How different can four acclaimed jazz drummers sound when playing on the same drum set, in the same venue, on four different nights, with four different bands?
San Diego music fans will soon be able to find out firsthand at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library’s Winter Jazz concert series in La Jolla. The drummers include Mark Whitfield Jr., 29; Brian Blade, 49; Matt Wilson, 55; and Marvin “Smitty” Smith, 58.
Between them, they have performed with a who’s who of music greats, from Sonny Rollins, Joni Mitchell and Chick Corea to Herbie Hancock, Elvis Costello and Dave Holland. The maple drum set they will perform on here was custom-made by San Diego’s esteemed Paul Bleifuss, who died in 2007.
The legends and near-legends who have played on that set at the Athenaeum and at Athenaeum Jazz at TSRI concerts include Billy Higgins, Antonio Sanchez, Leon Parker and at least two of the four drummers — Blade and Wilson — who will perform as part of the 2020 Athenaeum winter jazz series.
“Wow! That’s an impressive list,” said Mark Whitfield Jr., who will be making his Athenaeum debut as the drummer in pianist Aaron Goldberg’s trio.
What makes this illustrious quartet of drummers all the more impressive is that they are not part of a drum-themed concert series here. Rather, their inclusion is the happy result of serendipity for Daniel Atkinson, the Athenaeum’s longtime jazz program coordinator, and anyone who attends the four upcoming performances.
“Often, when booking a group, you don’t know who all the members will be,” Atkinson said, “unless it’s a long-established band that has had the same personnel for an extended period of time. And, unfortunately, that isn’t the case too often.
“For this series, I had booked Matt Wilson’s band and the trio with Brian Blade. I didn’t have the names of the drummers for either of the other two groups, which are led by Aaron Goldberg and (fellow pianist) Orrin Evans, at least not when we booked those two groups. But I had confidence Aaron and Orrin would pick people who would make their music shine. And it’s a great moment when you find out their drummers will be Marvin ‘Smitty’ Smith and Mark Whitfield Jr.”
Matt Wilson
(Photo by John Abbott)
The series opens Jan. 28 with Evans’ Trio, whose drummer is 14-year “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” band veteran Smith. Next up is longtime Wayne Shorter Quartet percussion marvel Blade, who performs Feb. 4 with a trio led by bassist, singer and UC San Diego alum Jeff Denson.
Whitfield performs Feb. 18 with Goldberg’s trio. The series concludes Feb. 23 with the dapper Wilson leading his Honey & Salt Quintet, which will feature selections from the group’s 2018 album, “Honey and Salt: Music Inspired by the Poetry of Carl Sandburg.” (Wilson usually picks local music luminaries in the audience to do impromptu readings of Sandburg’s poetry, while his band accompanies them.)
Each of the four drummers will provide their own cymbals, sticks, mallets and brushes. And Smith sometimes brings his own drum set from Los Angeles. But no matter who is playing the Bleifuss set here, they will each sound uniquely like themselves.
“A lot of that is because of their personalities,” Wilson said.
“And a lot of it is because of their touch and the way they address the sonic aspects of the instrument. Physically, because of the different way we play our strokes, the same drum set, tuned the same way, will sound different when each of us plays it, just like a piano does when different people play it. That also has to do with our intent and different concepts.”
There are a number of qualities that can make for a great drummer. These include skill and vision, flair and finesse, tenacity and daring. Equally important is the ability to support or lead a band as needed — in some instances, virtually at the same time — while being sensitive to the music at hand, the other performers and the audience.
“My biggest focus is to always try to listen, be true to what’s going on and not have it be too contrived, even if it is contrived,” said Whitfield, who plays left-handed on a right-handed drum set.
“By ‘contrived,’ I mean that — even if I know what I’m going to play or want to say in a song — I will try to play it differently every time. Every song has its point that you have to get to. You try to shape it in different ways and get the same results.”
Flexibility of sound and feel is similarly important to Wilson, who credits his approach as a band leader to the jazz elders he played with early in his career.
“Dewey Redman totally inspired me,” said Wilson, who also credits Duke Ellington Orchestra drum giant Louie Bellson as a key mentor.
“Dewey always thanked me for playing with him, and he told me: ‘People always sound their best when they play with me.’ I was taken aback, because I’d never heard a word of ego from him. What he meant by saying that is he always allowed you to go places and he gave you great music to play. He was very gracious.”
Precocious talents
Drummer Brian Blade (right) is a veteran member of the band led by jazz sax legend Wayne Shorter (left).
