Matt Visits The Manhattan School of Music

February 25, 2006

Matt and I made a special trip to NY in February so he could look through original Duke Ellington scores and select some previously un-played or unrecorded songs to perform on April 29^th at the Duke Ellington Birthday Celebration at MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) in NY.

The trip turned out to be SO much more of an educational experience than we could ever have imagined.

We arrived in NY on Thursday, Feb 24, 2006.  That evening we had the wonderful experience of hearing Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Orchestra in concert and meeting with Wynton during intermission.

On Friday, we met with renowned jazz pianist and teacher, Garry Dial.  Many years ago, Garry had spent time with the Ellington family, and when Duke died, his sister asked Garry to catalogue all the songs she found in a box of Duke’s things.  There were about 350 pieces.  She gave the box to Garry, who catalogued everything and recorded each of the tunes onto a cassette for Duke’s sister so that she could know what each tune sounded like (and perhaps sell the song).  Then she died, leaving the scores with Garry.  The songs have been carefully protected by Garry ever since.   Garry allowed Matt to be the first person to peruse the music and perform a few of the tunes in concert.  Awestruck doesn’t even begin to cover our feeling about this and our gratefulness to Garry for his generosity.

Garry teaches at the Manhattan School of Music, so he invited us to sit in (and join in) on his classes of the day.  His classes that day were three ensemble classes…a master’s class, a group of sophomores and a smaller ensemble class in the afternoon.  Matt was fresh off of listening to the Lincoln Center Orchestra, so he was up for large ensembles.  The classes were designed such that each class member brought in a new composition (with each part arranged) for the members of the group.  He would hand out the music to his fellow classmates, describing the way he heard the song in his head.  Then the group would play the tune, sight-reading the piece as if they had practiced it several times.  Each class was wonderful, with different musicians…and the variety of compositions we heard was truly enjoyable.  These college students are good…REALLY, REALLY good!!!  And they are terrific composers, too. 

At some point in each class, Garry asked Matt to perform a jazz “standard” with the group.  This was fantastic experience for Matt.  He’s used to playing with a trio.  And although he has performed in quartets and even sextets, this was a REALLY big band.  There were multiple saxophones and trumpets, and drummers had to trade off songs.  One song would take 20 minutes, as each member of the band would take a solo.  Matt was in music heaven to be in a classroom talking music with other musicians who understand his language.

After spending most of the day in Garry’s classes, it was time to look through the music.

Distinguished filmmaker, Gary Keys, who is a longtime friend of the Ellington family, has made several documentaries about Duke Ellington.  He has, in fact, taken over the celebration of the anniversary of Duke Ellington’s birthday from Duke’s sister after her death.  On April 29^th, Duke’s birthday, there will be a screening of Gary Keys’ three films about jazz legend Edward Kennedy Ellington, including Keys’ most recent film, “Reminiscing in Tempo.” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NY.  Matt will perform never-before performed Ellington tunes from Ellington’s original handwritten scores in between the films.  That was the reason we were in NY - to look through the music.

Gary Keys and his crew came to the college to film Matt and Garry sorting through Duke’s music and to look through the music themselves.  They filmed Matt’s playing the music and selecting songs to perform in April.  Everyone in the room was so thrilled to be looking at pieces written by Duke.  Matt found a few songs that had him laughing so hard that he couldn’t stop.  One piece, written by Mr. Ellington, was entitled, “Chau-go-ga-gog man chau-ga-gog chau buna-gung a maug.”  This is the name of a real lake in Webster, Massachusetts, although the lake’s correct spelling is slightly different from that used by Duke.  The lake's actual name is “Chargoggagoggmanchaugagoggchaubunagungamaugg.”  Yes, it is the longest named lake in the world.  The actual translation of this Indian word is little known, but general legend has it that it means, “You fish on your side, I fish on my side, Nobody fish in the middle.”  Since Matt is a geography enthusiast, he knew about this lake and has always gotten a kick from the name.  He was SO thrilled that Duke Ellington had seen the SAME lake and even written a SONG about it.  Matt placed the music on the piano, played the tune and even sang the lyrics to the song.  All of this was filmed by Gary Keys and his crew.  Needless to say, Matt chose this song as one of the tunes he will play to celebrate Duke Ellington’s birthday at MoMA in April.  He picked four other tunes that were special to him musically and/or lyrically.  One of the tunes is a gorgeous piece Ellington wrote during his travels through Japan.

It was the most incredible experience, watching the events of the day.  Matt would look at a Duke Ellington original score, hear the song in his head, decide if the song captured him, and then run to the piano to play it.  If Duke could only have seen the joy his music brought to Matt and know that his music will continue to thrill future generations…  Somehow, I think he was watching and knows.

You can hear the pieces Matt will perform on Duke’s Birthday (April 29^th) at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Manhattan (in between showings of Gary Keys’ documentaries).

We would VERY much like to thank Garry Dial for allowing us to attend and participate in his classes at the Manhattan School of Music, for allowing us to look through and select several special compositions from his Duke Ellington collection, for being a teacher, a mentor and friend.   Thank you to the students at Manhattan School of Music for sharing their classes with Matt for a day and for teaching him as well as welcoming him into their group.  Many years from now, Matt will think of this experience as one of his most memorable and treasured.  And the best part is that these same college students with whom he jammed will be his peers on the jazz circuit.  They’ll have stories to trade, just like the “old timers.”