This Time Around
Click below for audio sample
Vertigo
By Peter B. Brace
Nantucket Independent
Posted Jul 23, 2010 @ 11:30 AM
Last update Jul 23, 2010 @ 12:42 PM
Nantucket —
Wafting out into the night air through the Chanticleer’s garden under the moonlight and around the village of ’Sconset this summer are the sensual sounds of jazz from the trio, Opus 3. Band leader Seth Burkhart on drums, his wife, Jane Dean-Burkhart, on piano and islander Erik Wendelken on stand-up bass, subbing for full-time bassist Nelson Cruz, are quickly evolving into the Chanticleer’s house band for the summer, something that restaurateur Susan Handy has been trying to bring to her new business since she bought it five years ago. “I think it’s really nice for the people in ’Sconset to have live music in the village, but I think it’s nice for the people in town. It’s transporting to come out here and get away from the hustle and bustle,” said Handy. Handy’s friend and fellow Nantucketer Tom Dickson is the catalyst for the band’s playing at the Chanticleer. He grew up with Burkhart and knew that the Burkharts were spending the summer on Nantucket. “I always thought it would be great if there was a jazz club on Nantucket,” said Dickson, who visits jazz clubs in Harlem, whenever he gets the chance. Those imagining a smoke-filled room with table lights lit low and a boozy vibe emanating from the stage in the stereotypical environ of a city jazz club, will definitely hear that type of music. (Scroll down for video) Yet the atmosphere last week was a bit livelier. Tables in front of the bar held diners, bar patrons and jazz aficionados, who came specifically for the Chanticleer’s emergence as a jazz venue. “On Wednesday night, the most important thing was the room was filled and it was a rainy night and I didn’t recognize anybody,” said Dickson. “I hope that the house trio will attract individual soloists whom I’ve met from New York City – at least on one of those days. During July 13’s gig, the soloist was legendary saxophonist George Young. “Mr. George” played with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman, with his own trio in the 1960s on the “Ed Sullivan Show” and in the “Saturday Night Live” Band when G.E. Smith led it. Without a doubt, Opus 3 and certainly those in the bar, breathed rare air that night while their ears were caressed by Young’s masterful sounds. Laying down chords and notes for Young to inhabit with his talent felt natural for Opus 3. “It was a lot of straight-ahead jazz, some crossover with some Latin, a lot of standards,” said Burkhart. “We take a lot of songs from Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Great American stuff like that, and we put a new dress on it and make it our own. “It doesn’t matter where our trio plays, whether it’s in Europe or Asia, the United States or the Middle East, it’s like being in New York City.” Complementing their attempt at bringing the essence of the Harlem jazz scene to ’Sconset, Handy and Dickson are hoping that a brief departure from the Chanticleer’s staid, formal dining experience will entice a broader clientele. To wit, dress is casual and there is a prix fixe menu at $30 with mixed drinks at $10 and beer at $7 during the shows. “There’s a legacy and aura around the Chanticleer and a dress code of coat and tie,” said Dickson. “It’s something that needs to be shaken.” Through Labor Day, catch Opus 3 at the Chanticleer at 9 New St. in ’Sconset on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 9:30 p.m. No reservations needed.
Following on from their successful debut album “Journeys” The Opus 3 Jazz trio have returned with a stunning second CD. A change to the line-up has introduced Nelson Cruz on bass and he has fitted seamlessly into the band to combine well with Jane and Seth Burkhart to present a well-balanced, innovative and polished sound that is sure to delight any new listeners as much as those who have been awaiting the release of this album. On “This Time Around” the band’s growing confidence is reflected in their inclusion of a healthy proportion of original compositions which span several styles, from classic slow ballads to driving Jazz/Funk, with some slow Swing and smooth Jazz in between. Jane Burkhart’s outstanding piano and organ skills are perfectly framed by the “tight” pairing of Seth and Nelson on drums and bass. The pleasure these three musicians derive from playing together is obvious, with each member happy to add those little touches that enhance each other member’s contribution.
