Ed Bride and Pittsfield CityJazz Festival
Sixth Annual Event Oct. 8 to 21
By: Charles Giuliano - Sep 30, 2010
This week I met with organizer Ed Bride to talk about the upcoming, sixth annual, Pittsfield CityJazz Festival which starts with a weekend of thirteen free concerts in restaurants, bars and coffee shops on October 8. The following weekend will feature concerts at the Crowne Plaza ballroom, with a New Orleans style dinner followed by music, on October 15, then a performance at the Colonial Theatre on October 16. As Bride put it the festival "tapers off" with music on a Pittsfield Third Thursday on October 21.
To set the proper mood for jazz we met for lunch at Mad Jack's BBQ (413 442 2290) on Fenn Street in Pittsfield just opposite Storefront Artists. Hunkered down with ribs, collard greens and corn bread we dug into the sounds.
Charles Giuliano How would you describe yourself?
Ed Bride I’m a Jazz zealot, obsessive.
CG When did that start?
EB Since being at my buddy’s house after school one day in 8th grade. We were listening to Elvis Presley and Bill Haley. He put on Stan Kenton and I was hooked.
CG I knew Stan and hung out with him. He was handsome and charming. There was a Boston cult around him starting with Charlie Lake “The Whale” who kept me connected to his gigs. But he was bitter about rock which he called “Kid’s Music.” When Capital signed the Beatles he was dropped from Capital Records. That was the end of jazz on the label. Miles cut Birth of the Cool (sessions 1949-50, album released 1957) but didn’t sell and he was dropped.
EB There is an interesting quote from Stan. In terms of the Beatles when they came to Capital. He said “This means we’re f’d.” But I guess you won’t quote that.
CG We’ll change the word to screwed. So for you it started with Kenton. Do you play an instrument?
EB I play piano privately. Nobody but my wife hears it.
CG Do you read music?
EB Yup but the flip side of that is that I don’t improvise well.
CG How did you get involved in promoting jazz festivals?
EB It started when I went to Villanova where they had a brand new Collegiate Jazz Festival with local bands. I was on student radio with a jazz show as a freshman. The junior class presented Maynard Ferguson and his band. I helped promote that concert on the radio station and met other students who were interested in jazz.
(The food arrived and I took a break from taking notes. We talked about his time at Villanova and some well known and influential class mates.)
CG You mentioned the music scene in college.
EB During my time at Villanova Jim Croce would hang out with Tim Hauser and Tom Piccardo. Piccardo changed his name to Tom West. He cut an album, a duo as Cashman and West, in the early ‘70s. They both had Tom as a first name. Hauser, who went on to found Manhattan Transfer, is still making recordings. Tom Piccardo asked me to come on board and help produce the Villanova Intercollegiate Jazz Festival, which was entirelty student run.
CG What was your role?
EB By then I was a sophomore and I brought Kenton in. It raised the event from a local to national festival.
CG When was that?
EB Stan participated in the ‘63 and '65 Villanova Intercollegiate Jazz Festival. He sat in the wings listening to the bands and became the master of ceremonies for the TV broadcast. It was aired on Educational Television (ETV) which is now PBS. It was recorded through the facilities of WHYY in Philadelphia for delayed broadcast across the ETV system. Stan would interview the band leaders after their performances. There was a moment in jazz history. One of those collegiate band leaders was Bob Curnow. He was leading the Westchester University Big Band. Stan said “How would you like to join my band?” It's a moment that exists somewhere in the PBS archive. Curnow later ran Kenton’s business office and record label Creative World. After Stan died nobody played his music on radio or live so Curnow convinced the estate to allow him to rearrange the scores in order to make the music available to studenst and professionals. IHis company, Sierra Music Publications,now has 100 Kenton arrangements hundreds of other by bands like Woody Herman.They are rearranged for several levels from middle school, to college, to pro. The company does well. Bob is approaching 70 now. We remain friends. It is relevant to note that next year is Kenton’s centennial.
CG So you have been in the jazz festival business for some time.
EB I was out of festival business for a long time. There was a stint in the Navy. After that I went to work for a living but I never lost my passion for jazz.
