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| Metheny keyboardist comes home |
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Lyle Mays featured at Zeltsman Marimba FestivalEven though it’s been 25 years since Lyle Mays was last at Lawrence University – when the Pat Metheny Group performed there in 1984 – the Wisconsin native knows it’s one of the treasures of his home state. “People are very lucky to have these world-class things in their back yard,” the Pat Metheny Group keyboardist said by telephone recently from his Los Angeles home. He was referring both to Lawrence and the Zeltsman Marimba Festival, the 15-day music event at Lawrence that began June 28. Mays was invited to the festival as both composer and performer. He is one of 16 name composers who were asked to provide new marimba compositions to be featured – along with eight compositions by composers who entered a competition – during the ZMF New Musical Weekend, July 3-5. “I’m looking forward to coming back to that part of the country. I’m from the area,” Mays said. “I grew up in Macalester, about 75 miles north of Green Bay. Went to Wausaukee High School. So Green Bay was the big city. Still have family. Both my sisters and my mom. I don’t get back often enough for my tastes, but I do it enjoy it when I get back.” Others whose new works will debut at the fest include Paul Simon, Gunther Schuller, Carla Bley, Steven Mackey, Chen Yi, Fred Hersch and Steven Stucky. “I’m honored just to be included in that list of luminaries, but I’m also happy for the opportunity to get a bit of jazz aesthetics slipped into the classical new music scene. It’s a win-win situation for both worlds,” Mays said. Mays said he first met Nancy Zeltsman, founder of the Zeltsman Marimba Festival, when he was living in Boston. “I got interested in the classical new music scene and heard about this performer who had this great time feel like a jazz musician and was really fun to watch play and was really a virtuoso,” he said. “So I went to check out this new music concert, saw Nancy play and was hooked.” Mays’ involvement in the Boston new music scene included being named a guest sneaker in Boston’s Composer in Red Sneakers series. “I’m still very proud of the red sneakers I received for that, and actually wrote a piece that involved Nancy,” he said. “We just kept in touch. I was able to write a piece for Marimilon, her duo with (violinist) Sharon Leventhal a while back. It’s a longstanding involvement that’s been really stimulating and rewarding. She’s quite a mover and shaker every year.” Zeltsman’s main reason for enlisting the talents of name composers to write new works for marimba was to help create a more program friendly repertoire for marimba in orchestral settings. How well does a composer have to know an instrument to write well for it? “There are a number of challenges writing for marimba, but they’re all really fun challenges,” Mays said. “It’s very different than writing for a piano, for instance. I think the most effective marimba pieces are those that really treat the music indigenously and try to get inside the head. What would the marimba want and what would the marimba player want? Things that sound good on the marimba don’t necessarily sound good on other instruments and vice versa. But it’s one of the most beautiful sounds of any of the instruments in the orchestra. You’ve got the potential for polyphony, like a keyboard instrument. It’s kind of a remarkable animal.” In addition to the natural color of the instrument, you have to consider the different textures produced by different mallets, different playing techniques and even the personality of the player. “It’s a pretty rich world,” Mays said. “The way I’m using it in my concert, there’s sometimes two marimbas and voices, plus the standard jazz rhythm section. So it’s an ensemble instrument in that context. And the piece I wrote for Nancy is a solo marimba piece. So I’m kind of exploring both extremes of this world.” In addition to performing new arrangements of his compositions Fictionary, Long Life and Chorinho at his July 10 concert Mays will debut a new work called Eberhard, dedicated to German bassist Eberhard Weber. “Eberhard has always been an inspiration to me from the first time I heard his music. He also recorded on ECM, where the Pat Metheny group first started recording. I was lucky enough to play on one of his records. Eberhard had a sound and an aesthetic that I thought perfectly combined a European sensibility in the classical tradition and also the jazz aesthetic. He pointed in a direction that I thought was fruitful and an especially appropriate direction for this concert. To begin with, he was kind of my hero for anything that involved combing the jazz and classical worlds. To add to that, Steve Rodby’s going to be playing in the ensemble. And I wrote some bass melodies for him that I thought perhaps were influenced by Eberhard. So I thought it was appropriate to give a shoutout as they say.” In addition to Rodby, Mays’ bandmate in the Pat Metheny Group, the ensemble will include Zeltsman on marimba and two singers, one of whom is Mays’ neice, Aubrey Johnson. “She just got her master’s degree in jazz vocals from the New England Conservatory,” Mays said. “It will be the first time that I’ve performed onstage with my niece, which is really thrilling to me, to have someone continuing the jazz tradition in the Mays family.” Lawrence drum maestro Dane Richeson is also a member of the group. “Another Wisconsin treasure, Dane Richeson on drums,” Mays said. “I love these little-known secrets, Wisconsin’s secret weapons.” Mays said it is best to flush any preconceptions about new music from your mind. “It’s a marvelous scene to bring an open mind to,” he said. “It’s a little-known secret that you can dance to some of this stuff. People may have some misconceptions about what new music is, but the whole point of it is to be creative and push on the boundaries a little bit. In this particular setting, it’s also about having fun. This is a pretty fun-loving group for as much virtuosity is there. “People are going to see something that may surprise them in its beauty and its tunefulness. Leave any preconceptions at the door, bring a set of open ears and be prepared to go on a pretty cool journey.” WHAT: Lyle Mays in concert with Steve Rodby, Dane Richeson, Mark Urness, Aubrey Johnson, Brian Calhoon and Zeltsman Marimba Festival faculty WHERE: Stansbury Theatre, Lawrence University, Appleton WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, July 10 COST: $20, $14 for students and seniors INFO: zmf.us Remaining New Music/Visiting Composer Talks Fri., July 3: Lyle Mays (2 p.m.) and Gunther Schuller (4 p.m.), Cloak Theatre, Sat., July 4: Robert Aldridge (2 p.m.) and Steven Mackey (4 p.m.), Cloak Theatre Tues., July 7: Errolyn Wallen (2 p.m.) and Chen Yi (4 p.m.), Harper Hall Remaining Concerts Fri., July 3: ZMF Faculty concert featuring Ivana Bilic and Jean Geoffroy, 8 p.m., Harper Hall Sat., July 4: ZMF Faculty concert featuring Jack van Geem and Nancy Zeltsman, 8 p.m., Harper Hall Sun., July 5: ZMF New Music Gala, pre-concert talk, 1 p.m.; concert, 2 p.m., Stansbury Hall Tues., July 7: ZMF Faculty concert featuring Thomas Burritt and Gordon Stout Sat. July 11: ZMF Participants’ Marathon Concert, noon-5 p.m., Harper Hall |
