SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SUMMER/FALL, 2017
VOLUME FOUR NUMBER THREE
ESPERANZA SPALDING
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
JAZZMEIA HORN
(August 12-18)
ROY HAYNES
(August 19-25)
MCCOY TYNER
(August 26-September 1)
AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE
(September 2-8)
AARON DIEHL
(September 9-15)
CECILE MCLORIN SAVANT
(September 16-22)
REGGIE WORKMAN
(September 23-29)
ANDREW CYRILLE
(September 30-October 6)
BARRY HARRIS
(October 7-13)
MARQUIS HILL
(October 14-20)
HERBIE NICHOLS
(October 21-27)
GREG OSBY
(October 28-November 3)
http://www.aarondiehl.com/aaron-diehl-bio
AARON DIEHL
(b. September 22, 1985)
Pianist Aaron Diehl is one of the most sought after jazz virtuosos, consistently playing with what The New York Times describes as “melodic precision, harmonic erudition, and elegant restraint.” Diehl’s meticulously thought-out performances, collaborations, and compositions are a leading force in today’s generation of jazz contemporaries, spearheading a distinct union of traditional and fresh artistry.
The 2014–15 season highlights include serving as Music Director for the Jazz at Lincoln Center New Orleans Songbook concert series, performing in the New York premiere of Philip Glass’ complete Etudes at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, collaborating with the Spanish flamenco guitarist Dani De Morón in Flamenco Meets Jazz (produced by Savannah Music Festival and Flamenco Festival), and touring the U.S. and Europe with Grammy nominated jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. Ms. Salvant and Diehl’s Trio, featuring Paul Sikivie (bass) and Lawrence Leathers (drums), have select performances at: Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles, CA), Jazz in Marciac (Marciac, France), Newport Jazz Festival (Newport, RI), North Sea Jazz Festival (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Istanbul Jazz Festival (Istanbul, Turkey), Ronnie Scott’s (London, England), and La Cigale (Paris, France).
For downloadable photos and bios, please visit the press page.
Diehl’s next album on Mack Avenue Records, Space, Time, Continuum, emphasizes the artistic collaborations between generations. Establishing the jazz language as a continuum uniting artists, the album includes performances by NEA Jazz Master Benny Golson (tenor saxophone) and Duke Ellington Orchestra alumnus Joe Temperley (baritone saxophone), alongside Diehl’s other established trio—Quincy Davis (drums) and David Wong (bass). The majority of the album consists of Diehl’s original compositions. The title track, featuring vocalist Charenee Wade, was co-written by Cécile McLorin Salvant.
The Bespoke Man’s Narrative (2013), Diehl’s debut album, reached No.1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart and was hailed by JazzTimes for displaying “precision and polish.” KCRW praised the album, stating, “This is an album you can listen to again and again, honest music that invites you back in to discover new wonders with each listening.”
Live at the Players (2010) featured both of his trios: Quincy Davis and David Wong, and Paul Sikivie and Lawrence Leathers. His first solo album, Live at Caramoor (2008), was a concert recorded at the Caramoor Festival.
Diehl’s recent collaborations with internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles include: Warren Wolf, Lew Tabackin, Matt Wilson, Wycliffe Gordon, Wynton Marsalis and his Septet, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. As the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival Commission Artist, Diehl became one of the youngest artists to receive this honor and composed Three Streams of Expression, dedicated to pianist and composer John Lewis. He is also the 2013 recipient of the Jazz Journalists Associations Award for Up-And-Coming Artist, the 2012 Prix du Jazz Classique recipient for his album Live at the Players from the Académie du Jazz, and is the winner of the 2011 Cole Porter Fellowship from the American Pianists Association. In an effort to nurture the development of young jazz artists and the community, Diehl was the inaugural Artistic Director of the Catskill Jazz Factory.
Aaron Diehl is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he studied with Kenny Barron, Eric Reed, and Oxana Yablonskaya. Residing in Harlem, he enjoys spending time in the sky when he isn’t on tour or recording. As a licensed pilot, one of his favorite planes to fly is the Beechcraft Bonanza.
https://www.mackavenue.com/artists/aaron-diehl
Bio
In fashion circles123, the adjective “bespoke” denotes custom-made suits and shirts and signifies the person who designs and constructs them. On The Bespoke Man’s Narrative, his brilliant Mack Avenue Records debut, pianist Aaron Diehl extrapolates this notion to matters of musical invention.
“The idea for the metaphor was that the composition and concept were specifically for these musicians,” Diehl says, referring to his working quartet of 30-ish all-stars—vibraphonist (and Mack Avenue artist) Warren Wolf, bassist David Wong and drummer Rodney Green—that interprets the five originals and five arrangements comprising the program. “There’s a sequence, an arc, a beginning, middle and end. Each piece has something to do with my musical development.”
The project gestated in April of 2011 in Indianapolis after Diehl, 26, earned first place in the rigorous Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz competition presented by the American Pianists Association. The award garnered him $50,000 in career support and an opportunity to record with Mack Avenue Records.
“I thought it would be wise to use the opportunity to document this ensemble,” Diehl states. “I decided to compose and arrange music in line with our own sound and conception, while using the strategies of bandleaders like John Lewis and Duke Ellington, who developed their music in line with the abilities of their personnel.”
Diehl is singularly positioned within his generation to apply these lessons to a contemporary context. An alumnus of Todd Stoll’s Columbus (Ohio) Youth Jazz Orchestra, which specializes in performing a broad timeline of Ellington’s music, he spent the last six months of his sophomore year at Juilliard—he was 19 at the time—helping pianist John Lewis’ widow, Mirjana, to organize her late husband’s archive of manuscripts, scores, reel-to-reel tapes and recordings. Already intimate with the stride piano canon from his teens, Diehl applied the quality time with Lewis’ Bach-to-blues oeuvre towards finding a conceptual space in which to coalesce his varied interests.
This quartet initially took shape in 2008—then with drummer Quincy Davis—when Diehl was asked to play a concert of Lewis’ music. By an April 2010 performance of this repertoire at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Rodney Green had assumed the drum chair.
“Warren is a virtuoso,” Diehl says of his fellow Mack Avenue artist. “There couldn’t be anyone more appropriate to play the part of Milt Jackson. David is a fluid, precise player with a lot of finesse and a strong bow, who comes straight out of the bebop-based approaches of Percy Heath and Paul Chambers. Mrs. Lewis said that John would have loved him.
“I hadn’t realized it, but Rodney listened a lot to Connie Kay, and told me that one reason he wanted to be part of this project was to get more inside Connie’s approach.”
In preparing this program of creative refractions of the aforementioned oeuvres, Diehl focused on nurturing an ensemble sound. “Rather than feature just my piano playing, I like to involve everybody in the process,” he says. “Sharing the wealth allows for more musical possibilities.”
For all his collective orientation, Diehl commands attention at the piano. Addressing a Fazioli F-228 grand piano, he showcases a nuanced touch, a comfort zone with tempos ranging from rubato to brisk, encyclopedic harmonic knowledge, an abiding sense of blues expression and a will—when necessary—to swing. He’s assimilated vocabulary across the timeline, finding fresh, idiomatic ways to mix-and-match ideas drawn from a diverse cohort including, among others, Lewis, Ellington, Ahmad Jamal, Marcus Roberts and Kenny Kirkland. As he puts it, “My overall goal is trying to figure out how to connect all the language to make an interesting and engaging performance, and also develop my own voice. Why limit yourself to just playing something here and something there? It’s all gold.”
Diehl’s all-jazz-is-modern attitude dates to formative years. “I started young with Bach, so going into jazz, I had an affinity for piano,” he says. He also developed a feeling for music’s ritualistic functions by playing for Mass in the Catholic Church that his parents attended, as well as services held for a primarily African- American clientele at his father’s funeral home. At 13 he joined Stoll’s Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra; at 16 he took a steady trio gig in a Columbus hotel lounge; at 17, directly after graduating high school, he joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet for a European tour of one-nighters. That fall, he matriculated at Juilliard, where Oxana Yablonskaya worked with him on “how to develop various aspects of my sound.”
After the “Prologue,” a reflective, bluesy “little appetizer” that might be mistaken for a Lewis composition in a Blindfold Test, the recital as such commences with “Generation Y,” a vigorous burnout tune with nice changes and high-octane solos by Wolf and Diehl. “The guys in the band are from that generation,” Diehl says. “It’s great to play and learn from the Modern Jazz Quartet’s music, but as four younger musicians trying to figure out how to play jazz at a high level, what can we do to develop alternate forms and ways of playing together within the context of our own sound?”
Diehl’s “Blue Nude,” a restrained minor blues at a slow-drag tempo, contains, the composer says, “a mysterious, intimate, sensual quality.” In their solos, Green and Diehl show great maturity, imperceptibly building the tension.
The group simpatico shines through on “Moonlight In Vermont,” to which Diehl imparts an Ahmad Jamal meets the MJQ feel, establishing bespoke ensemble support for solos by Wong and the leader. “I wrote it for a concert given by the trio at Middlebury College in Vermont,” Diehl says. “The arrangement has an outline, but offers a lot of freedom inside the changes.”
Diehl applies his sublime touch to a reverent solo interpretation of Duke Ellington’s “Single Petal Of A Rose,” from The Queen’s Suite, a favorite since his teens. “I might add a few embellishments here or there, with different dynamics from one performance to the other, but I approach it like a piece of classical music,” the pianist says.
“The Cylinder” is a Milt Jackson one-chord blues frequently recorded by the MJQ—Diehl cites Blues at Carnegie Hall as a favorite version. Over Diehl’s fluid counterpoint, Wolf evokes Jackson’s efflorescent imagination, surging line,and unique tonality in his own argot; the pianist uncorks a harder-than-it-sounds chordal solo on the theme, leading to a contrapuntal ending.
The chops come out full force on “Stop-and-Go,” a boppish contrapuntal quartet piece that, Diehl says, “alternates between half-time and double-time.” He adds that the term is used in aviation (Diehl’s a licensed pilot who learned to fly in high school) that is used when you land on the runway, briefly touch the ground, stop and then immediately take off again. "Aviation has always been my second passion, ever since my father began flying when I was a toddler. After earning his license, my mom wouldn't fly until he had a few more hours logged, but my sister and I never declined opportunities to get in the air."
