Henigson Concert on the Green Spices Classics with “Off the Score” Jazz

–by Margie Doyle —

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The first Chamber Music Festival Concert on the Green, 10 years ago, was “so much fun, I would have done it if nobody came,” said Bob Henigson, according to Leslie Seaman, Orcas’ “Music Woman” who’s organized Sunday Music in the Park for the last 20 summers.

She related the conversation she had with Henigson, who passed away in 2014, at the Henigson Concert on the Green on Sunday, Aug. 13.  “He was so happy to do it, it was something he’d really wanted to do, and he wanted to do it again. He was so generous and kind.  So they’re doing this in memory of him,” Leslie said.

And as a “thank you” to the Orcas community that has welcomed and inspired the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, now entering its 20^th year, said Festival Founder and Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann.

“This magic island is small but mighty:  the small but mighty Festival staff of three; the small but mighty board; and the volunteers,” who in number are not small, said Friedmann, “but are mighty.

“All of you on Orcas Island have enhanced what we are; this concert is a gift to you. You continue to inspire me to keep going and create this magical moment and concerts every year.” She invited those at the Village Green to acknowledge Phyllis Henigson, and noted that the Robert Henigson Board-designated fund provided for the afternoon’s free concert.

The Eastsound Village Green was packed with music lovers for the Henigson Concert on the Green, produced again by the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. They heard two Vivaldi concerti, one featuring Oliver Aldort, island cellist now playing with the Boston Symphony; and the original 1924 score for piano and jazz band version of “Rhapsody in Blue,” conducted by Adam Stern and again featuring Jackie Parker thundering like a melodious waterfall at the OICMF’s “Valerie,” the grand piano donated by Valerie Anders, Chair Emeritus of the Chamber Music Festival.

In the accompanying jazz band were more Orcas Island musicians – Steve Alboucq and Charlie Porter on trumpets, Evelyn Zeller and Nels Magelssen on horns, Joe Williams on trombone, Dimitri Stankevich on tuba, Martin Lund on baritone and alto saxophone, Alfred Bentley on tenor saxophone, and Anita Orne on banjo, joining the Chamber Festival ranks of international virtuosi such as Chee Yun,Lorna McGhee, Daniel Ching and other Festival alumni.

Enriching the atmosphere was the audience itself — standing, swaying, sitting, lounging, even lying flat on the ground or in the case of Matthew Laslo and festival photographer NAME observing on the flat rooftop of the Sea View Theatre. Dogs (mostly sedate) were in attendance, and just one cell phone and one child’s cry were heard amidst the music that afternoon.

An intermission followed “Rhapsody”  before Jackie Parker introduced Stewart Copeland, drummer extraordinaire, formerly with The Police. Copeland embraced the outdoor audience enthusiastically, with arms spread wide, saying, “This is why we do it!”

Off the Score, friom left, Marlon Martinez, Judd Miller, Stewart Coleman, Yoon Kwon and Jon Kimura Parker. Photo courtesy of Shayne Gray.

And then the dazzling fireworks of “Off the Score” began — improvised jazz pieces with Parker on piano and Copeland on drums accompanied by violinist and dervish Yoon Kwon, whose day job is in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; the dynamic double bassist Marlon Martinez, a Stanley Clarke protégé; and Judd Miller, the extraordinary proponent of the EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument) who lends a gorgeous textural and orchestral element to Off The Score’s unique sound.” (from  www.offthescore.com)

The audience thrilled to the musicians’ riffs and improvisations through numbers such as “Who Let the Cat Out” with evocative and musical catcalls from Yoon Kwon’s violin; “Celeste Number 4” with Stewart Coleman’s varied and thundering drums; a slow-starting Ravel piece with piano and the haunting tones of the versatile EVI, played by Judd Miller and Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” with Marlon Martinez at times strumming his double bass as if it were a robust Celtic bodhran.

Was it written in the music or was it an improvisation when the sheets of music flew off the stand in the middle of one piece, yet the musicians played every single note exactly as written (or not).

The finale began with a mysterious, hypnotic musical line that built to a volcanic, trumpet-like ending with Jackie Parker almost doing handstands on the piano keys.

The rain held off, the sun broke through, the music was magically awesome, everybody was happy — and after a smoke-, heat-,and trauma-filled week, that was a gift beyond compare from the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival.