#370 Russell Hartenberger- Percussionist for Nexus, Steve Reich, Educator, Composer & More!
This week’s guest is Russell Hartenberger. Russell Hartenberger is Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. He has been a member of both the percussion group Nexus and Steve Reich & Musicians since 1971. He began his percussion studies in Oklahoma City with Alan Abel. In 1966 he received his B. Mus degree from Curtis Institute where he studied with Fred D. Hinger. Upon graduation from Curtis, he joined the U. S. Air Force Band and toured throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America as timpanist and xylophone soloist. While in the Air Force Band, Russell received his M. Mus. degree from Catholic University where he again studied with Alan Abel. He holds a Ph.D. in World Music from Wesleyan University, specializing in the music of West Africa, North and South India, and Indonesia.
Russell has been a member of the Oklahoma City Symphony, percussionist at the Marlboro Music Festival, principal percussionist of the New Haven Symphony, timpanist with the Canadian Opera Company, and performs often with the Toronto Symphony. He has performed with the Paul Winter Consort, Ensemble Modern of Germany, World Drums, and New Music Concerts of Toronto. He also has worked and/or recorded with such diverse musicians as Abraham Adzenyah, Robert Aitken, Leo Brouwer, Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Canadian Brass, Pablo Casals, Peter Erskine, Gil Evans, Steve Gadd, Jimmy Garrison, Vinko Globokar, Barbara Hannigan, Fritz Hauser, Paul Hillier, Heinz Holliger, Paul Horn, Mauricio Kagel, Kronos, Yo Yo Ma, Phil Nimmons, Pauline Oliveros, Oscar Peterson, Sepideh Raissadat, Samulnori, Trichy Sankaran, Peter Schickele, Peter Serkin, Boogsie Sharpe, Richard Stoltzman, Glen Velez, Paul Winter, and Paul Zukofsky.
With Steve Reich and Musicians he recorded for ECM, DGG and Nonesuch Records, and performed on the Grammy Award winning recording of Music for 18 Musicians. With the Reich Ensemble, Russell toured throughout the world and performed with the New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Cologne Radio Orchestra, London Symphony and Brooklyn Philharmonic.
As a member of Nexus, Russell has performed with leading orchestras in North America, Europe and Asia. Along with members of Nexus, he created the sound track for the Academy Award-winning Full-Length Documentary, The Man Who Skied Down Everest. His awards include the Toronto Arts Award in 1989, Banff Centre for the Arts National Award in 1997, a Juno nomination in 2005, and was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1999. He was presented with the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts by the World Cultural Council at Leiden University, the Netherlands in November of 2017.
The Nexus CD, Persian Songs, includes his arrangements of music by Moondog and of Persian classical music with Iranian vocalist, Sepideh Raissadat. His composition, The Invisible Proverb is on the Juno-nominated CD, Drumtalker. His other compositions include Telisi Odyssey, Cadence, Raghavan, and Birth of Time.
His article, “Encounters with John Cage,” appeared in the Sept. 2012 issue of Percussive Notes and his essay, “Clapping Music: A Performer’s Perspective,” is in The Ashgate Research Companion to Minimalist and Postminimalist Music (Ashgate 2013). He is editor of The Cambridge Companion to Percussion and author of Performance Practice in the Music of Steve Reich, both published by Cambridge University Press in 2016.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to J.J. Johnson! Growing up in San Antonio and Austin, TX, JJ Johnson has built a tremendous reputation as a masterful drummer with his polyrhythmic grooves and pin-dropping dynamics coupled with his thunderous power and intensity. He has backed some of music’s most talented artists such as Tedeschi-Trucks Band, John Mayer, Lenny Kravitz, Sugarland, Doyle Bramhall II, Boz Scaggs and many others.
"You've got to put the work and time in, to be armed and prepared, Being in position is being in any position. Then, also doing it with feeling, and learning from it. Those are important principles for me. The camaraderie of a unit on tour and the energy of playing for a live audience is incredibly special. When the lights go down and everyone hits the stage, it brings you to life and reminds you what you’re here to do.”
JJ currently resides in Austin, TX and is endorsed by Gretch Drums, Istanbul Agop Cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Remo drumheads and DW Hardware.