Highlights among the original compositions include “Mieka” - This slow Swing waltz, built around a repeating bass part, builds very nicely with some creative solo work on piano. “Hubble Bubble” is a real showpiece, switching effortlessly back and forth from Funk to Swing. This track is sure to be a “Live” show favorite. On “One for Rick” the retro sound of a classic Hammond organ gives an overall “powerful” feel to a great performance.
The CD also contains a few cover versions of Jazz and Swing classics, two of which deserve a special mention. “But not for me” gives Nelson the lead and he seizes the opportunity to show how melodic a bass guitar can be. The interplay between bass and drums at the start of this track is a joy to listen to and the later introduction of piano produces such a full, rounded feel to this one, it give a fresh new slant to an old standard. There are few three-piece outfits who would dare to take on the Duke Ellington classic “Caravan”. From the first strike of the complex drum pattern, the band provides a BIG version of a true Big Band number. All three members are obviously enjoying what they do on this track. Who can blame them? This is outstanding work!
There is a “Bonus” track at the end of the CD (it appears after a minute of silence). “Figs and Honey” introduces Jane’s singing talents, with her melody complimenting some very haunting chord work on piano. A real “Bonus”
Overall, “This Time Around” is a well-conceived, produced and performed compilation which clearly demonstrates the abilities of these three accomplished musicians. If this is what they produce after such a short time together with this line-up, I await with anticipation to see what the future may bring.
Highly recommended.
Brain Strahan
Jazz Critic
Ireland
News Paper article taken from the “Inquire Mirror” Nov. 2008
By Joshua B. Gray I&M Staff Writer
Seth Burkhart’s musical journey began on Nantucket more than 30 years ago. Born in New York City and raised on-island from the age of 9, Burkhart first sat down behind a set of drums as a young teenager. He remembers the very moment he decided to commit himself to the craft.
“I just woke up one morning, sat up in bed and said to my brother, ‘I want to play the drums.’”
Now 46, Burkhart has made a living in music and his latest group, the Opus 3 Jazz Trio, which also includes his wife, will return to the island Friday for a concert at the Coffin School.
Burkhart is the son of long-time (now retired) Nantucket High School art teacher John Burkhart and Barbara Burkhart. His brother and sister, Jonathan and Jill Burkhart, founded the Nantucket Film Festival. Coming from a family with such an artistic sensibility, he said he could remember in middle school walking past the band room to go to lunch each day and hearing the drummers through the walls. He thought, “I can do this,” and he did.
He was helped along the way, getting his first set of drums from Felix Pappalardi and Corky Lang, members of 1970s rock band Mountain, who also lived on Nantucket. Another family friend, who Burkhart said has become like family over the years, is Gary Trainor, the long-time music director at Nantucket High School and now owner of Jewel of the Isle on Straight Wharf, who became a mentor for the young musician.
“We had this instant bond,” said Burkhart. “He took me under his wing and became my mentor and best friend from that very first day.”
As a young teacher, Trainor recalled working with the fledgling musician.
“Seth was one of my first students and he had a tremendous talent and love for music and that was all he wanted to do when he got out of school,” said Trainor. He said he is looking forward to Opus 3’s performance this week, adding he knows Burkhart enjoys coming to the island and performing whenever he can in order to share his music with his many friends in the community.
Only a few short weeks after sitting down at the drums, sticks in hand, Burkhart said he was playing a house gig on-island several nights a week alongside Trainor.
He said his early musical influences were mostly found in his father’s extensive collection of jazz records, and it was not until his senior year in high school that he really discovered popular music in the form of the Rolling Stones and The Who.
Going on to study at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston after receiving a scholarship, Burkhart said he recalled something that Trainor had taught him long before. “One thing that Gary told me when I started playing with him was, if I wanted to play music and make a living at it, I had to learn how to play all styles,” he said. This point was driven home when he arrived at Berklee and saw the level of talent that he would have to compete against to make it professionally.
