Bob Seymour With; Ted Rosenthal

Oh. Carl Hiaasen adventures in good music comes your way every weeknight at 9 here on WUSA fifty nine point seven Tampa St. Petersburg and Sarasota. And I think it was me who failed to hit the right button there for a moment. Thanks for bearing with us. And welcome to the second in our nighttime broadcasts of music from our performance studio. I'm Bob Seymour Ted Rosenthal is here with us on an evening between a couple of engagements in the Bay Area down from New York. And if you're used to hearing Carl Haas's theme over all these years well stay right where you are Ted begins our hour long chat and a performance in the studio and some of his recorded music too coming up that we've never had a chance to hear before with the I think will say hello to Ted welcome and. And you actually on your one of your newest releases the three B's include the same Beethoven piece that's Carl's theme song. That's right. Can we hear that and then Chad a little about what you're up to. OK. This is the slow movement from the path of teak

that we just heard Carl go out with. I am.

I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I

am. It was beautiful. Thank you.

Ted Rosenthal at the piano in our performance studio here on w us F. eighty nine point seven Your NPR station Tampa St. Petersburg and Sarasota Seymour and we're just at the beginning of an hour with Ted who was between a couple of engagements playing at the Palladium theater in St. Petersburg. Tomorrow we'll tell you all the particulars about that. You include that as well as the third movement as on your three B's CD one of the most recent ones the music of Bud Powell Bill Evans and Beethoven and that of course the Carl Haas theme song. I like your choice of the three B's. Yes well a few years ago. An acquaintance we had some mutual friends who owns a studio wanted to collaborate on a project of solo piano and thought that I should have some kind of thematic approach to the CD he felt that would help. The concept of the whole project and I thought for a minute and having played and

always appreciated classical music somehow with the three Bs concept crept in there and having a bit of a sly sense of humor I thought Well why shouldn't the B's maybe not just be Bach Beethoven and Brahms with maybe Dylan but Howe and Bud and maybe one of the B's. So I had played some Bach before in an improv as a Tory way and that's been done a lot better than I investigated Brahms and frankly Brahms is a tough one to do that with and decided that Beethoven seemed to fit the bill to fit the bill no pun intended. All right. But how extensive was your classical training as a youngster. Actually as a youngster not that extensive What ended up happening was that to go to music school there were very few options. Back then in the dark ages to study jazz study jazz virtually anywhere and I teach in a number of really good programs currently

at school music and at the New School but at the time it was pretty limited so as I was going through my high school years my teachers and other influences my parents etc. thought I ought to really get my classical training up to snuff and be able to enter music school as a piano major which I ended up doing and I went to one year at Indiana University but then I did the rest and had school music both bachelor's and master's degrees and so I had studied a lot of classical piano in my college years actually but growing up I love jazz. I was exposed to it at age 12 by a guy named Tony alas who was a great jazz pianist and did a lot of work in the studios and he was my teacher for a couple of years. And it was kind of doing both for a while but jazz was really closest to my heart. You grew up in the New York area.

Yeah I grew up in Great Neck Long Island. Then went to med school music and spent the next 20 years in the city. So you were teaching at your alma mater now part time. Yes. Yeah. And you've recently relocated outside the city is that a new thing for you. Oh yes I recently got married. Oh congratulations Thank you. Six months ago almost to the day March 16th and my wife and I just bought a house up in Scarsdale. She has two young boys and they're in school up there and we are enjoying both the Suburban and city life because I still have my city pad. I still work out of there and teach and practice and do my thing there and do the best of both. Exactly. Yesterday was your solo concert at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. Did that go well. Went very well yes and had a nice turnout. And I played a fair amount of music from this place Cape recording released called the three Bs As we just discussed and did some things from my older may back

solo piano release and the original compositions and mixed it up pretty well as I usually end up doing right. You cover a lot of territory I want to talk about how you arrange your deranged standards as we go along we'll hear some things from new releases that are new to us that you've recently put out on. American and European labels with the trio and the quintet. But let's hear some more solo. First I should tell people that are tomorrow's concert is a trio date it's at the Palladium theater with you were in town a few years ago and I know you work then with. I think both of the same guys was Billy Bill Terry on bass and the drummer. I'm glad you said it first. The Italian rhythms like yes Manfrotto first old rhythm section for years and Kenny Drews rhythm section last week when he did a performance here in town and they both worked with Kenny a lot as well as years with Manfrotto fest the Brazilian he's great and he's a friend of mine and I admired his playing greatly.

