Last Wednesday, July 8th, two tracks off of my new CD were played on Worcester’s WICN, “New England’s Jazz and Folk Station.” This was very exciting for me….WICN is a big jazz station with a lot of listeners and any radio play opens up my music to a whole new audience. Please email the DJ and tell him that you appreciate him playing independent musicians and that you want to hear more of my CD on air! His name is Joe Zupan, and his email address is jzupan@wicn.org. You can tune in to his program, Jazz Matinee, Monday through Thursday 2-6pm, at wicn.org (live stream) or 90.5 (Worcester area)….thanks for your help!

Thanks to all those who made it out to the CD release show last Friday. It was an amazing time…playing with Makaya and Tristan was fulfilling as ever, and the room was filled with family, friends, and a bunch of wonderful new fans. We were all thankful to have such a loving and supportive crowd…..the perfect way to celebrate the release of our second CD. And for those of you who didn’t make the show, thanks to Dave Miller and Drew from Greenfield Community Television, the show was recorded and videotaped. I’ll keep you all updated on that….hopefully I will have some audio/video on my various sites up soon. OK…time for me to relax! Off to Rhode Island for a good old-fashioned family vacation.

hey ya'll. i just finished answering some questions for a newspaper article that's going to be written about the amherst jazz scene. not sure how much of my answers (if any...) they will publish in the paper, but i think my answers provide a nice summary about what i think about what's happening with my music and the local scene. some of the questions are pretty starightforward, info about the groups etc, but others get a bit more philosophical, for the thinkers out there.

so, here are those questions, for those of you are interested:

1. What is your official title regarding the your jazz group? What do you
play/do?

I am involved with two different jazz projects. One is my trio, the Jeff D'Antona Trio. This group (consisting of myself, Tristan Gutner on acoustic bass, and Makaya McCraven on drums, only plays occasionally, as Makaya lives in Chicago. We generally only do bigger shows and play for more of a listening audience. The music focuses on my original compositions and arrangements of mine. We're currently working on our second CD.

The other group is the Spectrum Collective. This is the name I've given to the group that plays weekly local gigs (Amherst Coffee and Sierra Grille). This group has a separate name to reflect the 'collective' aspects of the musical output of the group. Tristan and I generally play on all the gigs, but aside from that, we have a rotating cast of guest musicians including drummers, horn players, and vocalists. We play some of my compositions, but also those of Tristan's and of the guest musicians, jazz standards, and cover songs.


2. Do you have any other positions within the community that should be noted?

Aside from gigging, I teach private piano lessons and classes at Greenfield Community College, as well as the Putney School in Vermont.

3. What makes your jazz group special? What sets it apart from others?

I think we are saying something with our music. Something that can't be put into words, but can be felt by the audience and the musicians. I've seen a lot of jazz groups that just don't move me. They just seem like a bunch of guys trying to flex their muscles, play the most notes in the least amount of time, and prove their musicianship to themselves and others. It's like saying a bunch of words but not saying anything that has meaning. I think our group is trying for something deeper than that, something that transcends fulfilling the ego. We want to create something that moves people, that makes people feel SOMETHING when they see our show, whether it is joy, excitement, sadness, longing. And people get it. I'm not the most technically skilled piano player in the area by far, but time and time again, people come up to me after my shows and tell me how much the music means to them. They see how it effects me, how it moves me, and they get something out of it.

4. What does jazz mean to you?

To me, jazz is about creation. It's about taking something that's already there, say a melody, a rhythm, a chord progression, even lyrics, and putting some of yourself into it. You take this pre-existing musical idea, and you create something new and original using parts of yourself, your emotions, your mood, your history, parts of the world going around you, even parts of what's happening right then when you are playing. It's something that is created only for one moment, and can't be created or felt in the same way ever again. It's a practice in living in the moment. You create something new and beautiful that encompasses everything around you, and then it's gone. And then you do it all over again.



5. Why do you choose to play at Amherst Coffee? Do you play anywhere else
regularly?

Amherst Coffee wasn't a venue that our group specifically "chose" to play at. The gig was an idea presented to us by the owners over two years ago, and we went with it. It's been incredible. It has provided our group a place to play every week in front of an audience, and to play whatever type of music we want. It's truly a blessing to have a weekly gig where we can play creative music with no restrictions, try new compositions, play with different musicians, take risks. I'd say that the weekly Amherst Coffee gig has made me grow as a musician and an improviser more than any other musical experience I've had.

We just started a regular Monday night gig at the Sierra Grille in Northampon. It's free, from 9 to 12. We use piano, bass, drums, plus an additional special musical guest every week.