CG We all have our biases particularly when it comes to music. So what is your primary interest?
EB I’m a Big band fanatic. The big bands went away but now there are more than ever. The difference is that they don’t tour. But you find them all over the country.
CG Give me some examples.
EB There’s Columbus JazzOrchestra in Ohio, Bill Holman in Southern California. Bill is a Kenton alum, who plays tenor. There is the Chicago Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra and American Jazz Repertory Orchestra. They play standards. They are coming to the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival on Oct 16. There’s the Basie band of course. Marie Schneider is on the road now and then. There’s the Dallas Jazz Orchestra and Original Dallas Jazz Orchestra. They squabble over name rights. The Chicago Jazz Ensemble still performs. Relevant to Kenton, Mike Vaz, former lead trumpeter with Kenton, operates the Kenton Alumni Orchestra which takes to the road each year.
CG What has become of the Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis band?
EB The Vanguard Jazz band still performs. They were at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival last year. There’s the Tommy Igoe Band. He’s the son of Sonny Igoe. They play at Birdland on Fridays in the early evening. Then half the band goes on to Broadway where they play in the pits. Tommy is the drummer for Lion King. So there are pockets of big bands. Other than that I like piano music.
CG Let’s talk about Pittsfield.
EB Pittsfield CityJazz Festival is now in its 6th year.
CG Are you crazy?
EB Crazy? Maybe. It happened by accident. Goes back to Villanova when we used to have college bands and famous judges. We have come to realize that competitions are not a good thing for the music so we have gone away from that. Now there is more mentoring. When the judges were off we needed to fill the time with a high school band. But the question was who to invite? There was a guy on Long Island Clem DeRosa that Stan recommended. He is a former drummer and jazz educator at South Huntington High. Clem’s band performed and we became friends. 20 years later we ran into each other at the International Jazz Education convention in Boston. He told me of an idea to form a non profit to develop new audiences. That idea became American Jazz Venues. It’s a non profit that Clem heads. I’m on their board and we are bringing his band here.
CG How did the Pittsfield Jazz Festival get started?
EB I’m on the board of New England Jazz Ensemble that appeared here in a Holiday benefit for Colonial Theatre around 2003-04. Before the theatre opened there was a benefit gala which went over well. They play music of all genres. On that Holiday occasion they performed Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite. Fast forward to 2004. My wife and I had just moved to Pittsfield from Lenox . During the weekend of Sheeptacular (a public art event in which artists decorated life size sheep sculptures) we were walking up North Street looking at the sheep. I saw Mayor Ruberto he was a Villanova grad. I told him “I’m your newest tax payer." That established a friendship. I told him about my work but what I would really like to do is bring jazz to Pitsfield. His response was “That’s a terrific idea.” His wife (now deceased) was very enthusiastic. Unlike Lenox, where the response was more likely to be apathetic, I knew I was in a good place (Pittsfield) for new ideas.
At that time I didn’t have a festival in mind. I remembered that moment and how enthusiast Ruberto was. The next year New England Jazz Ensemble got a grant from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music. I said instead of a studio recording why don't we introduce this music to Pittsfield with a live concert. The New Black Eagle Jazz Band had written an arrangement for the Pops that combined traditional jazz and classical. I wanted to bring the Black Eagles to Pittsfield for that program. That didn't work out in 2005. We did present them on one evening and New England Jazz Ensemble on another for two memorable concerts. Andy Kelly suggested we could get some local musicians into restaurants around town and about a dozen said yes. You could get into restaurants and hear jazz for free. That was the first year we had Jazz About Town. It was so successful we found that the restaurants featuring jazz with no cover charge were competing with our efforts to sell tickets to concerts. After that we split the festival into two weekends.
Three years later (2008) we succeeded to bring the Black Eangles back to Pittsfield with their jazz meets classical program, performed with the Berkshire Jazz Youth Orchestre, a 31 piece group that we formed for the occasion.
CG How does it break down this year?
