by Andrea Canter

In the decade since he completed a degree in genetics at Iowa State University, pianist Bryan Nichols has been busy performing, composing and teaching music rather than studying DNA. Always seeking new creative opportunities, Nichols gathers five colleagues (Mike Lewis, Brandon Wozniak, James Buckley, JT Bates, and Jay Epstein) to explore the music of Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet for the next “Jazz from J to Z” concert, at the Artists’ Quarter on Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. The student free-improv trio, Respective Convergence Summit, opens.

 Although he studied classical piano with a “neighborhood piano teacher,” Bryan Nichols came to jazz on his own, developing his skills without formal jazz studies. He did participate in the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth (MITY) summer jazz program where he worked with veteran piano teacher Denny Malmberg. After graduating from Burnsville High School and earning his degree in genetics at Iowa State (“which I’ve done absolutely nothing with, ever”), he played straight-ahead and free jazz in Chicago with the likes of Corey Wilkes, Maurice Brown, Jeff Parker, Nicole Mitchell, Von Freeman, Ari Brown, Hamid Drake and Ernest Dawkins. In 2004, Nichols was chosen to participate in Betty Carter’s prestigious Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and shortly after, returned to the Twin Cities. Over his career, he has appeared at international festivals including Sons d’Hiver (Paris, France) and Kerava Jazz Festival (Kerava, Finland) as well as at local and regional festivals such as the Chicago Jazz Festival and Minnesota Sur Seine Festival. He has performed or recorded with Kelly Rossum, James Buckley, Chris Morrisey, Gordon Johnson, Zacc Harris, Adam Linz, Todd Clouser, Dave King, Nicole Mitchell, Chris Thomson, Bruce Henry, and Connie Evingson; and has toured internationally with the Dave King Trucking Company. Nichols earned a 2009 grant from the American Composers Forum and was a 2010 McKnight Fellow, culminating in the release of his debut CD Bright Places and a solo concert this fall at MacPhail.

  Currently, he leads a variety of projects, including several trios, his Bright Places quintet, and his nine-piece We Are Many. He’s also playing in duo with guitarist Dean Magraw, touring with Gang Font (with Dave King, Erik Fratzke and Greg Norton), and playing with the James Buckley Trio, Zacc Harris Quartet, and Todd Clouser’s Love Electric. He finds time to teach at the MacPhail Center for Music and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

  Living legend pianist Keith Jarrett led a quartet (1971-‘76) considered by many to be one of the flagship ensembles of late 20th century jazz. Notes Nichols, “Jarrett is a huge influence on me, in how he plays, how he writes and how he puts together bands. I think the American Quartet (Jarrett, Paul Motian, Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman) is absolutely a model for how jazz groups could and should work: Take a bunch of amazing, divergent players and strong musical personalities, write a bunch of diverse material that utilizes the best of everyone’s talents, and watch the sparks fly. Jarrett is always present in the music, but you feel like he’s no more likely than any of the others to push the music in new directions. I feel like these ideas have had a huge impact on the way I think of group dynamics and leadership/control in my own groups, and on the way I try to pair melody/beauty with exploration/energy.”

  Nichols chose his cohorts for this concert from his working quintet—saxophonists Mike Lewis and Brandon Wozniak, bassist James Buckley and drummer JT Bates. “It made sense to me to use the musicians in my quintet, both because of our familiarity working together and making great music, and because we’re all deeply indebted to and inspired by this material and these musicians. I wanted to add [percussionist] Jay Epstein because he’s another great musician who loves this music, and also because the original music has a bunch of great, weird percussion all over it [Jarrett sometimes added a percussionist to the band], and I thought Jay would be the perfect addition to make that happen and is very much in tune with the rest of us.”

 

 Jarrett’s American Quartet released 13 albums in five years (eight on the Impulse label), with a soundscape that covers free jazz, straight-ahead post-bop, gospel music, and exotic, Middle-Eastern-sounding improvisations, so there’s a lot of material to consider for the Jan. 15 concert. “We’ll definitely be trying to program a good, diverse cross-section,” said Nichols, “and we’ll definitely be including some of the Motian and Redman compositions from this band, since it wasn’t just KJ’s tunes in the band.”

  Perhaps the most unusual, free-wheeling band of the 2011 Midtown Global Jazz Festival, the high school students of the Respective Sounds Convergence Summit may have startled some in an audience anticipating more mainstream music, but one individual who expressed his approval was none other than local free jazz spirit, Milo Fine. Which is not surprising, as trio leader, South High bassist Sam Wildenauer, has studied with Fine as well as with bassist Adam Linz through his participation in the Dakota Combo. His cohorts include fellow South High guitarist Will Nelson and Avalon High School (St Paul) keyboardist Henry Misa, who also plays drums with Wildenauer in the Dakota Combo. The trio will play a 30-minute opening set of spontaneous improvisation as part of the TCJS “Young Artists” program.

  This “J to Z” concert will be held at the Artists’ Quarter, 408 St. Peter Street, in the lower level of the Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. Tickets at the door are $10; $8, TCJS members and seniors; and $5, students with school ID. On Sundays, there is free on-street parking and free ramp parking in the Macy’s ramp on 6th Street.