JAM Magazine: December/January 1998 Issue: Folly Jazz News

by Doug Tatum

On Saturday, January 17, the jazz sounds of the 1940s will come alive on the Folly Theater stage when acclaimed clarinetist/composer Don Byron leads his exuberant "Bug Music" band through meticulous and faithful transcriptions of composers Raymond Scott, John Kirby and Duke Ellington. The concert will begin at 8:00 p.m., preceded at 7:00 p.m. by our "Jazz Talk" pre-concert discussion with host Dick Wright.

Are you wondering what the heck "Bug Music" is? First of all, it is the title of Don Byron's latest CD on the Nonesuch label, a lively recording that captures the joyous spirit of the swing era. The name "Bug Music" originated in a mid-1960s episode of television's "The Flintstones" in which "Bug music with them four insects" was the animators' tongue-in-cheek version of The Beatles. Byron's current "Bug Music" project has nothing to do with rock 'n roll or The Beatles, however. It does have everything to do with great jazz and swing.

Ellington, and the two lesser-known composers, Raymond Scott and John Kirby, all loved unusual chord progressions and minutely detailed arrangements. Each also liked to fashion pieces that explored the talents of individual band members. In their heydays, the Scott and Kirby bands were commercially successful. Scott's music was performed in movies featuring the likes of Sonja Henie and Shirley Temple, and he composed sheaves of music for cartoons and television shows. The tune, "Powerhouse" grew famous from frequent use in old Warner Brothers cartoons, and is instantly recognizable to at least three generations of cartoon lovers. In addition, Scott achieved popularity because his was the house band of the popular show, "Your Hit Parade."

John Kirby's band was not quite as commercially successful as Scott's, but it, too, was popular. The band's sophisticated sound led to many society engagements, and Kirby's was one of the earliest black bands to have its own radio show. The band featured some of the finest African-American jazz players of the period, including Russell Procope, Charlie Shavers, Ben Webster and Buster Bailey.

About "Bug Music," The New Yorker stated, "Byron turns to the music of Raymond Scott, an unclassifiable figure from the thirties whose madcap music mixed the vivacity of jazz with intricately composed stop-and-start rhythms, out-of-left-field tonal concoctions, and lunatic energy. In Byron's hands, this mildly subversive marginalia is pure candy."

"Bug Music" is something of a departure for Don Byron. Although he is thought of as a modernist, Byron certainly has roots deeply anchored in earlier jazz styles. He was featured prominently in Robert Altman's 1996 film, "Kansas City," and was heard last season in its "Kansas City Band" that was part of the Verve Jazz Fest that appeared at Station Casino. (If you were at that concert, you'll recall that there was some really great soloing by Don Byron!)

Deeply involved in the most adventurous circles of the New York music scene for the past decade, Don Byron has garnered international recognition as the foremost innovator on jazz clarinet today. Named Down Beat's Jazz Artist of the Year in 1990, he topped the Down Beat Critics' Poll as clarinetist for five consecutive years as well as its Readers' Poll in 1995. Earlier this year, he was named Artistic Director of Jazz at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Byron has worked in just about every context possible. He has performed and recorded with the guitarists Bill Frisell and Mark Ribot, the saxophonist John Zorn, the trombonist Craig Harris and the drummer Ralph Peterson, musicians who veer from free improvisation to rock to avant garde to mainstream jazz. His most important work has been with his two groups, one that performs Klezmer music (which he began playing in the '70s as a student at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston), the other oriented towards jazz. He has also worked extensively on the Latin circuit.

Because he is involved in so many different styles of music, Don Byron is somewhat "hard to peg." Perhaps The New York Times said it best.

"Mr. Byron has obviously studied bebop, and his solos have a loopy lyricism... The ease with which Mr. Byron takes a listener through it all shows why he's one of the more important young musicians working between the various compass points of late 20th century music."

Again, Folly Jazz concerts start at 8:00 p.m. and are preceded at 7:00 p.m. by "Jazz Talk" pre-concert discussions with Dick Wright, host of KANU's "The Jazz Scene." For more information, or to request a flyer, please call the Folly Theater at (816) 474-4444.

(Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater.)

