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Jazz: High m-pact in Greeley |
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Written by Glenn BurnSilver
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Thursday, 19 April 2007 |
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 You could say the six singers of m-pact give voice to their instruments.
“You can see people’s brains are trying to process what’s happening. There is usually a look that takes three or four songs to get rid of,” explained m-pact founder and bass singer Trist Curless. “They’re seeing six guys standing up there singing and hearing what sounds like trumpets or guitars, but what their brain thinks they should be seeing, they’re not seeing. It takes a few minutes to get what we’re doing.”
If you aren’t already familiar with m-pact, here’s a little prep course to get your heads in order for the a cappella band’s performance at the Greeley Jazz Festival. Founded by former University of Northern Colorado graduate (and Cheyenne native) Curless, m-pact does everything a “traditional” band can do, from rocking funk numbers to grooving soul ballads, pop standards to jazz send-ups. The difference is that m-pact makes their music without instruments beyond the human voice.
“From the time I first heard the group singing, whether it was accompanied or just a cappella, I was really fascinated by how they carried all the music they needed with just voices,” Curless said, adding that he hopes m-pact has the same effect on people.
Borrowing a little from Take 6 and the San Francisco vocal collective House Jacks, Curless formed m-pact 11 years ago.
For his part, Curless provides the bass line, the “human beat box,” making drum or bass sounds for funk or jazz numbers, or singing the bottom end lyrics during choral and classical arrangements. The band has won critical acclaim for their dynamic performances and the variety of musical styles adapted for the human voice.
But it’s not always easy. Some of m-pact’s arrangements are complex when broken down for six voices, and adapting a well-known pop or R&B song to an a cappella format can backfire if not perfectly executed. Curless said he is not so worried about that — citing confidence in each singer’s ability — as he is about being true to the original style and structure of a song.
 “We’re constantly working on making sure we don’t sound like a classical choral group when we are singing a Stevie Wonder tune, and not sounding like R&B singers when we’re performing something more traditional or classical sounding,” Curless said. “Whether R&B, funk, jazz, pop, classical, we’re trying to make sure we’re being true to the styles we are doing.”
Lest there be any confusion, m-pact is indeed spelled with all lowercase letters. But it wasn’t always that way. The band used to be more brash and full of rock ’n’ roll energy. To see m-pact perform, it’s hard to believe they’ve mellowed much.
“When we started in was all uppercase with an exclamation point afterward,” Curless laughed.
“It was more reflective of what we were then. We had a ton more energy and we were more in your face.
“Slowly but surely the music has become more subtle with more intricacies, more understated things and more introspection. At some point we felt the lowercase letters felt more like what we did.”
Whatever the case, m-pact still makes brains work over time — for the first few minutes at least.
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TO SEE M-PACT
Doors 6: 30 p.m., Showtime 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 19
Union Colony Civic Center
701 10th Ave. in Greeley
Tickets: $22-$35
800.315.2787 or go online to: www.ucstars.com
www.m-pact.com
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 THE SCHEDULE
The University of Northern Colorado/Greeley Jazz Festival runs April 19-21 and features hundreds of vocal and instrumental groups from schools and colleges performing throughout the day. Those performances are free.
The festival also features night concerts.
The concerts are 7:30 p.m. each evening at the Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave., Greeley.
Tickets are $22-$35.
Call 800.315.2787 or go online to: www.ucstars.com.
THE ACTS
Thursday, April 19
m-pact and Kevin Mahogany
Mahogany is considered one of the most accomplished jazz vocalists of his generation.
www.kevinmahogany.com.
Friday, April 20
Geoffrey Keezer Trio and Bob Mintzer
Keezer, a pianist, has released 11 solo recordings and Mintzer is a member of the Yellowjackets, an accomplished solo artist and a longtime leader of his own big band.
www.bobmintzer.com and www.geoffreykeezer.com
Saturday, April 21
The Jazz Festival All Stars, Clayton-Hamiliton Orchestra
The Jazz Festival All Stars features the many talented clinicians and judges from the festival, most of whom are professional musicians, and the Clayton-Hamiliton Jazz Orchestras is one of the best big bands in the country.
www.hamiltonjazz.com.
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THE SOUNDS OF BIG BANDS COME CALLING
By Dan England
For NEXTnc
 Bob Mintzer originally didn’t want to make his name as a big band artist.
But since his first big-band album “Incredible Journey” received rave reviews in 1985, he hasn’t wanted to stop.
