranged
17 selections, and programed synthesizers for
Winter Air, a new CDby
his groupAerial Logic.
Torstende Winkel"92
performed with the Pat
MethenyGroupon the Secret Stories tour of the U.S.
Torsten playedguitar, keyboards, and percussion for
51 concerts and an appearance on the Tonight Show.
ALUMNOTESINFORMATION
FORMI
Full Name
Address
State
City
ZIP
HomePhone #
Q This is a newaddress.
Last year you attended Berklee
Did you receive a
gl Degree
gl Diploma?
ProfessionalIdentity
Professional Address
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State
ZIP
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Yourtitle/role
Please list anyprofessionalactivities, performances,
recordings,notable musicprojects, awards,recognitions,or
other eventsyou wouldlike us to knowabout(please print or type):
Q
Q
Sendmemoreinformation on the Berklee AlumniRepresentative program.
Sendmemoreinformation on becominga Berklee Career Networkadvisor.
Please send this form, along with any pubIicity, clippings, photos, or items of interest to:
Berklee today, Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston Street, Boston, MA02215. Welook forward to hearing from you.
Spring1993
Berklee today 29
Shop
No t~s fro m
music industry
conferences,
conventions,
and confabs
30 Berklee to day
IAJEEuropean
Conference ics and workshops by outOctober 29-30, 1992
standing figures from the
Maastricht, Netherlands
jazz worId, and a music
technology center.
This first international
I was personally intermeeting of IAJE was held ested in the performances
in Maastricht, The Nether- and managed to hear a
lands, an international site number of outstanding
located in the southerngroups including the Free
most part of the country.
Dig Jazz Ensemble from
The conference was arEmmendingen, Germany,
ranged as a iazz education led by Werner Engtert; the
partnership in collaboraGerman Youth Jazz Ortion with Acket Associates, chestra, directed by Peter
producer of the North Sea Herbolzheimer; the OuJazz Festival and Jazz Mec- lunkyla Pop/Jazz Conserca, an attractively
pro- vatory Big Band from Helgrammedtwo-day jazz fessinki, Finland, Ied by and
tival at the same location featuring the music of notwhich followed directly on ed Finnish composer Jukthe heels of the IAJE European Conference.
The conference was ably
programmed by IAJE European Division Coordinator and noted European
bassist from Berlin, Sigi
Busch ’85, together with ka Linkola; and the Rotcontinuing input and ad- terdam Conservatory Jazz
Ensemble from Rotterdam,
vice from IAJE Executive
Director William McFarlin The Netherlands, directed
’81. There were two main by Ab Schaap. Also of insources of inspiration for terest was a valued opporconference planning. This tunity to hear the No Probincluded, first of all, input lem Orchestra
from
from the European IAJE Klagenfurt,
Austria, a
membership solicited
by group of young persons
Sigi Busch, and, secondly, with mental disabilities
the formatting concept
(primarily
Downs Synwhich has historically been drome) who have been
used at the IAJE Annual greatly aided through inConference in the United novative music perforStates. Thus, there was a mance and patented techquality array of perforniques developed by Josef
mances by high school and Schorkmayr.
conservatory groups, clinOverall, European Mu-
sic Educatorsattending this
inaugural IAJE European
Conference were more interested in the clinics than
the performances. Berklee
was represented by Associate Professor Bill Pierce,
a saxophonist, giving a presentation on "Techniques
for Improvisational
Instruction," and Associate
Professor Garrison Fewell,
a guitarist, presenting a
clinic
on "Compound
Lines--Single Line Melodic Counterpoint in Improvisation." Anexcellent presentation which I attended
was offered by Joep van
Leeuwen from Maastricht
Conservatory, whose jazz
ensemble he directs. His
presentation was entitled
"The Jazz History Class:
The Development of Critical Listening."
From what I could see,
the interest of those in attendance, as well as the artist clinicians, wasall in the
area of acoustic, instrumental jazz. I was awareof the
presence of only one jazz
singer and there was virtually no electronic musicinstrument or other music
technology integrated into
the performances.
IAJE President Dennis
Tini and European Coordinator Sigi Buschspoke eloquently at the opening
General Session regarding
the value and need of building international goodwill
and understanding through
Spring1993
these jazz conferences,and
the active desire of IAJEto
nurture the presentationof
these meaningfulevents in
various international locations consistent with the
increasing growth and international identity of the
organization. As the United States Representativeto
the Board of IAJE, I was
pleasedto be in attendance
at this historic first IAJE
European Conference. A
good beginning was made,
much was learned, and
there is every reason to
hope that the next such
IAJEevent will showsignificant growth in acceptance and popularity.