Just a magnificent pianist and also has a lot of classical influences as we as we discussed. Yeah actually it's a little bit of a deja vu I came three years ago there's a woman at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts Caleb Bach and also a gentleman Richard Eliason who have set up these concerts for me as part of their concert series there and I did it three years ago. And another friend down here named Maggie Geddes who I think you know her and she last time heard I was coming and set up a second event through the Al Downing organization and this time she heard I was coming again through the grapevine and e-mailed me and said could I do another engagement while I was down here and she set up this one for Tuesday night at the Palladium actually tomorrow afternoon through Maggie at the Princess Martha hotel of solo. That's right I'm going to play for the people that live in that retirement home a little solo concert and hopefully well known standards.

And then in the evening at the Palladium a beautiful theater in downtown St. Petersburg I'm looking forward to introducing the trio tomorrow night. Looking forward to being there and looking forward to hearing something more from you solo piano now what do you feel like playing. Well I thought I might continue along the three Bs concept and play some Bud Powell. Sure. This is Celia. I am. I am.

I am I am. I am. I am I am I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am I am.

I am. I am. I am. I am. I am.

All right Bud Powell's tune Celia Ted Rosenthal live in our studio tonight here

WSF eighty nine point seven. That was nice. Thank you. But another of the three B's on the solo release that celebrates the Bill Evans and Beethoven our guest tonight. The winter 15 years ago monk Piano Competition. That's staggering when you say it's true. Yeah. It was only the second year they had the Felonious Monk competition. Quite a prestigious honor. And if you don't know Ted from his own work you have probably heard him on records with Jerry Mulligan you worked several years with Mulligan in his later years. Yeah about three and a half years with his last unfortunately for his last group and other leaders that people have heard you with over the years include one of my real favorites Art Farmer. Yeah I did some work with art we did a few tours together and that was a fabulous experience for me and throw me another couple of names from your resume that people or people may have heard you if they don't know you as a leader.

Well I did some touring with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and fill in with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra pretty regularly and. Play with a number of singers I do a lot of touring lately with and Hampton Callaway and you mentioned that you're working with her just this week. Oh yeah. At the end of the week I'm going out in the Annapolis to play with her with the symphony out there and a great singer and some work with Helen Merrill with Mark Murphy. I like working with vocalists. I do sure there's really a lot to be learned and gained from the standards and interesting verses and different approaches to rubato feeling and things like that so I enjoy it. How much solo playing do you do with piano trio is probably still the probably the primary thing that you working situation you find yourself in. It's a pretty good split. Yeah used to be more trio but it seems like I have been

getting a fair amount of solo gigs too and I enjoy it. It's a challenge it's a little bit of a being in a fishbowl you're all by yourself and jazz in general is usually kind of a team effort and more of a chamber music feel where you interact with other people so I really of course enjoy that greatly. But playing solo has its own rewards too. It's just harder I think. No time to coast. Yeah exactly. I've also been playing some some duos which. I've found to be just really musically gratifying and just very rewarding because it's almost the best of both worlds where it's almost the focus and intensity of solo but with a bassist actually not necessarily. It's been a few different things. One project I'd like to mention is I did a duo concert with the great trombonist by Brook Meyer. And that's actually going to be released on CD later this

year and I'm very proud of that I was really kind of just a one shot concert that ended up both coming out well musically and also being recorded well great. So we got lucky. It's a live recording it's a live recording. And then I occasionally play two pianos with Bill Shara lap. We have a great time doing that. No other. Yeah yeah. So you know the duo most people when they hear do well they think piano bass which I also very much enjoy doing too but it could be a number of different combinations. You're very I don't know how to say this but pianistic is you know is the word that comes to mind I guess is an obvious one but I was really drawn to Rosenthal a G several years ago. Were you did in addition to some Gershwin tunes and he was a pretty fair piano player him self but did songs by. The great composer Ted Damron James P. Johnson the father of stride piano and I noticed her some stride in your Celia there are many.

