DARMON MEADER continued from page 15 that time. One was the Buddy Rich Big Band, and the other was Eddie Daniels with the <strong>New</strong> Hampshire Sea Coast Big Band. Eddie Daniels in particular blew me away! JJ: Did you move to <strong>New</strong> York to continue your studies or strictly to get into the jazz scene? DM: I never really looked into pursuing a Master’s degree. After three years at USM, I transferred to Ithaca College where I finished my undergraduate degree. Through my involvement with the college’s Vocal <strong>Jazz</strong> Ensemble, I met Kim Nazarian, Caprice Fox and Peter Eldridge, which eventually led to the inception of the <strong>New</strong> York Voices. We were part of an alumni project in the summer of ’86 that Dave Riley, the director of the vocal jazz ensemble at the college, put together. He had an invitation to put a group together and play at some jazz festivals. Kim, Peter, Caprice and I were four of the six singers in the project. That was what really inspired us to get the professional version of the <strong>New</strong> York Voices going. JJ: That’s interesting, and a bit surprising. Which festivals did you play? DM: The two big ones were Montreux and North Sea and then a few more small concerts. JJ: Pardon my ignorance, but how is it that the powers at those festivals called and said: “Put a group together so they can start at the top”? DM: Both festivals have educational outreach programs, often inviting college groups to perform. So this was how Ithaca College was invited to participate. JJ: So how was it to start out by performing at such famous venues? DM: It was exciting. A couple of us took it upon ourselves to do some of the writing and arranging so we could hopefully lift it beyond “Oh look at that nice college group” to something that would really inspire us to say: “Wow we might actually be on to something here and we should give this a try professionally.” Also, the timing was right, in that we were all trying to make the next step in career choices, and all of a sudden we had an opportunity to make something happen together. JJ: OK, but how did you select the group’s name? DM: It was actually given to us by Dave Riley. When we needed a name for the group for that <strong>Jersey</strong>Articles<strong>Jazz</strong> Left to right Darmon Meader, Lauren Kinhan, Peter Eldridge and Kim Nazarian. Photo by Robert Lewis. summer, he said: “Oh, <strong>New</strong> York Voices” even though we were an upstate <strong>New</strong> York school. Then when we put the professional group together we thought we were going to come up with another name, but trying to get five people to agree on a band name is no easy task. The next thing we know, we were playing clubs and having record labels check us out. Our first record label was GRP and they really liked the name. They said: “This will be great in Japan.” So I wish I could tell you it had some divine inspiration behind it, but not really. JJ: Anat Cohen remarked about the irony to be in a <strong>New</strong> York-based band that seldom plays in <strong>New</strong> York. Considering your group’s name, have you entertained the same thought? DM: I can relate to that. For the most part, we are a road band, but I think that other than the Vanguard Orchestra and a couple of other house bands, most of the cats who are making noise in <strong>New</strong> York are making most of their noise out on the road. JJ: Were you influenced by Manhattan Transfer? DM: When I first heard Manhattan Transfer I knew them from radio, the songs that made them big pop stars back in the ’70s. To me that was some of the least interesting stuff they ever did. Later on, a friend hipped me to some of their cooler stuff. They were doing “Conformation” and straight-ahead stuff with Richie Cole and also some interesting crossover jazz and I thought “Wow!” So that was the first group that interested me. Later, I was introduced to Singers Unlimited, the Hi Lo’s, the Four Freshmen and also Rare Silk, a Colorado based group that was quite good but didn’t last long. Then Take 6 came out almost exactly the same time we did, and when I heard them I was absolutely blown away. I’d be remiss not to mention Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. I think they are the most jazz-based. I definitely took something from their approach and I think that the <strong>New</strong> York Voices has too. Over the years, we’ve borrowed a few tunes from their repertoire because 16 _________________________________ February 2009 continued on page 18
February 2009 _________________________________ 17
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