--Lee Eliot Berk
President
StanfordJazzWorkshop
August2-8, 1992
Stanford, CA
This year, Berklee’sUnderground Jazz String
Quartet, comprising violist Christina Seaborn’93,
cellist MarthaColby’91,
andviolinists PaulaZeitlin
’92 and TomokoIwamoto
’93, attended the Stanford
Jazz Workshopstring sessions at StanfordUniversity, StanfordCalifornia.
TheInternational
Society
for Music
Education
July 27-August1, 1992
Seoul, Korea
The 20th ISMEWorld Conference
wasone of the best musicalexperiences of mylife. I haveneverbeforeheard
so manydifferent kinds of music in
such a short span of time, or met so
manymusicians from so manydifferent countries
Hiroshi Suzuki and Etsuro Nita of
Japan, gave a demonstrationon using
electronic instruments for elementary
school students. These two were the
first to use synthesizersfor schoolmusic programs in 1972. They used an
ensemble
of six childrenin their effective andwell organizedpresentation.
Esa Helasvuo from Finland gave a
demonstrationon teaching improvisation over a simple chord progression.
Helasvuoplayed acoustic piano and a
volunteer played an electronic keyboard. Thebasic approachwas to show
the student how to communicate
through a musical question and answer technique. I felt the approach
would yield more music if there was
less emphasison scales. Anotherpre-
senter, Brian Brownfrom Australia,
presented an approach to improvisation through target notes whichmakes
the solos sound like morethan just a
bunchof notes.
One of Japan’s most famous composers, Koh-ichiHattori, presented a
session called. "36,000Daysof Japanese Music."lit wasa delightful experience to hear his workshopin English.
fie used audio and video tapes, plus a
live performanceby a Japanesesoprano and a pianist. Hecoveredabout 100
years of Japanesemusic and music edu.cationin the session. It moved
a little
too fast:, but wasvery wellorganized.I
found that someof his ideas will be
useful in helping meto explain Japanese musicto myclasses at Berklee.
There were numerous concerts by
musicians from manycountries. I was
able to attend 25 performances, and
heard groupsfromKorea, Italy, Japan,
Canada, Sweden, Finland, Belgium,
Hungary, South Africa, and a wome.n’s barbershopgroup from America.
I enjoyedthe conferencevery much,
and felt inspired and energized from
this gatlheringof musicians
fromall over
the world.
Makoto Takenaka
Assistant Professor, GeneralEducation
ers interested in learning peared to take Turtle Isjazz. The membersof the land by surprise. ThequarTurtle Island String Quar- tet memberspulled out all
tet, perhapsthe best known the stops, pouringout evjazz string quartet in Amer- erything they could in one
week on rhythmic techica, led the workshops.
The majority of the niques, solo developraent,
players attending were learning the jazz vocabuclassically trained musi- lary, workingas a group,
cians whowantedto learn problemsin arranging jazz
to improvise, but there for string quartet, amplifiS T A N F 0 R D
were several fiddlers and cation and MIDI,and even
a short courseonjazz string
very good jazz players
there as well. Themembers history, They were very
Somewhatto everyone’s of Turtle Island String professional, but also spoke
surprise, more than 60 Quartet are knownto be personally about manyisstring players from the great jazz improvisers,en- sues that professional[ muU.S., Canada, and Germa- sembleplayers, composers, siciansface.
There wasonly one othny, signed up for the SJW and arrangers, and here
er
previously organizedthey
showed
that
they
are
jazz string classes.
string quartet besides ours
It wasa historic event-- also great teachers.
Their sessions went be- in attendance. Babayaga,a
the first jazz string quartet
workshopto be held any- yond anything we had ex- Vancouver-basedquartet,
where,andthe largest gath- pected. The enthusiasm of displayed great chops and
ering to date of string play- the workshopattendees ap- ensemble, but minimalex-
JazzWor~~
Spring1993
perience improvising. All
of the other string players
were organized into quartets after auditioning.
Atthe concerton the last
night of the workshop,one
string quartet after another
played bebopor blues. Every person in the workshop
improvised a solo--something most of them had
never done before. It was
an amazingevening. After
the concert, manyplayers
got together and jammed
some more.