And Lenny Tristan who of course created a whole world of his own and a composer who the world's been catching up with for about 40 years Herbie Nichols. You did you really took it to school for pianist composers it seemed like. Well as a matter of fact since you picked up on that it's been a while since I've talked about Rosenthal G because it's a few years old now but part of the record the reason for the way that repertoire developed was back in the days of the good old days when the NEA was giving out individual grants. I received one and the theme of the grant that I applied and received was to study and perform the music of quote unquote lesser known jazz pianist composers. So there was a method to there was yeah and I and for that I choose to focus on at that point were Lenny Tristan who I actually briefly studied with that right when I was a teenager when I wish I knew something I

could of appreciate I think he's got such genius in his music and I wish I knew it back then. James P. Johnson had them around on her the nickel Oh so you know I delved into all of their music and perform some of it and gave a few concerts in the New York area at the time and then this recording happened around that time and I chose a lot of that repertoire so obviously an astute guy picked up on that. And being a you know part of that of course was being a jazz pianist my composer myself that seem to be a good theme to pursue. You've also all jazz musicians of found a gold mine in the Great American Songbook. Yeah. And let's hear one of your trio pieces from the recent CD Three play. This is let's see. How about a sleep in B. OK what can we look for in this. Well as I kind of jokingly said a few years ago and then it stuck a

little bit I like to derange standards and the arrangement kind of focuses on just a very simple and slightly mysterious bluesy feeling to the song with repetitive ostinato figure. And just kind of a moody moody Sleeping be sleeping half asleep. Be our guest today Rosenthal is here from the disc 3 play with the bassist Denis Irwin and on the drums met Wilson from the trio asleep in B. Asleep and be kind of a Lazy B toward the by the end of that tune there. I warned you Harold Arlen the great tune and a terrific trio Ted Rosenthal the pianist with us in the studio tonight at WUSA F. eighty nine point seven bassist Dennis Irwin.

Then as his brother listens often of a musician here in the area Matt Wilson one of my favorite drummers. And the CD called Three play with that Harold Arlen tune that you did originally I guess for Jalen Hart project. Oh boy you really are in top and I just glanced at the liner notes I'm not so smart. I said you know I think what happened is we did a record of Harold Arlen as music and I contributed five or six arrangements or derangements as they might be. And this one never made it onto the record and then I was kind of like well maybe that's a good thing because I'm going to use it for myself. You and Jay work together work together a lot we're great friends he's like a second father to me and his son just got married so there are marriages all over the place the trumpet playing Yeah. Michael Yeah he's got a whole musical family. Yes he does. His daughter's a good singer Jess and she toured with Steely Dan they both do. Yeah it was

that right there. Yeah. And they were all at our wedding and we just went my wife and I went to their rehearsal dinner and I unfortunately had a or fortunately had a very good solo gig the night of the wedding so we celebrated the night before a personal dinner. And Jay and I also currently have a trio with great guitarist Joe Cohen who's now called Talk about talk about coming from a musical family actually and we've been doing some gigs we just played at a festival in Scotland this summer and play around New York clubs and are going to record next month. And continue on. Onward and upward with that group as well. You invented the term derangement. I don't know if I invented it but I'm using it. Maybe I did. Can you can you tell us what the concept entails basically arranging in a creative way. You know there's this thing going around now for a couple of years deconstruction

standards and all that and I've been put in sometimes with that camp as well or if I don't if you call it a camp but basically just a creative and personal approach to playing a standard and looking for a rhythmic idea or harmonic harmonization or something to make it my own or my version that's really all it means in a creative way and not ruling out anything but still you know hearing to some forms of tradition and taste. Coming up I want to hear this quintet in a few minutes that you feature the horns of Brian Lynch and that's enough to whet anybody's appetite for that band. Two of New York's best you know it just occurs to me we mentioned your rhythm section tomorrow night Billy Pilla Terry bass Tom care about the drummer and when Tom made his own CD featuring Kenny Drew Jr. just a couple of years ago. I remember in the liner notes because I think I wrote them that it was

it. He credits you playing with you with reintroducing him to I loves you Porgy and he chose that to feature Kenny on the CD. So it was playing that last time you were in town. That playing I loves you Porgy led to times featuring Kenny out of this is his own this is pretty bizarre because not only are you making all these astute observations but now you can be a mind reader. Because I was really planning on playing that next. I swear to god my right hand is. There. Well we didn't plan it but I could be the psychic station and the listeners didn't realize this would be. This would be the time to mention that driving down foller Avenue about an hour ago I looked over to my right while listening to your music on my CD player and there was this guy in a van drawing to read directions to the radio station which is in kind of a maze and I shouted Just follow me so I guess we are in sync tonight yeah that's true. We're going to play some Gershwin. Yeah well I laughingly tell people when I play this and I did

yesterday the concert. You may wonder how I got on to the three B's because obviously I loves you Porgy is beautiful Gershwin song from Porgy and Bess. And I always explained that the way that song got put on the map to my knowledge for jazz players was through Bill Evans and his fabulous rendition of it at least for me personally I think for other people as well. And of course it was sung by Bess. Now you've given me some more ammunition. It's a very good song by Bess. OK. Anyway so in going through the Bill Evans not only repertoire that he composed but that songs that he really was identified with as a jazz artist. I loves you Porgy was one that always was big on my list. So I included my three B's as well. Can we hear it now. Yes you can.

