Contributed by Andrea Canter
Cantermps@aol.com
Jazz Police
Wednesday, 22 December 2004
"Larry's touch and choice of harmonies reminds me of standing outside on a clear, cold night and looking up at the stars." (John Ziegler, KUMD)
The life of a fulltime musician can be a precarious juggling act, balancing time for family, performance, composition, career management, and often other work that generates income to feed the creative fire. When a professional musician is also an active Legal Aid attorney, the balancing act is more of an Olympian effort. Somehow, St. Paul pianist/lawyer Larry McDonough manages his dual careers with acclaimed results. Maybe it's his ability to turn time inside out and maintain harmonic integrity. If you have never heard this energetic, innovative composer/improviser, opportunity awaits Thursday night (December 23) at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis, where Larry and his working quartet will get underway at 7 pm.
Larry McDonough first studied piano in fourth grade, added some vocals and gravitated to neighborhood garage bands in junior high, and was already gigging around town as a high school student in Bloomington, MN. Earning a degree in music education at the University of Minnesota, he had the opportunity to play both piano and trumpet in student ensembles with legends Clark Terry and Thad Jones, and in concerts for President Nixon and the President of Mexico. Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, McDonough worked as a part-time band instructor at Bloomington and Minneapolis high schools, and played in a number of Twin Cities' bands, ranging from jazz to pop and polka. He also performed in his own duos and trios, appearing regularly at the old Night Train club in St. Paul and at Jax Café in Minneapolis.
However, concerned that his music career was taking him too far from the "real world," he enrolled at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1980, initially attracted to environmental law but then falling in love with legal aid work. He noted, "Music seemed isolated from everything else that was going on in the world... While I think music can be inspirational for the moment and have motivating aspects to it, it doesn't directly impact things that are more basic to a person's life and existence." After a few years away from music, he began giving some limited performances, primarily at private functions, including one honoring First Lady Hillary Clinton. But his main focus through the 1980s and early 1990s was his family (he has three daughters) and his career with Legal Aid. He still serves as a tenants' attorney and has been recognized by Minnesota Law and Politics as a "Super Lawyer," and by William Mitchell College of Law as one of "100 Who Made a Difference."
Music has pulled McDonough more into the public arena since the late 1990s. "The music gives me an artistic, expressive side. There are some elements in the law where you can do that, but, in music, it's more open-ended, especially in jazz." He began playing publicly again in solo, duo and trio formats, and with the popular fusion group, Bozo Allegro, which recorded The Revolver Suite (Marx Music,1998), a reworking of tunes from Beatles' Revolver in different styles. McDonough was also featured on Bozo Allegro's second recording, Relentlessly Cheerful. During the past 7 or so years, he has performed with (among others) the Wolverines; vocalists Patty Peterson, Shirley Witherspoon, Connie Olson, and Vicki Mountain; bassists Bruce "Pooch" Heine, Tom Lewis, and Billy Peterson; guitarists Mike Elliott, Brian Barnes, and Bill Bergmann; drummers Dave Stanoch, Phil Hey, and Kevin Washington; horn players Eric Leeds, Dave Jensen, Kathy Jensen, and Jeff King; and with legendary jazz-funk trombonist, Fred Wesley. He recently performed in Delaware where he premiered a new commissioned arrangement of "I Remember Clifford" and shared the stage with bop sax legend Benny Golson and trumpeter Duane Eubanks. He was also a recent guest on Leigh Kamman's The Jazz Image on National Public Radio.
Among his own projects, Larry McDonough has worked in the duo "Fazz is no Jolk," performing a mixture of folk and jazz for piano and mandolin or guitar, and with his quintet, "Off Beat," performing jazz in odd meters. A recent project, "Off Beat: Jazz Classics in New Meters," puts jazz classics into different time signatures, such as arranging familiar pieces in 5/4 or 7/4 time, giving them a different sound and feel. Says the pianist, "It changes the feel, but I think it's not as dramatic as one might think it would be... Essentially, it changes the rhythmic underpinnings of the tune." Off Beat was the headline act for the Second Annual Grand Marais Jazz Festival.
A unique project that has involved McDonough as composer and performer is Fingersteps, a program in which children with disabilities write melodies and perform music using adaptive computer hardware and software. Fingersteps director/developer Dan Moffat invited musicians to write compositions based on these melodies. McDonough has composed fives piece through the program, and recorded two, one of which appears on his demo recording, A Rose for Two: Live at the Weber on KUMD (2004). Using the melody fragments written by the children (one of whom is his daughter, Rosie), McDonough created the compositions to fit the melodies, resulting in unconventional harmonies, rhythms, and meters.