Burkhart said he heeded that advice from the older musician and soon was becoming proficient in performing jazz, rock, bossa nova, Latin, waltzes and more.
He went where the work was. Leaving Boston after two years at Berklee, he said he landed his first major tour and has been a working musician ever since.
The formation of Opus 3 occurred when Burkhart was performing with a funk band on a cruise ship. There he met a pianist named Jane Dean who was playing with another band on board. From there, he said, they hit it off both musically and personally as they soon began a relationship and are now husband and wife.
The third member of the trio, Nelson Cruz, plays bass for the group and is a celebrated musician in his home country of Puerto Rico, said Burkhart.
The trio has been hard at work for the past few years, he added, as they are coming to Nantucket having just returned from an eight-month tour of Europe, and earlier this week recorded their second studio album.
Journeys
Click below for audio sample
When I Fall In Love
Their first CD entitled “Journeys” is a compilation of jazz standards with their own arrangements anchored by Dean-Burkhart’s piano. The album is available at most major online music stores and has provided the group with some of their first measurable success. Burkhart said that many of the house gigs in the United States have dried up in recent years for small jazz groups such as theirs, but they are seeing a strong interest in Europe and have even begun to see a small following of their work in Japan where they plan to tour in the coming year.
“The piano is the focal point of the trio,” said Burkhart. “Nelson has some bass solos as well, but it is a piano-based group. She (Jane) has played with some heavy cats in the industry over the years and one of the reasons we seem to be developing a fan base is because of her. All I can really say is come to the show, she is an absolute treat.”
Their second studio album will show another level of the group’s talent as some of the songs performed will be original compositions coupled with the rearranged and improvised standards from not only jazz, but rock as well. (The trio performed their own arrangement of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” as the final track on their first CD.)
After their Nantucket appearance, the group will take a well-deserved break. Burkhart and Dean are based on Nantucket and Vancouver, Canada, and Cruz in Puerto Rico. Until now, said Burkhart, they have taken only 11 weeks off in the past three-and-a-half years.
Shortly after the new year, Opus 3 will reunite and once again set out on an international tour, beginning with an extended gig in Morocco, then on to much of Europe and ending up in Japan.
While the work is hard (Burkhart still manages the group, but is hoping to sign with a management company in the coming year) he would not trade it in for anything, he said. Their profession has afforded he and his wife the opportunity to see much of the world and allowed them to night after night do what they love most, make music.
“This is beautiful and it never gets old,” he said.
The Opus 3 Jazz Trio will perform Friday, Nov. 28 at the Coffin School at 4 Winter St. Tickets are $15 and a portion of the proceeds will benefit WCAI-WNAN, the Cape and Islands National Public Radio station.
このライブ録音の模様が、YouTube上にアプロードされているのだけど、まさにアメリカのローカルなジャズの現場を見る思い。 100坪以上は優にあろうかと思える広い、ナイトクラブに老若男女が三々五々集い、お喋りに興じながら食事しながら、一杯飲みながら彼らの熱演に耳を傾けるという体裁。 演奏しているミュージシャン、それを聴くリスナー皆が同じ時間と空間を共有し、楽しんでいる様がよく表れていて実にイイ。 Opus 3 Jazz Trio Jane Dean-Burkhart(p) Jason Sarubbi(b) Seth Burkhart (ds) 1 I Love Paris 2 Bye Bye Blackbird 3 Agua De Beber 4 When I Fall in Love 5 Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise 6 East of the Sun 7 It Don't Mean a Thing 8 My Funny Valentine 9 Route 66 10 Stairway to Heaven 2008年作品 試聴もここで可能です！ Opus 3 Jazz Trio の視聴 1:1セールの詳しいご説明 8月下旬入荷予定、ご予約承り中です。
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