This group will focus on the music of the legendary composer/multi-instrumentalist who passed-away in 2008. Giuffre, is perhaps best known for his composition, “Four Brothers,” which he wrote for Woody Herman’s “second herd.” It featured three famed tenor saxophonists Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Al Cohn who performed its first incarnation with the baritone sax of Serge Challof. In later years many other great saxophonists have played “Four Brothers” in Woody Herman’s orchestra including local legend, Scott Mullett.

In the fifties, Jimmy Giuffre became a darling of the critics for developing what he called "blues-based folk jazz," a new style that featured stream-lined, contrapuntal, chamber jazz writing. Giuffre’s gorgeous tone on tenor saxophone was brought to the public’s attention in a stellar performance with Jim Hall and Bob Brookmeyer in the classic film about the Newport Jazz Festival, “Jazz on A Summer’s Day.” The song they played, the “Train and the River,” became a hit which Giuffre’s audience expected to hear, well after he had moved on to more progressive and less accessible concepts.

Guitarist Joel Harrison, while living in San Francisco in the 90s, organized a living tribute concert to honor Jimmy Giuffre who by then had retired from active performing for health reasons.  After moving to New York, he pressed drummer George Schuller, who had a history with Giuffre, to put together a formal group that used Giuffre’s compositions as a springboard.  Jimmy and his wife, Juanita had been good friends with Schuller’s family, and George had studied briefly with him at New England Conservatory.  Schuller said:

It’s great to acknowledge the music of Jimmy Giuffre, his music is incredible and … sort of forgotten… he was always exploring, always looking for something else. I hung out with him, perhaps we didn’t take him that seriously because he was so soft spoken.  I had respect for him, but I didn’t follow through with it.

Perhaps it was the voice of regret or the enticement of making great music that drove Schuller to accept Harrison’s prodding; upon Giuffre’s passing in ’08 it became clear that “ we had to do something for Jimmy.”  Together they combined forces with saxophonist Ohad Talmor and between the three of them arranged Whirrr, Swamp People, Phoenix, Threewe and other Giuffre compositions, some of which hadn’t been performed in over 40 years.  They mulled over the instrumentation and musicians that would complement the project and decided a sextet would offer the best colors and arranging possibilities.  They asked multi-reed player, Marty Ehrlich to represent Giuffre on clarinet: Schuller said that when looking for “a clarinet player that wouldn’t mimic Jimmy’s approach, but would capture his spirit - Marty immediately came to mind.”  They invited Cameron Brown, a bassist who had actually played with Giuffre in the 70s.  To complete the group, they called upon Slavik Soul Party’s trombonist, Jacob Garchik.

Jimmy Giuffre was a serious composer. After a truncated stint at graduate school (U.S.C.), he discovered that his path to knowledge was that of self-disciplined study with individual instructors followed by practical application. He fell in love with the use of counterpoint in writing jazz arrangements. In counterpoint, each musician plays a unique melodic line that fits into different melodic lines sounded by other instruments. The resultant sound of Giuffre’s compositions was that of a fabric created by a meshing of individual lines rather than a melody supported by chords. In jazz this is still an unusual approach. To this day, Guiffre is acknowledged as one of the music’s true mavericks.

Giuffre was also an early proponent of Free Jazz. His 1962 recording Free Fall, with pianist Paul Bley and bassist Steve Swallow is one of the seminal recordings of Free Jazz. Giuffre’s group received little attention while they were active, but were later cited as among the most important groups in jazz history. Music critic, Thom Jurek claims that this trio's recordings are "one of the most essential documents regarding the other side of early-'60s jazz."

After playing music with Ornette Coleman at the Lenox School of Jazz, Giuffre changed.  He became excited at the idea of letting go.  He noticed that Ornette, like Monk, had “a certain way of stating things with conviction, so that he spoke clearly and surely, and he played this idea without any restraint – he played it immediately, right in front of you.”  He went on “it’s a matter of being unafraid to stand up and be yourself – right there in public…In other words, you’re so free that you’re out in space, and you do what occurs to you at that instant without thinking it over.”  This led to his association with pianist Paul Bley and bassist Steve Swallow with whom he collaborated in some remarkable Free Jazz sessions.  Their compositions were short, complex heads (melodies) that were followed by sections of free improvisation.  Because there was no drummer in the group, the sound of Giuffre’s clarinet (primarily) was a featured element.  He successfully achieved an enormous variety of qualities and textures from this demanding instrument, all the time conscious of the beauty within that sound.  Giuffre also incorporated his knowledge of counterpoint into the context of Free Jazz; the trio’s use of space and the conscious overlaying of spontaneous melodies gave a chamber music-like quality to their performances.  It was a new approach that wasn’t always appreciated by the critics who had kvelled over him when he was performing the “Train and the River” with Hall and Brookmeyer.

