Living in the musical moment: Jazz in the Valley

By SOLMAAZ YAZDIHA Bulletin Contributing Writer

Published on September 05, 2008

Lester Bowie called it a way of life. Thelonious Monk called it freedom. Paul Whiteman said it was the "folk music of the machine age." "Addiction" was the word Miles Davis used, and Louis Armstrong simply said, "Man, if you have to ask what it is, you'll never know." For Jeff D'Antona of Northampton, jazz is about creation.

"It's about taking something that's already there, say a melody, a rhythm, a chord progression, even lyrics, and putting some of yourself into it," he said. "You take this pre-existing musical idea, and you create something new and original using parts of yourself, your emotions, your mood, your history, parts of the world going on around you, even parts of what's happening right then when you are playing. It's a practice in living in the moment. You create something new and beautiful that encompasses everything around you, and then it's gone. And then you do it all over again."

D'Antona, who teaches private piano lessons and classes at Greenfield Community College and at Putney School in Vermont, is one of the many jazz musicians who perform regularly in the Amherst area. His group, the Spectrum Collective, plays weekly gigs at Sierra Grille in Northampton every Monday from 9 p.m. to midnight, and at Amherst Coffee in Amherst on Thursdays from 7:30 to 10.

The Spectrum Collective mainly consists of D'Antona on piano and Tristan Gutner on acoustic bass. "Tristan and I generally play on all the gigs, but aside from that, we have a rotating cast of guest musicians, including drummers, horn players, and vocalists," D'Antona said. Makaya McCraven of Pelham, the most consistent drummer, currently lives in Chicago. The three musicians have a separate group, The Jeff D'Antona Trio, which is working on its second CD.

The Black Sheep

Down the street, the Mark Ricker/Jimmy Burgoff Duo offers a different sound, performing jazz at the Black Sheep Deli and Cafe every Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. Ricker, the creator of "Pangaean Laurel," the stained-glass window installed in Town Hall, claims it is the acoustic instruments that produce the duo's unique sound.

"I play a nylon string guitar, which is a traditional classical guitar," Ricker said. "It allows us to perform with a lot of flexibility in our dynamic range, meaning that we can play in an environment that requires very soft music and we can also play in a more performance-oriented setting."

He said the Black Sheep is a great place for jazz. "It's a place that is inviting to people of all different ages and it's a very low key, informal setting," he said. "We often have musicians who sit in with us or people from the audience who might be able to play and perform for an evening. Jimmy Burgoff's son is an eight-year-old percussionist who plays with us quite often."

Ricker and Burgoff met at a jam session sponsored by the Pioneer Valley Jazz Society. "We found that we had very common tastes and a common approach to music," Ricker said, "even though he was from New York City and I from the little town of Amherst.

"Through the miracle of recorded music, we have been affected by the same influences and musicians over the years, and we have found that we mesh very well with our personalities and musical abilities." The duo has been playing together for eight years.

The Basement

Down Route 9 into Northampton, The Basement at 21 Center Street hosts jazz musicians every Friday night, no cover charge. Doug Hewitt of Amherst, a fellow Basement performer and bass player for the Doug Hewitt Group describes the venue as "a watering hole for professional musicians." Hewitt has explored much of the area's jazz outlets, describing D'Antona's compositions as "outstanding."

"I am very often looking for some place to go where I can sit down and relax and listen to great live music, and it's taken a number of years to find out where that is," Hewitt said. "I want to hear quality music played at a moderate volume. I really appreciate that as a fellow musician. I thirst for that."

The Basement offers a different variety of music nightly, from Celtic to open mic to guest DJs, but Friday is a longstanding jazz night.

"We feel very fortunate we get to express ourselves in this cool, slightly funky bar," said Dan Goitein, who has played bass regularly at The Basement for five years. Unlike Ricker or D'Antona, Goitein is not part of a permanent jazz group.

"I'm very lucky that I get to play with many really talented and interesting people, rather than having one type of band," Goitein said. "We have a common list of material, and whoever's willing to make the songs happen is part of our entertaining. We can go anywhere from a duo to 10-12 member arrangements."

Goitein explains that the music at The Basement is meant for ambience. "Nothing fancy, not a concert setting. We're like wallpaper." Though he plays with a variety of people, Goitein can be seen performing regularly alongside George Plouffe on Hammond organ and baby grand piano, and John Crankshaw on drums.

Because of the informality, Goitien believes that the jazz at The Basement becomes more of a creative experience than a recital. "It's a work in progress," is how he puts it. "We're constantly finding nuances or subtleties we didn't know of last time.

"To practice and to be able to express oneself with a little more eloquence is what we get to do," he said. "What makes us different is that we're not like consummate players. We all have other lives, and jazz is where we meet with friends, it's our social network. We just try to do the songs justice."