February is a very special month for a number of reasons. First off, I was born in February. Second, my first date with my now fianceé was on a cold day in February. The Robbyn Tongue Band had it’s first official performance on a Sunday night in February five short years ago! So it is with no shortage of significance that today I invite you to the 5 Year Anniversary Performance of the Robbyn Tongue Band!

Since this performance falls on the day after my birthday, I’m using this as another opportunity to celebrate the day I was born (there’s talk of cake It would be a really awesome birthday present to see you there!

It brings me enormous pleasure to announce the triumphant return of the Robbyn Tongue Band! On Thursday, June 23rd, 2011, the band took to the stage of Miles’ Cafe on the Upper East Side, playing for a highly enthusiastic audience that made this jazz concert feel a little more like a rock concert. This particular incarnation of the ensemble consisted of Sam Ryder on tenor saxophone, Bryan Reeder on piano, Josh Paris on bass, and Norman Paul Edwards Jr. on drums. Fortunately I was able to document the occasion on video and I’ve posted three of the songs on YouTube that I’d like to share with you here:

This past May/June I got to spend three weeks at the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, and I’d like to put down here a little bit about this incredible experience. But how do you begin to describe something that transcends words? I guess you could start with the place – a valley surrounded by snow capped mountains scratching the very ceiling of the earth. The heart of the Canadian Rockies sure feels this way with peaks reaching 10,000 feet above sea level. But of course the place wouldn’t be anything without the people – sixty-four beautiful and talented souls who came together from all over the world with the purpose of growing together; pushing beyond physical and mental limits with only the music in mind. Those are just some of the thoughts that come when recalling the past three weeks of intensive training in Jazz and Creative Music I received at the Banff Centre, and I haven’t even gotten to the faculty yet! Every Monday afternoon, a new group of master musicians came to us, ready to generously impart their wisdom and share their immense skills with us.

I couldn’t possibly share every meaningful experience that I gained from my time at this musical monastery, nestled away in a magical space apart from the real world. But I will recount a few choice highlights that have seriously impacted how I think about and practice music. Week one started off with all 64 participants gathered in one room freely improvising together. What a wake-up call! To my delight, I had the opportunity to continue working in this large ensemble format for the rest of the week in a double octet led by Dave Douglas. Our improvisations quickly evolved into a system of cueing that we employed with several Thelonious Monk tunes and Dave’s piece (The Caldron) from day one. It was a very informative time where I learned a lot about listening and trying to contribute in a meaningful way to this bubbling caldron of sound.

Week two’s faculty continued in this same vein of purely improvised music. All of the masterclasses really stretched my mind into the outer limits of creativity, a space where the science and spirit of music intersect. I felt this most strongly in both of Eyvind Kang’s masterclasses where he spoke of notes bearing witness to one another, a beautiful analogy for the counterpoint every musician deals with and the ever present context that our playing creates, even when its entirely improvised in nature. Eyvind also spoke on the subject of Ornette Coleman’s theory of Harmelodics, of which I had heard but never explored in depth.

Instead of a group of free agents who either had or had not previously collaborated, the faculty in week three was an ensemble with 10 years of collective music making under their belt. The first time I heard the word Kneebody, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. A friend of mine had recommend their music to me in college, but I didn’t really listen to a full album until I found out they would be leading a week of my musical exploration at Banff. After a couple times through “You Can Have Your Moment” I was wishing I had heeded my friends advice years earlier, wow! What a sound. This band is pushing the envelope of jazz in a really exciting way. They were generous enough to let us in on their bands secret language, a series of thirty or so cues that they use in performance to basically compose and arrange their compositions on the spot in a very spontaneous and musical way.

If you are a musician and you are reading this post, the only word I have left for you is GO! Those of you who have been there know what I’m talking about. Those dedicated readers who made it this far and don’t play music, you’re the ones who we’re here to play for. You comprise an intrinsic aspect of the musicians purpose, the audience. Big or small, audiences are absolutely necessary for music. I gained a greater appreciation for this simple fact at Banff too, and I hope that I take all of these lessons and put them to good use on the stage, playing for a bunch of people, very soon!

Wow! I can’t believe over a year has passed since my last post to this blog. It’s time for a resolution: Write one blog post per month in 2011. Re-capping the last year seems like a good place to start:

2010 saw a number of new and exciting opportunities for saxophone playing in and out of New York. There was a mini tour with the Ben Geyer Sextet marking the release of that group’s first studio album, “The Narrative”. In August I “went the distance” with Jackie Draper’s brand of hilarious, artful, and moving Cabaret. Speaking of Jackie’s show, we have a special encore performance of “Go the Distance” coming up this Sunday, January 23rd, 5pm at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. In October I found one of those uniquely New York bands with two weekly gigs playing the music of the swing era and Frank Sinatra – the one and only Stan Rubin Orchestra with whom I subbed numerous times in the 2nd alto chair. A brass band took shape late in 2010, rehearsing sporadically, pulling inspiration from sources as disparate as Dave Douglas, Gill Scott, and Haitian folk song, and came together to book a gig in late January at the Parkside Lounge, Monday, January 24th (wink wink, nudge nudge). 

Most notably the year closed with a truly broadening experience. I spent a week in Orlando, Florida visiting my girlfriend’s family for the holidays and was exposed to a new musical setting that I hadn’t yet found in New York: the smooth jazz and R&B jam session. What an eye opener! Of course, I have had the pleasure of listening to and playing with Norman Edwards’ killing cover band, the Sliq Soul Brothers, who play some seriously hip renditions of pop, funk, and R&B covers. But it was really refreshing to hear these guys in Orlando throwing down on that same kind of material in a jam session context and making some real music out of it.

