By
B.A. Nilsson
No musician
truly can be de scribed as shy, not when the job requires
regular performances in front of an audience, especially not
when those performances require jazz improvisation. When Brian
Patneaude hoists his Selmer Mark VI and starts to blow, a
hard-driving, melodically gifted personality shines through.
When he stops to chat, the tempo changes. He speaks softly.
He considers his words. He gives the impression that hed
be happier back on stage.
Patneaude
has been working most visibly in the area as part of a quartet,
with a regular Sunday gig at Justins on Lark Street in Albany,
and frequent appearances at venues like One Caroline in Saratoga
and Schenectadys Stockade Inn.
I like
to think that the music we make as a group can be enjoyed
by jazz fans and even people who dont think theyre jazz
fans, he says. Its not something where Im trying strictly
to reach out to the jazz community.
Patneaude
is a local boy with long local roots. A graduate of the College
of St. Rose, he has played with the Alex Torres Orchestra
for seven years, and counts six years in William Meckleys
Empire Jazz Orchestra. You might spot him playing in the ensembles
of Doc Scanlon, Keith Pray or any number of othersa roster
that at one point even included the Refrigerators.
Also
to his credit are appearances at jazz festivals in Saratoga,
Montreal, Rochester and many other cities, as well as club
gigs up and down the East Coast.
But his
favorite performing configuration is the quartet he formed
five years ago, a group now comprising guitarist George Muscatello,
drummer Danny Whelchel and Mike DelPrete on bass, with frequent
appearances by keyboardist Dave Payette. (This is, according
to musical math, a special system that allowed Raymond Scott
to front a six-man quintet.)
I was
born in Rotterdam, and, except for a brief spell in Cincinnati,
Ive been here all my life, Patneaude says. My family is
here, and the fact that Ive been able to make connections
and build a living lets me be pretty comfortable doing what
I do here.
Music
lessons began in the fifth grade. I wanted to be a drummer,
but for some reasonI think the school may have had too many
of themI was encouraged to take my second choice, which was
the saxophone. Thats because I had a neighbor who was a couple
of years older than me who used to practice his sax outside
on his back porch, and I was impressed by that.
Patneaude
didnt grow up surrounded by sax music. The only record I
remember in the house that featured the instrument was Yakety
Sax by Boots Randolpha tune best known for its use behind
chase scenes on The Benny Hill Show.
It wasnt
love at first sight. I wanted to drop it, but my parents
were insistent. I didnt start to listen to jazz until the
ninth or 10th grade, and then I got a concept of what the
instrument could sound like. His band director helped by
suggesting that Brian listen to a pair of albums: Michael
Breckers self-titled debut, and David Sanborns Straight
to the Heart.
As soon
as I heard them, I was blown away, Patneaude says with a
laugh. From then on, I looked at the sax in a completely
different light. At the time, his favorite bands were groups
like Rush and Pink Floyd.
Patneaude
also hadnt given up on those drums. My father had a kit
in the basement, and I started playing in heavy-metal bands
through high school. We were pretty horrible, but I was having
a blast. At the same time, he started playing saxophone with
a band whose members all were older than he. I was the only
one in high school playing with them, and we were doing covers
of Pink Floyd, Sting. This was music that would have a big
influence on the music I play now. Its not something Im
consciously aware ofIm not trying to re-create itbut I
know its been an influence.
His listening
expanded while he was in college. I was obsessed with players
like Hank Mobley, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson,
and especially Charlie Parker. I love Charlie Parker,
I still study his recordings.
Gigs
with ever-more-prestigious ensembles followed, until his own
quartet was born in 2002. Guitarist George Muscatello and
Patneaude have been friends since they met while in college
together, and the interplay between the two gives the remarkable
experience of hearing what often seem like one voice in two
contrasting dialects.
The quartets
first CD release, Variations, won high praise from
AllAboutJazz.coms Alexander M. Stern, who noted that it was
an impressive first effort which leaves the listener eagerly
awaiting the Brian Patneaude Quartets second and third albums.
The groups
second disc, Distance, released two years ago, featured
seven original compositions by Patneaude in which utilized
the sax as a lyrical instrument, expressing emotions with
a sound quality at times approaching that of human singing.
He continues to explore the lyrical voice of his instrument
in throbbing, straight-ahead grooves in the new CD, As
We Know It, released (like its predecessor) on WEPA Records.
Thats a label that Alex Torres started, at first just to
distribute his recordings. But its not like a traditional
labelits more of a banner to put the music under. It has
expanded to include recordings by pianist Adrian Cohen, Terry
Gordon, who plays trumpet in Torres band, myself and others.
With
so many recent changes in CD distribution, WEPA has successfully
bypassed the brick-and-mortar model and makes its CDs available
through such online sources as CDBaby.com, which also sets
up digital distribution so that you can find the music at
the iTunes store, Yahoo Music and other such sites.
No enterprising
artist lacks a Web site, and brianpatneaude.com features the
saxophonists complete performance schedule as well as information
about recordings and his teaching schedule. He teaches three
days a week at Blue Sky Music Studios in Delmar, which greatly
helps support his work as a full-time musicianand, while
its the closest he gets to a desk job, I do it with my sax
in my hand, so how bad can that be?
He also
started and maintains albany jazz.com, which began life five
years ago as a simple calendar of all the area jazz performances
he could discover, and has since grown to a sharp-looking,
well-maintained locus of all manner of info on the area jazz
scene. We have so many musicians here playing jazz at a high
level that I wanted to let people know where to find them,
he says. Now it includes photos, bios, performing venues,
CD and concert reviews and more. Musicians have told me theyve
even gotten gigs through the site.
Despite
an ongoing immersion in jazz, Patneaude confesses that his
guilty iPod pleasure would be Metallica. But I dont know
if thats even very guilty, he adds. I like guitarist Joe
Satriani, and Im a big fan of E.S.T., the Esbjorn Svensson
Trio, a jazz group from Sweden [who have] an incredible range
of sounds. And I always go back to Michael Brecker.
For several
years, Patneaude has won plaudits from area critics and reader
polls. It would seem enough to persuade him to seek a more
lucrative base. But hes happy here, and has no plans to decamp,
say, to Manhattan. Nevertheless, he wouldnt mind finding
gigs farther afield. Id like to crack into the festival
scene, he says. We played the Albany Riverfront Festival
a couple of years ago, and last year the quartet played the
Kingston Jazz Festival alongside some of the biggest names
in the business. Wed like to do more of that.
Local
artists frequently complain of what Ive termed Local-Guy-Itis,
which assumes that anyone who chooses to live here mustnt
be as talented as an out-of-towner. Has this been a problem?
I dont
know if we would have gotten into Albany Riverfront if we
didnt have a local background. As for Kingston, we submitted
material the same as any other performer. Its a stigma Ive
heard other musicians talk about, but so far, I havent felt
it.
Patneaude
is writing new songs, writing new charts (he tries them out
with Keith Prays Big Soul Ensemble the first Tuesday of each
month at Tess Lark Tavern) and thinking about the next CD,
which may be a live recording. Ive been taping the Sunday
night shows at Justins, he says, and, while its nothing
Im going to put out yet, there have been some magical moments.
Brian
Patneaudes just-released third CD, As We Know It,
will be celebrated with a release party at 8 PM on April 20
at the WAMC Performing Arts Studio (339 Central Ave., Albany).