Ken Vandermark article

[Tom in RI]

From today's Globe, as the article says, he doesn't get much airplay. Consequently, I haven't heard him and have had the impression from reviews that he might be too outside for me personally. Maybe I'll take a chance on one of the discs reccommended in the sidebar (in the newespaper but not in evidence on the website). And hey, he's from my home town.

JAZZ

Huge talent, small spotlight

Ken Vandermark knows his stuff. Too bad no one else does.

By Steve Greenlee, Globe Staff | September 18, 2005

From the looks of things, Ken Vandermark is a workaholic with an endless stream of ideas. At 40, he has dozens of albums under his belt as a leader, and he leads so many different ensembles that it's difficult to keep track. Last week the saxophonist released the eighth studio album by his flagship group, the Vandermark 5, and on Thursday he comes to Boston for a concert by the trio FME.

A few months ago, the Vandermark 5 did the unthinkable: The quintet recorded and released all of the music it performed during a five-night stand in Poland, including not only every note from the concerts but a few impromptu jam sessions. The 12-disc set is such an important document -- and offers such compelling music -- that it forces comparisons with the best of the best: Miles Davis's ''The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965," John Coltrane's ''The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings."

Of course, there's a big difference here. Miles and Trane are household names. Legends. Who the heck is Ken Vandermark?

Well, don't suggest to him that he ought to be more famous than he is. This is what gets him started.

''To be honest, I'm really happy with the way my music is working," he says." I'm really happy with the people I get to play with, the amount of work I get to do. I'm working all the time. I cannot complain. I have lots of fellow musicians who should be working more than me and aren't. I'm not being disingenuous.

''The thing I'm frustrated about is working in a way that's getting to more people. One, I think the music is for everybody. It's not just for purists or the jazz clubs. The music is for everybody. It speaks to me, and I think it could speak to everybody. . . . I've been outspoken about wanting more people to hear it. It's not just a hobby. I need to pay the rent. This is how I make my living. I believe it's possible to expand the audience without contracting the music. Me being vocal about that has led people to think it's just about me wanting to be famous."

So what's keeping his music from reaching more people? Well, let's back up for a second.

Finding a way in

Ken Vandermark grew up in Natick, in a home where music was cherished. ''I was taken to lots and lots of and lots of concerts as a kid," he says. In fourth grade, he took up the trumpet. ''I was really bad," he says. In high school he switched to tenor sax and has played reeds ever since. He soon started writing his own music, playing standards, and throwing bands together. After graduation, he headed to McGill University in Montreal to study film and communication. But it was there that he decided he wanted to be a jazz musician.

Vandermark returned to Boston in 1986 but soon left for Chicago, where he felt more of a connection with the jazz scene (and where he continues to live with his wife, Ellen, who is a pediatrician). But it wasn't easy getting started there. ''It was difficult finding people who wanted to work with me," he says. ''I wasn't a schooled musician, and I think people were kind of put off by that and weren't really interested in working with me. I worked on stuff by myself and was really, really discouraged and depressed, to be honest."

He eventually landed a spot in Hal Russell's NRG Ensemble, and from there things took off, leading to guest spots with the likes of saxophonist Peter Brotzmann. In 1993 he recorded his first session as a leader, and in 1996 the Vandermark 5 was born. Over the next decade he would write so much music and create so many different ensembles that it is nearly impossible to figure out which ones are ongoing and which ones were conceived as one-offs.

There is Spaceways Inc., a trio that started out covering Sun Ra and George Clinton and now features its own jazz-rock-reggae compositions prominently; the Sound in Action Trio, in which Vandermark blows against two drummers; the DKV Trio, which covers the likes of Don Cherry and Sonny Rollins; and the Territory Band, a 12-piece big band that plays improvised music. There's a quintet called School Days, quartets called Steam and FJF, and trios called Tripleplay, Free Fall, and the Steelwool Trio.

On Thursday, Vandermark will bring one of his most exciting projects to the First Congregational Church in Hyde Park. FME, or the Free Music Ensemble, includes the bassist Nate McBride, formerly of Boston, and the Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. They play free yet structurally based music, and they can sound like an Ornette Coleman-inspired group or a funk-jazz band. The theory behind the music is difficult to explain. Vandermark -- who won a $265,000 ''genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 1999 (and poured the money back into his music) -- says any of the three musicians can play rhythm, theme, or solo. As he puts it: ''It's a system that's modular, where the components can be stacked in a different series, sometimes vertically and not horizontally."

Answering critics

So back to Vandermark's frustration. It is a result, he says, of the lack of attention his brand of music gets from major record labels, jazz critics, promoters, and club owners, and the lackluster support of the arts in the United States. (Vandermark is far more popular in Europe, and he frequently collaborates with musicians there.)

Jason Koransky, editor of the jazz magazine Down Beat, calls Vandermark ''a dynamic improviser" and ''a very intelligent organizer of musicians." He says he considers the Vandermark 5 a ''landmark group," and he credits the saxophonist with leading a new wave of Chicago-based improvised music.

''But the guy plays a style of music that unfortunately does not have a large audience," Koransky says. ''We review his albums all the time, we do profiles of him, we have an interview with him coming up -- we've covered him. But the music that he has decided to play is not going to be played on the radio. . . . If you're going to say you're an improvising instrumentalist, there's very little mass appeal to that. It's part of the reality of this music."

Vandermark, though, says he is annoyed by the critics who ignore him and the ones who dismiss him out of hand based on what he's done in the past. ''That drives me berserk," he says. ''People get frustrated because I do a lot of different things. They say I can't be serious because I do a lot of different things."

He's equally perturbed by those who question the concepts behind his music rather than its execution. ''People say, 'Well, why are you using rock elements in your music? It's so reductive.' My response is that you're not listening to the music correctly."

Now he's really worked up. ''We're talking about art!" he says. ''This is serious [stuff] for me. This is what we do! It's as serious as any other thing that I'm aware of. I look at artists in other fields, and it's always the same story: People who try to think in new ways, who try to work in new ways, who try to go around the systems that exist, they end up getting criticized for not fitting into the status quo. The irony of that is it's the unconventional thinking that leads to the artwork."

Steve Greenlee can be reached at greenlee@globe.com.

© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Edited September 18, 2005 by Tom in RI

[Nate Dorward]

This has got to be one of the most ridiculous articles I've read in a while: Ken Vandermark as a sadly neglected figure?!?

[jlhoots]

Nice article for those who like Vandermark. I do.

It's worth it to find your way into Vandermark's music.

The Atavistic & Okka material will get you started.

Then you'll want the 12 CD Alchemia package.

I don't think Vandermark is saying he's "sadly neglected".

Edited September 18, 2005 by jlhoots

[BruceH]

Hey...Natick!!

[Jazzmoose]

This has got to be one of the most ridiculous articles I've read in a while: Ken Vandermark as a sadly neglected figure?!?

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Well....yeah! In the grand scheme of music in the United States, I'd say he's pretty neglected. I understand your comment; there are tons of musicians who get a hell of a lot less recognition than Vandermark, but ask a thousand random people if they've heard of him, and you'd have to get pretty lucky to hear a "yes".

[BruceH]

Ken who?

[Nate Dorward]

But relative to 99% of other jazz musicians Vandermark gets plenty of press, most of it positive to boot.

[Jazzmoose]

I agree completely. I guess I'm just whining about the relative ignorance of jazz rather than anything to do with Ken.

[AllenLowe]

12 CDs? Oy veh -

[jlhoots]

12 CDs? Oy veh -

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Yeah - but it's damn good (IMHO of course).