This one alto player, Dayve Stewart, really blew me away. Not only is he one of the most original voices that I’ve heard recently on the saxophone, he absolutely killed on the EWI, using it with a vocoder for spectacular effect. Which brings me to yet another hope for the new year: start shedding my pop and smooth jazz. It really is an entirely different thing from what I’m used to playing, and hopefully it will open up some new doors for playing music.

While I’m sure there is more that I haven’t covered of my musical escapades in the last year, I had better sign off and save some material for my next monthly post, coming up not too far off, in February. Thanks for reading, and I hope to be playing for you sometime soon!

Saturday, January 2nd, the incessant snow is unrelenting and we’ve been forced to cancel tonight’s concert. The weather may have won this battle, but we’re still fighting the war. The sky may dump load after load of snow today, but it can’t do that all week… at least we’re hoping. So with the intention of being even more incessant than this darn snow, we’re rescheduling the concert for next Saturday evening, January 9th at 7pm.

So for those of you getting snowed in this Saturday, enjoy the ensuing winter wonderland and mark your calendars for next Saturday when the NH All-star Quintet will triumphantly take the stage at the Derry Opera House. It’s really something special to be playing with New Hampshire musicians for a New Hampshire audience. These are the people I grew up with, they know where I’m coming from. We share a common background in our geographic region that we can all relate to. My hope is for this mood to be reflected in the concert. We’re playing an original of mine I wrote while in Londonderry which is meant to capture the ancient melancholic atmosphere of the town’s pine forests.

Also on the program is an arrangement of the traditional melody “Londonerry Air”. This setting finds the piece in a loping 5/4 meter meant to give the listener a mental picture of the rolling apple orchards so characteristic of this once rural New England town. This song was a staple in Londonderry High School’s marching band repertoire for the many St. Patrick’s Day parades we marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City. So in other words it has a certain nostalgia, memories of Spartan bus rides, hotel rooms in New Jersey, the perpetual defeat of the blue knight at Medieval Times; I hope some marching lancers read this so someone will know what I’m talking about. For those of you who are lost, I hope you can attend the concert so you might be able to hear in the music some of what I’m talking about.

So far the forecast for the 9th is sun, sun, and more sun! Have a great first week of 2010 and we’ll see you next Saturday!

New York is one of the world’s most vibrant cities and is arguably the best place in the world to experience America’s indigenous art form. Jazz may not have been born here, but in the twenty-first century New York is jazz’s new home. The venues here are second to none, so when we’re talking about New York’s Jazz Clubs, we’re talking about the creme de la creme. This past Saturday, August 22nd, I took to the stage of the Iridium Jazz Club with vocalist, composer, and pianist Matthew Bryan Feld. The Iridium, if you don’t know, is one flight down from the hustle and bustle of Broadway just north of Time Square at 50th St. This cozy basement club had been home to recently deceased guitar legend Les Paul for the past twelve years where he performed with his trio every Monday night. We had a great show playing for new and old faces alike, and to my surprise, veteran jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton performed the set before us. Tierney is one of my favorite singers on the jazz scene today, so it was a real treat to get to see her perform live (something I had yet to experience).

This coming Wednesday, August 26th, the Ben Geyer Sextet is gearing up to rock the house at The Kitano. We just finished a whirlwind tour of New England at the beginning of August playing in Vermont and New Hampshire and recording a full-length album that Ben is mixing in the studio as I type. To speak a little bit more about The Kitano, although I haven’t seen many shows at this swank Park Ave. hotel, the shows I have seen have been spectacular. The modern and somewhat esoteric tenor saxophonist Rich Perry and his quartet are a staple on the monthly calendar and the group has recorded multiple live albums at this venue that can be heard on the Steeplechase label under the branding “Live at the Kitano”. Not only is this venue intimate, but the furniture is very comfortable making for an all around gratifying listening experience.

I urge you, if you are in town, to check out our show this Wednesday, see the Calendar page for more details. I hope this posting finds you well and please visit again soon to check for more updates.

The only thing better than playing great music is playing great music with great friends, and that’s exactly what I had the pleasure of doing Tuesday, April 21st at Cafe Vivaldi.  Matthew Bryan Feld, a multi-talented vocalist/pianist/composer, led our small band of melodic miscreants on twists and turns through repertoire ranging from John Mayer to Duke Ellington.  Matthew is one of my newest and closest friends, which seems to be a rare combination that has come so naturally to this South Beach native intent on conquering the Big Apple.  

Matthew’s effervescent personality is apparent wether entertaining a packed house at a west village haunt or hanging a few blocks away at the after party.  I very much look forward to having the opportunity to once more take to the stage with this young modern-day troubadour.  May 24th we’ll be at it again at the Rockwood Music Hall, so call up your friends and mark your calendars now, we’re sure to raise the roof!

AND – be on the lookout for video postings of our most recent gig on Facebook and YouTube.

Thanks so much to everyone who came and saw the Ben Geyer Sextet last night at the Cutting Room. You made our New York debut a huge success! If you’d like to receive email updates about more of Ben’s shows (or my shows for that matter) just drop me an email at R.Tongue@gmail.com and we’ll add you to the mailing list.