Joe DiMonte

Jones, Tomaro tackle a daunting project
Buzz up!By Bob Karlovits, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 4, 2009

Sean Jones and Mike Tomaro are taking on a tough challenge.

On Thursday, their Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra has its official premiere at the August Wilson Center, Downtown.

If it succeeds, it will be a tribute to the talent and drive of these two busy and hard-working jazz musicians and educators. But it isn't going to be easy.

Saxophonist Tomaro is director of jazz studies at Duquesne University, where Jones teaches trumpet. Together, they have put together a big band they hope will be more an orchestra to explore the large-ensemble possibilities in jazz.

They want it to be a band version of a symphony, with a steady cast of players who work hard at what they are doing, who study their parts and what they mean, who may even do arrangements.

There are many big bands in the area that look at big-band hits and have audiences that settle in with fond memories of the days when Stan Kenton and Woody Herman were as popular as the Black Eyed Peas.

But Jones and Tomaro want something more.
>>>>>>>>They look at the work of the Maria Schneider Orchestra and see the magnificent tonal package she presents. They look at the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, in which Jones plays, and see a band that is serious about ways to swing.<<<<<<<<<

They want that for Pittsburgh, and think they have the cast to get it. They probably do with players such as themselves, trombonist Keith Jackson, keyboardist Alton Merrel, bassist Paul Thompson and saxophonists Curtis Johnson and Jacob Yoffee.

But it isn't easy keeping a big band together. Ask saxophonist-arranger Bob Mintzer, who seldom gets on the road with his New York City-based band. Now that he is heading up jazz studies at the University of Southern California, that may happen even less.

It is difficult keeping musicians together for a big band when many jazz players keep paying the bills by performing in a number of groups. Having that steady, dependable lineup can make a band special.

The sound of the Duke Ellington orchestra was directly related to its membership, including players such as saxophonists Johnny Hodges or Harry Carney and trumpeters Cat Anderson and Ray Nance. Arrangers would put together charts with their talents in mind.

Tomaro says this is the first time he has been able to write parts for specific individuals, and he relishes that possibility.

But will the band be able to keep its members? All the time? Tomaro, an amazingly gifted arranger, can create an individual sound for this band by writing for individuals, but if those individuals have to take other gigs, that possibility disappears.

Jones says he hopes the support of the August Wilson Center and the Multicultural Arts Initiative will get the band rolling.

But the group is going to need the support of listeners, too. When it got its unofficial premiere in Highland Park in late August, the band drew a large crowd. But that was a free concert. "Free jazz" is wildly popular here as long as it has nothing to do with Eric Dolphy.

>>>>>>Jones and Tomaro would like to produce a band that creates music the way the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra did: original music with a full rich sound. If the audience supports that, the band could be a striking success.<<<<<<<<<<

But this in not a great time in the arts. The Philadelphia Orchestra has a projected $7.5 million deficit for the current year. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in March eliminated some staff positions to deal with a shrinking endowment. Even a lean organization such as the River City Brass Band is dealing with flat ticket sales, which makes finding a replacement for the executive and musical director posts all the more testing.

Tomaro and Jones deserve some credit for challenging the odds.

__________________
"Clark Terry - C.T.,as his friends call him,is not only a master of the trumpet and flugelhorn,but a master musician and a leader to the manor born." - Dan Morgenstern.

jazzcadenza

.... undoubtedly they are brave and devoted musicians who obviously truly care about the scene in Pittsburgh, a Jazz Birthplace.....

BADBOY-DON

Joe..
Picked up a couple of CDs of Joneszzzzzzzzz's at the library the other day...
GADS....WHAT A TRUMPET VOICE AND A GREAT SET OF CHOPPERS' :)
Makes me wanna go out in the back green belt and bury all my old brass axes...:)

wiseone2

Welcome back, Don!

When I hear a great player I feel inspired to practice. You can ALWAYS do better. Never, never give up!
Wilmer

__________________
Be sure Brain is engaged before putting Mouthpiece in gear.
S.Suark 1951

BADBOY-DON

Thanks Wilmer for the encouraging words...
Guess I was just razzzin and jazzzzin' about diggin a hole...in the backyard!

However....my chops and trumpet health have really taken a nose dive lately since my continuing fight against my CRONIE-CRONIC' inner ear infection that just never seems to go away and can only practice or play for short periods of time each day.

Joe DiMonte

Don't do it brother Don,don't do it !
Besides,it would take days to dig a hole large enough to bury all that brass you have on your property.

Keep on tootin' and continue to enrich the masses.

KJ in the 'Burgh

__________________
"Clark Terry - C.T.,as his friends call him,is not only a master of the trumpet and flugelhorn,but a master musician and a leader to the manor born." - Dan Morgenstern.

BADBOY-DON

Since my house is built on sand...(kinda scares me what the scriptures say about the foolishness of folks BUILDING HOUSES ON SAND) so at least if I buried my brass axes (all 4 of them)...it would be EZ to DIG UM' UP again? :)

In fact...just last week I had to DIG UP my old Selmer and play taps at another memorial for anothe old Boeing retired toot who was a retired Army officer who loved toy airplanes.

That KJ and Wilmer for the encouragement that now my trumpet chops are sadly in THE WINTER OF THEIR LIFE.