Born 23rd Feb. 1975 in London with a part-time reggae guitar player of a father, Wayne Escoffery belongs to the young New-York-based generation who has had contact with the elders, plays in every possible context, honing their styles through ferocious involvement, learning more than just technique next to the jazz greats. With the likes of Jeremy Pelt or the Strickland brothers, he is bound to be part of the vanguard of jazz torch-bearers.
While still a student, he played with Curtis Fuller, Eddie Henderson, Philip Harper, Claude Williams, Tootie Heath at Hartt School, then played or studied with Herbie Hancock, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Don Braden, Clark Terry, Ron Carter, Barry Harris, Charlie Persip… since he arrived in New York in 2000, he has worked with Ben Riley, Ron Carter, Don Sickler, Bill Charlap, Bruce Barth, Mary Stallings and has been touring with the Mingus Band, Abdullah Ibrahim’s Akaya or Lonnie Plaxico’s band. With such a promising debut and an already rich experience, he has learnt a lot. His fluent style and aggressive delivery account for our impatience to hear his next release on Nagel-Heyer with Rick Germanson (p), Gerald Cannon (b), Ralph Peterson (dm),Jeremy Pelt (tp) as well as his fiancée, Carolyn Leonhart (voc).
An interview with Jean Szlamowicz
Jazz Hot : You come from London…
Yes, after leaving London at age eight, my mother and I traveled a few places before settling in New Haven, Ct. We lived briefly in Montreal, Canada; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia. New Haven was a great place for a child to be exposed to the arts. It is a very culturally and artistically rich place. My mother worked for Yale University so I had access to the University’s libraries, museums and theaters and she made it a point to take me to these places as much as possible.
How did you learn music ?
My musical education began with the New Haven Trinity Boys Choir, a boy’s choir that I was in from age 11 until about 16 or 17. I was introduced to the saxophone at about the same time I joined the choir when a multi instrumentalist came to my elementary school and demonstrated various types of instruments. I wanted to play the trumpet but my mother said that it was too easy because it only had three notes. She clearly didn’t know much about music and neither did I because I believed her. She also mentioned that my Grandfather on my father’s side played the saxophone. For those two reasons (the first being the most convincing) I decided to play the saxophone. When I went to get the instrument from the band room there were no altos left so I ended up with the tenor and have played it ever since. I’m glad because I feel like the tenor saxophone is a perfect extension of my voice. I feel that the range of the instrument allows me to play exactly what my ears are hearing in the exact octave that I’m hearing it.
At that time I also began playing in the school band and taking private lessons from a Yale graduate student. He gave me tapes of different jazz and classical saxophonists. They weren’t labeled very well so I wasn’t quite sure what I was listening to but I knew what I liked the most. It wasn’t until much later that I realized that my favorite tapes were of John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Rouse, and the like.
I was formally introduced to jazz during my sophomore year in high school while I was a theater student at The Educational Center For The Arts. At ECA I would always hear great music when I walked by the jazz ensemble room. One day I happened to have my horn and the director, George Raccio asked me to sit in on Thelonious Monk’s blues, Straight No Chaser. It happened to be the only Jazz tune that I knew so I played it with the guys in the band. The students and the director insisted that I switch departments and join the jazz ensemble, so I did.
