Having witnessed the success of last year’s jazz event in Aarau Switzerland organised by Fritz and Helen Renold with the jazz society jazzaar, I knew that when I returned I was in for something special. However, nothing could have prepared me for the musical surprises of the five day jazz education event titled ‘Jazzaar – A Beatles Tribute’. I am sure there were those who wondered what the music of the Beatles had to do with jazz and how on earth it could possibly fit into a week of jazz education. Any doubters had not reckoned on the genius of Fritz Renold and for certain by the end of the week anyone who was fortunate enough to be present at rehearsals, seminars or the evening concerts and had doubts, would have had them well and truly quashed. For Fritz and Helen Renold even a slight failure was clearly not an option and with them at the helm of this adventurous project it was destined to be a success from day one.

The music of Lennon and McCartney has appeared in the repertoire of a number of jazz artists and bands including the Count Basie Orchestra, Sarah Vaughan, Maynard Ferguson and Lynne Arriale. It may have been one of these that influenced Fritz Renold in his choice for the theme for his jazz education project for 2006 or it may have been the original Beatle versions that he heard in his youth. Whatever the reason, his decision to pay tribute to the music of the Beatles proved to be very wise as it so uniquely provided enjoyment, enhancement and enrichment in the lives of over seventy-five music students.

As a graduate of Berklee School of Music Renold has generated a wide circle of musical friends and acquaintances and it is from this rich source that he carefully selects his guest musicians. Through a clever and carefully thought-out combination of Swiss and European based musicians with American musicians, each year he assembles a powerful and effective team to help shape and deliver high quality music with amazing results. Those he chooses are not just terrific players and great educators but they are so obviously people with the right attitude – they are people who believe in the project.

Like any successful education project a great deal of planning had gone into this and clearly that planning dated back several years - a fact confirmed in my conversations with Renold. He is actually already working on the music for 2008 / 9! Although the theme, the faculty and the students change each year, there are certain underlying qualities that ensure maximum value for the participants. A priority for jazzaar is that their work carries with it well-defined aims and objectives. The welfare of their students is of paramount importance with discovery, innovation, exploration, social and musical interaction, quality leadership, quality faculty, combining to produce a highly effective curriculum.

This year’s guest musicians and faculty included: The Fab Four (Shawn Tybor – “John”, Ron Moulton “Paul”, Mike Naud “George”, Tim Pomeroy “Ringo”) Helen Renold (vocals) Adi Yeshaya (arranger musical director), Tony Hayes (sax and vocals) Philippe Slominsky (trumpet) Isaac Smith (Trombone) William Cepeda (Trombone) Marius Bröchin (Guitar), Luis Manressa (bass) Arnold Moueza (perc) Willie Kotoun (perc) Tom Garling (trombone) Willie Murillo (trumpet) and Jim Odgren (saxes)

Rehearsals for the event began on Monday 17th April. With a large amount of music ahead, students and faculty who had previously not worked together and a project that combined jazz, pop, Latin and orchestral, the challenge to make this a successful event was a massive one. Certainly the early rehearsal sessions had their nervous moments but as confidence levels grew, as adjustments were made and as people began to place trust in each other any problems were overcome and the magic of musical interaction and musical participation took over.

The early evening workshops and seminars provided somewhat of a diversion for the challenging arrangements of Lennon & McCartney songs, while at the same time introducing the students to a range of important topics including improvisation, Latin jazz, learning music by ear, vocal arranging, composition techniques, listening to jazz and trumpet mouthpiece design. Further musical exploration was enjoyed by the students and faculty at the after hours jam sessions. These took place at the home of Bobby Leiser, one of true characters of the European Jazz Festival scene. Bobby had for a number of years been on the road with Miles Davis and a considerable number of other jazz greats. As a result he has a wealth of stories to impart and I became a more than willing listener to a few of them. The memorabilia adorning his home, plus his amazing collection of Hammond organs provided the perfect venue for successful jamming and after-hours conversations. Just maybe, the spirits of those musicians whose names were in the posters decorating the walls helped to bring out the best in those exploring the music in this unique setting.

