JAZZART

JAZZART

For several years from the mid-’70s to the mid-’80s, most of my jazz activity was performed under the all-encompassing name, JAZZART. I chose this name over using my own name, followed by the size of the group (trio, quartet, etc.).

Many different musicians played in one version of JAZZART or another. My current recollection (30+ years later) of the ever-changing personnel includes: Barry Wills, Bernie Carroll, Mike Pihura, Ralph Hetke, Evan Graham, Larry Crawford, Dave Miller, Dave Finn, Brian Tansley, and Dave Wiffen. The only apparent consistency was that I played bass, although it might have been a double bass or a Fender Fretless, depending upon the date and the groove of the music.

JAZZART groups ranged in size from duos to sextets, and the personnel changes reflected the availability of musicians as gigs became available. Occasionally Barry Wills was travelling, Bernie Carroll was on the road, Brian Tansley was in K-W for a short period of time before moving to Ottawa, Miller and Finn went off to Berklee for a while, and Dave Wiffen showed up near the end of the decade to work with us at The Olde English Parlour before he headed off to study at Eastman in Rochester.

The Olde English Parlour marked the final gig for JAZZART, ending in May 1986, and my involvement was interrupted by my activity as a documentary photographer and a subsequent offer of a teaching position in Belleville, Ontario that removed me from K-W for 28 years.