The music played by Whirrr is drawn mostly from Giuffre’s Free periods using arrangements of music transcribed from 1961, Free Fall and includes one piece from Jimmy Giuffre 3. It explores a wide range of emotions, from soft, lush melodies to sustained intensities. The fascinating arrangements are constructed to offer ample opportunity for deft soloing from all of the musicians with special emphasis on the remarkable clarinet-work of Marty Ehrlich.

The musicians of Whirrr are all top-level, full-time, New York-based players.  Guitarist Joel Harrison is best known for his composing and arranging skills. He has twice been selected as the winner of the Jazz Composer’s Alliance Julius Hemphill Composition Competition, and has been the recipient of three commissions from Chamber Music America, as well as Meet the Composer, the Cary Trust, NYSCA, Jerome Foundation, and others. His solo for marimba recently took first prize in the Percussive Arts Society’s worldwide competition. Harrison is a four-time MacDowell Colony fellow. His allies in his various projects have included Dave Liebman, Norah Jones, David Binney, Uri Caine, Jamey Haddad, Dan Weiss, Dewey Redman, Uri Caine and others.  He continues to tour worldwide with his various ensembles.   

Drummer, George Schuller has performed and/or recorded with many of today's leading musicians including Lee Konitz, Mose Allison, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nnenna Freelon, Ran Blake, Fred Hersch, Armen Donelian, Burton Greene, Tom Varner, Mark Helias, Tony Malaby, Dave Douglas, Herb Robertson, Peter Yarrow and The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. In 1995 Schuller appeared on Joe Lovano's critically acclaimed album Rush Hour (Blue Note) with compositions and arrangements by Gunther Schuller. It was voted "Album of the Year" by Down Beat magazine.

Marty Ehrlich has been hailed as “one of the most formidable multi-instrumentalists since Eric Dolphy…the jazz dream musician” (The Village Voice).  The New York Times calls him “one of the premier melodicists of his generation,” and The Nation “one of his time’s most original thinkers.”  The Jazz Journalist Association honored him as Wind Player of the Year in 2001 and as Clarinetist of the year in 2003.  In 2004, Ehrlich was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Composition. Ehrlich appears on about 100 recordings with ensembles led by Muhal Richard Abrams, Ray Anderson, Fontella Bass, Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Jaki Byard, Anthony Davis, Jack DeJohnette, Peter Erskine, Michael Formanek, Don Grolnick, Chico Hamilton, Jerome Harris, Julius Hemphill, Andrew Hill, Leroy Jenkins, Oliver Lake, Myra Melford, Roscoe Mitchell, Ken Peplowski, George Russell, John Zorn and others. 

Saxophonist, Ohad Talmor plays regularly with his own group; NEWSREEL, as well as Jason Moran, Josh Redman, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Douglas, Carla Bley Big Band, Paul Motian, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Billy Hart and many others.  He can be heard often alongside his friend and mentor Lee Konitz.  He also plays with the Steve Swallow 6tet and Trio (featuring Adam Nussbaum) and has written music for many different situations, including the Brecker Brothers. 

Trombonist and composer Jacob Garchik plays with the Lee Konitz Nonet, the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, Slavic Soul Party!, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Coleman, Joe Maneri, Josh Roseman, Don Byron, Terry Reilly, George Lewis, and Billy Martin.  Since 2006 Jacob has contributed dozens of arrangements for the Kronos Quartet; his work is featured on their 2009 release “Floodplain.”

Bassist Cameron Brown worked with the Don Pullen/George Adams Quartet, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, the George Russell Sextet as well as many other jazz luminaries who have left the planet.  At present Mr. Brown performs and/or records with Joe Lovano, Sheila Jordan, Archie Shepp, Dave Ballou, Lou Donaldson, Marc Copland, Jim McNeely, Steve Slagle, George Cables, Joe Locke, Tony Malaby and Phil Markowitz as well as his own ensemble, Cameron Brown and the Hear and Now. He has appeared on more than 80 recordings.

This is an incredible opportunity to hear the music of Jimmy Giuffre interpreted by some of New York’s most creative and accomplished performers. Come stretch your mind and experience this event first-hand. The Vermont Jazz Center thanks the Colonial Inn for their continued generosity in hosting Vermont Jazz Center musicians.