Diehl wears his classical erudition lightly on a gorgeous trio re-imagination of the “Forlane” section of Maurice Ravel’s “Tombeau de Couperin.” “I heard solo piano and orchestral versions, and thought it sounded like a dance that could be reinterpreted within a jazz ensemble,” Diehl says. “Jazz musicians can do a lot with Ravel’s music because of the richness of the harmony and the harmonic movement.”
He approaches George Gershwin’s “Bess, You Is My Woman” similarly, improvising intensely on the melody while remaining true to the score. “The arrangement itself is perfect,” Diehl says. “It’s natural to want to augment, change a key or reharmonize, but it’s important to remember how great a piece can be just as it is.”
He reprises the original prologue on “Epilogue,” bringing this remarkable recital full-circle.
“This record is just a starting point, something on which to build and invest,” Diehl says. “Hopefully, over the long term, the ensemble will develop and refine a band sound.” Devotees of the idiom will eagerly await the process.
I tried to capture some of the flavor of the Chicago I’ve known
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/aarondiehl
Aaron Diehl
Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “The most promising discovery that [Wynton] Marsalis has made since Eric Reed,” Aaron Diehl's distinctive interpretations of the music of Scott Joplin, “Jelly Roll” Morton, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, and other masters pay homage to the tradition while establishing his own original voice.
Mr. Diehl has performed with the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, Hank Jones, Wycliffe Gordon, Wessell Anderson, Benny Golson, Loren Schoenberg, and has been featured on Marian McPartland's NPR radio show “Piano Jazz.” His international touring includes major European jazz festivals as well as performances in South America and Asia. “Mozart Jazz,” his first CD as a leader, was released in 2006 on the Pony Canyon label (Japan). Recent performances include the Caramoor Festival and the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Mr. Diehl is a 2007 graduate of the Juilliard School where his teachers included Kenny Barron, Eric Reed, and Oxana Yablonskaya. His honors include Lincoln Center's prestigious Martin E. Segal award in 2004, winner of the 2003 Jazz Arts Group Hank Marr Jazz Competition, and Outstanding Soloist at Jazz at Lincoln Center's 2002 Essentially Ellington Competition. Immediately following graduation from high school he toured with the Wynton Marsalis Septet.
Mr. Diehl currently resides in Manhattan where he serves as music director of St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church in Harlem.
AARON DIEHL
(b. September 22, 1985)
Artist Biography by Matt Collar
Pianist and composer Aaron Diehl is an accomplished jazz musician with a style steeped in the swinging acoustic jazz and classical traditions. Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1985, Diehl grew up in a musical family as the grandson of pianist/trombonist Arthur Baskerville. Introduced to piano at age seven, Diehl first became interested in jazz while attending the Interlochen Fine Arts Academy Summer Camp. A prodigious talent, Diehl performed with the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra in his teens, and was a finalist in the 2002 Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington competition, where he took home an "outstanding soloist" award. The following year, he accepted an invitation to tour with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' septet and enrolled in Juilliard's then newly minted jazz studies program. During his time at Juilliard, Diehl studied with several luminaries, including pianists Kenny Barron and Eric Reed. Also during this time, he garnered several more accolades including winning the 2003 Jazz Arts Group Hank Marr Jazz Competition and Lincoln Center's prestigious Martin E. Segal Award in 2004. In 2006, a year before graduating Juilliard, he released his debut album, Mozart Jazz, on Japan's Pony Canyon label. The concert album Live at Caramoor followed two years later. Diehl then appeared on vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant's highly lauded debut, 2013's WomanChild, and released his sophomore album as a leader, 2013's The Bespoke Man's Narrative, on Mack Avenue. In 2015, Diehl returned with his third studio album, Space Time Continuum, which featured appearances from saxophonist Benny Golson and others.
Studio Sessions
Aaron Diehl On Piano Jazz
57:50
November 6, 2009
by Grant Jackson
Pianist Aaron Diehl hails from Columbus, Ohio, where he started playing the pinao at home, as a young child. He also watched as his grandfather, a trombonist and pianist, played both at home and at venues around town, and when Diehl was seven, his mother enrolled him in classical piano lessons.
Set List
- "Handful of Keys" (Waller)
- "Single Petal of a Rose" (Ellington)
- "Delaunay's Dilemma" (J. Lewis)
- "Afternoon in Paris" (J. Lewis)
- "Bud on Bach" (Powell)
- "One Morning in May" (Carmichael, Parish)
- "B# Blues" (Diehl, McPartland)
Aaron Diehl joins Marian McPartland for a Piano Jazz session. Steve J. Sherman
Though he learned a few tunes from his grandfather, he at first considered jazz to be "old people's music." Diehl credits a summer at the Interlochen Center for the Arts and hearing Eldar Djangirov, another young jazz phenom, with proving to him that jazz could be relevant for younger players. He gave the music a second listen and began to fall in love with the piano styles of Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum and Thelonious Monk.
Diehl's jazz skills developed quickly, and he was chosen to perform with the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra. As a junior in high school, he was named Outstanding Soloist in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition.
The young pianist also caught the attention of Wynton Marsalis, who calls Aaron "The Real Diehl." Immediately following Diehl's graduation from high school, Marsalis welcomed him on tour with the Wynton Marsalis Septet. Diehl has also worked with jazz luminaries such as Wycliffe Gordon, Benny Golson and Hank Jones.
In 2007, Diehl graduated from the Juilliard School, where his teachers included Kenny Barron, Eric Reed and Oxana Yablonskaya. In 2006, he released an album entitled Mozart Jazz, his debut as leader of his own trio, on the major Japanese label Pony Canyon. The release was a hit, and the Japanese broadcaster NHK made a documentary showcasing Diehl and Jazz at Juilliard, for more than 5,000,000 listeners nationwide.
Recently, Diehl performed at "Thelonious Monk at 92," a celebration of the jazz legend held at the World Financial Center in New York City, where he shared the bill with Geri Allen and Randy Weston. He has also performed frequently with the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet.
Diehl is currently the musical director of St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church in Central Harlem, and maintains a busy performance schedule at venues throughout Manhattan and beyond.
Originally recorded Dec. 6, 2006. Originally aired in 2007.
JazzWax
Marc Myers writes daily on jazz legends and legendary jazz recordings
July 11, 2017
Interview: Aaron Diehl
Pianist Aaron Diehl has a way of making you think about what you're hearing. This happens on ballads such as Single Petal of a Rose and Blue Nude from his The Bespoke Man's Narrative (2013). But Aaron also makes you think when turning up the heat with staggering command, as he does on Uranus and Broadway Boogie Woogie from his Space, Time and Continuum (2015) album. His ballads tend to have a Charles Mingus-like brooding quality while his uptempo works exhibit a strong, impeccable technique as his fingers fly over the keyboard. [Photo above of Aaron Diehl by John Abbott, courtesy of Aaron Diehl]
If you're in New York on Wednesday, July 26, you're in luck. Aaron will be performing at 92Y in "The Art of Tatum" concert showcase (go here) directed by Bill Charlap. The concert will feature four of the finest jazz pianists around today—Aaron, Bill, Harold Mabern and Roger Kellaway. They will be backed by bassist John Webber, drummer Joe Farnsworth and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. That's a lot of finger firepower. [Photo above of Aaron Diehl by Ingrid Hertfelder, courtesy of Aaron Diehl]
Before I share my interview with Aaron with you, let's take a brief Tatum break so we're reminded of what Aaron and the other pianists will be up against on the 26th. Here's Tatum playing Tiger Rag solo (yes, there's just one pianist playing solo here)...
In advance of Aaron climbing into the proverbial ring with three other piano masters to take on the mightiest jazz pianist of them all, I had a chance to catch up with him recently:
JazzWax: What was it like growing up in your Columbus, Ohio, neighborhood in the 1990s?
Aaron Diehl: My mother, now retired, worked for Ohio's State Department of Education. My dad owns a funeral business on the near-east side, now known as King-Lincoln Bronzeville. He bought a house in the early 1980’s down the street from his business. That’s the home where I grew up. In some respects, the neighborhood was like Harlem given its rich cultural history, eventual plight in the 70’s, and subsequent gentrification during the past 10 years or so. The Lincoln Theater, just a block away from my dad's funeral home, featured acts like Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington back in the '40’s and '50’s. I was fortunate to have experienced remnants of the neighborhood's heritage through small block parties and festivals on Mt. Vernon Ave., one of the area's main thoroughfares. They often had jazz music there, and sometimes my grandfather would play with local musicians like Gene Walker or Raleigh Randolph. Trombone was his primary instrument, but he later switched to piano. My family also attended a Catholic church in the area, and my grandfather sang in the choir. Music was always around.
JW: Tell tell me about your grandfather, pianist and trombonist Arthur Baskerville (above). How did he influence you?
AD: He was a singular influence. My parents bought a piano when I was a toddler, and my grandfather often came over and played standards. He also had a variety of portable keyboards in his basement, including an 88-key Fender Rhodes and a small Casio. He taught me my first standards on that Casio, including Girl From Ipanema and Take the ‘A’ Train. Later, I discovered that he and Elvin Jones were good friends, along with bassist Willie Ruff. They served in the Air Force band together at Lockbourne Air Force Base. Unfortunately I never got a chance to know Elvin, but Mr. Ruff has invited me a few times to perform at Yale University.
JW: How did you wind up playing piano and jazz, specifically?
AD: It was a gradual transition, but my interest did not really pique until my sophomore year in high school. A former band director, Linda Dachtyl, sent me some information about a jazz ensemble featuring students from all around central Ohio. That was the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra. Its director, Todd Stoll, is now the vice president of education at Jazz at Lincoln Center. I auditioned for CYJO, and to my astonishment, I was accepted. I wasn’t an exceptionally strong player, but Todd had a knack for nurturing students who he believed had a sincere desire to play. CYJO also provided me with an opportunity to develop with peers who had similar goals.
JW: What’s the first jazz album you purchased?
