From the West County News Volume XXIX Number 19 May 10-16 2007

Question of how much answered

By Gregory G. Lewis

NORTHAMPTON – Headmaster Todd Sumner showed good taste in selecting Jamie Masefield and the Jazz Mandolin Project for the Academy at Charlemont's spring fundraiser. Entertainment on three dimensions was ingeniously consolidated into a two-hour feature at John M. Greene Hall last Friday evening. There was live music, cinema and storytelling. "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" is a short story written by one of the greatest of modern Russian authors, Leo Tolstoy. Unlike his behemoth "War and Peace," this story was fun and digestible to listeners of all ages.

To help tell the story Masefield projected his trans-Continental video documentary onto a big screen. Masefield and band, comprising a drummer, bass player, keyboardist and himself on mandolin, sat ahead of the screen. During a question and answer session, "how much screen does a man need?" was asked rhetorically. Masefield thought the question funny because he and the band ask "how much?" wherever they go. "…The genius of turning a question into a title," he answered.

The storyteller voice was that of retired M.I.T. Russian Literature teacher Elena Pankratov. After hearing a his wife and her sister debate the merits of their lifestyles, a peasant named Pahom gets it into his head that he needs a lot more land to be happy. Unfortunately the devil was also listening, and his plan was to bring Pahom under his power. The devil and a few other characters were portrayed using original masks, all but one Masefield's creations. Other characters, like Pahom and the two sisters were represented by travelogue. For instance, as the sisters talk we are shown two women talking over lunch in an urban diner (Anywhere, America). Near the end of the story Pahom is running with his last breath on the Russian Steppe, but the film is a middle-aged man plodding to the finish line with leaden feet in the Philadelphia Marathon. Capturing the moment was exquisitely accomplished.

Masefield said his friend Mike Gordon (bass player from the band Phish) had trouble following the story. That gave him the clever idea of strategically placing subtitles to cue listeners to important plot points. Masefield and Gordon were colleagues at the University of Vermont in Burlington, which happens to be where Phish band members first "schooled" together.

Public relations manager Mark Auerbach told me this particular show would be perfect in a café setting, with food and drink. The Project's original compositions accompanied the narration, and as Masefield promised the story took precedence over the music. A jazzed-up encore of Stevie Wonder music wowed the audience. Peter Apfelbaum's versatile keyboard, woodwind and percussion instruments were exemplary. Scott Ritchie's upright bass and Sean Dixon's smooth drum riffs made the Project a very cool jazz listening experience. Masefield was surprised to hear his music described as cool jazz, he was afraid it might be perceived as too "out there." They are polished and contemporary, well suited to a family night out or an introduction to the joys of jazz.

The audience wasn't the sellout Auerbach had hoped for. Before the show I prowled Northampton's streets and noted the show was well posted. A late afternoon email by Hilltown Folk's Gayle Olson alerted some last-minute concert goers. Masefield expressed concern to me that his show was difficult to conceptualize without seeing it. But, it's really very simple: A Russian folk tale is told to the accompaniment of jazz, illustrated by use of travel footage instead of actors.

The story had a moral, which was part of the appeal to Sumner. The grass is always greener; knowing when you have enough; stopping while you are ahead. This was a parable of seduction, desire and greed, accentuated with contrasting visions of the United States. A collage of congested concrete jungle and the vast expanse of Midwest plains and cornfields. The uninterrupted horizons that yet exist in our country are incredible to behold.

The Vermont Council of the Arts, a National Endowment for the Arts subsidiary helped defray expenses. A very hot jazz ensemble, the Jeff D'antona Trio opened for Masefield & Project. If you are hooked on jazz, keep an eye out for them.