On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Community High Jazz students gathered in Craft Theater for a master class. The guest? Soprano saxophonist, Dave Liebman. Liebman, who celebrated his 69th birthday last month, is a first time visitor to the CHS Jazz program as part of the guest artist series. Liebman has been featured on over 500 records, playing with artists like Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Elvin Jones. He has multiple Grammy nominations and is currently Artist in Residence at the Manhattan School of Music. In other words, this guy is super serious.
According to Jack Wagner, director of CHS Jazz, almost all of the 90 or so students in the jazz program attended, with the unfortunate exception of juniors taking the PSAT.
The class opened with a demonstration from Jazz IV combo Tempus Fugit. Mr. Liebman followed it with both praise and advice. “He loved the way the kids played [and] the way they responded,” Wagner said. Liebman talked about the importance of listening back to one’s own music. The difference between being an “A” and “A+” musician, according to Liebman, is that perfectionists are A+ musicians. Liebman recounted a recording session with another musician who refused to let even a single wrong note be on the final tape.
After Tempus Fugit left the stage, Liebman elaborated on this. He played a recording of a student and master playing Shenai (an instrument originating from India). On the recording, the master played a phrase on his instrument, and the student repeated it. “This is how it was done,” Leibman said, referring to the most basic method of learning through imitation.
Liebman demonstrated how CHS students could employ this same technique. He played recordings of the different stages of transcription — copying someone else’s solo. First, the student sang along to a solo by John Coltrane, trying to imitate all the inflections. Then the original music was taken out. The student on Liebman’s recording was able to stay in time singing along with the solo even when the music turned on and off. In the last recording, the student played their saxophone along to the original, imitating the solo perfectly. “You can’t tell the difference between her and Coltrane,” Liebman said.
CHS jazz student Jasmine Chang thought this demo was one of the things that made this master class stand out from others, “A lot of other people come [to teach a master class] and say things in words, but not necessarily show us how to accomplish [it],” Chang said. “Dave Liebman had CDs [demonstrating] each step of what we’re supposed to do when we transcribe.”
Liebman entertained the group with anecdotes of music experiences. He played free improvisation with his soprano saxophone and talked about how the tempo of the music can change the feel of the piece greatly. The class ended with a final question and answer session with Liebman, before CHS students returned to their classes. Wagner said he has hope for Liebman to return in future years, as guests like Robert Hurst or the trio Tri-Fi have. It was an influential moment for the jazz program to learn from Liebman, as Wagner said, “to hear how his brain works.”