EB Jazz About Town is featured during the Columbus Day weekend Oct 8 to 10 with thirteen events. There will be a Barber Shop Jazz Quartet playing in front of Shawn’s Baber Shop on North Street. People can hear jazz for free at bars, restaurants, and coffee shops.There will be a mid week event on Wednesday, Oct 13 Brazilian Jazz Trio at the Athenaeum. The free concert at 7 PM features a pianist out of Hartford, Warren Byrd, and two local musicians Tom Parker, drums, and Jason Schwartz, bass.
The Headline Weekend will occur on October 15 and 16. On Friday Joe Baione Quintet will perform. He is a vibes player from Delaware. It will be presented at the Crowne Plaza preceded by a New Orleans dinner for just $27 with tip and pecan pie. Dinner is 6:30 PM followed by a concert, which is charged separately, for $20 starting at 7 30 PM. People who come for the dinner have preferred seating in the setup which is cabaret style.
On Saturday, October 16 at the Colonial we will present American Jazz Rep Orchestra featuring baritone sax player Claire Daly. She has been a Downbeat poll winner for a decade. Daly is an educator and recording artist. She plays everything including rock. Before she was establioshed she played with an all female band called Diva. Their slogan was "no man's band." She’s the real deal. Daly will solo with both the Rep and Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble. It’s an all star high school band. They have the opening set and then Rep will come on. Both bands will perform together for an encore. Every kid who wants to solo will have a chance. The festival tapers off on the Third Thursday, October 21st which has a jazz theme.
There are ticketed events on October 15 & 16 but most of the festival is free. Local musicians are hired by restaurants. This is their 6th year. They like the visibility and supporting local event ads a halo of jazzness.
CG What does this mean to you and what is the energy and time involved?
EB I float psychologically for days after. It’s an incomparable feeling. We have a great team of a dozen board member. It was small at first but grew particularly the jazz in schools component. A local band visits several schools around the county. The Pittsfield Sister City Jazz Ambassadors play music and talk about what jazz means to our culture. The kids get excited. It gets them started with the music. They get enthused. It is a two fold mission with a focus on live events but also to promote jazz education throughout the county. One way we do this to bring jazz to schools at no cost to the schools or students.
After all is said and done the energy level grows during the festival. We see how this team has put together a component that takes it to another plane psychologically and metaphysically.
The whole point of jazz is to make people feel good. You walk out of these things with a smile on your face. If you don’t smile we haven’t done our job.
Festival At A Glance
Oct. 8-10: "Jazz About Town"
Friday, October 8
Caitlin Canty, jazz vocalist
Mission Bar and Tapas,
438 North Street, 8-10pm
Sister City Jazz Ambassadors
Patrick's Pub, Bank Row
6-9:30pm
John Culpo, jazz accordian
Ahava Amore
48A North Street, 7-9pm
Blue Light Trio
Shiro
48B North Street 6-10pm
Rob Fisch Trio
Brulee's Restaurant
41 North Street, 7-10:30pm
Jon Suters, jazz guitar
Trattoria Rustica
27 McKay Street
Saturday, October 9
Barbershop Jazz Quartet
Shaun's Barbershop
442 North Street, Noon-2pm
WE B 3
The Lantern Restaurant
445 North Street, 9pm-midnight
Ted Murray Trio
Brulees Restaurant
41 North Street, 7-10:30pm
Rick Campion, jazz piano
Trattoria Rustica, 27 McKay Street
Miller and Amuso Jazz Duo
Baba Louie's Wood Fired Pizza
34 Depot Street, 7-10pm
Noah Weiss and Friends
Mission Bar and Tapas
438 North Street, 8-10pm
Sunday, October 10
Kohn and Link Jazz Duo
Dottie's Coffee Lounge
444 North Street. 10am-2pm
Oct. 13-16: Concerts
Wednesday, October 13
Brazilian Jazz Trio
Berkshire Athenaeum, 7pm
Friday, October 15
New Orleans dinner (6:30pm)
Joe Baione Quintet (7:30pm)
Crowne Plaza
Saturday, October 16
Claire Daly
American Jazz Repertory Orchestra
Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble
Colonial Theatre, 8pm
Thursday,Oct. 21
Downtown Pittsfield
Jazz-themed Third Thursday block party
For ongoing updates, visit