I am.

I am. I am. I am. I am. I

am I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. That beautiful Gershwin tune played by Ted Rosenthal here in our studio live tonight Ted

Rosenthal at WUSA f eighty nine point seven and those songs going. There's so much to just find in those songs isn't there. Oh yeah. I mean I say this over and over again playing standards for me is just an exploration into. Creativity and all the aspects of music harmony melody rhythm. Just to see see what you can make out of them is I think a lifelong pursuit. But one of the famous quotes in jazz that's often cited is a Whitney ballot referring to the music as the sound of surprise and it occurred to me that you just constantly are taking it taking it in creative directions. You can you can sound pretty good if you coast on these great old songs but it's just you were always going somewhere interesting. Thank you I appreciate that I tried it sometimes even deliberately tripped myself up a little bit or go out a slight left turn and I kind of hope for the best.

And usually it works. I fake it. There's always next time. Playing a piano in our studio in our performance studio WSF tonight that is still a fairly new addition and we thank the music gallery on Overton road in Clearwater for this beautiful instrument that his Kenny Drew Junior was in for an hour last week playing Liszt and Chopin as well as Monk and Kenny Drew Sr.. And we had some chamber music performances and have more planned for just the next few weeks in the daytime hours and hopefully continue to get some great artists in at night to work on this piano too. You know one thing that jumped out of your MANY CREDIT head at me of your magazine scholarly articles and keyboard magazines and arranging creative things and so on but one of your broadcast credits from you must have been a very young man working with David Sanborn on that.

TV show that he had a long time ago. Was it Night Music. Yeah. Well actually it was shortly after I won the Monk competition and there was a guy who was doing a little publicist he excuse me for me who was somehow involved or hooked in with the people at that show and they kind of last minute were going to do a segment on Monk and thought why don't we get the guy that just won the money. And I got corralled and it was it was quite a thrill. It was a such a creatively program show too good to last on the yeah I guess it was not up to the high standards of the writers. I remember he put Leonard Cohen and Sonny Rollins together oh never forget that performance. Who did you work with on the show. It was a it was kind of an interesting mix it was the violinist Shawn look Ponty. Yeah. And the bass player whose whose name has just

flown out of my head. I think he was kind of a house bass player. And then David Sanborn myself on there probably was a drummer Well maybe I'm not even sure anymore. So it had a while had a monk theme and came to the competition winner. Yeah. Let's hear something about the quintet that I referred to a few minutes ago. This is a European release. This is pretty new. Yeah this was released kind of mid to late summer so it's it's quite new. It's a new label as well called Jazz and pulse and jazz and apostrophe. And it's a small Dutch label. And actually this CD contains music with trio quartet and quintet. So Brian Lynch plays some of it decodes plays on a good bit of it. And then there are some

trio selections as well. So actually the one we're going to hear is a quartet. It's Cote's. Tenor Sax and myself and a great German bass player and a mule harness wind Mueller who has been playing with Kenny Werner's trio of late and a fabulous drummer John Riley and the song bar hopping for years. Is there a pun in the title. Oh you knew there had to. Since I'm not such a big drinker really has more to do with the fact that I wrote this song using phrases that go over the bars and that's actually a Janet Johnson piece that I play so I couldn't use over the bow or the book. Oh yeah. But it actually is based on the changes. If anyone's keeping a scorecard to Stella by starlight but the line itself is very much in this kind of poly metric

tradition of lenny Tristan oh so kind of ties a lot of things up there with the song. We could call it Stella. You could. That's very good but you call it. I like that. But you call it bar hopping. Ted Rosenthal quartet on this one. All right. Oh man. Yes. Yes sir. The Ted Rosenthal quartet in this

case from the CD by Ted Rosenthal quintet at times called Expressions bar hopping. And that saxophonist was Dick Oates who has long been a part of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra dating back to its Mel Lewis orchestra days of course. Terrific saxophonist yet to be heard more on record. He's a really an unsung hero he's just an incredible musician. And I guess we'll have to get a copy of this disc to hear some of the tracks that feature another favorite around here Brian Lynch I hope that copies for you. There you go. Thank you very much. Ted Rosenthal with us tonight in the studio. And we'll be playing tomorrow night at the Palladium theatre is a lovely hall on Fifth Avenue north in St. Petersburg near downtown tell your friends the best music around will be happening. Eight o'clock start time I think tomorrow night at the Palladium with Thomas care about AC and Billy pillage Arry going to hear something in a few minutes from Tom's CD and that will be sponsored by the Al Downing jazz association.

