To many of the people I come in contact with I'm one of two things, a jazz musician/teacher or Clarence Clemons' nephew. I've always taken issue with both identifcations but now I'm starting to embrace them. Let me suss this out a little bit more for you.
When I got to Wheaton College in the fall of 2006 no one would have mistaken me for a jazz musician. I played clarinet and, as I've always said, by default sax as well. I joined the jazz band at Wheaton because I had done it in high school and they needed a bari sax player. I never actually expected to be in the jazz ensemble. I had never really even listened to jazz prior to college. None the less I joined the jazz band and stuck with it, enough so to the point that more people identified me with the saxophone instead of the clarinet. This was extremely frustrating to me because I never practiced the sax. I didn't really care about it and was only doing it because I couldn't play the clarinet in the jazz band.
However, as with everything in life, things change. In my sophomore year Nicole Mitchell became the director of the jazz ensemble. She brought a fairly hefty resume with her so we were all fairly anxious to see what would happen. Unfortunately the ensemble wavered. Rehearsals were long and not very engaging and there was little support outside the ensemble. Fast forward to my senior year, I remember sitting on my couch one day listening to the radio and a tune came on to the radio. It was catchy, driving and demanding to listen to. It sucked me in and I had to know what it was. It turns it out the tune was Moanin' by Charles Mingus, performed by the Mingus Big Band. I went in the next rehearsal and asked Nicole if we could play the piece and she had already planned to hand it out that day. I was elated.
Fast forward again to the spring of 2010. My roommate Zach had moved to Texas leaving an empty basement to be utilized somehow and I had the idea to setup a band in the basement. This would be the beginnings of "Big Poppa Gabe and the Star Patrollers". The ensemble featured Kenzie McKillop on trumpet, Ben Fisher on keys, Dan Krall on drums, myself on clarinet/sax and various other musicians made appearances as well. Don't be deceived, we weren't very good. There wasn't really any jazz education at Wheaton at all outside of the band and jazz piano/vocal lessons, but we had a lot of fun and it was pivotal for my development in jazz. We'd get together and jam for hours. It was a time I think we all look back on fondly.
When I came to Japan I was told that I would be co-directing the jazz band with a Berklee grad. If you know anything about Berklee you know it is one of THE schools to go for jazz. So I was anxious to learn from him and be able to work with him. Long story short is that, although he is an excellent musician and knows loads about jazz/jazz theory, he's an electronic musician and that's were his passion is. Anyway, continuing with my story I've ended up caring the majority of the weight in when it comes to ensemble prep and planning. This has provided some great experience and forced me to become a much better jazz musician and director. I need to know what I want from the ensemble and how to explain how to get it.
This year, it's gone a step further. Since it's the only ensemble I'm directing this year, I introduce myself as the jazz band director or the jazz teacher. Also playing at Reno's quasi-regularly and wearing my fedora and "Jazz." period t-shirt have helped solidify my status on campus at CAJ.
Continuing on with the point of the post, many people know me as Clarence Clemons' nephew. With the death of my uncle more people have been made aware of who he is and my relation to him. It's not something I advertise on a regular basis because I want to be my own person. I've got a name and an identity and it's not as Clarence Clemons' nephew, or at least it hasn't been. However the more I start to play my sax and meet people in various circles the more I find myself embracing the position. As I'm introduced to more established musicians in Tokyo I've noticed that being his nephew gives me some level of instant credibility, which is weird, but helps. If performing music is something I ever really want to do I'm going to need every break I get. It really makes a difference.
I'm still adjusting to the perception that people have of me and of jazz and doing my best to educate and encourage. For now though things are going well. Tonight we had our "Jazz is Golden" spring concert which is a concert that I added. The ensemble normally only plays a couple of tunes for the "Parade of Bands" concert, but I new they were capable of more and so I pushed for this concert. And I must say, this concert was maybe the most fun concert I've been apart of, I mean, one of my students moonwalked during one of his solos! Just awesome. (I'll post videos as they are available)
To end, I'm a musician. I enjoy play many different kinds of music, esepecially jazz. If i'm ever in your town and have a horn I'd be more than happy to jam with you, just say the word.
