Look What Ike Sturm Has Been Up To!

In March, Ike trucked his Jazz Mass to Europe, doing eight concerts in eight days with his fabulous 6-piece band in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

The core combo was Misty Ann Sturm on vocals, Loren Stillman on alto sax, Chris Dingman on vibes, Jesse Lewis on guitar, Jared Schonig on drums, and Ike on bass.

In Norway, they added  trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and tenor sax player Uwe Steinmetz.

“We played all original music and arrangements – mostly new songs and vespers or mass settings that I’ve been writing for Saint Peter’s,” Ike said.

“The beautiful churches (some of them nearly 1000 years old) inspired new sounds in the music and challenged us with different acoustics each day.  We made new friends with some incredibly nice people along the way and hope to visit again soon.”

Ike will be working his instructional magic at all three Tritone camps this summer.

Who says Gene is just a jazz guy?

If you happen to be in NYC this Saturday (May 3), catch the versatile Gene Bertoncini displaying his classical chops in an 8 p.m. concert at the Baruch Center, 55 Lexington Ave., where he’s being honored by the New York Classical Guitar Society.  Tickets are $25 and can be ordered by phone at 212-352-3101 or 866-811-4111(toll free).

As further demonstration of his monstrous talent, check out Gene’s newest CD, Concerti, recorded with a string quartet and featuring the wonderful bassist David Finck.  Click here for purchasing info.

 

Are all vocalists Cheeseheads?

There’s something we can’t quite figure out.  For the second year in a row, we’ve exceeded our quota of vocalist campers in Wisconsin, but as of today, not a single vocalist has enrolled in Rochester.

Is the midwestern air kinder to singers’ throats?  Does the idea of singing in a college music building bring back painful memories of undergrad auditions?  Do vocalists have some kind of geo-tonal attraction to Lake Michigan (and what’s wrong with Lake Ontario)?

It just doesn’t make any sense.  Our fabulous vocal teacher, Janet Planet, is in residence in both places, and it’s not that she offers any special Cheesehead magic in WI just because it’s her home state.  She works her tail off in both places, spending virtually every day and many evenings helping singers prepare for the final camp concerts and giving them about a year’s worth of material to think about.

So we’re perplexed, but the good news is that any vocalist who signs up for Jazz at Naz is pretty much guaranteed very personal attention this summer.  At least as of today.

Finally, Well-Deserved Kudos for Gene!

Those of you who follow New York Times jazz writer Ben Ratliff know that he can be a very tough critic.

But he was recently smitten as we all are by Gene Bertoncini’s masterful playing, and he said so in a beautiful piece in the March 5 edition (click here). Although Ratliff stopped in to see Gene’s recent performances at two NYC venues, LeMadeleine (solo) and Iridium (trio with bassist Sean Smith and drummer Chuck Redd), it was the LeMadeleine gig that captured his attention.

It was only a matter of time before one of the nation’s leading jazz critics discovered what Tritone campers have long known–that the guy who enjoys jamming with campers and accompanying vocalists, puts the guitarists through their paces in master classes, and tells the bad jokes is one of the finest jazz guitarists the world will ever know.

Tritone Bob