December 5, 2012
The McGill TribuneNovember 26, 2012
By Gregory Frank
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Pianist, drummer, recording engineer—and full-time professor—André White’s still got the groove
What makes a jazz concert exciting? Piano quintets featuring vibraphones, Spanish-bebop fusion, and never-previously-released songs, obviously. Taking the hint, drummer, pianist, and McGill music professor André White will take to the Segal stage next week. With esteemed vibraphonist François Stevenson, guitarist Carlos Jimenez, bassist Alex Walkington, and drummer Dave Laing, The André White Quintet will present an eclectic array of music, composed entirely by White.
“You need to think how the textures are going to work. You don’t want it to be too dense,” White comments, referring to the combination of vibraphone, guitar, and piano— an exciting feature of his upcoming concert. “I like the challenge of working with those three instruments.”
White says his music is “firmly steeped in the bebop tradition,” and he was surrounded by jazz while growing up. “That’s sort of [the] music that’s been pounded into my brain … to me, that really relates to all the music that comes after it, it’s not like you separate it.”
And he doesn’t. Even when the music in question precedes bebop chronologically, White stays crafty. Inspired by the great 19th century Spanish composers Granados and Albéniz, he composed a special suite that “would refer to that period, that music.”
“[But] it’s still jazz music,” he reassures. “I’ve been trying to get the sound of that music and marry it to contemporary jazz.”
The “El Toro Suite” from his album El Toro is anything but a literal transcription from the Spanish originals.
“[I’m] working on it from the perspective of a jazz musician who’s self-taught,” says White. “I haven’t actually taken Granados’ music and put it in front of me and stole some stuff.” Rather, he tries “to get the flavour and add it to [his] own original music.”
“And that’s hard,” he concedes, “because you put yourself in a time period, and try to extract that back to reality.”
However, when it comes to bebop’s relevance in White’s music, he admits: “I don’t want to just stay in 1940. I’m trying to incorporate some new things as well.” On top of his affinity towards Charlie Parker and Bill Evans, White keeps listening to music, especially to those produced by Schulich’s own “unbelievable talent.”
In fact, the McGill professor is a product of that very crowd. He earned his M. Mus in sound recording at McGill, and followed that career path for some time, recording over 100 CDs featuring artists such as Kirk MacDonald and René Bolduc. So bringing the behind-the-scenes recording artist to the Segal’s centre stage is a neat contrast—this show is about him.
But it’s also about the audience:
“I want people who walk away from the concert [to] have a melody from the concert in their heads,” says White. “I’m trying to stay with the idea that the songs are memorable, but they’re not so complicated that they make your brain hurt.”
With all the modernist music out there, one finds solace in music that’s easy to listen to.
“For me, the most important thing is to play a good solo on every tune, not to play the parts perfectly, but that the improvising is at the highest level it can be, that I can produce,” White says. “That’s my interest, and that’s what I enjoy. It’s like when you close your eyes, and you play a good solo, sometimes it’s better than sex. Not always—but sometimes,” White laughs.
The musician and McGill professor is the exception to the rule that it’s nearly impossible to sustain yourself as a jazz musician. His upcoming performance promises quality music, delivered by a cohesive band, and pieces that are less Spanish, and more White.
The André White Quintet performs at the Segal Centre (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine) Dec. 2. Tickets start at $15.