AD: I can’t even remember, but I definitely had an obsession with Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson, especially Peterson. My teacher, the late Mark Flugge, asked me not to listen to O.P. for a while and explore other pianists like Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans. Art Tatum was equally impressive, but I think listening to him requires more advanced ears, and I don’t believe I had those ears then to fully enjoy his contributions.
JW: How does a jazz great like yourself practice each day?
AD: Haha. Jazz great? Hardly. Practicing jazz can be one of the most intimidating disciplines, especially for someone like me, who likes to have the answers immediately. If I say I’m going to learn a piece by Chopin, the music is right in front of me and I learn that piece. With jazz, there are so many references musicians must absorb just to sound remotely mediocre. This isn't to say that similar references aren't required in classical music or other genres. But because improvisation is such a critical component with jazz, musicians must derive their material from a labyrinthine and vast musical language. That’s a lifetime mission to conquer.
JW: From your perspective, is jazz struggling for survival in the U.S., and if so, why?
AD: Art appreciation is struggling. I suppose it has something to do with the proliferation of technology; less focus on arts education in school; and less investment of “cultural equity,” as Alan Lomax would say. Art is a product of our identity as human beings. We often look for innovation and what is new, but the human spirit has never really changed. Maybe this is a good time to reevaluate our priorities and look at the treasures that have been bequeathed to us by our ancestors.
JW: What will you be performing at 92Y?
AD: “The Art of Tatum” is being curated by Bill Charlap. I’m honored that Bill invited me, as I’ll be joining some formidable pianists, including Bill, Roger Kellaway and Harold Mabern. I’ll honor Tatum by attempting to tackle his rendition of Tiger Rag, and also a few other compositions he was known to play including You Took Advantage of Me and Goin’ Home. There won't be a shortage of excitement.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Aaron Diehl's most recent album, Space, Time, Continuum (Mack Avenue), here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Aaron Diehl with Bill Charlap playing a duet earlier this year...
Posted by Marc Myers at 12:05 AM | Permalink
Tags: Aaron Diehl, Art Tatum, Bill Charlap, Harold Maburn, Roger Kellaway
About the Author:
- Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of a Song" (Grove) and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax is a two-time winner of the Jazz Journalists Association's best blog award.
09/01/2015
by Allen Morrison
Aaron Diehl: Space Time Continuum
On pianist-composer Aaron Diehl’s fourth album as a leader, his choices of both material and sidemen illuminate his recording’s title: The 29-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, creates an environment in which historic and contemporary styles of jazz, as well as the Western classical tradition, are welcome and integrated. While the album is not especially piano-centric, fans of Diehl’s exquisite touch, precise articulation and meticulous arrangements will be richly rewarded.
The six originals on Space Time Continuum reveal the influence of jazz forebears like Ellington, Bud Powell and John Lewis, an early role model to whom Diehl has been compared. Like Lewis, he draws on classical tradition; one is as likely to hear an echo of Rachmaninoff as of Ellington. As a pianist he’s equally eclectic, reminiscent of Ahmad Jamal, Monk-and, occasionally, classical virtuosi.
The stellar sidemen include Diehl trio-mates David Wong on bass and Quincy Davis on drums, occasionally augmented by two legendary players, Benny Golson on tenor saxophone and Joe Temperley on baritone. The brilliant, breathy-toned tenorman Stephen Riley performs on two tracks, as does the exciting young trumpeter Bruce Harris.
Despite the emphasis on originals, one of the album’s high points is the opener, “Uranus,” a spit-and-polish arrangement of the underperformed hard-bop standard by Walter Davis Jr. (recorded by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in 1976); it sparkles in a crisp arrangement, with turn-on-a-dime phrasing. The noir-ish “Organic Consequence” features an eloquent, world-weary Golson solo. “Kat’s Dance,” written by pianist Adam Birnbaum, is a duo with Riley that begins like a jazz version of a Chopin nocturne, and it becomes a lilting setting for Riley to lean into the harmony in a quietly spectacular tenor solo. The frenetic “Broadway Boogie Woogie,” commissioned by New York’s Museum of Modern Art, is an interpretation of the famously busy Mondrian painting. Overall, a remarkably assured performance.
RISING JAZZ STAR JAZZES UP THE PHILHARMONIC
September 19, 2016
The Wall Street Journal
This week the jazz pianist and rising star Aaron Diehl is set to make his New York Philharmonic debut in a prominent slot: opening night.
Mr. Diehl will perform the soloist role in George Gershwin’s Concerto in F on Wednesday, as the composer himself did at the work’s world premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1925. The piece is part of a New York-centric program that will launch the orchestra’s 175th anniversary season, its final one with music director Alan Gilbert.
Classically trained, Mr. Diehl fell in love with jazz in his teens and toured with Wynton Marsalis at age 17.Now 30, the Juilliard School graduate is known for his meticulous touch and for making music that both nods to and expands on foundations laid by past jazz greats. He has released two albums on Mack Avenue Records and can also be heard playing with the jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, a frequent collaborator. “He’s got the soul and the spirit of a jazz player, but he’s got the discipline to play with a symphony orchestra,” said Edward Yim, the Philharmonic’s vice president of artistic planning. “He can fit into our world in the way that not all jazz pianists could.”The Wall Street Journal sat down for a piano-side interview with Mr. Diehl last week at his Harlem apartment to discuss his debut and the musical layers in Gershwin’s concerto.
WSJ: While jazz musicians have played with the Philharmonic before, this is a very high-profile debut. What does it mean for you to play with New York’s hometown orchestra on opening night?
AD: I’m really grateful. This is basically my first go-round playing with a major orchestra.I honestly think the Phil is taking an incredible risk. I’m not Herbie Hancock, I’m not Lang Lang or Chick Corea. So the likelihood of them selling out this concert on my name is low. But I also think Alan [Gilbert] recognized that I was very serious about playing this piece.
Tell me about this composition.
It is a classical concerto. What makes it so unique, though, is Gershwin’s embrace and use of rhythms, syncopations and folk material that are native to America.
He’s got blues in there...The Charleston is all over the place in this piece.
He has hints of what we call Harlem stride, made famous by James P. Johnson, Willie “the Lion” Smith, and Fats Waller, who wrote “Honeysuckle Rose.” [He plays a few bars.]
You have this boom-chick figure in the left hand. It’s almost like ragtime but it’s a more advanced version, if you will. You have the syncopation in the right hand.
In fact, I take it a step further from what Gershwin wrote, and I make it into a full-blown stride sort of style.
What’s your take on Gershwin’s role in American music?
He definitely set a gold standard for American popular songwriting.
“I Got Rhythm,” “S Wonderful,” “Embraceable You.” They’re just great tunes. I mean... [He plays “Embraceable You.”]
There are several arrangements and orchestrations of classical music of his work. Jazz musicians, we use those songs all the time.
All of these tunes are so rife with harmonic complexity and sophistication. We love that. The more chord changes or harmonic progressions there are, the more we can navigate in our improvisation.
How are you preparing for the concert?
I’ve focused on this one piece since March, in addition to everything else I’m doing. I wanted to make sure that I had a specific objective for what I wanted to do at this point, and at that point.
I met with André Previn yesterday, who has a very definitive recording of this piece.
I told him, I can’t play [the last movement] as fast as you. He said, don’t worry about playing it fast. Worry about being rhythmically accurate.
I played it three or four clicks slower, and it was much better.
Is it different from what you do before club dates or jazz festivals?
With classical music, you can basically plan. I know that the orchestra is going to do what they say they’re going to do. It’s not like playing in a trio, or a small jazz ensemble, where you don’t know what’s going to necessarily happen.
[Whether improvising or playing composed music,] you always make the music feel like it’s fresh and it’s real and it’s tangible. It’s not a museum piece.
You said you do plan to improvise in some spots. How is the orchestra going to handle that?
It’s just a solo by myself, so it’s not going to affect them at all.
I was very aware that this was a piece where you have 80 musicians who are used to having it played a certain way. I found places where I knew that this wouldn’t be too much of an issue for them.
I don’t want to make their job even harder, because what they do is hard enough as it is, and they do it so well.
Filed Under: Previews Tagged With: Aaron Diehl, The Cleveland Orchestra
Pianist Aaron Diehl to make Cleveland Orchestra Debut
June 27, 2017
by Mike Telin
After jazz pianist and composer Aaron Diehl made his New York Philharmonic debut in September of 2016 performing George Gershwin’s Concerto in F, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times wrote: “Mr. Diehl played magnificently. He had brilliance when called for during jazz-tinged passages of Lisztian runs and octaves. The roomy freedom of Mr. Diehl’s playing in bluesy episodes was especially affecting. He also folded short improvised sections into the score, and it’s hard to imagine that Gershwin would not have been impressed.”
On Saturday, July 1 and Sunday, July 2 at Blossom Music Center, the Columbus, Ohio native will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing that same Concerto under the baton of Jahja Ling. The 8:00 pm concerts will also include Shostakovich’s Tahiti Trot, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture, and Tchaikovsky’s “1812” Overture.
During a recent telephone conversation Diehl, a graduate of the Juilliard School who studied jazz with Kenny Barron and Eric Reed, and classical piano with Oxana Yablonskaya, said that Gershwin’s Concerto is a combination of late 19th- and early 20th-century neo-romanticism. “It also has elements of syncopation, blues, and what Jelly Roll Morton would call the Spanish tinge, or the habanera, the rhythm from which the Charleston is derived. Gershwin thrived on using all the musical resources that were available to him, and he infused all of that into this composition.”
Diehl also believes the work represents the pinnacle of Gershwin’s orchestral writing within the concerto format. “He did not orchestrate Rhapsody in Blue, that was Ferde Grofé, but he did spend a lot of time orchestrating the Concerto in F.”
When Diehl was invited to perform the work with the New York Philharmonic, he wanted to bring his unique experiences as a jazz musician to his interpretation. “For example, certain types of rhythms that I’m playing all the time and especially early forms of jazz piano like stride — the things that even the best classical artists would not have the experience of playing. I also wanted to revisit the composers that influenced Gershwin — like Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, and Ravel. Gershwin loved Ravel’s music.”
Interestingly, while Gershwin felt self-conscious about his “classical” music, many composers held it in high esteem. Both Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Ravel admired him so much that they rejected him as a student for fear that classical study might adversely affect his jazz-influenced style.
