The Back Alley Big Band
What better way to kick-start the 2014 Halifax Jazz
Festival than with the swingin’ sounds of a homegrown big band? The Back Alley
Big Band’s Paul Barrett spoke with
us recently about what audiences can expect at tomorrow night’s show on the
Halifax waterfront.
What
inspired you to take up music?
My mother was a part time piano teacher in Truro
during my early years and so music was always around the house and I always
enjoyed listening to all kinds of music. I took lessons from her for a while
but didn’t practice, lost interest and stopped learning to play the piano. When
I was around 12 years old ta group of folks from the Truro Concert Band started
a youth group and they were contacting the parents of children who they had
heard were potentially musically talented and so they contacted my mother
although rather late in the recruitment process. When I went to the Legion to
try our an instrument there was only one left – a trombone. I have been a
trombone player ever since. My real inspiration to make a life out of music
came from my friend and mentor - music education legend Ron MacKay. When
he took over the Truro School Band system I was an avid student and soon became
interested in all the different instruments. I learned to play several of them
and started writing – my first arrangement was done when I was in Grade 11 I
have done a lot of writing since then.
Are
they the same reasons you do it today?
What keeps me inspired these days is still the
enjoyment of performance but also the process of creating or arranging a piece
of music from nothing and seeing it through to the final performance – that’s
exciting and gratifying. I am also driven by necessity – music and music
education is my business and although I am retired from teaching public school
music I still continue to teach and grow as a musician and a teacher.
What
are the challenges of the vocation?
There are many challenges in the life of a
professional musician –m all of which can be overcome with much work and time
investment. I think with any type of musical ensemble the most difficult aspect
is personnel. With an educational group like a concert band or jazz band
keeping the appropriate instrumentation in place is a challenge – trying to
make sure you have enough players on each instrument to make a balanced sound.
In the professional world, keeping a band together presents a different kind of
problem – working musicians must keep the gigs happening to survive and with a
large group like the Back Alley Big Band there are a lot of personnel changes
from rehearsal to rehearsal and gig to gig. Last minute changes are also
inevitable and so a network of substitute players – subs – must be maintained.
Email is n amazing tool to use in this regard – the telephone just doesn’t do
it anymore! I think the other biggest challenge with live performance is
equipment – music stands, chairs, amplifiers, drums or percussion equipment –
getting it from place to place, setting up and tearing down – all very time
consuming but essential in a successful performance and/or gig.
What
are the rewards?
I think the most immediate - and yet intangible -
reward is audience response – it always makes you feel good when the audience
has a positive reaction to a performance and the applause is enthusiastic – it
is of course the best for a listener to let a performer or group of performers
know that they enjoyed a particular piece of music. Another reward of course is
press – newspaper articles, internet postings, radio and TV spots – like that. Once
again it’s always gratifying when a performance goes well or a composition or
arrangement turns out well – it’s a kick.
What
have been some career highlights?
My personal career highlights I guess have been varied
and go back to the very beginnings of my musical life. I have been involved as
a performer and as a leader in a variety of musical genres and a diverse number
of musical roles. The things I have done include teaching and directing top
notch high school concert band, jazz band and vocal jazz ensembles; being the
musical director for a number of full scale “broadway style” musicals as well
as being a keyboard player in many; being a “rock and roller” in a professional
rock fusion band; being a member of “horn sections” for various groups: working
with amazing Cuban musicians in a number of different ways and being the leader
of the Back Alley Big Band – a challenge unto itself.
Why
are festivals like this one so important for artists?
I think festivals present the opportunity to musicians
who may not otherwise get to experience large audiences and give musicians he
inspiration to put together different projects specifically for festival that
they might not have otherwise done. It also presents the opportunity for
musicians to hear each other and to interact – many times it’s only at
festivals that you see your associates.
What
can audiences expect at your show?
Audiences can expect the show this Friday to be
exciting and entertaining. The group is a large one – 23 total – 6 woodwind
players on saxophones and flute, 4 trumpet/flugelhorn players, 4 trombone
players, piano, guitar, bass, drums, 2 Cuban percussionists and 3 singers. The
featured vocalist Augusto Enriquez is a master singer of both classical and
Latin music and a born entertainer. His rapport with the audience is amazing as
he draws everyone into his musical world. Although all of the music is Latin
flavored there is also great variety in the material. It will be great.
The
Back Alley Big Band
(w/ Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Septet)
Friday, July 4, 8pm
Festival Tent, Halifax Waterfront
