Berklee today

JUN 2017

Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.

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Summer 2017 5 Williams's "Soulful Bill" exhibited each player's rhythmically agile phrasing over the tune's easy jazz waltz feel. Before playing Chick Corea's "Brasilia," Burton told the crowd that the song had nothing to do with Brazilian music. The piquant dissonances of the melody, sometimes harmonized in seconds, bore this out. Burton shared a souvenir from the period in his career when he worked with Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla, a rare Burton orig- inal, "Remembering Tano" (Piazzolla's nickname) in the tango master's honor. As a change of pace, they pre- sented "Opus Half," a tune penned by Ozone's father, also a jazz pianist. Burton and Ozone took it uptempo with lines flying at breakneck speed. Burton's solo leaned into the blues and Ozone's touched on stride piano style at times. The duo also show- cased its classical side by playing ar- rangements of the Prélude from Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin and a sonata by Domenico Scarlatti. After completing the tour, Ozone expressed via e-mail that he will miss performing with Burton: the vibes master intends now to turn his attention to nonmusical activities. Burton, a seven-time Grammy winner, stated, "I feel like I have ac- complished much or perhaps most of the things I set my sights on. A few years ago, I noticed the start of a decline in my playing abilities for reasons of age and health. I feel it's right to move on to a new phase of my life. I will explore possibilities— perhaps take some college courses, maybe write another book. I see the future as a great new adventure just waiting for me." As the Chief exits the spotlight, Boston says a heart- felt thanks for the music, and best wishes on your new journey. On March 5, Gary Burton fans in Boston got a last chance to hear "The Chief" as he is nicknamed, perform in the Berklee Performance Center (BPC) with Japanese jazz and classi- cal piano phenom Makoto Ozone '83. during their Boston stop on Burton's farewell tour. Throughout his long and fruitful career, Burton has been an innovator in jazz in several areas. His use of four mallets in the genre represented a leap forward in vibes technique. He was also among the first musicians to blend rock and jazz and appeared on the bill in the 1960s with Cream at the Fillmore West. He has also been a trendsetter with his deep exploration of the piano-vibes instrumental combination. Burton's performances and recordings with Chick Corea and Ozone over several decades set the bar extraordinarily high for those who have followed in this chamber jazz duet template. At the Boston concert on March 5, Burton reminisced, sharing with the audience that as a Berklee stu- dent he went to movies in the BPC with his friends. When the hall opened as a music venue in 1976, he played in the first concert. Another first was hearing Makoto Ozone play at the BPC as a Berklee student more than three decades ago. During their last Boston appear- ance, Burton and Ozone masterfully showcased the near telepathic mu- sical rapport they have developed after years of concertizing and re- cording. Within the parameters of the piano-vibes sonority, they deftly varied the mix of shadows and light in the music. Each player offered a solo intro or unaccompanied impro- visations, and at times Ozone soloed with only his right hand or in two- handed octaves, allowing Burton full freedom in his accompaniment. A striking feature of much of the music from Burton's repertoire is its harmonic richness. His penchant for lush harmonies—sometimes changing rapidly and other times brooding mod- ally—has always showcased his gift for spontaneous melodic lines that fully mine the depths of the underlying structure of every tune. The program featured some chestnuts like Chick Corea's "Bud Powell," on which they were to- tally locked in as they harmonized on the head. Their rendition of James Farewell to the Chief Keyboardist Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater gave a masterclass during the Voltage Connect Conference. A musical to tribute to David Mash featured a performance of pieces he composed for his fusion group Ictus. next segment was titled: "Ictus: the Music of David Mash," which featured four original pieces composed by Mash. It was a reexamination of his work with his jazz-fusion outfit Ictus in the late seventies and early eighties. The band brought Bruce Nifong, Robert Schlink, and Dave Weigert who were members of the band during the 1980s, together with faculty instrumentalists Jeff Baust, Richard Boulanger, Michael Brigida, David Doms, Chris Noyes, and student Tom Bar. For the finale, Jordan Rudess, key- boardist for the platinum-selling prog- rock band Dream Theater, rocked the house. Rudess played the GeoShred iPad and Korg Kronos synthesizers with laptop accompaniment. He was joined by Eren Basbug '15 for a duet on Roli Seaboard Rise 49 keyboards. The conference was an unusual hy- brid of an academic conference and in- dustry trade shows focusing on new electronic instruments. "It's rare to have those come together to shine a light on the really interesting things happening in the field," Bierylo says. "This first event will be a springboard to future events that we hope will be a part of the legacy of David Mash. With his re- tirement in May, we hope that holding the conference as an ongoing event in- spired by his work will be meaningful. Dave knows a lot of people in the in- dustry, and many wanted to come and celebrate his retirement. I think we de- livered a really good conference for all of the attendees." On March 10 and 11, Berklee's Electronic Production and Design Department (EPD), hosted the inaugural Voltage Connect Conference. The event was in- spired by David Mash, Berklee's senior vice president for Innovation, Strategy, and Technology. Mash, who retired in May, founded the music synthesis program in the 1980s and guided the college's efforts in academic technol- ogy during his fruitful 40-year tenure at Berklee. [See the David Mash career ret- rospective on page 24.] With a theme that focused on "pioneers, players, thinkers, and purveyors" of electronic instruments, the conference brought together top researchers, performers, and representatives from established and emerging companies for a series of lectures, panel discussions, master classes, product demos, and a concert in the Berklee Performance Center. "All three keynote speakers were great," says EPD chair Michael Bierylo, who helped to organize the confab. "Each brought a different perspec- tive and set the stage for the con- ference." Keynote speakers included David Friend, cofounder of the ARP Instruments company and Berklee trustee emeritus; Marcus Ryle, presi- dent of Line 6; and Daniel Haver, CEO of Native Instruments. Berklee alumni David Rosenthal '81 (music director for Billy Joel), Dan Lehrich '04 (of the VR startup Magic Leap), and Jack Hoptop '73 (Korg USA), and several Berklee faculty members were among the conference's many presenters. The musical highlight was the con- cert on the evening of March 10. The concept for the show was to "look at various aspects of the synthesizer," ac- cording to Bierylo. Electronic music pi- oneer and composer Suzanne Ciani opened with a solo improvisation using the Buchla Modular synthesizer. The Electronic Music Stars Plug in for Voltage Connect Conference Mike Spencer Reed Silverstein Makoto Ozone and Gary Burton By Mark Small

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