“Gershwin came from the Tin Pan Alley tradition, and I imagine that it might have been a bit overbearing for someone like him, even if he was influenced by those composers. My own experience in playing with the Philharmonic — and not being someone who is experienced in playing concertos with orchestras — is that it took a lot of focus in order not to feel too consumed by the grandiosity of it all. I had to understand that I had certain strengths I could bring to the table, and not to feel like I was competing with people like Yefim Bronfman or Murray Perahia. But there’s a lot of room in Gershwin’s music for people who come from a variety of musical backgrounds to express themselves.”
From an early age, Diehl was exposed to all types of music at home — his parents bought a piano when he was young, and his grandfather was a jazz musician who played trombone and piano. “He wasn’t a full-time musician, but he would often play gigs on the weekends. Columbus has a rich musical tradition. There’s a good orchestra, and a fairly robust jazz scene. When I was growing up I was lucky to be exposed to many different styles of music, and to be able to hear them live.”
Diehl began his formal piano lessons at the age of seven and quickly took a liking to the music of J.S. Bach. “I just loved the way it sounded,” he said. “I liked how precise, yet so expressive it was. My mother had a box set of the Brandenburg Concerti, and I would wear out the discs from playing them so much. J.S. laid that groundwork for Western harmony. Of course, there were composers before him, but he highlighted all the possibilities of polyphonic music. He was the blueprint for everyone we love today, like Brahms, Mendelssohn, Thelonious Monk, and Duke Ellington. I tell my students that they don’t need to learn a ton of classical repertoire, but if they at least tackle Bach’s Two- and Three-Part Inventions and analyze some of the chorale preludes, they’ll be in good shape.”
When not performing, composing, recording, and teaching, Diehl enjoys spending time flying his plane. “My dad owned an airplane and flew all the time, so it was just natural that I would become a pilot too. It’s like music, when you’re exposed to something at a young age you have a natural taking to it. I started flying when I was about fourteen. It’s a passion of mine that I couldn’t live without.”
Does he ever fly himself to his gigs? “On occasion I do,” he said. “Sometimes people don’t believe me when I say this, but it is a way for me to decompress and get my mind off of whatever I have to do professionally. When you’re alone in the air, all the worries and challenges you have are left down on the ground — it’s exhilarating.”
Photo by John Abbott
Published on ClevelandClassical.com June 27, 2017.
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Filed Under: Previews Tagged With: Aaron Diehl, The Cleveland Orchestra
Pianist Aaron Diehl, known fondly as “The Real Diehl” in jazz circles, has been a Jazz at Lincoln Center favorite since he was named “Outstanding Soloist” in the Essentially Ellington competition in 2002. He has since toured the world in the bands of Cécile McLorin Salvant, Wycliffe Gordon, and more. Now a respected leader and prolific sideman, the prestigious winner of the 2011 Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association makes his Appel Room debut as a leader. In our three venues, Diehl has repeatedly demonstrated his immaculately tasteful playing, authentic understanding of jazz, and propensity for inventive long-form solos. These concerts will feature his contemporary, vibraphonist extraordinaire Warren Wolf, trumpeter Dominick Farinacci, tenor saxophonist Stephen Riley, bassist Paul Sikivie, drummer Lawrence Leathers, and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra baritone saxophonist Joe Temperley. True to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s mantra “all jazz is modern,” this concert is a living representation of jazz’s history and future meeting as one in-the-moment creation.
Free pre-concert discussion, nightly, at 6pm & 8:30pm.
Artist Pages:
Young jazz piano star Aaron Diehl is happiest in a group setting
Aaron Diehl, 2011 winner of the American Pianists Association Cole Porter Jazz Fellow competition
by Greg Thomas
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: December 16, 2012
Aaron Diehl, a rising star of jazz piano, has an individual talent so huge that one day he may extend the jazz tradition. But when you speak with the 27-year-old winner of the 2011 American Pianists Association Cole Porter Jazz Fellow competition, he emphasizes being part of a group.
“I’m very passionate about groups,” Diehl says during our Skype conversation. He was just finishing a two-week quintet run at Jazz at Lincoln Center Doha in Qatar. “Ensembles have been underrated as compared to leaders who are soloists with a rhythm section. But one of the best things about jazz is that you’re interacting and improvising, in real time, with other individuals.
“That’s something that’s very special,” he says, “that can’t really be duplicated in other genres.”
Count on his trio, with bassist David Wong and drummer Pete Van Nostrand, to generate something special at the Kitano Jazz club this Friday. He says they’ll perform Christmas tunes as well as some bebop in the mode of Bud Powell and Hank Jones.
The American tradition is grounded in the tension between the individual and the group, so Diehl is tapping into a recurring theme. But his emphasis on the ensemble in jazz is akin to a mission, one that counters today’s celebrity culture.
I’ve witnessed Diehl’s prodigious talent in various settings. Believe me, if stardom was his aim, it would be like plucking an apple from a tree. He can whip off a rendition of Art Tatum’s “Tea for Two” in a blink. (The original was one of the most stunning displays of piano virtuosity of the 20th century.)
For Diehl, style is no barrier, from Bach to Chopin to stride and bebop, onto gentle ballads reminiscent of Teddy Wilson, Ahmad Jamal or John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Actually, from Jan. 16 to 20, Diehl will lead a quartet honoring Lewis and the MJQ at Dizzy’s. And Diehl’s Mack Avenue Records debut, “The Bespoke Man’s Narrative,” set for release in March, is inspired by the legendary quartet’s example.
Last summer, while accompanying trombonist Wycliffe Gordon in South Africa and at the Apollo Theater, Diehl explored a two-handed attack worthy of Erroll Garner. His talent seems boundless. He’s the real deal.
The soft-spoken, earnest 2007 Juilliard Jazz graduate hails from Columbus, Ohio, where his musical skills were evident early on. His parents’ piano became a source of steady fascination at age 7. His early music training took place in a black Catholic church with two Masses, traditional and gospel. The traditional Mass developed his sight-reading skills, all while he was drinking in the freewheeling gospel language.
When Diehl was 8, the church organist, Dennis Freeman, asked him if he knew any hymns.
“Yes, sir. ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus,’ ” Aaron responded. “So, every Sunday for about five weeks I played the same hymn before Mass. Mr. Freeman told me to just play along with him. ‘Whatever you hear me do, you do.’ ”
The black church in America, whether Protestant or Catholic, doesn’t joke about choir singing on Sundays, so Freeman’s act was “a tremendous thing for an 8 year old.”
Today, Diehl lives in Harlem and plays piano for the St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church on 125th St. and Morningside Drive. He says it reminds him of his roots, and of his church in Columbus. “It’s a real community,” he says.
For youth there and at the Catskills Jazz Factory in Tannersville, where Diehl’s the artistic director, he passes on the example of Freeman and his other mentors. “When I see young people interested in music,” he says, “I always look out for that passion in their eyes. You never know where that might lead.”
Diehl wants to spread his example of excellence within a group and community settings.
“I really want to bring ensemble playing back to the forefront — not just for me, but for everyone in jazz,” he says. “When you have a group, a true co-op group, you can really heighten the possibilities of all the treasures of jazz.
“It’s not just about me,” he declares. “It’s about bringing together people who are younger, people who are older and, ultimately, people who are listening to the music, and figuring out how we can speak to each other.”
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Aaron Diehl Trio: Fri., Dec. 21, Jazz at Kitano, 66 Park Ave., at E. 38th St.; 8/10 p.m. (212) 885-7119.
http://www.aarondiehl.com/single-post/2016/05/31/Aaron-Diehl-to-Join-Alan-Gilbert-and-the-New-York-Philharmonic-for-Opening-Gala-Concert-September-21-1
Jazz Review: Where did you play over there?
Aaron Diehl: We went to Tokyo, Osaka--we were up and down the whole country. New Orleans musicians were in the band during that tour, and I don't typically get to play with many New Orleans musicians. It was a good experience in that respect.
Aaron Diehl: I was accepted at Julliard before I went out on the road with Wynton's group. Moving to New York City was a big change for me. Of course, there is always an adjustment for anyone going from high school to college. Certainly, the level of talent and the excellence of the artists at the school are to die for. Julliard has some great artists: dancers, actors and musicians. Just being in that kind of environment was very exciting for me. I went to an academic high school in Columbus, St. Charles, and everybody there was very serious about getting into college and being well rounded. But at Julliard, everybody else loved the one thing that I loved. I never had that kind of environment before in my life.
Aaron Diehl: That's the mission of The Julliard School of Music in general--not only in the jazz program, but also in all of the other programs there. Joseph Polisi, who is the president there, wrote a book called The Artist as Citizen. The book makes the point that it is the responsibility nowadays for the artist to be more than just a performer. Rather, the artist should be somebody who is a working part of society as an educator in teaching people about the arts. It's not sufficient just to be a great performer any longer, as it may have been fifty years ago. Today, the performing arts are all struggling. I remember that when I was a student in the jazz program, we did workshops for students. We were very much encouraged to speak before a concert audience about what we do. It was like, "All right. We have to talk." He gave us the microphone, like "it's your show." He felt that being able to express yourself verbally was a very important and vital part of being a musician. Outreach has been the hallmark of the school, especially under Polisi. I did a community service fellowship for a couple of years. That involved going to nursing homes and hospitals. I performed for people who wouldn't normally get out and see performances. The people at the school were very much aware of the importance of reaching out to people in whatever form possible.