There is a movement
amongstring players, all
over the country towards
improvisational music. I
left Stanford feeling that
jazz is gaining adherents
amonga different group of
instrumentalists.
PaulaZeitlin ’92
Berklee today 31
CODA
Music or Wallpaper?
AI
Di
Meola
downthe Palisades Parkwayone day in the
Wri?eing
early ’80s, I turned on the NewYorkjazz station
hibiting records exhibiting too muchemotion. I’ve had
myrecord companypoint out a section of mymusic
WRVR,
and Dolly Patton was on. I started turning the whereI played a quick run, or wherethe drumsgot too
dial thinking I wasn’ttuned in properly. ’TheDJ cameon exciting, andtell methat those elementswill cause radio
and said with enthusiasm, "That was Dolly Parton, and programdirectors problemsin giving myalbumairplay.
next we’re gonnahave Tex Ritter!" I pulled ove~ and
Consultants nowtell stations what people want to
called the station. Theyput methroughto the boothand hear. Miles Davis did TVcommercialsfor CD10!. He
myfriend there said, "A1,I can’t talk now,Iql call youin left an incredible dlscography,andthe only selection you
a fewhours." Hecalled that night saying, "It wasawful, might hear is a CyndiLaupertune--perhaps the weakest
at 10:00 a.m. the management
told us the station was thing he ever did. That’s not creative programming.
changingits format from iazz to country, and whoever
Even though they are government-controlled, most
stayed on wouldget a raise."
foreign radio stations don’t havesuch rigid formats. They
That was the beginningof the end here in NewYork, mightplay JamesBrown,a classical piece, and then Keith
the deathof the progressivejazz station and the start of Jarrett. Kids there are more musically rounded, they
th~ transformationof jazz into an easy-listening genre. understandclassical musicand knowthe composers.They
Whereon the dial can you hear contemporarymusicians haven’t been brainwashedinto liking only rap or heavy
play their music, improvise,and say somethingnewwith metal. I grew up with varied radio formats you could
their instruments? Theoverridingfear of radio program- hear R&Bback-to-back with something from England.
mersis that exciting musicturns listeners off, andthat’s That’s nowa thing of the past on commercialstations.
What’shappenedwith pop-jazz.
Manyentities in the Americanmusic industry espeGRPRecordsis the modelfor the signature sound of cially radio andTV--don’tfeel they’re in the businessof
soft-jazz radio. ChickCoreastands out on that label. I education just business. They don’t realize howmuch
think Chick, on one hand, wants to play ball and on the moneythey could make;their marketing staffs underesother wants to be Chick Corea. Weused to have tong timate the audience. VH-1plays acts similar to those on
conversations about conforming to
MTV.Whynot somealternative vidradio and havingto cut the guts out
eos like one by the Kronos Quarof your music to do it. Could you
tet? Theythink people wouldn’tlike
imagine"Duelof the Jester and the
it, but they couldn’t be morewrong.
Tyrant" on CD 101, NewYork’s
Great playing has beensacrificed
soft- jazz station? Theywouldnever
for simple melodiesand "marketable"
play it. Oneof our heroes havingto
music has becometoo formulaic. We
alter his musicto get radio play isn’t
have a rich musical heritage, one
somethingI want to see.
which emphasizes not only melody,
In the early ’80s, soft-jazz artists
but harmony,rhythmicvariation, and
were adopted for WAVE
formats
dynamicshadings as well.
across the states. I wastold by a rep
Are we afraid to allow ourselves
from~ station in SanFranciscothat if
to feel depth in music?Instrumental
the music gets too passionate they
musicis beingtreated like wallpaper,
can’t play it. Thereis absolute, docua backdrop.Our deepest musicclasmentedpolicy in those formats prosical and serious jazz is also being
pushedto the background.
Guitarist AI Di Meola’74 records AI Di Meola:RadioandTVdon’tfeel
Consultantsaren’t serving listenfor the Mesa~BlueMoonlabel. This they’rein the business
of educatingers or artists. I want to hear somearticle wasadaptedfromone appear- their audiences
to the widerangeof thing exciting on the radio and that
ing in Musicianrna.gazine,July 1992. creative
music
thatis onthemarl(et, hasn’t happenedin a long time. N
32 Berklee today
Spring
1993