Most of the musicians on the local scene in New Haven were “fusion” or “Contemporary Jazz” musicians so early on, that was the type of music I was attracted to. My mother wrote up a letter saying that I was allowed to go to the local jazz clubs like Malcolm’s and The Foundry as long as I was not served alcohol. Thanks to that letter, I was able to hear local musicians quite often. The most influential of those musicians being Bobby and Eddie Buster. They were local organists who played and recorded with all of the greats who had passed through town including Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt and John Coltrane. The Busters took me under their tutelage and every Sunday I went to the Jam Session they led and learned a lot of important musical lessons the hard way…on the bandstand in front of audiences and hungry musicians. It was a great environment to be in and a great way to learn about The Blues, how to swing, learn the standard Jazz repertoire, and the rules of the bandstand. This period of my life is one of the main reasons I will always have a love for the blues and organ music. My remaining years in High School I attended The Neighborhood Music School, The Jazz Mobile, and then the Artists Collective in Hartford Connecticut run by Jackie Mclean. Joining the artists Collective and Meeting Jackie Mclean was a big turning point for me. Since Jmac lived in Hartford, it was filled with great musicians of all ages. At that time I met and became close with Jimmy Greene, Nat Reeves, Alan Palmer, Steve Davis, and many other great musicians studying and on the professional scene in Hartford. All of a sudden the level of musicianship was much higher than what I had been used to. It inspired me to work hard and do all I could in order to play at a higher level. Meeting Jmac marked the first time I met one of the legends of Jazz and I felt privileged to be a part of something that he ran. Not only did I admire him for his musical abilities and successes; I also admired him for his style, his cool demeanor, and the respect he demanded and always received from his students and peers. As a result, doing right by him was and always will be very important to me. When he offered me a full scholarship to attend the Hartt School I jumped at the chance.
Attending college was very important to my mother and she was very supportive of me playing music as long as I did so. After completing college I planned on moving to New York and hitting the Jazz scene, until I heard about the Thelonious Monk Institute in Boston, Mass. The institute presented an opportunity to study and play with more masters of the music for free, with the option of completing a master’s degree at The New England Conservatory. I was eager to go to NYC but Jmac convinced me to audition for the institute. I decided to audition for the program and move to NYC if I wasn’t accepted. Well, I was accepted and joined the two-year program. In retrospect I am glad that I did because the institute gave me opportunities that I wouldn’t have gotten in such a short period of time in NYC.
How did you become a professional jazz musician ?
Wether it be singing, playing a musical instrument, or acting; I have always wanted to be a performer. However, even though I loved music, I didn’t plan on being a full time musician. I was very interested in psychology and philosophy and had planned on going to a University that would allow me to do some sort of double major. The more involved I got in Jazz the more I realized how intense of an art from it really was. I realized that in order for me to play at the level I wanted to, I would have to focus entirely on that. I felt that if I took on too many things, mediocrity would be the achieved level in both fields. Mediocrity has never been something that I have been able to settle on so I decided to pursue a Jazz career 100%.
At fifteen years of age I was performing all over New Haven and the surrounding areas with bands that I put together. We would play at local clubs, bars, restaurants, and some music festivals. Soon Bobby, Eddie Buster and other local professionals began calling me for gigs. By the time I got to college I was known in The New Haven area as a rising young talent. Moving to Hartford further boosted my reputation when I became associated with Jmac and began playing with Hartford musicians.
In Hartford I joined The Artists Collective Lilla Wallace Readers Digest Youth Jazz Orchestra. This big band was lead by Jackie McLean and co lead by his resent graduates, Alan Palmer, Steve Davis, Raymond Williams and Chris Jensen. It was a great band with the best young talent in Connecticut. We played the music of Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Tadd Dameron, Thad Jones and other great big band composers. It was wonderful exposure to a lot of music and even today I come across some of the same arrangements in professional groups.
Another great band that I was in at this time was put together by Jmac when I was a freshman at the Hartt School. The band was made up of young musicians whom he was sure would make a name for themselves in the near future. The rhythm section was Aaron Goldberg on piano, Peter Hartman on Bass and alternated between Jim Oblon and Eric McPherson on Drums. The front line was two Tenor saxophonists. Jimmy Greene and myself. It was a hard-hitting band and we played originals and arrangements by all of the members of the band. We were very excited about the group and there was talk of a possible record deal but in never happened. Nonetheless, for a few years we did a lot of gigs in and around the Hartford area. As we all got more involved in school and our own individual projects, the group broke up but we continue to have a close musical and personal relationship.
The first professional band I joined in the city was Eric Reed’s Septet. In his band we played mostly his original music. On occasion we would play some originals of the other musicians in the band or musicians whose music he enjoyed. Being in Eric’s band was my introduction to touring with a professional band, and playing at venues like the Village Vanguard and big jazz festivals like The JVC Jazz Festival. The most valuable lessons I learned playing with Eric were about the business side of the music. Things like, what is a respectable amount to be paid, what should be expected from a promoter, how to best present your band to an audience, how to organize rehearsals and rehearse efficiently, etc… With Carl Allen often in the band I had another source of information about the music business, the recording industry and other important aspects of music that young musicians often neglect to think about.
