Travels - Downbeat

Jazz On CampusOn June 10, 2008, pianist Fred Herschwas placed into a two-month long,medically induced coma, where hedreamed of Thelonious Monk, tango dancersand a beautiful concert hall in Brussels.The visions would become My Coma Dreams,Hersch’s moving stage production that heperformed at Columbia University’s MillerTheatre in New York on March 2.Peppered with improvisation and Monkinspiredcompositions, My Coma Dreamsfeatured Hersch accompanied by a 16-pieceensemble that included drummer JohnHollenbeck, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, saxophonistAdam Kolker, bassist John Hébert andtrombonist Mike Christianson. Presented byColumbia University’s Program in NarrativeMedicine, the program was written and directedby Herschel Garfein and sung by actorMichael Winther, who portrayed both Herschand his partner, Scott Morgan.“These dreams stuck with me for months untilI was able to write them down,” Hersch said. “Idon’t usually remember dreams, so this wasunusual. As it says in the script, ‘I could havedreamt these in the five seconds before I woke upor in the five seconds after I woke up.’ You don’tjust wake up after something like this, pop youreyes open and there you are. Your consciousnesstakes a while to come back together.”Though it took months of rehabilitation,Hersch continued to compose after coming outof the coma. He and the ensemble, complete witha surreal video presentation, have performed MyComa Dreams throughout the United States, oftento the medical community.“It’s helpful to see from a medical point ofview because intensive care doctors tend to seepeople as their disease,” said Hersch, a longtimeFred Herschperforming MyComa Dreamsat ColumbiaUniversityFred Hersch Lives HisDreams at ColumbiaAIDS/HIV survivor. “This helps doctors see bothsides of the story clearly, in a way that maybe theydidn’t before. At Miller Theatre, there were peoplefrom Alaska and Europe. It has a wide reach.We’d like to do a broader theatrical run, but it’s anodd piece. It’s too much theater to be a jazz event,and not enough jazz for jazz fans. That’s why wecall it ‘jazz theater.’”The locomotion of Hollenbeck and Hébertprovides supple support to the pianist’s pristine,swinging, stately and beautiful playing, and thepaired impact of the visuals with Winther’s performanceis a revelation. One of the show’s mosthumorous moments centers on Hersch’s dreamof Monk.“I am in a cage, 5 by 5 feet, so that I cannotstand straight up nor lie down all the way,” Herschdescribed. “I have to crouch or be in a fetal position.In the next cage over is Thelonious Monk; heis in a similar 6- by 6-foot cage. A man bursts intothe room and orders us to write a tune, and the firstone who finishes gets released. I am franticallytrying to write as fast as I can so I can get the hellout of there. I look up and Monk is taking his timewhile smiling enigmatically and beatifically.”Apart from the production, Hersch continuesto pursue a busy schedule, which includes threeupcoming releases: Free Flying (Palmetto),a duo with guitarist Julian Lage; Only Many(Cam Jazz), a duo with Alessi; and Fun House(Songlines), a recording by the Benoît Delbecq/Fred Hersch Double Trio.“I am enjoying a lot of career momentum,”Hersch said. “I am busier than I’ve ever been, and[any] ill effects from the coma are certainly gone.I’m feeling good about my playing, about beingbusy, and enjoying the collaborations and lotsof trio and solo work. It’s all kind of miraculous.”—Ken Micallefken micallefSchool NotesPiano Lessons: KeyboardistJohn Medeskihas joined the facultyof Creative MusicStudio’s 40thAnniversaryWorkshop,whichwill takeplace atFull MoonResort inWoodstock,N.Y., on May20–24. Medeskiwill conduct intensivemaster classesand conduct jamsessions alongside a star-studdedfaculty that includes trumpeter DaveDouglas, saxophonist Don Byron andpianist Marilyn Crispell.creativemusicfoundation.orgmichael bloomCuban Cuisine: Percussionist BobbySanabria and the Manhattan School ofMusic Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra paidtribute to East Harlem and the rootsof Afro-Cuban jazz on March 28 at theMSM’s Borden Auditorium. Along withnew arrangements of compositions byMario Bauza, Duke Ellington, Juan Tizoland Billy Strayhorn, the program includedthe world premiere of saxophonistEugene Marlow’s composition “Let ThereBe Swing!” and trumpeter Kyle Athayde’s“Que Viva Harlem!” msmnyc.eduOriginal Art: The Juilliard Jazz Ensembleperformed original, student-composedworks during a concert titled “My Pointof View, Part 3” on April 16 at the school’sPaul Hall. The performers were coachedby two of Juilliard Jazz’s esteemed facultymembers, pianists Xavier Davis andFrank Kimbrough. juilliard.eduN.Y. State of Mind: The University ofKansas Wind Ensemble premiered In TheShadow Of No Towers, a work commissionedby composer Mohammed Fairouz,at New York’s Carnegie Hall on March26. In addition to recording the piece forrelease on the Naxos label this December,the group reprised the performanceat the Lied Center for Performing Arts inLawrence, Kan., on April 2. ku.eduPass Dues: Frank Potenza, chair of theUniversity of Southern California ThorntonSchool of Music Studio/Jazz Guitarprogram, has recorded a CD tribute to hisfriend and colleague, guitarist Joe Pass.The album, For Joe, includes the samepersonnel that Pass had on the 1964album For Django. The recording will beaccompanied by a documentary film tobe released on DVD. usc.edu126 DOWNBEAT JUNE 2013