Aaron Diehl: I don't really know how she found me, so to speak. I remember that when I did a recital at Graves piano store in Columbus when I was a high school senior, I got a note from a lady that stated that Marian McPartland would like to speak with me. It suggested that I give her a call. So I called her and said, "Mrs. McPartland, you don't know me but I know you." [Laugh] That kind of thing. We talked about my being on the show, not to be interviewed but to see some other interviews. Taylor Eigsti at the time was being interviewed, as was Clint Eastwood, of all people. She and I kind of lost touch for a while, although I would see her playing in New York once in a while. All of a sudden, out of the blue last winter, she called and asked, "Would you come on the show?" I said, "Yeah, sure, but I don't know what you would interview me about. I mean, I haven't really been out here that long, but I'd be happy to be on the show." Basically, I was trying to figure out how to do the show because there wasn't much to say other than to say that I was still studying at Julliard. So I basically asked her a bunch of questions about her own experiences. She's seen everything. Hank Jones is the same way. You just want to pick their brains about all kinds of things. So, the Piano Jazz show went well, and I enjoyed playing with her. It's one of the experiences that I'll cherish for the rest of my life.
http://www.aarondiehl.com/single-post/2016/05/31/Aaron-Diehl-to-Join-Alan-Gilbert-and-the-New-York-Philharmonic-for-Opening-Gala-Concert-September-21-1
https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwclassical/article/Jazz-Pianist-Aaron-Diehl-to-Join-Alan-Gilbert-and-the-NY-Phil-for-Opening-Gala-Concert-921-20160527#
Jazz Pianist Aaron Diehl to Join Alan Gilbert and the NY Phil for Opening Gala Concert, 9/21
May. 27, 2016
Broadway World
Jazz pianist Aaron Diehl will join Music Director Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic for the 2016-17 season Opening Gala Concert, performing Gershwin's Concerto in F in his New York Philharmonic debut, Wednesday, September 21, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. The concert launches the New York Philharmonic's 175th anniversary season and Music Director Alan Gilbert's farewell season with a program honoring the Philharmonic's legacy of premiering important works, particularly music connected to New York City. As previously announced, the concert will also feature the New York Premiere of John Corigliano's Stomp for Orchestra and Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World.
Aaron Diehl said of the Gershwin work he is performing: "The Concerto in F is recognized for its strengths in possessing the orchestration and form of a symphonic work, all while maintaining the feeling of a jazz orchestra. My goal in playing with the New York Philharmonic is to provide a perspective of Gershwin's music that is rooted in the American vernacular of syncopation and swing."
Walter Damrosch commissioned Brooklynite Gershwin's Concerto in F for the New York Symphony (one of the forebears of today's New York Philharmonic), which gave the work's World Premiere in December 1925, led by Damrosch, with Gershwin as piano soloist. The work built on the 1920s exploration of infusing jazz as an intrinsically American element in classical composition, also manifest in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928, which the Philharmonic also premiered). The Orchestra has performed the Concerto in F93 times to date, collaborating not only with the composer (for a total of 9 performances) and the respected Gershwin interpreter Oscar Levant (16 performances), but also with eminent pianists including Earl Wild and those known for jazz-classical fusion, such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
The other two works on the program also reflect strong ties with the New York and the New York Philharmonic. The Orchestra has performed more than a dozen works by John Corigliano - a New Yorker whose father, John Corigliano, Sr., served as the Orchestra's Concertmaster from 1943 to 1966 - and gave the World Premiere of Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World, in December 1893, led by Anton Seidl at Carnegie Hall. The Opening Gala Concert will mark the Philharmonic's 370th performance of the New World Symphony and launch The New World Initiative, a season-long, citywide project revolving around the work and its theme of "home" through performances, education projects, and community outreach as the Philharmonic honors its hometown and its role as an adopted home for many on the occasion of the Orchestra's 175th anniversary season.
Related Events ? Opening Gala The black-tie Opening Gala, September 21, will include a pre-concert champagne reception from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., the concert, and a dinner immediately following the performance. The Opening Gala Co-Chairs are Kristen and Alexander Klabin and Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar L. Tang. BMW is a Major Corporate Sponsor of the Opening Gala. Generous underwriting support is provided by BNY Mellon. Delta Air Lines is a Supporting Sponsor of the Opening Gala. The 175th Anniversary Chair is Daisy M. Soros.
Pianist, composer, and bandleader Aaron Diehl is a dynamic, virtuosic, and versatile artist. He is one of the most sought after musicians of his generation, as evidenced by his critically acclaimed performances, collaborations, and compositions across multiple disciplines. A Steinway artist, Mr. Diehl is a 2007 graduate of The Juilliard School, the American Pianists Association's 2011 Cole Porter Fellow, and a Monterey Jazz Festival Commission Artist. His work on Cécile McLorin Salvant's For One To Love garnered him a Grammy Award, and his latest album, Space, Time, Continuum (on the Mack Avenue Records label), emphasizes artistic interactions between generations. Aside from leading his own ensembles, Aaron Diehl has amassed an impressive list of musical accomplishments, including serving as the music director for Cécile McLorin Salvant, collaborating with Philip Glass on his complete piano études, and scoring Jeremy McQueen's ballet The Black Iris Project. He is the music director of a large ensemble project that celebrates the music of Jelly Roll Morton and George Gershwin; it is set to tour North America in 2017. The Opening Gala Concert marks Aaron Diehl's New York Philharmonic debut.
BMW is a Major Corporate Sponsor of the Opening Gala. Generous underwriting support is provided by BNY Mellon. Delta Air Lines is a Supporting Sponsor of the Opening Gala.
Programs are supported, in part, by public funds from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Single tickets start at $79. Tickets are available now to 2016-17 New York Philharmonic subscribers; single tickets will go on sale to the general public on August 9. Tickets are available online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic's Customer Relations Department at (212) 875-5656. (Ticket prices subject to change.)
For more information about the Opening Gala, which includes a pre-concert champagne reception, concert, and post-concert dinner, please call the Office of Special Events at (212) 875-5755, or e-mail specialevents@nyphil.org.
Photo Credit: John Abbott
Home>Jazz Artist Interviews>Aaron Diehl
January 29, 2011
by Don Williamson
Aaron Diehl
Sometimes it's possible to catch a rising musician at the very start of his career before he becomes better known to the general listening public. Such is the case with jazz pianist Aaron Diehl. Diehl is already making a name for himself in New York in joint concerts with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Eric Reed, Marcus Roberts, Wess Anderson and Jonathan Batiste at various clubs, at The National Jazz Museum in Harlem and at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Ironically, Diehl's first CD was produced in Japan and isn't generally available in the United States. Still, Marian McPartland has already included him on Piano Jazz, and Diehl is touring around the world to perform in various venues. Diehl admits that he first turned down the opportunity to tour with Wynton Marsalis before he moved to New York, but he was able to turn around that decision to learn about the rigors of the touring regimens of professional jazz musicians. Now that Diehl is carving out a career in jazz, he is working on writing jazz in a liturgical context as part of his objective to incorporate jazz into community and religious activities. We caught up with Diehl after a concert in his home town of Columbus, Ohio.
Jazz Review: I enjoyed your recent concert at The King Center, but I was surprised when you brought out the horns in the second half.
Aaron Diehl: The reason I did that was because it is difficult to play as a piano trio for a long period of time. You have to keep things interesting. I decided to have a quintet in the second half. I've played with Wess Anderson a little bit, and he just suffered a stroke a few months ago. I know he has been practicing to get things back together again. He really brought the concert up to a completely different frame of mind. Wess wasn't planning on going anywhere that weekend, and he said he would do the concert. So, I was really happy that I would be able to play with him. I went to school at Julliard with Dominick [Farinacci], and he graduated a couple years before I did. But he and I have been playing together for four years, as have Carmen [Intorre] and Yashushi [Nakamura]. We had a rehearsal before the concert, and then we went right into it. We had a lot of fun.
Jazz Review: Did the promoters know you were going to add the horns?
Aaron Diehl: No, adding Wess and Dominick was a bit of a surprise. I think [the promoters] thought it would be a trio concert. Hopefully, the audience got more out of the concert than it would have from a trio. But then again, I feel that it is hard to pull off quality trio playing for two hours.
Jazz Review: How did you meet Yashushi and Carmen, the two other members of your trio?
Aaron Diehl: We went to Julliard together. I started there in 2004, and Carmen was already there. Yashushi was in the grad program and didn't come to Julliard until my second year. The three of us and a couple other students from Julliard did a gig in San Jose, Costa Rica--a kind of residency, if you will. That was our first gig. Then we've played at school and in venues outside of school. Sometimes Dominick uses the three of us in his group. Dominick and I played a duo at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, and we'll do another one in May. All of the members of the trio have something to bring to the table, and we all get along well. In addition, I have played quite a bit with two other guys who are on the recording I did in Japan, Mozart Jazz [on Pony Canyon Records]. Thats David Wong, an extremely gifted bass player who plays with Roy Haynes' Fountain of Youth Band. Quincy Davis is a wonderful drummer. I try to get in contact with as many musicians as I can, but of course, time only allows so much contact.
Jazz Review: Did you sell the CD's at the King Center concert?
Aaron Diehl: I have to order them from Japan, and sometimes I have trouble getting them over here. Which is fine. I really did the concert to come back home and play for people I have known for years. It was wonderful to play at The King Center. I used to live not too far from there. So, I went to events there when I was a kid.
Jazz Review: What were the circumstances behind the recording of your first CD, Mozart Jazz.
Aaron Diehl:That was a project that happened kind of at the last minute. For a couple of years, I've known Todd Barkan at Jazz at Lincoln Center a little while. He gave me a call in March of 2006 to see if I could do a trio recording. I said, "Fine. What is it?" And he said, "It's all Mozart's music in a jazz trio context." I said, "Let me think about this a little bit." I was thinking it sounded like oil and water. Dominick has done several recordings for Japanese labels. They normally have an outline or format that they want the musicians to work within, and then the product is delivered. The reason [for Mozart Jazz] probably is related to the Japanese market, and the labels may be trying to sell to a certain demographic. I had to think about Todd's request for a second because I didn't want to record it if I didn't think I would do well. But recently, The Modern Jazz Quartet has been an influence on me, and I really like John Lewis's work. So I kept some of his compositional techniques in mind. I decided I would give a shot at arranging something in that kind of realm. I recorded the album in two weeks, and I think it came off pretty well. I thought the whole process of doing a record was a good experience for me. I would like to get the album licensed in the U.S. sometime; that's in the works. I also want to put something out myself, to be quite honest, although that's a little bit down the line. For Mozart Jazz, I think I was substituting for someone who couldn't do the recording at the last minute. There was a lot of pressure under a short amount of time. I recorded it in SoHo, and it went to Japan to be mastered.
Jazz Review: Have you toured in Japan?
