What happens when you ace a major international jazz contest?
Apparently you fall into a depression, begin doubting whether you`re worthy of the acclaim and then snap out of your funk just in time to get back on the roller coaster ride that is the jazz music business in America.
At least that`s how it happened for Joshua Redman and Eric Alexander, first and second prize winners of the fifth annual Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, held last month in Washington, D.C. Almost overnight, these two young saxophonists have been lifted from obscurity, at least for the moment (a radio program on the contest will be broadcast over WBEZ, 91.5 FM, at 4 a.m. Jan. 28).
Thanks to the competition`s sizable purse ($10,000 first prize, $5,000 second, plus concert dates for both) and a distinguished list of previous winners (keyboardists Marcus Roberts and Joey De Francesco have been among the winners), Redman and Alexander already have won the kind of attention of which they`d never dreamed.
The Washington Post said Redman ”played with the poise and assurance that one associates with a more seasoned musician.” The Village Voice said Alexander ”showed a fluent command of the materials and big, authoritative sound.”
But because these two young artists question the validity of jazz competitions and are aware of the fickleness of the music business, they experienced bittersweet feelings on winning.
”It was definitely a shock to win, and I got real depressed afterward,” says Redman, 22. ”I suddenly felt really alien from everyone else in the competition.
”In other words, I felt like I had become a figurehead for this contest, and therefore for anything bad that can be said about competitions. It made me feel like a symbol for a lot of the misgivings that people have about competitions and the music industry in general.”
Adds Alexander, 23, who lives in Evanston, ”When I got back home, I was kind of depressed. I never had been on such a musical high before, I never had had so much fun in music before.
”In D.C. I was working so hard and meeting all these great musicians
(the all-star jury included Benny Carter, Jimmy Heath, Jackie McLean and Branford Marsalis).
”So when I got back home,” continues Alexander, who plays the Bop Shop on West Division Street Feb. 14 and 15, ”I felt like I was going back to my boring old routine, that the big-time stuff was over.”
It`s important to note that, ”as competitions go, this one was about as good as it gets,” says Redman. Alexander, too, says, ”Don`t get me wrong-it turned out to be a great musical experience, because the judges were really the best in the business, and everyone was truly treated equally. It was beautiful.”
Yet both artists wonder aloud what winning a competition actually proves. ”When I first read about the competition last summer in Downbeat magazine, I thought: `Oh great, another music competition, just what the world needs,` ” recalls Redman, a self-taught player whose father is veteran jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman.
”It just doesn`t make sense to me to impose objective criteria on a subjective expression like jazz.
”It`s such a creative and personal an art form. I really don`t understand how anyone can say that one artist is a better improviser than another, when improvising, by definition, is just an expression of who you are.”
Adds Alexander, ”The fact remains that with competitions, you get one shot to play as well as you can, and you may not even represent yourself well. ”But if you want to really appreciate a player, you have to hear him over and over, just as you would in real life. Also, in this competition we constantly played solos, which really isn`t a normal situation for a jazz musician.”
So why did these artists put themselves through a process they don`t fully approve of?
”I decided to enter for the hell of it,” says Redman, ”you know, to meet these famous judges and to hear all these great young players (25 competitors ventured from across the U.S., Chile, Germany, Colombia, the Netherlands, Finland, Australia and Poland, having been selected by sending in audio cassette tapes).”
For Alexander, ”Besides meeting the judges and the players, I felt that if I did well there, it would be a big shot in the arm for my career.”
So on Nov. 23, the contestants piled into an auditorium of the Smithsonian Institution. Each was given 10 lead sheets, from which the contestant chose one and the judges chose another.
Then, one by one, each player took the stage, improvising on such tunes as Earl Hines` ”Second Balcony Jump,” Mal Waldron`s ”Soul Eyes,”
Thelonious Monk`s ”Evidence” and ” `Round Midnight,” Ray Noble`s
”Cherokee” and Duke Ellington`s ”Sophisticated Lady.” A rhythm section comprising percussionist Kenny Washington, bassist Peter Washington and pianist Richard Wyands played for everyone.
The next day, six finalists played their last sets. As in any big competition, there were bumps along the way.
Chris Potter, an excellent, 20-year-old saxophonist who tours with trumpeter Red Rodney, was visibly dejected when he wasn`t allowed to play his second number in the semifinals, figuring he had blown it. In reality, however, the judges were so impressed they felt they needed to hear no more and passed him right along to the finals. He ultimately tied for third place and shared its $3,000 prize with Tim Warfield.
With the pressures of national media attention and a big-name jury, however, ”not surprisingly, quite a few players choked,” reported the Village Voice.
So what`s the upshot of all this angst, glory and music?
For Alexander, who received a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies from William Paterson College in 1990, ”I`ve gotten some festival appearances, and some record labels are considering me.
”But the reality is that there is a lot of difference between placing first and second, and it`s not just in the money, but in the things that come your way.
”Right now things are going pretty well, although I`m just flirting with the idea of having to get a day job. I don`t want to but there`s only so long you can live on peanut butter-jelly sandwiches and tuna.”
For Redman, who graduated from Harvard University in 1991 and was planning to attend Yale Law School, ”this has changed everything. My dream had been to maybe hook up as a sideman with some semi-famous musician, and then I find myself in the middle of negotiating my own record contract.
”Now, if I really had my way, I wouldn`t even consider a record contract now, because I don`t think I`m really ready. There`s just too much focus on young people in jazz these days and there are older musicians who deserve the recording deals a lot more. But I guess it`s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so you`ve got to take it.
”One thing is for sure: Yale Law School is going to have to wait a while, until I figure out how all this shakes down.”
Regardless of what happens to the contest winners, perhaps the main beneficiary of such an exercise is jazz, and those who listen to it.
”I heard things being done with the instrument that were unthought of when I was a kid,” says judge Benny Carter, who, at 84, remains one of the foremost altoists in jazz. ”I can`t really say they`ll all find work as jazz soloists, but I think they`ll make it in music, as sidemen, teachers, whatever. We need all kinds.”
Or, as Redman says, ”As much as I dislike competitions, there`s no denying that something like this gets people excited about jazz, interested in listening to it. ”And as far as I`m concerned, that`s the most important thing of all.”