Happy Birthday to Scott Amendola! Scott Amendola, the drummer, composer and bandleader who’s been a creative force on the Bay Area jazz scene (and far beyond) for the past three decades, knows all about the power of subtraction. His new stripped-down trio SticklerPhonics brings together long-time collaborators Raffi Garabedian on tenor saxophone and trombonist Danny Lubin-Laden, NewYork-seasoned improvisers who’ve worked together since their formative years in the vaunted Berkeley High Jazz Band, circa 2003.
The trio has plunged into the unmediated terrain that opens up in the absence of the usual guidelines,“a situation where there’s no bass and no chords,” Amendola said. “The sound is ever evolving.We’re really settling in, but there’s also the feeling like there are places to go. We’ve been adding my electronics and Danny bringing in a little looper. We’re just getting started.”
With all three players contributing original compositions, SticklerPhonics is a volatile combo that can draw on a vast continuum of jazz practices, from traditional jazz polyphony and ambient soundscapes to funk and free jazz.Amendola, who first gained national attention in the Grammy-nominated three-guitar and drums band T.J.Kirk, has a deep well of experience in unusual instrumental settings.His long-running duo with Hammond B-3organist Wil Blades got its start when they developed an impressively detailed version of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s late masterpiece Far East Suite.
There aren’t many models to follow for SticklerPhonics, though Barondown with tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin and trombonist Steve Swell is a major source of inspiration. “Scott hipped me to that group,” said Garabedian. “It’s fun to be in this almost uncomfortable situation. You need melody, rhythm,and harmony, and the challenge is how can you successfully get all that with what you’re working with.”
Graduates to the New School who have both released ambitious albums of their own, Garadedian and Lubin-Laden co-led Brass Magic, a stylistically omnivorous, horn-laden band that melded funk and rock, R&B and an array of international brass band idioms. Their deep connection on and off the bandstand informs the music of SticklerPhonics, which continues to calibrate different approaches for various spaces.
“We had this chemistry right awayas teenagers,” Lubin-Laden said.“It seems like Scott is in a very similar place to us musically. SticklerPhonics feels very exposed, but there’s this freedom in being able to accompany each other when we take solos.And Scott is the miracle glue for the whole thing. He’s such a force of nature as a drummer.
”Born in New Jersey and long based in Berkeley, Amendola has woven a dense and far-reaching web of bandstand relationships that tie him to leading artists in jazz, blues, rock, new music and beyond.A creative catalyst as a bandleader, composer, and accompanist, he’s collaborated closely with artists such as guitarists Nels Cline, Jeff Parker, John Schott and Charlie Hunter, organist Wil Blades, violinists Jenny Scheinman and Regina Carter, saxophonists Larry Ochs and Phillip Greenlief, and clarinetist Ben Goldberg, players who’ve all forged singular paths within and beyond the realm of jazz. He’s led or co-led some two dozen albums and contributed to more than 100 recordings.
A Berkeley native now living in Oakland,Lubin-Laden studied with Art Baron, Alan Ferber, Lee Konitz and Ambrose Akinmusirie at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. In addition to SticklerPhonics,he performs in a wide array of settings, including the Jackie McLean repertory band JACKNIFE, Oakland R&B legend Johnny Talbot and DeThangs, the Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, and Brass Magic, the stylistically encompassing ensemble he co-led with Raffi Garabedian. Healso leads his own projects.
Born and raised in Berkeley, Garabedian studied with jazz heavyweights such as Tony Malaby, Mark Turner, Chris Cheek, Bill McHenry and Andrew Cyrille at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.He’s recorded and performed with a variety of artists, including Jorge Rossy, Ben Street,Dayna Stephens, and R&B innovatorJohnny Talbot. He can be found playing around the Bay Area with the ElectricSqueezebox Orchestra and leading his own quartet and octet, and also performs with his brother, New York bassist Noah Garabedian.
Happy Birthday to Jaime Eckert! Jamie Eckert attended Eastern New Mexico University, where he studied with Robert James, Alison Shaw and Robert Ledbetter. He pursued further studies at the University of New Mexico, studying with Christopher Shultis and Mexican marimbist Steven Chavez. Mr. Eckert pursued master’s studies at West Virginia University, studying with Phil Faini, I Wayan Rai, Ki Mantle Hood, Paschal Younge, Ellie Mannette, Al Wrublesky, and Timothy Peterman. He also studied composition with John Beal and electronic music and composition with Gilbert Trythall. While at West Virginia University, he helped to establish the school’s first steel drum band.