“It was on a lark, really,” Mintzer said in a phone interview. “But it wound up being this fantastic happening, and I started to think that maybe I should keep doing it.”
He continued to be known for the band even after joining one of the more famous jazz groups working today, the Yellowjackets.
He loved the challenge, and his band allowed him to continue writing at a frenetic pace. His work was considered innovative and modern and helped usher in a new era of contemporary big band music without losing its swing roots.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to realize some of the sounds I was hearing in my head,” he said. “It was the act of imagining certain musical shapes in your head and getting great players to play that music. Then you let the players interpret the music and things happen that are totally unexpected. That part was always a lot of fun.”
Some believe big bands are an endangered species in the jazz world, mainly because of the cost of putting together 20 jazz musicians and paying their salaries as well as their travel costs. Most jazz artists these days have a quartet or quintet. Colleges are the only place where you’ll hear big bands on a consistent basis.
So what Mintzer continues to do is unusual, but he doesn’t see it that way.
“There are many out there,” he said. “They don’t operate on the same basis as they used to, where they were playing all the time, but there are many big bands out there. In fact many call me. I’m working with one in Iceland right now. You see them in unsuspecting places.”
Despite his early reservations, Mintzer enjoyed his band so much he didn’t want to give it up, even after joining the Yellowjackets. It was a big honor to join the group, and in 1991 he recorded his first album with them, “Greenhouse.” The band hired Mintzer for his ability to write and play several different instruments well, including the bass clarinet and EWI, but it may have hired him because it wanted to shed its pop jazz roots and play in a more straight-ahead fashion, Mintzer said.
It would take a real commitment on Mintzer’s part to continue with his band, given the demands placed on one of the more famous groups in the country, as well as some understanding from his other members as well. But Mintzer wanted to stay with it.
“They’ve been very gracious to let me continue in the big band world,” Mintzer said of the Yellowjackets.
It’s worked out well, actually. Mintzer has arranged some Yellowjackets tunes for his big band, and the guys from the group are guest artists on his new big band CD. Mintzer wasn’t planning on being a big band artist. Now he can’t imagine giving it up, even after more than 20 years and 16 albums.
“It’s something that’s very enjoyable and inspiring,” he said. “When you have a large ensemble playing jazz music, and everyone is playing like one, man, there’s nothing like it.”]
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UNC PROF LOVES THE SOUL OF JAZZ
By Erin Frustaci
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When he was 7 years old, Dana Landry and his sister would walk a block and a half up their street for their piano lessons.
“I didn’t really practice as much as I should have, like most kids,” he said.
His sister, a year and a half older, practiced much more than he did. But Landry was a natural. He quickly caught up and then surpassed his sister, which led her to quit piano.
It wasn’t until he graduated from high school that he considered pursuing the keys as a career. He attended Berkeley College of Music in Boston for his undergraduate degree and then went to the University of Northern Colorado for his master’s degree. He is now the director of jazz studies at UNC.
“When I finally decided on music, I became very disciplined toward it,” Landry said.
Because his father was a jazz drummer, growing up, there was always a lot of jazz in the house.
“Jazz appeals to me because of all the soul, spirit and groove behind it,” Landry said.
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AFTER HOURS SESSIONS
10 p.m. April 20 and April 21
Stetson’s inside the Best Western Regency Hotel at the corner of 7th Street and 8th Avenue in Greeley.
Sessions are free and will feature Don Aliquo on saxophone, Clay Jenkins on trumpet, Dana Landry on piano, Erik Applegate on bass and Jim White on drums.
Call 351.2577 or go online to: www.uncjazz.com
• • •
NEXTnc: What is your favorite thing about the piano as an instrument?
LANDRY: I would say the fact that it’s slick. I have an entire orchestra at my finger tips. There is much range, color and harmonic possibilities with this instrument.
NEXTnc: Who is your favorite pianist?
LANDRY: If I were to pick one person, it would be James Williams. He was such a close friend, even though I had other influences, he was one early on. James has been my biggest influence in ways beyond his music.
NEXTnc: What do you like to do on Friday and Saturday nights?
LANDRY: I like to go out to hear music. I enjoy going to jazz clubs or going to concerts. Lots of Friday and Saturday nights, I am playing.
NEXTnc: If you were playing at a piano bar, who would you want to duel with?
LANDRY: I would say Keith Jarrett.
NEXTnc: Any interesting little-known jazz facts you could share?
LANDRY: Faswala used to play the organ in theaters. | Only registered users can write comments.
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