6. What should readers expect from your performance?

They should expect to get back whatever they give. Anyone willing to put everything aside for a couple of hours, sit down, close their eyes, and feel the music, will experience something, I'm sure of it. The musicians I play with and I are saying something for those who are listening. When we play, we are are going to a special place, we are mediating, feeling all sorts of emotions. And we take audience members with us. It's crazy but even if a few people are focused and listening, you can feel it as a musician. We feed off of that energy and the musicians and the listeners go on a journey together.

7. When did you begin playing jazz music?

I started to teach myself jazz chords and improvisation when I was in middle school. (This corresponded to me QUITTING my regular piano lessons) And then in high school, I was hooked up with a great private piano teacher, and it went from there.

8. What are your views on jazz in the Amherst area?

Well, I think there are a lot of incredible musicians in the area, but I think the support for jazz is lacking, in both venues and in the audiences. As far as venues, there are a few (I hesitate to even say a handful of) places that allow jazz groups to play creative and original musical, Amherst Coffee being one of them. But even with the most supportive of venues, we feel the pressure as musicians to make the venue money and to do all the promotion and advertising ourselves, to make the place money. We are still making the same rates as valley musicians in the 80's. It's easy to feel underappreciated as a jazz musician.

As far as the audiences go, it's hit or miss. My group has been lucky at Amherst Coffee, we've developed a nice following and started a great scene there. But take our new weekly gig at Sierra Grille. Northampton residents are being provided with FREE music for three hours, by a jazz group on the level of Boston, Chicago, and New York musicians, and we have seen very LITTLE support from the community. Where are these hip Northampton supporters of jazz and local arts when we need them?

This is not to say I do not appreciate what I have. I feel blessed to have these weekly gigs...but if people are going to say they support the local music and arts scene, then get out and support it! They are missing something special.

9. Do you know of any other regular jazz performers in the area?

Of course, there are tons of musicians in this area. Everyone is doing different things, some are just getting gigs trying to make money. Others are doing more creative stuff. We have some great players and some great things happening in the area, especially for such a small place. The unfortunate thing, is that most of the places that are available for gigs, are restaurants and bars, where jazz music is equated to background music. "Wallpaper gigs" we call them. Restaurant owners and clientel like to have live jazz in the background to add atmosphere. So, I think that situation hurts a lot of local players creativity. When you are forced to play background music, you aren't creating anything, you are just working a job. When I play those gigs, it feels like I'm going to work just to make money....it's not fulfilling for me as a musician, and for the same reason, it's probably not fulfilling for the audience.

10. Are there any special concerts/venues you have played in the past?

Playing at the Pushkin Gallery in Greenfield, MA is always a special experience for me. My trio recorded it's first CD during a live performance there. It was magical, you can hear it on the disc. The room is huge, it's a bank converted to art gallery, so it has a crazy live sound to it. We packed the place with a great, attentive audience....the room was silent during the songs, and exploded with applause afterwards. Everyone was listening. We really fed off of that energy while we were recording, and it made us all play better.

Recently, my trio played the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge....it was our first experience playing outside of the Valley. The room was sold out and we got a great response from the crowd. That felt nice.


11. What is your musical message? Are you trying to say something with your
music?

I don't have a particular musical message. I'm trying my best to create something that is pure, music that is intentional and that MEANS something to me and to the listener. It's all about the feeling....genres, titles, and messages mean little to me. I think those boundaries only limit what makes music so special. We live in a awfully crazy world. When I play music, I go into a kind of trance, and it's healing for me. I hope the audience can listen and watch, and go to that place with me. It's like therapy.

12. What are your goals for your jazz group?

It's great to be making a living as a musician, I hope I can continue to do that. I'd like to be playing more music venues -- less bars and restaurants. Places where people pay for a ticket, and come just to listen and experience the music. Like the Regatta Bar or Sculler's in Boston, or the Village Vanguard and the Jazz Standard in New York. Touring in Europe has always been a dream of mine. Either way, I just want to be playing music that makes me feel good, makes my audience feel good, and maybe makes me enough money to get by along the way.

13. Who are the other members of your group? What do they do/play/where are they
from?

Tristan Gutner, the steadiest member of the group, plays upright bass. He lives in the Northampton Area and hales form Eastern MA.
Makaya McCraven, my most consistent drummer, currently lives in Chicago, although he grew up in Pelham. He's somewhat of a local celebrity.

Aside from those two, I play with a bunch of other great musicians, drummers Jon Fisher, Zak Trojano, Bob Weiner. Saxophonist Rick Tutunjian. Trumpet player Geoff Cunningham. Vocalist Leah Randazzo, to name a few.