Mr. Eckert has traveled as an educator and performer throughout Asia, Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean. He has taught percussion at Dartmouth High School (MA), where the percussion ensembles have won numerous World Championships. Mr. Eckert was also a member of the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps drum staff for 15 years and was recently inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Mr. Eckert currently teaches percussion, world music, and African American music history at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. While at UMass Dartmouth, he founded the first and only steel drum program in the UMass system. He continues to study African music with royal hartigan and Kwabena Boeteng, and Javanese music with I.M. Harjito. He also enjoys busy summers with his own steel band, “El Caribe”.
Gig Alerts
Justin Timberlake has added new dates to his forthcoming tour.
The Dead and Company will be taking over the residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas after U2 is done. They have also added some new dates to their run there.
The Italy chapter for the Percussive Arts Society will be hosting a competiton. Three friends of the show will be judges as well. Casey Cangelosi, Dr. Julie Hill, and Ed Choi.
The Joni Jam will be happening at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on October 19th and 20th.
Damon will be part of the Encores Orchestra for a two week run of Jelly’s Last Jam at the NY City Center in Manhattan, NY from Feb 21-Mar3.
Educational Spotlight
The Zildjian Family Opportunity Fund is a permanently endowed trust managed and administered by the Percussive Arts Society. The purpose of the Zildjian Family Opportunity Fund is to provide funding for community-based percussion programs in underrepresented neighborhoods.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording was chosen by Russell. He talks about Harry Partch and recommends any of his recordings during the interview.
Music News
The Grammy awards were this past Sunday. You can see the full list of winners and nominees by CLICKING HERE.
Shout-out to friend of the show, Bryan Carter for winning a Grammy.
Also, shout-out to friends of the show, Luis Conte and Nate Morton for playing in the preimiere house band for the Grammys as well.
More than a billion users around the world may find that TikTok is a bit less fun than it was just a day ago. It’s tied to a major showdown between the social media app and the world’s biggest record label, Universal Music Group, which has removed its music from TikTok. -Article
The American Federation of Musicians is grappling with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over pay, streaming residuals, AI and more. -Article
Russell Hartenberger Interview
The song leading into the interview is “Music for 18 Musicians” by Steve Reich and the Musicians.
Damon met Russell officially at a roundtable discussion in Montreal for the day of percussion.
Damon asks about Nexus’ farewell tour.
Russell talks about some of the events that took place for him in 1971.
Russell attended Wesleyan University for his doctorate.
He talks about his introduction to Steve Reich and the bongo piece.
Russell talks about being Introduced to different types of world music and also how Nexus was formed.
Russell studied with Fred Hinger and also Alan Abel. Both Fred and Alan studied with Bill Street.
Russell studied with Alan in Oklahoma and was his first teacher. He then got to study with him again during his masters degree.
Russell talks about music in his family.
Russell got his undergrad from Curtis Institute of Music on scholarship per recommendation from his teacher Alan Abel.
Russell talks about how he missed out on the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra and the Vietnam draft. He joined the Air Force band.
Russell got his masters degree from Catholic University of America.
Damon and Russell talk about New Haven style Apizza.
Damon mentions the Immediate Family documentary.
Shout-out to the arts councils of Canada.
Russell talks about percussion ensembles and non-profit status.
Russell talks about the other “jobs” members of Nexus had to keep the group running.
Damon and Russell talk about technology and incorporating it.
Russell taught at the University of Toronto for 42 years. He talks about how he got the job there.
Shout-out to Drake.
Russell picks out the iconic recording for the week.
Russell mentions the Harry Partch book, “Genesis Of A Music: An Account Of A Creative Work, Its Roots, And Its Fulfillments”
Shout-out to Alan Abel, K. Dean Walker, Fred D. Hinger, Abraham Adzenyah, Pandit Sharda Sahai, Ramnad V. Raghavan, Prawoto Saputro,
Nexus uses Pearl/Adams Instruments, and Russell uses Zildjian Cymbals.
Russell has a new album called Arlington which you can get on Bandcamp.
Damon mentions Red Dirt Country Music.
You can follow Russell on Nexus’ Website, get his compositions from the Mostly Marimba Website, and check him out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The song leading out of the interview is “Arlington” from Russell’s new album with the same name.