Aaron Diehl:I did a tour in Japan last year with a Japanese trumpet player I went to school with: Satoru Ohashi. We might go over there again. I thought about touring there with my own group, but I have to consider the logistics of putting a tour together. I don't speak Japanese. I have to contact people I can work with to make it feasible for my own group to go over there.
Jazz Review: Where did you play over there?
Aaron Diehl: We went to Tokyo, Osaka--we were up and down the whole country. New Orleans musicians were in the band during that tour, and I don't typically get to play with many New Orleans musicians. It was a good experience in that respect.
Jazz Review: Speaking of musicians from New Orleans, did you establish some connections with Wynton Marsalis when you went to New York with The Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra with Todd Stoll?
Aaron Diehl: Todd is one of the most extraordinary arts educators in the world, in my opinion. I think he met Wynton at one of Wynton's performances. Todd is an outgoing guy, and they hit it off pretty well. They've been in touch ever since. They met twenty years ago or so. When I was in the Orchestra, we went to the finals for the Essentially Ellington Competition in 2002, which was a great achievement and a lot of fun. The competition enlightened all of us to Duke Ellington's music. I think everyone playing there understood the importance of his music. There were 13 to 15 other bands playing in the same event. It was a moving experience and one of the reasons why I decided to go into a music career. Jazz at Lincoln Center sponsored the competition, and I got a chance to meet Wynton. There was a little question-and-answer session before the competition that weekend, and Wynton sat down and spoke to everybody about things other than music--about life and about being a young musician in today's society.
Jazz Review: Did you join Wynton's septet right out of high school in 2003?
Aaron Diehl:I had been speaking to Wynton for a while, and he had been a mentor to me. Actually, I got a call from Wynton out of the blue, literally, when I was practicing in the living room at home. He asked me to come and play with him in Europe. Initially, I told him "No." Wess Anderson's wife called me and said, "Are you crazy? Why would you say 'no' to Wynton Marsalis?'" I had been scheduled to play at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass because they needed a piano player. I thought it would be the right thing to do. So I said, "I'm sorry, Wynton, but I have this other commitment." To make a long story short, I was able to get out of the Aspen engagement and go out on the road with Wynton. Playing with Wynton's septet enlightened me to how difficult and how much work it is to be an exemplary jazz musician. I mean, I was really left in the dust with those guys. It was a completely different experience from playing in Columbus, Ohio. There are some great musicians in Columbus, but the excruciating travel schedule from city to city opened my eyes. I was in a bus for 24 hours. I was traveling with the same guys, plus some of their kids, on the bus. I was only seventeen at the time, and you can imagine what it was like to be on the road with 42- and 43-year-old men. So, the tour was a wake-up call for me to decide if this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It was a great experience, but it was hard at the same time. Wynton was as hard on me as he was with everybody else in his band. He required the best from his musicians. You can imagine what that was like for a seventeen-year-old from Ohio.
Jazz Review: Did you know his repertoire?
Aaron Diehl:I knew some of it from his CD's. But even if I had studied note-for-note what Marcus Roberts and Eric Reed played from the recordings in the late eighties and early nineties, Wynton's band had developed over the next ten or fifteen years.
Jazz Review: Who else was in his septet for that tour?
Aaron Diehl: It included Reginald Veal, Herlin Riley, Wess Anderson, Ron Westray and Victor Goines.
Jazz Review: What countries did you see?
Aaron Diehl: We went all over western Europe. That was my first time in Europe. I got to see the Louvre, the Notre Dame Cathedral and historical sites in Berlin. On the chartered bus, I got to play Playstation and Xbox with a musician who was younger than I was: Francesco Cafiso. He's an extraordinary young alto sax player from Sicily. He went on the road with us as well. Wynton had him come out and play once in a while. I remember that Francesco's parents were basically delivering their son to Wynton before we left the first city. I could see the looks on their faces, but they were very happy their son could go on tour nonetheless. I don't know if I could have done that if I was a father. Francesco had so much facility on the instrument and a lot of knowledge of jazz vocabulary. It was great to see someone who was younger on the road with us and trying to get to a higher level of excellence.
Jazz Review: Did the tour help you decide to move to New York?
Aaron Diehl: I was accepted at Julliard before I went out on the road with Wynton's group. Moving to New York City was a big change for me. Of course, there is always an adjustment for anyone going from high school to college. Certainly, the level of talent and the excellence of the artists at the school are to die for. Julliard has some great artists: dancers, actors and musicians. Just being in that kind of environment was very exciting for me. I went to an academic high school in Columbus, St. Charles, and everybody there was very serious about getting into college and being well rounded. But at Julliard, everybody else loved the one thing that I loved. I never had that kind of environment before in my life.
Jazz Review: Did you meet Eric Reed at Julliard?
Aaron Diehl: I met him after I was at Julliard. I called him for a lesson, and he said, "Come on over." I had a lesson, and we stayed in touch from time to time. I remember that one time he called me and said, "I'm playing at the Vanguard. Would you like to sit in on a tune?" I said, "Well, sure." It was a Fats Waller tribute. That just shows his generosity of spirit. Not only is he an extraordinary teacher. He also knows so much about jazz literature, American popular song and the jazz standards. He is also a very giving person, and it was great to be around people like him. Same with Marcus Roberts. I didn't study with him at Julliard because he lives in Florida. But when Marcus came to New York, I took lessons from him. He's another one of those kinds of people who would help you any time of the day. He's very inspiring and encouraging.
Jazz Review: Another of your teachers was Oxana Yablonskaya.
Aaron Diehl: I studied with her for four years. I wasn't by any stretch of the imagination skilled enough in terms of my experience with the repertoire to do a hard-core classical music major, and I didn't have a lot of time because I was majoring in jazz. She took me on because she knew I still had in interest in classical music as I did in high school. During every lesson, I would play a little bit, and then she would play what she wanted to see in my playing. I wasn't playing big repertoire like Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff. I played small pieces that accommodated my schedule so that I wasn't spending too much time on the classical music and not enough on the jazz. It was just enough to keep my knowledge of the genre and my facility up to snuff. It brought tears to my eyes when she would play a little bit of Chopin or Bach. She's just an incredible person.
Jazz Review: Did she hear your CD, Mozart Jazz?
Aaron Diehl: Yes, she has a copy of it. She likes it a lot. She had a lot of comments for me about interpretations of some of the Mozart melodies�some things critical, some things positive. She's an honest person. She doesn't hold anything back. That's what I like about her.
Jazz Review: you were involved in Julliard's outreach program to excite high school and college students in becoming professional jazz musicians.
Aaron Diehl: That's the mission of The Julliard School of Music in general--not only in the jazz program, but also in all of the other programs there. Joseph Polisi, who is the president there, wrote a book called The Artist as Citizen. The book makes the point that it is the responsibility nowadays for the artist to be more than just a performer. Rather, the artist should be somebody who is a working part of society as an educator in teaching people about the arts. It's not sufficient just to be a great performer any longer, as it may have been fifty years ago. Today, the performing arts are all struggling. I remember that when I was a student in the jazz program, we did workshops for students. We were very much encouraged to speak before a concert audience about what we do. It was like, "All right. We have to talk." He gave us the microphone, like "it's your show." He felt that being able to express yourself verbally was a very important and vital part of being a musician. Outreach has been the hallmark of the school, especially under Polisi. I did a community service fellowship for a couple of years. That involved going to nursing homes and hospitals. I performed for people who wouldn't normally get out and see performances. The people at the school were very much aware of the importance of reaching out to people in whatever form possible.
Jazz Review: When did you graduate from Julliard?
Aaron Diehl: I graduated last May--May 25th [2007].
Jazz Review: So now you're making a living as a professional musician.
Aaron Diehl: Now that I'm out of school a little bit, I have a chance to breathe. I can create my own schedule to a certain extent. I'm playing at a church in Harlem, St. Joseph of the Holy Family. Brian Dickerson is the choral master. We're trying to build the program and get more singers from the congregation to join the choir. Four of the choir members are professional singers, and they lead everybody in song. I grew up playing in the Catholic church since I was eight. I also played for Saint Mary Elementary School in Columbus. So, playing at St. Joseph's is a good part of who I am. I'm looking at starting to write liturgical music in a jazz context. I need to do a lot of research before I start writing for the Catholic liturgy. In some respects, I think it's one of the last bastions of functional music, when it comes to jazz. In the 1920's and 1930's, jazz was primarily played for dance. With the revolution of bebop, everything changed so that everyone sat down to listen to the music. After the musicians finished playing, the people left. But the music of the church has some kind of functionality, and it isn't art for art's sake. I like doing something where I feel that I'm doing something greater than putting out music.
Jazz Review: Do horns play in the services too?
Aaron Diehl: Last Easter, we played the music of Mary Lou Williams, and we had a trio along with a trumpet come in and play. She wrote quite a few masses for the Catholic liturgy.
Jazz Review:How did Marian McPartland choose you to appear on Piano Jazz?
Aaron Diehl: I don't really know how she found me, so to speak. I remember that when I did a recital at Graves piano store in Columbus when I was a high school senior, I got a note from a lady that stated that Marian McPartland would like to speak with me. It suggested that I give her a call. So I called her and said, "Mrs. McPartland, you don't know me but I know you." [Laugh] That kind of thing. We talked about my being on the show, not to be interviewed but to see some other interviews. Taylor Eigsti at the time was being interviewed, as was Clint Eastwood, of all people. She and I kind of lost touch for a while, although I would see her playing in New York once in a while. All of a sudden, out of the blue last winter, she called and asked, "Would you come on the show?" I said, "Yeah, sure, but I don't know what you would interview me about. I mean, I haven't really been out here that long, but I'd be happy to be on the show." Basically, I was trying to figure out how to do the show because there wasn't much to say other than to say that I was still studying at Julliard. So I basically asked her a bunch of questions about her own experiences. She's seen everything. Hank Jones is the same way. You just want to pick their brains about all kinds of things. So, the Piano Jazz show went well, and I enjoyed playing with her. It's one of the experiences that I'll cherish for the rest of my life.
Jazz Review: How did you get to perform with Hank Jones?