Until next time,
Peace out!
When I got to Wheaton College in the fall of 2006 no one would have mistaken me for a jazz musician. I played clarinet and, as I've always said, by default sax as well. I joined the jazz band at Wheaton because I had done it in high school and they needed a bari sax player. I never actually expected to be in the jazz ensemble. I had never really even listened to jazz prior to college. None the less I joined the jazz band and stuck with it, enough so to the point that more people identified me with the saxophone instead of the clarinet. This was extremely frustrating to me because I never practiced the sax. I didn't really care about it and was only doing it because I couldn't play the clarinet in the jazz band.
However, as with everything in life, things change. In my sophomore year Nicole Mitchell became the director of the jazz ensemble. She brought a fairly hefty resume with her so we were all fairly anxious to see what would happen. Unfortunately the ensemble wavered. Rehearsals were long and not very engaging and there was little support outside the ensemble. Fast forward to my senior year, I remember sitting on my couch one day listening to the radio and a tune came on to the radio. It was catchy, driving and demanding to listen to. It sucked me in and I had to know what it was. It turns it out the tune was Moanin' by Charles Mingus, performed by the Mingus Big Band. I went in the next rehearsal and asked Nicole if we could play the piece and she had already planned to hand it out that day. I was elated.
Fast forward again to the spring of 2010. My roommate Zach had moved to Texas leaving an empty basement to be utilized somehow and I had the idea to setup a band in the basement. This would be the beginnings of "Big Poppa Gabe and the Star Patrollers". The ensemble featured Kenzie McKillop on trumpet, Ben Fisher on keys, Dan Krall on drums, myself on clarinet/sax and various other musicians made appearances as well. Don't be deceived, we weren't very good. There wasn't really any jazz education at Wheaton at all outside of the band and jazz piano/vocal lessons, but we had a lot of fun and it was pivotal for my development in jazz. We'd get together and jam for hours. It was a time I think we all look back on fondly.
When I came to Japan I was told that I would be co-directing the jazz band with a Berklee grad. If you know anything about Berklee you know it is one of THE schools to go for jazz. So I was anxious to learn from him and be able to work with him. Long story short is that, although he is an excellent musician and knows loads about jazz/jazz theory, he's an electronic musician and that's were his passion is. Anyway, continuing with my story I've ended up caring the majority of the weight in when it comes to ensemble prep and planning. This has provided some great experience and forced me to become a much better jazz musician and director. I need to know what I want from the ensemble and how to explain how to get it.
This year, it's gone a step further. Since it's the only ensemble I'm directing this year, I introduce myself as the jazz band director or the jazz teacher. Also playing at Reno's quasi-regularly and wearing my fedora and "Jazz." period t-shirt have helped solidify my status on campus at CAJ.
Continuing on with the point of the post, many people know me as Clarence Clemons' nephew. With the death of my uncle more people have been made aware of who he is and my relation to him. It's not something I advertise on a regular basis because I want to be my own person. I've got a name and an identity and it's not as Clarence Clemons' nephew, or at least it hasn't been. However the more I start to play my sax and meet people in various circles the more I find myself embracing the position. As I'm introduced to more established musicians in Tokyo I've noticed that being his nephew gives me some level of instant credibility, which is weird, but helps. If performing music is something I ever really want to do I'm going to need every break I get. It really makes a difference.
I'm still adjusting to the perception that people have of me and of jazz and doing my best to educate and encourage. For now though things are going well. Tonight we had our "Jazz is Golden" spring concert which is a concert that I added. The ensemble normally only plays a couple of tunes for the "Parade of Bands" concert, but I new they were capable of more and so I pushed for this concert. And I must say, this concert was maybe the most fun concert I've been apart of, I mean, one of my students moonwalked during one of his solos! Just awesome. (I'll post videos as they are available)
To end, I'm a musician. I enjoy play many different kinds of music, esepecially jazz. If i'm ever in your town and have a horn I'd be more than happy to jam with you, just say the word.
Until next time,
Peace out!
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