McDonough also merges spirituality with his music, often adapting faith-based musical pieces by changing the basic elements to create new arrangements. He regularly performs these and other jazz-influenced faith compositions in church services in Minnesota and around the country. A composer since high school, McDonough currently puts his writing skills to work by composing and arranging music for school music programs, ranging from small groups to concert and jazz bands, exposing young musicians to his "offbeat" harmonies and rhythms.
Larry McDonough has produced several demo recordings as well as his acclaimed solo debut, Small Steps, and the recently re-released Tuscarora, now in national distribution.
Small Steps (Marx Music, ) was more like a giant leap for a debut release, offering unique arrangements of such jazz standards as Miles Davis' "All Blues," Chick Corea's "Crystal Silence," and the Nat King Cole classic, "Nature Boy." Other tracks included pop classics ( Vince Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy," Eric Clapton's "Layla", and The Beatles' "Good Day Sunshine"), as well as original compositions, "Small Steps" and "Coreatown." Noted Tom Surowicz (Star Tribune), "The album is a fertile exercise in overhauling, retooling and refashioning familiar themes."
At the Dakota on Thursday, December 23, McDonough will host his special Holiday Jazz and Poetry Show, featuring saxman Richard Terrill (recipient of the Minnesota Book Award for poetry), bassist Craig Matarrese, and drummer Chaz Draper. The pianist will perform selections from Tuscarora: Short Stories for Jazz Piano (LMJ Jazz), his second solo outing originally released locally in 2002, and now in national dissemination through CD Baby. Dedicated to the memory of Paul and Sheila Wellstone, Marcia Wellstone Markuson, Mary McEvoy, Tom Lapic, and William McLaughlin, it benefits Wellstone Action, a tax-exempt organization formed to carry on their work. This diverse set includes the original title track (a tribute to a Boundary Waters lake), as well as trademark McDonough arrangements of "Amazing Grace," "My Favorite Things," "We Shall Overcome" (with McDonough's vocals), and a Gershwin infused ballad version of the "Star Spangled Banner." Noted CD Baby, "Bill Evans meets Debussy.... Larry is the only pianist we know who takes bass solos on piano, often trading choruses back and forth between his right and left hands."
The quartet will perform pieces from their upcoming first studio recording, Simple Gifts, including "Dame la Mano" (Red River Valley) and "Simple Gifts," both in 7/4; Aja by Steely Dan and "My Favorite Things," both in 5/4; and "Elie's Theme" and others pieces from the Fingersteps Project. Saxophonist Richard Terrill also will read from his poetry compilation Coming Late to Rachmaninoff (University of Tampa Press, 2003), for which he received the 2004 Minnesota Book Award for Poetry. Terrill also wrote Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz (Limelight Editions, 2000), a memoir of his experiences as a musician—highly recommended reading for both musicians and anyone who loves jazz and good writing. Other gems to expect at this holiday celebration include "Silent Night" in a rolling 5/4 time with haunting minor harmonies, "Little Drummer Boy" as a slow acoustic funk with Vince Guaraldi harmonies, "We Three Kings" in upbeat 5/4 time with Middle Eastern rhythms, "Jingle Bells" as a Guaraldi ballad, "Ode to Joy" as a Bill Evans waltz, and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" as a Paul Desmond-Dave Brubeck light swing.
Oh, yeah, Larry McDonough still practices law, fulltime at Minneapolis Legal Aid, and is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Minnesota. But don't wait for a summons, Larry McDonough and his quartet will be holding court at the Dakota this Thursday night (December 23)!
"Larry McDonough is an original much in the tradition of Dave Brubeck, and McDonough's piano stylings are intimate and innovative. There is a touch of humor blended within the time signatures that adds to the charm and intricate playing McDonough shares with the audience." (Lee Prosser, Jazz Review)
Larry McDonough and his quartet will be on the bandstand at the Dakota, downtown Minneapolis on Nicollet Mall, on Thursday, December 23rd, first set at 7 pm, no cover (see www.dakotacooks.com). Also catch his holiday show on December 28th, 7-8 pm, at Edinborough Center, 7700 York Avenue South, Edina, MN, www.ci.edina.mn.us/park/edinhome.htm. More information on Larry McDonough including CD ordering links is available from www.larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com