(EFE / EPA file photo)
There’s a 26-year age difference between Wilson, who was born in 1964, and Whitfield, who was born in 1990. But the two have some commonalities, beyond their shared musical passion.
Both grew up out of the spotlight — Wilson in the Illinois college town of Knoxville, Whitfield in the river-side Louisiana city of Shreveport and (from the age of 11) Jersey City, N.J. Both grew up in musical families and quickly gravitated to the drums. Both began their performing careers early on and both earned degrees in music (Wilson at Wichita State University, Whitfield at Berklee in Boston).
“I started playing gigs when I was in eighth grade,” Wilson said. “My parents would drive me. And I went to concerts as often as I could. I remember that, in one week when I was 15, I saw Clark Terry, Oscar Peterson and the Count Basie Orchestra, with Duffy Jackson on drums.”
Wilson rose to prominence as the drummer in saxophonist Dewey Redman’s band in the 1990s. He now has nearly 20 albums to his credit as a band leader in his own right. The bespectacled drummer and composer is also the co-founder of the superb Trio M, which teams him with pianist Myra Melford and bass great (and UC San Diego music professor) Mark Dresser.
Whitfield, though two and a half decades younger than Wilson, handily beats his fellow drummer when it comes to getting an early start.
The son of acclaimed jazz guitarist Mark Whitfield, he has music in his genes. The precocious drummer was not yet 5 when he made his national debut performing with his father and older brother in the Whitfield Family Band for a “Good Morning America” telecast.
“I remember coming to New York from Louisiana to do the show,” the younger Whitfield said. “And I remember coming back to New York when I was 5 to sit in for a song with my dad at the Blue Note. “I definitely started playing early. I don’t really remember exactly when, because I was also busy being a kid.”
Because of his father’s prominence as a guitarist, Whitfield grew up in the company of an array of celebrated musicians.
“I used to think George Benson was my rich uncle!” said the drummer, who was barely out of his teens when he made his recording debut with saxophonist Hailey Niswanger.
Whitfield has since recorded with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, trumpeter Sean Jones, saxophonists Tia Fuller and Kenny Garrett, former San Diego pianist Geoffrey Keezer, and others. For the past several years, Whitfield has worked with Brian Jackson, the former musical partner of the late rap pioneer Gil-Scott Heron.
“I have not made a solo album yet; maybe I will sometime in the future,” Whitfield said. “I’d like to see what doors will open before I decide what way my career will go.”
Were Wilson not a drummer himself, chances are good he’d deem Whitfield exactly the kind of musician he’d want to join one of the several bands Wilson leads.
“I put a lot of thought into every group I have,” Wilson said. “I hope that while we challenge audiences, we also make them feel welcome. And, wherever I am playing, I don’t change what we do. If I’m playing in New York or Nebraska, I don’t change my approach. You never want to assume what people like or don’t. The best part of the music is the honesty.”
Give the drummer some!
The Athanaeum Music & Arts Library’s winter jazz concert series in La Jolla will feature four outstanding drummers — Brian Blade, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Mark Whitfield Jr. and Matt Wilson. We asked Wilson and Whitfield to comment on their fellow drummers in the series. Here’s what they said.
Whitfield on Wilson: “He’s one of the drummers I looked up to growing up. Due to his creativity and the way he voices the drums he uses them like no other. He makes so many sounds! He can make things come out of the drums that the most seasoned musicians can’t imagine.”
Wilson on Whitfield: “He’s fantastic. He has a great feel and sound, a warm sound, that comes from inside him and translates to the drums.”
Whitfield on Smith: “He’s one of the masters, a technical genius with a great feel. Marvin, along with Brian — in different ways — has shaped an entire generation of drummers that came after them. I’m eternally grateful.”
Wilson on Smith: “What a legend. The playing Marvin did on the (1984) Dave Holland album, ‘Seeds of Time,’ was a real influence on me, just by itself.”
Whitfield on Blade: “He’s a living legend and he’s shaped so many drummers my age. He’s pure emotion.”
Wilson on Blade: “Brian is obviously one of our greats. Wow. I’m in good company here!”
Athenaeum Winter Jazz concert series
When: All concerts are at 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 28: The Orrin Evans Trio, featuring Marvin “Smitty” Smith
Feb. 4: The Jeff Denson Trio, featuring Brian Blade
Feb. 18: The Aaron Goldberg Trio, featuring Mark Whitfield Jr.
Feb. 23: Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt Quintet
Where: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla
Tickets: $25 (members), $30 (non-members); series tickets are $92 and $112
Phone: (858) 454-5872