All the Jazz societies and associations just like the orchestras are just the beginning of their seasons now after a long slow summer. And there's a lot of good music to be catching. One week from tonight as we were talking about the US S Series kicks in with Ingrid Jensen on trumpet and Chuck Owens jazz surge and there's a lot going on. I noticed did that on your solo disk that we heard from earlier the three quotes lauding your talents are from three great pianists from all over the spectrum George sharing their common and Robert Levin who plays in Sarasota every year is a big part of the Sarasota Festival and in June he's always in town for for many years we've recorded him a number of times here. And you got to see Mr. Hyman a good friend of the station that today I guess. Yes I actually came directly from having dinner with Dick and his wife Julia and we had a lovely time it was great to hang out and we listen to records and talk about music and talk about family and also talked about

upcoming concert. It's not too close but eventually next next year at the 90 second Street Y where Dick is the music director of all their jazz events. I'm going to take part in a concert. He's doing on the music a flowing as Monk. So we talked a little bit about that as well and. He's a good friend and it was great to hang out with him and he's just a consummate pianist from soup to nuts. Gavin of playing the piano that is for sure. We're lucky to have him living in the area here and Dick was celebrated in a new program at USF the first of a series of distinguished artist honorees at a program at USF here earlier this year last spring and last spring we had a great night on a Saturday night when he and Derek Smith stopped by for our two and had a ball. Yeah that we're very fortunate to have Dick in the area and when he brings friends like that by two so he'd be doing a monk.

So it's funny just last week when Kenny Drew was in playing on the first of these late night concerts here in the studio we joked then that Kenny doesn't do a set of music that doesn't include a Thelonious Monk tune and you find yourself returning to that fountain of inspiration a lot too. Yeah well the tunes are so strong and can stand up to many different treatments which is nice for me to feel that I have some creativity in how I present the songs. I also do some teaching at the New School where I have a nice monk ensemble where we play the music and traditional formats but then the students bring in some wacky arrangements sometimes to continue to be inspired by his music. So you keep an ensemble of the students. Are these like graduate level new school it's an undergraduate program and it's like an elective that they can take this monk ensemble.

What other teach both the new school and Manhattan School write concurrently. What what areas do you teach in jazz piano generally or I have some jazz piano students and I work with some small combos in both places. I have taught some other classes. I do also teach a class called The Music of Bud Powell and phoneys monk at the New School where we listen to the music and kind of analyze it and transfer transcriptions things like that. That's quite a prestigious faculty you're you're among There are both places are fabulous They both have to reflect faculties and lots of great programs going on. Well I really appreciate your coming in tonight making a long drive. My pleasure. On your night off on the piano is terrific. A very pleasant surprise. Very enjoyable to play.

That's nice We've had great reviews how often do you go to a radio station and yeah I have you know what you're going to actually. Well thank you again our thanks to the music gallery in on all Martin road or Charlie and Duane have treated us very nicely. And you again thanks so much for coming in tonight and sharing your time I hope you'll have a ball tomorrow afternoon for a concert at the prince's Merthyr solo and then the trio show 8 p.m. at the Palladium theater. Thank you. Shall we go out with Monk. Yeah I thought I'd do a quick medley begin with Round Midnight. Of course his classic composition and then go into another one that I like to play that as a matter of fact is on the play scape release called Three play where you played from a sleep and B earlier and I play on that. Let's cool one. I am.

I am. I

am. I am. I am. I am. I

am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. That's a will that never runs dry. Music by Monk well-rounded night and let's

cool one with Ted Rosenthal. That's a nice medley. Thank you. And boy I hope it sounds good over the radio. I have a private concert here on the radio it sure sounds great grand piano in our performance studio. And again I appreciate your coming by tomorrow. It's the Palladium theater in St. Petersburg at 8 o'clock and I hope you won't wait three years again between visits to the Bay Area. I hope not. It's been a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me and all your wonderful comments. Well continued good luck this year and on your mini tour this week and we'll see you tomorrow night. Thanks again. My pleasure. Ed Rosenthal from our studio our thanks again to the music gallery in Clearwater I see more of this is W. USF eighty nine point seven Tampa St. Petersburg and Sarasota Jazz comes your way every night of the week without fail and here without straying too far is by Tom Connor Obasi the drummer who

will be playing as part of Ted's trio tomorrow night. Joe Henderson tune comes from that.