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SPECIAL EVENT!!!
Billy
Novick & his Blue Syncopators with special Guest, Sunny Crownover
Performing Billy's score to The Washington
Ballet's adaptation of "Great Gatsby"
Who needs the dancers?
"Billy Novick's Blue Syncopators brought down the house for seven
sold-out shows at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC February
2010. "Bringing in Boston-based jazz expert Bily Novick and his
band...was a brilliant move. The result is that for its musical
splenders alone, "Gatsby" is a remarkable event, an evening of explosive,
ticklish and swooning live jazz (songs of the era, filled out with
Novick's compositions), played with a verve to spark your thirst
for hooch." - The Washington Post.
 The
Blue Syncopators are Billy Novick reeds/leader, John
Clark reeds, Mike Peipman trumpet, Dan Fox trombone,
Ross Petot piano, Stu Gunn tuba and string bass,
Billy Reynolds drums, and special guest, Sunny Crownover
vocals.
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011,
we were at the Sherborn Inn getting a glimpse of F. Scott Fitzgerald's
The Great Gatsby that will be brought to life by Septime
Webre and the artists of the Washington Ballet, with Billy Novick's
Blue Syncopators November 2-6. The score consisted of many
classics from the 1920's, Ellington, Louis, Bix, as well as some
music Billy wrote just for the ballet. But here at the Inn,
the mood was relaxed, warm and congenial, as they had a run-through
performance for their fans prior to their presentation in
Washington DC.
Billy Novick acted as narrator,
telling the story, (without ballet dancers) playing hot, passionate
Traditional and Dixieland Jazz that was the rage in the 'Gatsby'
era of the 1920's. But he frequently set the metronome by
his side - timing is very important to ballet dancers and not improvised,
like Jazz.
Billy ingeniously blended
his own compositions with some of our favorite early Jazz tunes
and came up with an extraordinary presentation, with the help
of a special guest, the beautiful and talented Sunny Crownover.
The ballet begins with What'll
I Do?, a silky, melodic waltz, with Billy on soft, low register
clarinet, and Ross's haunting and elegant piano, then kicks it up with a flaming
hot At The Jazz Band Ball. The story enfolds, the rich and
influential Gatsby falls in love with the very rich, the very elegant,
and the very married Daisy.
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An outstanding
vocalist with a sense of phrasing that creates many moods,
Sunny gave a flawless impression of Adelaide Hall's
Creole Love Call.
Sunny and Billy's poignant
back-and-forth scatting on Wild Man Blues characterizes
a touching, emotional telephone conversation
between the two lovers.
Dance of the Ashes is remarkable,
Sunny scats in her own effervescent style, while the whole
band responds as one.
He May Be Your Man, But He Comes
To See Me Sometimes.
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Duke's East St.
Louis Toodle-oo features Mike Peipman's fiery trumpet,
with fine backing by Stu Gunn on string bass.
In Billy's composition,
Manhattan Thoroughfare, the instruments cunningly reproduce
the haphazard cacophony of a busy New York thoroughfare.
In a tennis match scene, Billy's drumming replicates the sound of
tennis balls being batted back and forth. Brilliant.
A scene where a couple
are dining at the Waldorf was portrayed by Broadway Tango,
with Mike on muted trumpet, backed by Ross's supple fingers on piano
and Stu on that massive B & S German tuba.
To fill in a gap in the action where
20 ballet dancers need to change from white into red tap shoes,
Billy wrote Maids to Order. Yellow Dog Blues
and the Charleston recall some wild parties that were held
in Myrtle's apartment and Gatsby's mansion.
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In Tight Like That,
Billy and John are both featured on alto sax, giving this
small group a very big band sound!
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John Clark had four of his instruments with
him - clarinet, alto, tenor and bari sax. There were some
logistical problems with the the hefty baritone while he
was sitting and trying to follow the score on The Sheik
of Araby.
They did a very soft reprise of the Charleston,
Billy on clarinet, with fine backing by Ross on piano.
Ross is quick and steadfast, with embellishments behind
every solo.
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Billy Novick needed a wartime tune for a scene
where somebody goes into the army, but had difficulties finding
a recording of an American World War I march. Diligent probing paid
off when he discovered a tune from an old vintage phonograph,
We're All Going Calling on the Kaiser. (We're going
to make him wiser.) He wrote a Sofa Dance and Pocket
Dance, especially for the dancers.
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Sunny has a voice range that probably encompasses
three octaves.
In a lovely rendition of the heartrending
What'll I Do, she maintained a high range throughout
the whole song, finishing the last verse in a sultry,
deep, low voice.
She ignited the room with sassy and sensuous
hinting of carnal content in Bessie Smith's Put a Little
Sugar in My Bowl!
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Skip Dat Pop Dat represents
the breakout of a fight in the city. Trombonist Dan
Fox took a great plunger solo on Exotique, which epitomized
the scene where Daisy is killed by a hit and run driver and George
is filled with grief and sorrow. He suspects Gatsby.
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Billy Reynolds has the final
scene, the most dramatic moment in the ballet, where George
is stalking Gatsby, his anger building with the drumming.
The drum is the sole instrument
in this whole ballet scene.
He finds him swimming in
the pool; then comes the final single drum beat - the gun
shot.
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The ballet closes with
Billy Novick on clarinet and Ross piano, for a brief reprise, a
tragic waltz, What'll I Do.
Billy managed to fit in many of the old tunes
that are very familiar to us, That's a Plenty, St. Louis
Blues, Jazz Me Blues, Swipsey Cakewalk, Happy Feet. Saturday
Night Function, I'll See You In My Dreams.
Maybe, just maybe, this "explosive, ticklish and
swooning live jazz" will catch on!
Ballet Track listing:
| Act 1: |
Act 2: |
| What'll I Do? |
Jazz Me Blues |
| At The Jazz Band Ball |
Swipesy Cakewalk |
| Creole Love Call |
We're All Going Calling on the Kaiser |
| I'm Gonna Meet My Sweetie |
I'll See You in My Dreams |
| Wobbles |
Happy Feet |
| Wild Man Blues |
Put a Little Sugar in My Bowl |
| East St. Louis Toodle-oo |
A Night For love |
| Dance of the Ashes |
Skip Dat Pop Dat |
| Manhattan Thoroughfare |
Maids To Order |
| Yellow Dog |
Saturday Night Function |
| St. Louis Blues |
Broadway Tango |
| He May Be Your Man |
Exotique |
| Charleston |
Goorge's Grief (Drum Solo) |
| Sheik of Araby |
What'll I Do? |
| Tight Like That |
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| Charleston reprise |
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| Gatsby-Daisy pas de deux: |
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What'll I Do? |
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Ain't We Got Fun |
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What'll I Do? |
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BACK TO TOP
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| By Marce, Updated
September 7, 2011 |
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