Aaron Diehl: He and I performed at a concert at Julliard two years ago. He did a residency for a whole week, and the band played a concert at the end of it. I played "A Child Is Born" with him. That was a lot of fun. With Hank Jones, it was like, "Why am I here?" That was not the first time I met him. I did a master class with him a little bit before that. He's a great teacher. He was a disciple of Art Tatum, and it was good to speak with him about Tatum.
Jazz Review: I wanted to ask about your parents. What are their names?
Aaron Diehl: My dad's name is Richard, and my mother's name is Estelle.
Jazz Review: It seems that they have helped facilitate your development in jazz.
Aaron Diehl: My parents have always been advocates for culturalization, for lack of a better term. They wanted their kids to be well-rounded. My older sister, Ingrid, was a ballet dancer in high school and did African dance in college. My parents put a lot of emphasis on education and awareness of the arts. When I was eight or nine years old, my mother told me, "Are going to a concert to see Wynton Marsalis." I didn't know who he was, and at that point I didn't really care. I remember to this day that he was playing with his septet at the Wexner Center. I mean, I was kind of interested. I was playing piano by that time, but I was into classical music. So, I wasn't that interested in jazz, to be honest.
Jazz Review: At that age, you thought jazz was "old people's music?"
Aaron Diehl: [Laughs] Yes, because my grandpa played trombone and piano. His name is Arthur Baskerville. I remember going to hear him at a restaurant near the home. I think his playing became ingrained in me. I think that a lot of people with an interest in jazz music were exposed to it at a very young age, as with any art form. When I was learning piano, my grandpa taught me "Take the 'A' Train." He was a big influence on me concerning my interest in music. My grandmother used to take me to piano lessons, and she had Jimmy Smith playing in the car. My mom used to take us to pipe organ concerts, but she hated to go to them because she couldn't see the organist. She took me there anyway because she knew how important that was in being made aware of the music. I studied pipe organ with someone named Jim Hildreth at Broad Street Presbyterian. It's a wonderful instrument for improvisation too, which some people don't know. Someone named Cameron Carpenter did a master class at Julliard, and during the performance he asked people in the audience to pick any hymn out of the hymn book and give it to him. Then he would make an improvisation from the hymns they chose. He's a virtuoso on the organ.
Jazz Review: Your teacher at Saint Marys was Teresa Monds.
Aaron Diehl: She was my general music teacher. I played in the school musicals there as another performing opportunity for me, and she had me play for the masques. Before Teresa was Linda Dachtyl, a B-3 organist. She had an interest in jazz and gave me lead sheets and exposed me to certain recordings. We had some jam sessions even though at nine or ten I didn't know much about jazz vocabulary. She spent time with me after school too to help different aspects of my playing. Come to think of it, I had a really good music education in the schools, which some people unfortunately don't have.
Jazz Review: So you didn't take jazz seriously until you met Eldar Djangirov at Interlochen Center for the Arts?
Aaron Diehl: Wow! How did you know about this?
Jazz Review: Well, you wouldn't walk into a concert without preparation. Preparing for the interview is part of the job. So did you get to know Eldar?
Aaron Diehl: Yes. He has a lot of facility. He was thirteen at the time I met him at Interlochen. I went there actually to study classical music as part of a four-week summer program after eighth grade and ninth grade. I went there for two years. I saw that Interlochen had a jazz program, and Eldar was the pianist. There was this thirteen-year-old kid playing in a high school jazz ensemble, and I thought, "What is this?" He has a large jazz vocabulary too from listening to Oscar Peterson and other. We hit it off pretty well. He was younger than I was, but we talked about music. He played for me a little bit, and I played for him. At that time, I didn't know much jazz and certainly not enough to keep up with him. But he really inspired me to look into playing the genre. At the time, I was thinking more about becoming serious about playing classical music. Then Eldar played improvisations, in solo and trio format, and for big band. I thought, "Man, this is great!" He alerted me to what can be done with jazz music. After my grandfather, Eldar probably was the second biggest influence to appreciate jazz at an early age. Here was somebody who was a teenager playing jazz music. I thought that was phenomenal. So I looked into jazz a little bit more. The second year, I joined the jazz band at Interlochen. I didn't go there as a jazz major; I went as a minor. I took a jazz theory class from David Kay, saxophonist from Cleveland. I was in his ensemble, and that was one of my first experiences in a jazz ensemble.
Jazz Review:So that's when you joined Todd Stoll's jazz orchestra.
Aaron Diehl: Yes. Interestingly enough, Linda Dachtyl alerted me about the orchestra. I auditioned for it and got in. Going back to Todd, it would be a great blessing to see someone like Todd in every high school in America. Everyone I've spoken to says the same thing about him: He would help them any time of the day. He gives his students CD's or recordings. He'd probably give you his liver if you needed it. [Laugh] I've been wondering lately about what good is performing if there is no audience to play for. All of the interest in the arts starts in the schools through education. If we don't have the people who know about art, we might as well be playing to a brick wall. Sometimes great performers don't make the best teachers. I've always wondered, "Would I make a good teacher?" I teach a couple students now, and I'm trying so hard because I know how hard it is to be an excellent teacher.
Jazz pianist Aaron Diehl pilots his career toward horizons of artistic freedom
by Amy Wilder
December 1, 2013
Columbia Tribune
Aaron Diehl is a pianist who lets his left hand know what his right hand is doing.
They work together in a fluid alchemy that gives voice to the ivory and makes heads nod and toes tap. A native of Ohio and graduate of The Juilliard School, Diehl has played with greats such as Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. His latest record, “The Bespoke Man’s Narrative,” released earlier this year, has received enthusiastic reviews, with critics comparing his sound to Duke Ellington or Ahmad Jamal by turns. Next Sunday, he will perform at Murry’s with vibraphonist Warren Wolf, bassist David Wong and percussionist Rodney Green as part of the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series.
Diehl has an avid interest in early jazz styles, including ragtime and stride, and often evokes these in his compositions and performances. His interests extend far beyond the realm of musical greats, however; the young artist draws inspiration from visual art and his passion for aviation, as well. Diehl spoke with the Tribune recently about his background, recent album and experiences. The conversation is excerpted below.
Tribune: Let’s talk about your explorations of ragtime music. It’s kind of anachronistic, and it might be hard for people to “get” it, and so I wonder what drew you to it and how you think it speaks to people today?
Diehl: Well, I’ll first start off talking a little about how I came to enjoy ragtime and stride piano. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and I was fortunate to have a musical background. My grandfather played trombone and piano, and ... I had the opportunity of meeting local musicians in the community. One guy who I met through my high school band director -- his name was Johnny Ulrich -- played, I believe, with Woody Herman for several years. Ulrich was a stride piano expert, and he had all kinds of recordings of James P. Johnson and Willie “The Lion” Smith, Fats Waller, ... and I spent an entire evening with him and my high school band director, listening to these records.
I had never discovered it before. I had a background in classical music, and I think maybe early on I played a few pieces by Scott Joplin, but really never became familiar with stride piano. ... I found it very intriguing because of the challenge in playing the music. You have a constant left hand moving back and forth between the bass notes and the chords, with a right hand soloing and improvising. This balance, between the right and left hand, that creates syncopation ... is a lot of fun to play.
I think, as far as audiences are concerned, everyone loves to dance, to some degree. When any great form of music -- especially American music -- with syncopation is played at a high level, technically, people can appreciate it for the danceable quality. So whether it’s Missouri ragtime or East Coast Harlem stride or something from later on in the swing era, if it’s played to the point where people want to dance, I think it can be appreciated by a very broad group of people. That’s something I always try to incorporate into my playing. It always has to feel like you want to dance, even if you’re not actually dancing.
Tribune: Do you dance a little while sitting at the piano?
Diehl: A little bit. I’m actually a horrible dancer, but a lot of times I’ll tap my foot. It can be simple gestures that people make in the audience -- when they’re tapping their feet or nodding their heads, you know you’re going in the right direction.
Tribune: After high school you went to Juilliard. Did you continue to study ragtime there, or did you go down different paths?
Diehl: I studied with ... Kenny Baron, and I studied with a classical pianist by the name of Oxana Yablonskaya. I continued to study classical music with her, but a lot of my ragtime and stride study I did on my own, to be quite honest. Another great pianist, Marcus Roberts -- with whom I didn’t formally study, but I would speak with on the phone quite often -- was an advocate for early jazz piano styles. He always encouraged me to study Jelly Roll Morton. ... These styles of music really use the entire range and ability of the piano.
Later styles of jazz piano basically incorporate a fluid right hand with a more supportive left hand. But when you’re talking about early styles of jazz piano, they’re using both hands simultaneously, and it’s very difficult. I think when it comes to maintaining a technique on the piano, you’re forced at least on some level to deal with those approaches in playing.
Tribune: Did you have Picasso or Matisse in mind when you wrote the song “Blue Nude” for your most recent album?
Diehl: Sure, absolutely -- both of those artists. I went to an exhibition at the Guggenheim that was actually Picasso’s black-and-white exhibition; the blue nude wasn’t there. But I remember seeing this painting and was so inspired by it that I thought it would be nice to come up with some sort of composition that could evoke the essence of what Picasso or Matisse were trying to get across in their “blue nude” paintings. So I wanted to try and create an atmosphere or composition that had sort of a serious ... quality to it.
Tribune: Do you find you get a lot of inspiration from visual art?
Diehl: Occasionally. I had an opportunity to play ... at the Museum of Modern Art at the end of July this year, and I wrote a composition based on a piece by Mondrian, called “Broadway Boogie Woogie.” ... I was thinking of how I could create a composition that would demonstrate the clarity and the symmetry of a place like New York City -- and also the chaos. So that’s how I came up with the composition, ... which hasn’t been recorded yet.
Tribune: What other sources do you use for inspiration?
Diehl: I am an avid aviator. Many times when I need some space I’ll go flying, and the kind of freedom that flying gives allows me to clear my mind and see things from a different perspective.
Tribune: Do you draw a relationship between flying and jazz? Obviously they’re both, in a way, about freedom.
