Benefit Concert May 29—

The Skeletons Of Improvisation

By Shannon Hicks

After years of performing music and teaching others how to hone their talents to do the same, Jeff McGill has joined with the other members of The Jeff McGill Group to release their first CD. Called then & now, the collection will be featured during a benefit concert to be performed by Mr McGill, along with drummer Tom Devine, bassist Lou Pappas and guest saxman Ken Gioffre (who also appears on the album), at Danbury Music Centre on Friday, May 29.

Then & now contains a mix of original compositions, jazz standards and arrangements of popular and rock tunes. Its nine tracks will be featured during Friday’s concert, but in true jazz form, they may not sound exactly like the tracks that were laid down for the recording.

“This is improvised music, and the tunes are going to be played live, but the improvised solos in between the opening theme and closing theme and arrangements are always improvised one night after the other,” Mr McGill said this week. The Newtown resident is manager of Fry’s Westport/Fairfield Pianos and the owner, director, and co-founder of The Music Learning Center in Danbury, a music school that serves students from Danbury and at least ten surrounding towns, including Newtown.

Mr McGill’s grandfather was a trained pianist, his father was a Big Band leader during the 1930s, and his mother was a vocalist. His parents may have put away their professional instruments when they started their family, but music was always around the McGill home and Jeff benefited from that.

He begin piano lessons at age 10 (a birthday present from his grandfather) and several years later his brother gave him a copy of Dave Brubeck’s Take Five along with the comment, “You need to check this out.”

“Jazz,” Mr McGill wrote on his website, “had a firm hold on me from that moment on.”

Mr McGill has performed with a number of musicians, he said, but it is the trio of himself, Mr Pappas and Mr Devino that “has always been a particularly joyful collaboration,” he said. The group has monthly gigs at Spris in Hartford, and has also appeared in concerts and clubs throughout the tri-state area, including Birdland in New York City, CitiCenter Festival of the Arts in Danbury, Hartford International Jazz Festival, Ives Concert Park in Danbury, New Haven Jazz Festival, The Palace Theater in New Haven, and Rich Forum in Stamford.

“This group has been playing together for many years, and I wanted to capture the sound of this group,” Mr McGill said in explaining why to release a CD now. “We enjoy playing together so much and it’s something that has really taken on a lot of meaning for all of us.

“Playing with the trio is an exciting combination of both knowing and not knowing what’s going to happen next. We’re definitely familiar with each other after performing together for many years,” he continued. “There is a lot of empathy, and great ears. Everybody listens to what’s going on at all times.

“In the true spirit of jazz we like to be in the moment, and it’s always been a great combination for us.”

The recorded performances of then & now fill in the space of each song’s frame, says Mr McGill.

“The arrangements only provide a skeleton for those performances,” he said. The musicians worked with original McGill compositions including the CD’s opener, “Island Loop” (which actually dates back to a session the trio did ten years ago and has become one of their favorite live set closers) and its fifth track, “Mr T.M.”

The CD also includes arrangements of pop songs, the most ambitious perhaps being Mr McGill’s take on Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Rocket Man.”

“Another reason we did this CD was to capture both the originals as well as the arrangements,” he admitted. “Over the last two to three years I’ve really enjoyed arranging a lot of different materials, including material I’ve listened to over the years.”

The trio’s take on the Beatles’s “Here, There & Everywhere” is included on the recording, as is Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.”

“[That song], of course, is a little reminiscent of a jazz band to begin with,” Mr McGill said of the Guaraldi cut. “I loved the original arrangement, but found myself experimenting with it one day, shifting keys and adding a different section, and we enjoy the arrangement that evolved.”

In addition to celebrating the release of then & now, The Jeff McGill Group’s performance on May 29 will serve as the inaugural event to put funds into the recently established Music Learning Center Scholarship Fund.

“We want to provide private musical instruction for deserving middle school through college age students at the Music Learning Center,” Mr McGill said. “The criteria [for the application review committee] will include a combination of student talent, commitment, and financial need.

“The thought that we can support new and deserving youth through this concert, as well as a faculty concert we’re planning for the fall, is very exciting for me.”

Tickets for May 29 are $15 and can be reserved in advance or purchased at the door. Danbury Music Centre is at 256 Main Street, and parking is now available in the new Bardo Parking Garage on Library Place.

Tickets can be reserved by calling 748-1444. Selections from then & now and more information is also available online at JeffMcGillJazz.com.