The
Latin Side of the Great American Songbook with Peggy Stern
 Peggy Stern is an eclectic pianist and composer with far ranging
influences. Initially classically trained and a graduate of the
Eastman
School as well as the New England Conservatory, she found her way
to San Francisco, where she explored salsa and R&B. Returning
to
the East Coast, she was introduced to saxophonist Lee Konitz, who
had heard Peggy’s compositions on Marian  McPartland’s “Piano
Jazz”
program. When not touring and recording, Peggy is a music educator,
and her latest interest has been in writing for jazz choirs.
Photo at left: Peggy Stern with Jimmy & Tootie Heath
at the Week 1 Jazz Camp party.
In order to get to know her better, we asked
Peggy to answer a few questions. Here’s
what she had to say:
If you could be any other type
of artist other than a jazz musician, what would you be and
why?
If I weren’t a musician I would be a writer;
it seems like the same thing to me, and as
anyone who knows me would attest, I love words! The way I like to
write, it feels the same as
music to me—improvisational and free, but not without the
tools of the trade: grammar, spelling,
syntax, etc. I like to goof around with the sound of words together;
to me, writing words is just
like writing music.
What’s the worst experience you’ve
ever had on the bandstand?
When I was a young
musician, I was working with Richie Cole, who had Eddie Jefferson
as a guest that night. Eddie
had no charts, and he called “On the Waterfront”, which
was a tune I didn’t know. Well, the
bass player hadn’t shown up yet, and I really didn’t
know the tune, melody or harmony. Eddie
says, that’s ok, you’ll hear it. So he starts singing,
I start guessing, and pretty soon, he turns
around to me and says,”Stroll!”, so of course I start
walking the bassline… sounded like strolling
to me, and he turns around and says louder, for the audience to hear, “Stroll!” I
walk some more
bassline, and finally he yells, “Lay out!” No, I did
not fall off the bench and lie down on the stage,
but very nearly—from mortification!”
Do you have a favorite music-related joke
(that can be told in mixed company!)
Well, it kind of
takes too long, but it always tickles me, as a rhythm section player:
the one about the man on
safari, and his guide. As they walk through the jungle, they hear
drumming in the distance, and
our tourist gets nervous, but the guide (repeatedly) reassures him,
drums ok, drums ok. Drums
stop, very bad. As they continue their trek, the drums get louder
and louder, but the guide says
again, drums good, drums ok. Drums stop, very, very bad. All of a
sudden, the drums stop. The
guide pulls up, alarmed. Our tourist, sweating and frightened, says
what’s going on?! Guide
says, drums stop, very very bad—bass solo.
When did you become
interested in music, and what circumstances or events led to your
becoming a professional musician?
I really became a musician
as a child: wrote my first tune
when I was 5, called May Flowers. I loved the piano always, as the
most responsive and safest
place for me to be (as a third child). Then it started rewarding
me back pretty quick, with special
attention, and getting out of math and physics in high school, because
I was the accompanist
for everything, things like that. I had wonderful training, loving
teachers (one in particular so
loved the music that she infused me with her enthusiasm, thanks Louise!),
and it was a natural
for me to go to Eastman, and then on to New England conservatory.
After that, there was a big
change for me, because I wanted the relevance of contemporary music—classical
music wasn’t
doing it for me in the 70’s). At that time I was playing in
a Renaissance chamber group, and had
to improvise with just figured bass, loved it, and it was a hop
and a skip from there to jazz!”
What’s the last book you’ve
read?
My most recent
and most memorable are “Leap!” by Sara
Davidson, an anthology of people from the ‘boomer’ generation,
and what they have been doing
with their hopes and dreams all this time: a wonderful book, it catalogs
some very well-known
people, and some people not famous, but who have led pretty interesting
lives. The book talks
about the crisis of aging parents, and retired living, and efforts
to save the world (!), little things
like that… I have also recently read “Everyman” by
Philip Roth, and “The History of Love,” by
Nicole Krauss.
To find out more about Peggy. go to peggystern.com |
