www.pksax.com

Performance - Education - Writing

Home Archives for Paul Klemperer

September In Texas

By


Hi friends,
After an extended summer tour of New England & Indiana I’m back in Austin. Many exciting performances and creative projects this fall, including my weekly Wednesday shows at the Skylark Lounge. I’m celebrating 2 years of weekly jazz shows there this month!

Festivus is just around the corner: Each year we celebrate the Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Etc.season with a tongue-in-cheek variety show that casts an unflinching eye on the whole kooky cultural fruitcake, while also offering a heart-warming way to come together and raise money for a good cause. It will be Dec.17, or maybe Dec. 10, or somewhere in between (because that’s how Festivus rolls). If you’d like to get involved, please let us know. We need volunteers, creative ideas, and good ol’ sarcastic holiday spirit!

I’m happy to say that my friends in Houston are safe and sound after Hurricane Harvey. But the hurricane season is just ramping up. Much as I like living in a freaky science fiction world, the increasing wrath of Mother Nature is pretty scary, and promises to get scarier. It’s good to see people coming together to help others in need, and that may be the new normal. One thing musicians can do is contribute their art and their organizational skills to fundraising events. I’ll be donating my time as a performer and also helping organize upcoming events. Please reach out to me if you are involved in benefits, fundraisers, and cultural awareness activities.

PK

Hot Fun In The Summertime

By

This summer I have some new exciting projects as well as some ongoing exciting projects. Also, I have decided to put the word “exciting” before all my projects to keep myself motivated. Isn’t that exciting?

June 26 – July 11 I’ll be playing shows around New England, and hanging out with my beloved parents in Watertown, MA. My 90-yr-old mother could trade war stories with any Patriots linebacker, but she wants to keep working through her injuries and get in better shape. So I’ll be her personal trainer for much of the summer. Our regimen will include age-appropriate exercises drawn from yoga, t’ai chi, kung fu, karate, weight training, espresso and chianti (as needed).

As for my father, I plan to be his personal secretary. He used to have one when he was a Harvard chemistry professor, and I know he misses those days. He loves to expound on various topics, so I’ll be recording and scribbling notes as much as I can. Of course, when he gets deep into physical chemistry I just write phonetically and grunt encouraging monosyllables, but that’s what you get with free labor.

July 23 – Aug 7 I’ll be in Indiana, playing with the Chanticleer String Quartet. This is new musical territory for me and I really am excited about it. We’ll perform a mixed repertoire of classical and jazz, from Mozart to Afro-Cuban.

Then it’s back to New England for more music and family fun until September. I’ll also be posting articles and essays throughout the summer. I’ll post to Facebook of course, rapidly becoming the Fox News of the interweb, but if you’d like to read the full text of any of my excitingly erudite writings, check here or my companion author website www.paulklemperer.com

With the fervent hope that I remain your most obedient humble servant,

Paul Klemperer

Cultural Discourse vs. Cultural Appropriation

By

I’m a troublemaker, at least in my own mind. Musically, I enjoy crossing boundaries, even while I think it is important to learn, honor and preserve distinct musical traditions. Music, like all cultural creations, reflects the dreams, beliefs and conflicts of a society. Nowhere is this more evident than in the United States. The legacy of colonialism, slavery, class struggle has shaped our economy. The struggles of all the groups and individuals living in this land, pushing back against oppression and exploitation, are expressed partly through their music. The music is passed on down through the generations. We pick up the tune, add our voice, and hopefully hand it on to those who come after us, putting a little of our unique selves into it on the way.

But it’s not a simple warm and fuzzy celebration of specialness. Culture, especially in a heterogeneous society with many different ethnicities, belief systems and lifestyles, is full of what social historian Kenan Malik calls “messy interaction.” Cultural appropriation, he acknowledges, is considered to be cultural thievery by many. The lingering power imbalance of European colonialism means that control over cultural artifacts and practices is still contested.

For artists this can play out on a very personal level. You create your art, using the tools, images, and practices passed down by previous generations. But are you engaging in cultural discourse, adding your unique voice and perspective to a shared cultural reservoir, or are you perpetuating a historical power imbalance, ripping off the oppressed on behalf of the oppressor, and in the process getting a little of the filthy lucre for yourself? Not a simple question.

For myself, after slogging through the mud of the music business for 40 years, I believe you have to try, rather than hesitate. Better to act, make mistakes, learn from them, keep your eyes, heart and mind open, than to talk yourself into inaction for fear of doing the wrong thing. But I do believe you can do this while hearing criticism, learning from those who disagree with you. Of course it is easier when you don’t have power, when you’re not attached to a particular political/economic faction that is competing against others for control of resources. But none of us operate in a social vacuum; we either appropriate or get appropriated. Is it possible to engage in mutual cultural appropriation in a mutually beneficial way? I’d like to think so. More on that in the next exciting episode!

