The Standard Session • New, Cool & Schooled

    icon Nov 25, 2016
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Many will tell you that jazz is the quintessential American art form.  It is a quixotic mix of standard songs used as platforms for improvisation and musical rules than can be studied at length, mainly for the pure joy of understanding how beautiful it is to break them.   It is as much about tradition as it is innovation.  Just like America.

This region has a rich tradition in jazz, as talents like Mike Brush and Julie Mulady have been strong torchbearers for the art form, melding musical concoctions that are amazingly entertaining while satisfying the listener both intellectually and emotionally.

In 2016 winners of the Review Music Award for Best Jazz Band, The Standard Session, local music lovers have discovered a new force in the genre.

Consisting of a core trio of vocalist Alisha Wisnieswki, trumpeter Jacob Wisenbach and saxophonist Michael George, with occasional help from “A List” sidemen like Jeff Hall, Pat Cronley, Terry Newman and Reichlin Small, the group has quickly become a fixture in the area’s music scene.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Wisniewski, Wisenbach and George to discuss their combo and, as it turns out, their musical journeys.   Though the three are quickly engaging in part due to their “informality,” you have to be impressed with the formality of the path they each took to hone their craft. 

Lessons they learned during their musical educations was a consistent theme during our interview.  As Wisniewski put it, “You don’t realize, at first, the massive effect your instructors have on your life.  They make you more well-rounded, instead of focusing only on one thing.”

Wisenbach is the local of the three, having grown up in Caro.  Like many, sixth grade band was his introduction to playing a musical instrument.  “I wanted to play sax, but I couldn’t make a noise on it, so I switched to trumpet and later guitar.  I switched back to trumpet in college, after starting there as a guitar student.”

Wisenbach studied at Delta College and Saginaw Valley, crediting instructors like Brad DeRoche, Mark Flegg and Jeff Hall immensely for his development as a musician.  (As mentioned above, The Standard Session sometimes hires Hall as a sideman.  That is, potentially, another cool thing about jazz.  You might get to hire your teachers.)

Wisniewski and George are natives of Reading, Pennsylvania, who relocated to this area after college.

George, who started on cello in 3rd grade and saxophone in 4th, matriculated at Westchester University, where he studied with instructors like John Swana, Jerry Laboranti and Greg Riley.

Vocalist Wisniewski received her musical education at University of the Arts in Philadelphia.  Private instructors like Maryellen Desmond and Justin Binek, as well as choral director Jeff Kern, were among those that helped her earn the Jazz Vocalist Award at her 2011 Commencement Ceremony.

Though they have the similarity of formal musical training, each took a very different path to jazz. For Wisenbach, it was when he first heard John Coltrane’s “Summertime” that he knew “THAT is what I want to do.”

As Wisniewski put it, “I sang in High School, but I didn’t really know what jazz was.  At University of the Arts my first instructor was Mary Ellen Desmond.  She is big in the scene and she introduced me to a lot.”

George agreed with Wisniewski’s sentiment in his own situation.  “I didn’t really know what jazz was until I got to Westchester University.  Then I started subbing, finding jobs, figuring it out.”

One of these jobs turned into Pennsylvania jam band favorite, Boop Loomis with whom he recorded an album before he and Wisniewski relocated to Michigan in 2014.  “I’d had a couple (information technology) internships in Michigan and liked it.  We liked the musical scene, so we said “Why not?’”

The trio first met at Mott’s Place in Saginaw, after friends had recommended to each that they go jam with Aaron Johnson (Sprout / Avenue 5) during one of his regular solo appearances there.  As Wisenbach tells it “Someone took a video and put it out, so we came back the next Wednesday.” “And within a couple of months, we had our first gig,” added George.

In classic jazz combo fashion, the group – with whatever side musicians may accompany them on a given night – bases their set list around classic jazz standards and reinterpretations of modern pop tunes.  The arrangements allow ample opportunity for each to improvise against chord progressions and rhythmic syncopations both simple and complex.  It is a catalog that has matured a great deal over the last year.

Said George, “Jacob is like a Jazzopedia.  He knows the songs, who played on what tracks, who produced it, all that.  He has pushed me to get more into jazz.  He pushes me to get out there.  It is crazy how much we have grown.”

The group has been very pleased with the reception to their act with local club owners.   As George described it, “I like that there are so many owners that are ‘with it.’  They are willing to give you a chance.”

Wisniewski added, “Sometimes, at first, the owner is more in tune with the idea than the crowd.”

One of the things are that you have always been told is that education creates opportunity and that has been true for The Standard Session in other ways, too.

Horn players Wisenbach and George regularly sit in with a variety of area musical acts, such as Barbarossa Brothers, Sprout and Soiree.

Wisenbach has also become a regular in the pit orchestras of the area’s theatrical productions.  “It nice because they hand me a book and I just have to walk in and play it.”

Now that’s a jazzman’s attitude if there ever was one.  Show up.  Nail the session. Go home.

You can follow the band on Facebook and catch them at regular appearances at venues such as Brooklyn Boyz, Probst, Washington Pub, Tri City Brewing and other local stages.  

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