In what way is jazz music essentially an African-American music ?
I think of Jazz as American Classical music based on improvisation, and born out of African American social situations and musical traditions in the United Sates. Although there are other forms of music that encompass improvisation, the uniqueness of Jazz comes from the freedom in which improvisation is applied.
I do view Jazz as an African American Art Form. However, that does not mean that people of different ethnicities and from different countries should not play Jazz. Or that those same people haven’t made and don’t continue to make influential contributions to Jazz. In my opinion, the fact that Jazz is an African American art form means that the most influential developments in Jazz have been made in the United States by African Americans. This is a result of the fact that there is a cultural distinction in the approach of jazz particular to the black community and those who grew up in that community. Just as there is a cultural distinction in the approach of jazz particular to different parts of the United States and those growing up in various communities in the US. This is part of the beauty of Jazz and what keeps it interesting, diverse and makes it the perfect tool for cultural and social relations between different cultures and nations. In its brief history, this has always been a role Jazz has played and I think that it should and will always remain an important part of the Jazz tradition.
Who are your main influences ?
Musically, my main influences are Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, George Coleman, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Charlie Rouse, Lucky Thompson, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Bud Powell, Duke Ellington, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, Jackie McLean, Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Bob Berg, Billy Pierce, Ralph Moore, Mark Turner, Kenny Garrett, Don Braden, Grover Washington, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and the list goes on.
There may be an overwhelming influence of Coltrane, Joe Henderson, and Wayne Shorter, but I don’t think that there is neglect suffered by the rest of the tenor players. I think there are many saxophonists in New York City alone who are strongly influenced by George Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Lucky Thompson, Ben Webster, etc. The problem is that many of these musicians don’t have big record contracts so they are limited to exposure through there local Jazz scenes.
In what way are the media and music business shaping the form of jazz today ?
I think that it is unfortunate that more so now than in the last century of this music, the media and record companies have so much control of the fate and the development of Jazz. Record companies and the media decide what will make the most money and what is becoming a trend. It seems as though many musicians decide to make music according to what record companies and the media deem as “the new hip thing”. This often results in sacrificing musical integrity, and instead making music that is a watered down version of something other than what the artist truly hears or feels. This is not the fault of the musician because he or she is simply trying to make a living. As a result of such moneymaking schemes devised by record companies and perpetuated by the media, the music that great artists would prefer to present is not supported.
What does it mean to be a jazz musician for you ?
I think that being the Jazz musician is one of the most difficulty professions there is. Artistically it is extremely challenging. A great Jazz musician must have a great knowledge of Jazz history, theory, harmony, and the improvisational devices used presently and over the last century. A great Jazz musician must also be a virtuoso on his instrument, understanding the intricacies of his or her instrument as thorough as the greatest classical musician. It is also necessary to have a large repertory of jazz classics as well as standards from the American songbook. All of these skills take more years to develop than most professions learned in the four to six year time spent in colleges. Most professions that take as much hard work and dedication as Jazz (like the medical profession or Law) reap great benefits once mastered. However, it is almost impossible to make a decent living as a Jazz musician in the United States. The average Jazz musician in this country has to have another job in order to make a living.
I am a musician because I was born a musician and have always been a musician in my heart. It is what I love to do and I cannot live without playing music. I am fortunate enough to be among the small group of musicians in this country able to make a living playing music and I will continue to do so as long as I am able.
A Selective discography
Leader
2001. Times Change, Nagel-Heyer 2015
Sideman
2001. David Gibson, Maya, Nagel-Heyer 2018
2001. Mingus Big Band, Tonight At Noon… Three or Four Shades of Love, Dreyfus 36633-2
2002. Eric Reed, Happiness, Nagel-Heyer 2010
2003. Lonnie Plaxico, Rhythm and Soul, Sirocco Jazz Limited 1023