{"id":16831,"date":"2023-10-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=16831"},"modified":"2023-09-18T14:39:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T13:39:35","slug":"jazz-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2023\/10\/05\/jazz-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving\/","title":{"rendered":"JAZZ: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JAZZ: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Norman Warwick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of songs, from various genres, that urge us to Consider The Source. In whatever format it is offered, by sages such as Jools Holland, Ramsey Lewis or Steve Wynn, I always consider the phrase to be wise advice worth following. Never do I adhere more closely to those words than when selecting new music. I trust my own judgement, of course, but from the teenage days when I would read Tobler or Charles Shar Murray and pop down to the record shop to purchase their recommendations, I have always made note of writers I can trust to advise me on the music I should love. Al Moir, Bob Harris, Pete O\u00b4Brien, Dave Espin, Ian Johnson and John Graeme Livingstone, Graham Marshall, Dr. Joe Dawson, Steve Bewick and Michael Higgins will always have my undying gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have said before on these pages that there can be few genres of music better served by the media than is jazz. An array of wonderful magazines we regularly allude to here, such as Jazz In Europe, Jazz Times, Jazzed and Jazziz and listing services such as Jazz In Reading and newsletters from the likes of Ribble Jazz And Blues Festival, and between them they (often share) a host of excellently informed and informative writers. There is the radio media, too, that supports jazz, such as Steve Bewick\u00b4s Hot Biscuits radio programme at www.fc-radio.co.uk<\/a> and the clearly-loving-his-job Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2. I have also recently come to read and to trust Dan Bilawsky, who I now know has been involved in jazz journalism for fifteen years. His work has appeared in JazzTimes<\/em>, JAZZed<\/em>, and All About Jazz, among other outlets. In addition, he\u2019s penned liner notes for artists on Red, Capri, HighNote\/Savant, Ropeadope, and other respected imprints. A band director with two decades of teaching experience, Bilawsky holds degrees in music from Indiana University, the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and Five Towns College. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I tend to flow with what feels right in the moment\u00b4, Jorge Roeder told Dan Bilawsky at Jazz Times earlier this year, in a comment that many other bass players might like to have carved into their headstones. In Roeder\u00b4s case, though it undoubtedly reflects on some pivotal moves in his life, it perhaps also reflects his acknowledgment of his own overarching philosophy for his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4With an unerring ear, quick reflexes, an exacting sense of rhythm, and a virtuosic streak veiled by its conversational nature\u00b4, Bilawsky suggests, \u00b4Roeder is nothing if not purely present. Leveraging that high level of focus, he\u2019s become one of the premier bassists on the scene while bolstering bands led by guitarist Julian Lage, pianist Shai Maestro, trombonist Ryan Keberle, saxophonist John Zorn, and numerous others. Each person who calls on Roeder is, no doubt, attracted to something slightly different in his musical makeup, but the broad appeal, as boiled down by Lage, surrounds one simple notion: \u00b4People play the best they play when they\u2019re with Jorge. Roeder.\u00b4(left)<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Roeder\u2019s skill set was obviously complete enough, in a rounded fashion, to propel him to musical prominence. However, when he was growing up in Lima, Peru, (right)<\/em><\/strong> that wasn\u2019t even a thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I didn\u2019t have a really musical family or any particular inclination to pursue music\u00b4,<\/em> he confesses. \u00b4But both of my parents played a little guitar\u2014they could strum a few chords\u2014so they decided to get guitar lessons for me and my two older sisters.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His siblings kept up with it for about two weeks, but as the youngest of the brood at eight years old, Roeder persisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I didn\u2019t want to disappoint anybody\u00b4,<\/em> he told his interviewer. \u00b4Also, being so young, I didn\u2019t realize I could quit!\u00b4<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After switching guitar teachers, he began to get the idea that he might have a gift:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4My teacher came over to talk to my parents about perfect pitch. He explained that I had it and that I should seriously consider a career in music\u00b4.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still a way off from working life, Roeder wasn\u2019t fully convinced, and the concept of improvisation frightened him. Yet a seed was planted that day, and it steadily grew in the years that followed. When his high school instituted a substantial music program, Roeder took up the cello and excelled. Then, as a senior, he made the move to the instrument he\u2019d really been eyeing\u2014the double bass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While boning up on his classical studies, this budding musician started branching out in other directions. Having taken up electric bass at 14, Roeder soon became a fixture in local rock and metal circles. And he experienced a series of epiphanies on the brink of adulthood\u2014encountering Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker\u2019s music on a bootleg cassette, coming under the wing of trumpeter\/educator Gabriel Alegr\u00eda, experiencing the profundity of Charles Mingus (left)<\/em><\/strong> via a television commercial\u2014that cemented his intentions to pursue jazz. As fate would have it, while Roeder was attending the 2002 IAJE Conference to perform with one of Alegr\u00eda\u2019s ensembles, Ken Schaphorst, chair of jazz studies at the New England Conservatory, heard him play and invited him to audition for the school. After seeing that offer through to success, he prepared for the next stage in his development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Moving to Boston in the fall of \u201902, Roeder began to seriously hone his craft while forging strong musical partnerships with the likes of vocalist Sofia Rei, pianist Dan Tepfer, saxophonist Dan Blake, and drummer Richie Barshay, among others. When it came time to make the move to New York in 2007, he was poised and ready. Roeder quickly found his footing in Brooklyn, but he\u2019d already found two of his most significant future collaborators thousands of miles away. During a quick stop at the Stanford Jazz Workshop in 2005, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roeder first met and jammed with Lage. And while back in Peru for a visit the following year, he was introduced to Shai Maestro.(right) <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of those men would eventually bring Roeder into their respective circles, forming relationships that endure to this day. In February of 2020\u2014a month after exploring his roots, influences, and experiences as an immigrant by recording his own stunning solo bass debut, El Suelo M\u00edo<\/a>\u2014Roeder flew to the South of France to work on Human<\/em>, Maestro\u2019s sophomore release for the ECM imprint. And after two cancellations\u2014one due to a pinched nerve in the bassist\u2019s cervical vertebrae, the other brought on by the COVID-19 lockdown\u2014he made a pilgrimage to Nashville to take part in the sessions for Lage\u2019s first effort for Blue Note. Both records have the potential to significantly raise Roeder\u2019s profile in the jazz community. But as Lage points out, his standing is already remarkably high in the eyes of his admirers and colleagues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4What\u2019s notable for anyone who sees Jorge Roeder of or hears him is that he does everything with such love and care and warmth \u2026 and risk! Jorge is a catalyst for great music-making and has a definitive voice as a musician. He\u2019s a star\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prime source for this article was a piece written by Dan Bilawsky for Jazz Times<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our occasional re-postings Sidetracks And Detours are confident that we are not only sharing with our readers excellent articles written by experts but are also pointing to informed and informative sites readers will re-visit time and again. Of course, we feel sure our readers will also return to our daily not-for-profit knowing that we seek to provide core original material whilst sometimes spotlighting the best pieces from elsewhere, as we engage with genres and practitioners along all the sidetracks & detours we take.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s notable for anyone who sees Jorge Roeder of or hears him is that he does everything with such love and care and warmth \u2026 and risk! Jorge is a catalyst for great music-making and has a definitive voice as a musician. He\u2019s a star\u00b4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16838,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16831\/revisions\/16838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}