Ir""'T""'1~

I

:I:I

r""'T""'1

Masters ofmainstreamDonna Byrne, Dave McKenna, (f;rqy Sargent and Marshall Wood

i':f,

interpret that Great American SongbookI

By Chet Williamson

All music has its mainstream - asource from which the lifebloodflows, In jazz, the GreatAmerican Songbook has been amighty river of inspiration foreveryone from Louis Armstrong

to john Coltrane,But did you know that the Great

American Songbook isn't a book at all-and mainstream jazz has no real identity?

The Great American Songbook is not apublished book. Instead, it is an unboundcollection of songs played by musiciansover the years that have become standards,The book includes works by such -tune-smiths as Irving Berlin, George Gershwinand Cole Porter. Then there are RichardRodgers, Harold Arlen and DukeEllington, And Burton Lane, VernonDuke, Hoagy Carmichael,,, ,

There is no register of names, There isno beginning, There is no index, For inter-pretation, see Frank Sinatra, TonyBennett and Nat Cole, and Billie Holiday,Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald,

jazz musicians who regularly dip intothe reservoir of the Great AmericanSongbook are often classified as "main-stream," The book may be the source formaterial, but the mainstream tag is tooconfining and may have no real meaning,

"I don't know what 'mainstream' is. I'venever known," said trumpeter WarrenVache, a Benny Goodman alum, "What Iplay are good songs with harmonies thatinvolve more than three chords '" withlyrics that say more than 'Let's do it in theroad.' More than that, I don't know what. to tell you,

"I don't think it is possible to find aword or idea '" the genre is so broad andso wonderfully open for invention, Therereally isn't a term that is going to tell youwhat it is in a nice, simple, complete, easy-to-understand sentence, Because themusic is not complete, simple or easy tounderstand,"

Four of the world's best interpreters ofAmerican song who have been called nav-igators of the mainstream movement:singer Donna Byrne and musicians DaveMcKenna, Gray Sargent and MarshallWood, perform together two shows at 7and 10 p,m, Friday, june 28, at OldVienna Kaffeehaus in Westboro,

Now that Rebecca Parris has left NewEngland for greener pastures, Byrne justmay be New England's premier jazzsinger, Although this 46-year-old motherofthree didn't begin singing in public untilshe was 27, Byrne has come a long way in'a hurry, Besides a growing legion of fans,Byrne has become the darling of musi-

cians and critics alike,Ask Vache, "She's a sweetheart," he

said, "She's an absolutely talented, won-derful human being, But don't tell her Isaid that."

And Tony Bennett, who called her "oneof the best young jazz singers in the coun-try today,"As a vocalist, Byrne delivers her songs

in brown paper packages tied up withstring, Her favorite things are straightreadings of tunes devoid of affectation, Alittle wrinkle here, A fold in the fabricthere, It's the simple things in life, likesnowflakes on your eyelashes, Byrneoften articulates so that the lyric andmelodic content stand out, not thesinger. And in a world of highwire-act performances, her deceptivelysimple approach is refreshing, Herlatest CD is It Was Me, onDaring Records,

"The thing that strikes meabout Donna is that she's gotanice sound," said pianistDave McKenna, "She's gotgreat intonation, She's justa damn good singer, and ahell of a lady, She singswell all the time butsome nights she reallysings the hell out ofa ballad, She isone of my favoritesingers."

Deflecting the com-pliment back at McKenna, Byrne said,"He's been great to me, He's gone out ofhis way to create opportunities for me, Forexample, I was invited to a private partyon the cape where Tony Bennett was aguest. Dave was the piano player at theparty, He manipulated the situation sothat I could sing in front of Tony Bennett."

said local jazz patriarch EmilHaddad, "If you say jazz, you mighthave a little problem, But ifyou sayyou are going to play theAmerican Songbook '" people

are going to say, Well, they are going toplaya lot of great old standards.' Versussomebody coming in just to blow some jazz."

"I didn't start out classifying it," Byrnesaid, "I started out just where I am now, Ising songs that I like, That's it. Musicianssaid to me, 'You are a jazz singer.' I said,'What does that mean?' They said, 'Well,you invent these melodies, You play withthe time.'

"I change the time to play with it, toswing it. It's different every time, I changemelodies and bend notes, and that's what

they call jazz: to interpret, to improvise, It'ssort of a name that someone gave to meand I sort of thought, 'That was just fine.' "

"I'm 66, and I grew up with thosetunes," McKenna added, "I think thoseare the greatest tunes - tunes writtenbefore I was born, up until 1950, '55,There are some good tunes coming outbut not many written for piano playersand singers, I resisted not only rock butmodern jazz, when it stopped beingmelodic."

McKenna is the Ted Williams of jazz,He's a private, unassuming man off thefield, but in the game he swings hard and

graceful just like the Splendid Splinter.McKenna's style is profoundly

lyricaL His ideas stringtogether perfectly, Withan encyclopedic knowl-edge of songs, McKenna

can sew an entire set ofmusic together by associa-

tion, A word, phrase, melod-ic motif or harmonic pattern

will set up segues for him to tieit all together,Besides his longtime associa-

tion with Sargent and McKennaand other local luminaries, bassist

" Wood is nationally recognized forhis work with Monty Alexander,Marian McPartland and the Concord

All-Stars, An acoustic player whoframes tunes like a catcher setting a tar-

get for a pitcher, Wood can handle any-thing thrown at him,"Marshall is a magnificent bass player,"

Byrne said, "He just happens to be myhusband, He has a real work ethic, Hewould approach a bar mitzvah or wed-ding with the same dedication as if heworked Tavern on the Green, He's a won-derful accompanist. He's learned with thebest: Anita O'Day and Chris Connor."

Sargent is best known for his 25-yearassociation with Illinois jacquet. His workwith the tenor titan has included record-ing, worldwide tours and a 1994 CarnegieHall performance, Sargent has also giggedwith Scott Hamilton, Ruby Braff and RoyEldridge, among others, His guitar playingsprings from the garden of CharlieChristian, A gifted melodic improviser,Sargent's solos are never fragmented,They tell completed stories,

"Gray and Dave are in that genius cate-gory," Byrne said, "It's almost like they arecommunicating in a language that nobodyelse can understand or access, There havebeen times when I've forgotten to comeback in, when 1was supposed to, becauseI've been so mesmerized by what I'veheard," •

WORtlSIIR MAO'"'' • JUNE 26, 1 SS6 17