Jazz:
former giants, current giants and more Iowans
By Kyle Munson
music critic
The Des Moines Register
munsonk@news.dmreg.com
Former
giants
Bix Beiderbecke, Davenport, cornet, 1903-1931 - When "jazz"
and "Iowa" are mentioned in the same breath, Beiderbecke's
name is usually uttered as well. One of the music's early
innovators, he taught himself piano and then cornet. Beiderbecke
benefitted from his proximity to the Mississippi River: Riverboats
chugged north from New Orleans, carrying jazz bands that influenced
the young cornetist. That's how Beiderbecke first heard Louis
Armstrong perform. His career took him to Chicago, St. Louis
and finally New York, where he met an untimely death after
years of alcoholism. He has an annual Davenport jazz festival
and road run named in his honor. Art Farmer, Council Bluffs,
flugelhorn, 1928-1999 - Farmer made his name in Los Angeles
alongside fellow jazz legends such as Dexter Gordon, Charlie
Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He first appeared on record in
1948, in Jay McShann's band. In the '50s in New York he played
with Charles Mingus, Lester Young and others. In his later
decades Farmer divided his time between Europe and the States.
He even invented an instrument, a flugelhorn-trumpet hybrid
called the flumpet. His brother, bassist Addison Farmer (1928-1963),
appears on some of his recordings. Glenn Miller, Clarinda,
trombone, 1904-1944 - While not known as an instrumental virtuoso
along the lines of Beiderbecke or Farmer, Miller was the ultimate
example of a "Big Band" bandleader. His orchestra established
some of the most popular sounds of the late '30s and early
'40s, including the indelible melodies of "Moonlight Serenade"
and "In the Mood." Miller volunteered for Army service during
World War II and thus led a military band that toured around
America and Europe. En route to a recording session in Paris
in 1944, his small plane disappeared, claiming his life.
Current giants
Charlie Haden, Shenandoah, bass, born 1937 - Arguably the
most influential Iowan now working in jazz, Haden made his
musical start singing country songs with his family on local
radio station KMA and elsewhere. He moved to Los Angeles,
where he hooked up with Ornette Coleman in 1957. He followed
Coleman to New York and eventually collaborated with saxophonist
John Coltrane, pianist Keith Jarrett and countless others.
In the '80s Haden formed his own Quartet West. Acclaimed '90s
albums with guitarist Pat Metheny, pianist Kenny Barron and
pianist Hank Jones are just a few examples of his vast, varied
work.
Ryan Kisor, Sioux City, trumpet, born 1973 - At 17 Kisor won
the Louis Armstrong International Jazz Trumpet Competition,
and since 1994 he's been a mainstay of Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln
Center Jazz Orchestra. In February and March he tours through
Europe with the group. The New York-based trumpeter's own
albums include 1998's "The Usual Suspects." His younger brothers
are rising up through the ranks and threatening to become
future jazz giants as well. Bill Stewart, Des Moines, drums,
born 1967 - This graduate of Roosevelt High School in Des
Moines hit New York in the late '80s and within a decade became
one of jazz's most sought-after sidemen. Stewart most recently
visited his hometown in concert last year with Pat Metheny.
He's elicited high praise from his bandleaders: John Scofield
has called him a "genius at music," and Metheny named him
one of the two major jazz drummers of his generation.
More Iowans
Notes on other jazzy Iowans, in alphabetical order. Like Burns'
film, it's far from comprehensive: Dartanyan Brown is a Des
Moines native and guitarist who still performs his own eclectic
blend of jazz while based in California. Bassist Wayne Darling
from Woodward performed in bandleader Woody Herman's ensembles.
Jazz critic Gary Giddins (author of numerous books, writer
for the Village Voice and a contributor to "Jazz") graduated
from Grinnell College in 1970. As a student he booked Louis
Armstrong to play there. His extensive tome on the music's
history, 1998's "Visions of Jazz," makes for an excellent
companion to Burns' film. Iowa City jazz guitarist and educator
Steve Grismore has for the past decade organized and nurtured
the annual Iowa City Jazz Festival into a major musical attraction.
He's also a member of the Orquesta Alto Maiz (Tall Corn Orchestra),
the longtime, 11-piece eastern Iowa jazz ensemble with a rhythmic
Latin kick. Far-flung jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock, a Chicago
native, graduated from Grinnell College in 1960 and has returned
to perform occasional concerts. Longtime local jazzer Paul
Micich has been heard all over Iowa performing on his unique
wind-synthesizer hybrid instrument known as an "electric horn."
Multi-instrumentalist Susie Miget has been a jazz mainstay
in Des Moines for more than two decades. Saxophonist Jack
Oatts founded Iowa's first high school jazz band, in Earlham.
Some of his children have pursued jazz, including Jim Oatts,
trumpeter and leader of the local Des Moines Big Band, and
Dick Oatts, who has played sax in New York with the Carnegie
Hall Jazz Band and Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Sam Salomone
is Des Moines' longtime virtuoso on the Hammond B-3 organ.
Trumpeter Paul Smoker grew up in Davenport and spent 14 years
as head of the jazz studies program at Coe College in Cedar
Rapids. He left Iowa in 1990 to perform and record in the
New York area, where he now leads his own Paul Smoker Brass
Group. An avowed disciple of avant guard trumpeter Lester
Bowie, Smoker has worked with musicians such as clarinetist
Don Byron and saxophonist Lee Konitz. Guitarist Frank Tribble
came to Des Moines in the late '60s to study at Drake University
and has become a staple of the local jazz scene.
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