Diehl: Yeah, I do -- I see a very direct correlation between the two. When you’re playing in a jazz band, you’re one piece of the puzzle in the band that makes a complete performance. You’re improvising with four or five more musicians onstage. You’ve gotta negotiate with those musicians musically, and you have to be able to see the bigger picture of how each piece of the puzzle, each musician, contributes to the entire collective.
It’s much the same in instrument flying, when you’re looking at the attitude indicator, you’re looking at the altimeter, you’re looking at the airspeed indicator, and all of these instruments create a bigger picture of what the plane is doing. I typically think about that when I’m flying, and I think, “OK, this airspeed indicator is telling me I’m increasing my airspeed, so that probably gives me an indication of me being in a descent or a nose-down attitude. ...”
It’s kind of the same thing where you’re on the bandstand and you’re playing. When I’m ... playing a solo, and ... I’m creating a certain kind of improvisational theme, that would hopefully encourage or indicate to the percussionist that I’m going to go in this direction, or I’m going to evolve to this place rhythmically or melodically. ... Or if I’m taking the solo in certain harmonic directions, then the bass player could hear and know the direction that I’m taking and follow. So you’re working as a team in a band, just as the instruments are working as a team together to show the pilot what the plane is doing.
This article was published in the Sunday, December 1, 2013 edition of the Columbia Daily tribune with the headline “High Flier: Jazz pianist Aaron Diehl pilots his career toward horizons of artistic freedom.”
The Aaron Diehl Quartet @ Dizzy's Club Coca Cola.
September 2011
Aaron Diehl - piano
Warren Wolf - vibes
Rodney Green- drums
David Wong - Bass
Jazz in Marciac 2015:
Aaron Diehl presents Space Time Continuum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Diehl
Aaron Diehl (born September 22, 1985 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American jazz pianist.
Diehl is considered a jazz virtuoso and composer. He is the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival Commission Artist, becoming one of the youngest artists to receive this honor, and composed Three Streams of Expression, dedicated to pianist and composer John Lewis (pianist). He is the 2013 recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association Award for Up-And-Coming Artist,[1] the 2012 Prix du Jazz Classique recipient for his album Live at the Players from the Académie du Jazz,[2] and is the winner of the 2011 Cole Porter Fellowship from the American Pianists Association.[3] Diehl's most recent album, Space, Time, Continuum features Benny Golson and Joe Temperley (June 2015, Mack Avenue Records)[4]
In 2002, Diehl was a finalist in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington competition, where he was awarded "Outstanding Soloist." The following year, he was invited to tour with the Wynton Marsalis Septet on their European tour. A 2007 graduate of the Juilliard School, he studied with Kenny Barron, Oxana Yablonskaya and Eric Reed (musician).[6]
Diehl released his first live album in 2009, a solo concert recorded at the Caramoor Festival. In 2010, Live at the Players featured two of his trios: David Wong and Paul Sikivie (bass), and Quincy Davis (musician) and Lawrence Leathers (drums). The Bespoke Man’s Narrative (2013), Diehl’s debut album on Mack Avenue Records, reached No.1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart[7] and is described as "honest music that invites you back in to discover new wonders with each listening."[8]
Diehl has currently been on tour with the Grammy Award nominee jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. Other internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles he has performed with include: Warren Wolf (musician), Lew Tabackin, Matt Wilson (jazz drummer), Wycliffe Gordon, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
THE MUSIC OF AARON DIEHL: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH AARON DIEHL:
The Aaron Diehl Trio live in 2016:
Aaron Diehl performs "Viper's Drag"
Pianist Aaron Diehl performs a Thomas "Fats" Waller classic, "Viper's Drag" in 2009:In the Studio: AARON DIEHL
Watch and listen to jazz pianist AARON DIEHL speak with us about his love for the piano and how he got started:
Aaron Diehl @ Charlie Parker
A fine performance at the 2013 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park, New York City:
Aaron Diehl Quartet: "Django" by John Lewis
The Music of the Modern Jazz Quartet: Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall. Warren Wolf (vibraphone), Aaron Diehl (piano), David Wong (bass), Rodney Green (Drums)--September, 2010:
Aaron Diehl Trio: "'Round Midnight" by Thelonious Monk
Aaron Diehl (piano)
David Wong (bass)
Quincy Davis (drums)
Recorded live at the Players Club, New York City.
April 21, 2010
The Aaron Diehl Quartet @ Dizzy's Club Coca Cola.
September 2011
Aaron Diehl - piano
Warren Wolf - vibes
Rodney Green- drums
David Wong - Bass
Aaron Diehl --The Real Deal
Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center 2016
The Aaron Diehl Trio with special guests Aaron Diehl - Piano Paul Sikivie - Bass Lawrence Leathers - Drums special guests: Joe Temperley - Baritone .with special guests Cécile McLorin Salvant - vocals Aaron Diehl - piano, Paul Sikivie - bass Lawrence Leathers - drums Anat Cohen - clarinet--Warren Wolf-Vibes:
Aaron Diehl in Marciac 2015:
Jazz in Marciac 2015:
"Rags, Strides, and Stomps" with Joey Alexander, Aaron Diehl, and Sullivan Fortner
"The Original Jelly Roll Blues" (Jelly Roll Morton)
"Viper's Drag" (Fats Waller)
"Concerto Jazz-A-Mine" (James P. Johnson):
Aaron Diehl - "Single Petal of a Rose"-- (Live at Dizzy's):
Aaron Diehl performs Duke Ellington's "Single Petal of a Rose," a selection from his album The Bespoke Man's Narrative, live at DIzzy's Club Coca-Cola in NYC. March 2013More info at http://www.mackavenue.com/aarondiehl:
Aaron Diehl - The Making of 'Space Time Continuum'
Aaron Diehl presents Space Time Continuum
More info at:http://www.mackavenue.com/artists/det...
Aaron Diehl - The Bespoke Man's Narrative - 03 - "Blue Nude"(Composition by Aaron Diehl)
Aaron Diehl Quartet: "Sepia Panorama" by Duke Ellington:
Published on September 21, 2010
The
Music of the Modern Jazz Quartet: Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at
Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall. Warren Wolf (vibraphone), Aaron
Diehl (piano), David Wong (bass), Rodney Green (Drums):
Aaron Diehl Quartet: Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo (Part 1):
The Music of the Modern Jazz Quartet: Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall. Warren Wolf (vibraphone), Aaron Diehl (piano), David Wong (bass), Rodney Green (Drums)
Jazz pianist Aaron Diehl discusses his second passion: --Aviation
Aaron Diehl - "The Steadfast Titan" - Space, Time, Continuum - 02:
The Pace Report: "A New Space" The Aaron Diehl Interview with Joe Temperley:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Diehl
Aaron Diehl
| Aaron Diehl | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Aaron Diehl |
| Born | September 22, 1985 |
| Origin | Columbus, Ohio, USA |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist |
| Years active | 2007-present |
| Labels | Mack Avenue |
| Website | www |
Aaron Diehl (born September 22, 1985 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American jazz pianist.
Diehl is considered a jazz virtuoso and composer. He is the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival Commission Artist, becoming one of the youngest artists to receive this honor, and composed Three Streams of Expression, dedicated to pianist and composer John Lewis (pianist). He is the 2013 recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association Award for Up-And-Coming Artist,[1] the 2012 Prix du Jazz Classique recipient for his album Live at the Players from the Académie du Jazz,[2] and is the winner of the 2011 Cole Porter Fellowship from the American Pianists Association.[3] Diehl's most recent album, Space, Time, Continuum features Benny Golson and Joe Temperley (June 2015, Mack Avenue Records)[4]
Contents
Biography
Diehl grew up in a nurturing musical environment. His grandfather, pianist/trombonist Arthur Baskerville, was one of his first influences. He began studying classically at age 7 and discovered his passion for jazz music when attending Interlochen Summer Camp. There, he met piano prodigy Eldar Djangirov, who made a lasting impression on Diehl through his enthusiasm for Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum.[5]
In 2002, Diehl was a finalist in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington competition, where he was awarded "Outstanding Soloist." The following year, he was invited to tour with the Wynton Marsalis Septet on their European tour. A 2007 graduate of the Juilliard School, he studied with Kenny Barron, Oxana Yablonskaya and Eric Reed (musician).[6]
Diehl released his first live album in 2009, a solo concert recorded at the Caramoor Festival. In 2010, Live at the Players featured two of his trios: David Wong and Paul Sikivie (bass), and Quincy Davis (musician) and Lawrence Leathers (drums). The Bespoke Man’s Narrative (2013), Diehl’s debut album on Mack Avenue Records, reached No.1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart[7] and is described as "honest music that invites you back in to discover new wonders with each listening."[8]
Diehl has currently been on tour with the Grammy Award nominee jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. Other internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles he has performed with include: Warren Wolf (musician), Lew Tabackin, Matt Wilson (jazz drummer), Wycliffe Gordon, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Personal life
Diehl lives in Harlem and is a licensed pilot.[9] He is a graduate of St. Charles Preparatory School.[10]
Discography
As leader
- 2009: Live at Caramoor
- 2010: Live at The Players
- 2013: The Bespoke Man’s Narrative (Mack Avenue)
- 2015: Space Time Continuum (Mack Avenue)
Compilations
- 2013 - Live From The Detroit Jazz Festival - 2013 (Mack Avenue)
- 2014 - It's Christmas on Mack Avenue (Mack Avenue)
References
- Jazz Journalist Association, JJA Jazz Award:2013 JJA Jazz Award Winners 2013
- Académie du Jazz, Palmarès 2012 Archived April 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. 2015
- American Pianists Association, The 2011 Jazz Fellow 2015
- Tom Perrotta, "Aaron Diehl, a Piano Prodigy, Taps Jazz Legends" Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2015
- Don Williamson "Jazz Artists Interviews: Aaron Diehl" Jazz Review, 2011
- Grant Jackson, "Aaron Diehl On Piano Jazz" NPR, 2009
- Honcho, "April 15: Aaron Diehl is No. 1" JazzWeek, 2013
- Tom Schnabel, "Aaron Diehl’s Superb New Album" KCRW, 2013
- Sasha Popov "Flying with Aaron Diehl" PopovMedia, 2014
- Kevin Joy "Rising jazz pianist on mission to education as well as entertain" Columbus Dispatch, 2015