RETURN TO DECEMBER/JANUARY 1998 MAIN INDEX

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© Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.






	Search our site:		by Doug Tatum On Saturday, January 17, the jazz sounds of the 1940s will come alive on the Folly Theater stage when acclaimed clarinetist/composer Don Byron leads his exuberant "Bug Music" band through meticulous and faithful transcriptions of composers Raymond Scott, John Kirby and Duke Ellington. The concert will begin at 8:00 p.m., preceded at 7:00 p.m. by our "Jazz Talk" pre-concert discussion with host Dick Wright. Are you wondering what the heck "Bug Music" is? First of all, it is the title of Don Byron's latest CD on the Nonesuch label, a lively recording that captures the joyous spirit of the swing era. The name "Bug Music" originated in a mid-1960s episode of television's "The Flintstones" in which "Bug music with them four insects" was the animators' tongue-in-cheek version of The Beatles. Byron's current "Bug Music" project has nothing to do with rock 'n roll or The Beatles, however. It does have everything to do with great jazz and swing. Ellington, and the two lesser-known composers, Raymond Scott and John Kirby, all loved unusual chord progressions and minutely detailed arrangements. Each also liked to fashion pieces that explored the talents of individual band members. In their heydays, the Scott and Kirby bands were commercially successful. Scott's music was performed in movies featuring the likes of Sonja Henie and Shirley Temple, and he composed sheaves of music for cartoons and television shows. The tune, "Powerhouse" grew famous from frequent use in old Warner Brothers cartoons, and is instantly recognizable to at least three generations of cartoon lovers. In addition, Scott achieved popularity because his was the house band of the popular show, "Your Hit Parade." John Kirby's band was not quite as commercially successful as Scott's, but it, too, was popular. The band's sophisticated sound led to many society engagements, and Kirby's was one of the earliest black bands to have its own radio show. The band featured some of the finest African-American jazz players of the period, including Russell Procope, Charlie Shavers, Ben Webster and Buster Bailey. About "Bug Music," The New Yorker stated, "Byron turns to the music of Raymond Scott, an unclassifiable figure from the thirties whose madcap music mixed the vivacity of jazz with intricately composed stop-and-start rhythms, out-of-left-field tonal concoctions, and lunatic energy. In Byron's hands, this mildly subversive marginalia is pure candy." "Bug Music" is something of a departure for Don Byron. Although he is thought of as a modernist, Byron certainly has roots deeply anchored in earlier jazz styles. He was featured prominently in Robert Altman's 1996 film, "Kansas City," and was heard last season in its "Kansas City Band" that was part of the Verve Jazz Fest that appeared at Station Casino. (If you were at that concert, you'll recall that there was some really great soloing by Don Byron!) Deeply involved in the most adventurous circles of the New York music scene for the past decade, Don Byron has garnered international recognition as the foremost innovator on jazz clarinet today. Named Down Beat's Jazz Artist of the Year in 1990, he topped the Down Beat Critics' Poll as clarinetist for five consecutive years as well as its Readers' Poll in 1995. Earlier this year, he was named Artistic Director of Jazz at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Byron has worked in just about every context possible. He has performed and recorded with the guitarists Bill Frisell and Mark Ribot, the saxophonist John Zorn, the trombonist Craig Harris and the drummer Ralph Peterson, musicians who veer from free improvisation to rock to avant garde to mainstream jazz. His most important work has been with his two groups, one that performs Klezmer music (which he began playing in the '70s as a student at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston), the other oriented towards jazz. He has also worked extensively on the Latin circuit. Because he is involved in so many different styles of music, Don Byron is somewhat "hard to peg." Perhaps The New York Times said it best. "Mr. Byron has obviously studied bebop, and his solos have a loopy lyricism... The ease with which Mr. Byron takes a listener through it all shows why he's one of the more important young musicians working between the various compass points of late 20th century music." Again, Folly Jazz concerts start at 8:00 p.m. and are preceded at 7:00 p.m. by "Jazz Talk" pre-concert discussions with Dick Wright, host of KANU's "The Jazz Scene." For more information, or to request a flyer, please call the Folly Theater at (816) 474-4444. (Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater.) RETURN TO DECEMBER/JANUARY 1998 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.