The climax and showcase to this quite amazing jazz education project took place in the form of three evening concerts. Since the majority of those involved had not been around during the Beatle years, Renold cleverly scheduled the first concert as a ‘Beatle Tribute’ by the guest band The ‘Fab Four’, around which so much of the project was based. This concert gave the youngsters a great opportunity to experience in as an authentic way as possible, the music of the Beatles 1964 – 1971 period. It also served as an excellent reminder to those who were around when the music was first performed. Choosing a Beatle Tribute band cannot have been easy. Renold explained that he had spent many hours on the internet researching Beatle bands of which there are apparently quite a number. After whittling down the number to three or four that stood out from the rest, Renold’s final choice was based on the band with the right attitude - the band that appeared to have the most enthusiasm and that believed strongly in his project. Working via the internet, his choice was mostly based on instinct and what a good choice that proved to be – perfect in fact. The ‘Fab Four’ are residents of Denver Colorado and do an amazing job of not only performing Beatles music but living out the music in a way that is quite spooky. The inflections, the body language, the mannerisms and even the ‘Liverpudlian’ accents of the original four are all there – these guys have studied the Beatles in a serious way and they really know their stuff. Clad in the instantly recognisable grey Beatle suits the ‘Fab Four’ made an immediate impression on the capacity audience. The first set featured the music of the early Beatles 1964 -66 and was well performed and well received. An impressive costume change saw the ‘Fab Four’ take the stage for the second set dressed in the bright coloured Sergeant Pepper’s style costumes. The attention to detail, the great music played with 100% commitment and enthusiasm ensured that the music of the Beatles provided the perfect start to this concert series.

In many ways the most challenging part of this project was the music that was featured in Thursday evening’s concert. In preparation for this section of the project arranger Adi Yeshaya had produced high quality arrangements of such Beatles classics as Let It Be, Hard Days Night, And I Love Her, Fool on the Hill and Hey Jude. Initially, during rehearsals in the early part of the week the large ensemble comprising full big band with extended Latin rhythm section, two vocal soloists and vocal backing group, had difficulty settling into the various Latin styles of the arrangements. However, with the skilful directing of Adi Yeshaya and the support of Tony Hayes (vocals and sax) Helen Renold (vocals) Arnold Moueza and Willy Kotoun (percussion), confidence levels grew quickly and everyone settled into enjoying the music – feeling it rather than reading it! Noticeable in these early stages was how difficult moments in the music were eased by discussions between the faculty members and students and between the various sections of the band. By the time the musicians took the stage on Thursday evening everyone was ready to perform ‘Beatles in Salsa’. The quality and vitality of the performance was highly infectious, so much so that I have rarely seen such a large audience totally immersed in the rhythm of the music. Not a still body in the house – only a pity there wasn’t a dance floor as this was just the perfect occasion for dancing.

The performance on the Friday night was billed as Beatles in Symphony and featured the ‘Fab Four’ with the Aargauer Jugend Pops Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fritz Renold. This concert truly represented what musical performance is all about. It had everything, every emotion from laughter to tears and everything in between. It had people tapping their feet to the faster tunes and swaying to the slower tunes. It featured outstanding musical arrangements performed to an extremely high level. Importantly too, it had great rapport with the capacity audience, every one of whom must have gone home that evening knowing they had been a part of such a special evening.

As a trumpet player it would have been wonderful to have played in this exciting project and yet had I done so I would have missed out on the opportunity to hear from an audience member’s perspective the total effect of such superbly crafted arrangements. It was quite magical. Across the history of jazz and big band music it is arrangers who have given ensembles their characteristic tone and style. In this respect Robert Freedman Fritz Renold and Willie Murillo (on Eleanor Rigby) exhibited their extraordinary skill, producing high calibre arrangements that proved absolutely perfect for the occasion.

I could use superlative after superlative to describe the jazz education work of Fritz and Helen Renold, yet still fall way short of impressing on the reader the magnitude of their achievements. I doubt that any other music education event held anywhere in the world will have had a more profound effect on those involved.

Those who have experienced Jazzaar now await with much excitement and anticipation for the project in 2007 (15th – 21st April) the theme of which will be the Music of Miles Davis featuring Randy Brecker, Gary Burton and Makote Ozone.

May 2006

Dr. Ian Darrington MBE MA

Director of Jazz Performance Wigan Council

European Representative on the Board of IAJE