February 2017

By

It’s been a surreal year so far, but only if you pay attention. Most days I just hunker down and get some work done until it’s time to eat. But seriously, we all find ways to cope, and music is the thing, more and more, that sustains me. Which leads me to the subject at hand: February doings in the music scene.
I’ve been very fortunate to have a fine weekly residency at the Skylark Lounge, going on almost a year and a half now. Each week I have a different theme with some great musical guests. So far this year I’ve had Oliver Rajamani, Sara Riesner, Rick McRae, and the list is getting longer.
Feb 22 will be a Mardi Gras Warmup Party, with plenty of New Orleans Jazz & Funk. In March some of my special guests will be Julie Slim-Nassif, Alex Coke, and Joanna Ramirez. So we will be presenting all kinds of great music under the jazz umbrella!
As a sideman, I’ve been doing some really interesting projects as well. Valentines Day I played with the Golden Arm Trio for a special screening of the silent film Wings, and for the last chunk of February I’m part of the pit orchestra for the musical Prohibition. Check my website calendar for details.
The year, surreal, orange-hued and full of social turmoil, nevertheless proceeds apace. And the band plays on!

January Happenings

By

January 2017… Well, of course that inauguration thingy happened on the 20th, and then the huge women’s march on the 21st. Not to read too much into that weekend, but we may be living in a world of intense extremes for the foreseeable future. It could be healthy, a stripping away of illusion, an appreciation of the things in our lives that really matter. Or it could be like a scene from a bad 1950s sci-fi movie, mobs of panicked citizens running screaming through the streets, chased by a giant radioactive spider. Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, my shows at the Skylark Lounge continue to go really well. I appreciate my friends and fans coming out and supporting us every Wednesday. I know it’s hard work, sitting in a dimly lit bar, drinking, eating pizza, clapping sometimes at the end of a song. It’s not something that everyone would do, and your commitment does not go unnoticed!

For those who missed some of our shows, or want to relive those fleeting moments, we are videotaping when we can, and we will be posting the highlights on YouTube. You can keyword my name, the Skylark Lounge, or go directly to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAUQr4NzZdp98pT08-gmGKQ.

January show highlights include:
January 11 – Spotlight On The Blues
January 18 – Manteca Beat featuring the music of Mose Allison
January 25 – Global Jazz featuring Oliver Rajamani

And on into 2017…

By

Though my life seems to be mainly a set of weekly tasks mixed in with waving at friends as they days fly by, I do like to look over my shoulder at what we have all accomplished, experienced, enjoyed, and survived. I try, like most of my friends, to have some sort of vague plan, a “big picture” of sorts, and to scribble down ideas, lists and diagrams in an effort to organize the chores of the day, week, month into a game plan, a larger raison d’etre, even if this is mostly illusory.

Standing on a philosophical mountain top, arms akimbo, looking over the past, and then gazing into the hazy future. It feels good to do this periodically, and especially at the end of the year, even if calendars are an arbitrary measure of one’s life.

So, what to say about 2016? Yow. But there were some notable personal advancements, even if the world seems to be sliding off the back of the giant turtle that supports it.

My friends know I have been spending a lot of time with my parents as they have gotten to a ripe old age. They spent last winter and spring with me in Texas, while we made repairs and upgrades to their house. Now they are back in their own home, comfortable, and that feels like a major accomplishment. Those of you helping to care for your parents know what I’m talking about.

I finished 2016 with my annual Festivus Celebration (this was the 5th year!), a benefit for Austin Children’s Sheleter. We successfully raised $600 after expenses, a new record for P.K.S.A.X. and Team Festivus!

Over the last two years I have been involved in a book project, overseen by my friend Robin Moore in the Ethnomusicology program at UT. The topic is music curriculum in the 21st century. He graciously invited me to contribute a chapter as a working musician. The book is now ready for publication and should be out in spring 2017.

As an offshoot of the book project I participated in a panel on music pedagogy at the annual conference of the Society for Ethnomusicology. Not only was it intellectually stimulating and inspiring for my own musical research, but I was happy to reconnect with friends and colleagues in academia, some of whom I hadn’t seen in decades!

So as I stand on my imaginary mountain top, staring into the mists of 2017, I’m fairly invigorated, ready to work on music, teaching, writing, moving the ball a few yards down the field. Back into the trenches!
PK

Paul Klemperer’s 5th Annual Festivus Celebration!

By

Paul Klemperer’s 5th Annual Festivus Celebration!

When: Sunday December 18, 7:00-10:00pm.
Where: Kickbutt Coffee, 5775 Airport blvd.
Tickets: $10 advance, $12 at door.

Every year, Austin saxophonist Paul Klemperer puts on a gala holiday event featuring music, dance, and spoken word, in a lighthearted celebration of the season. It’s also a benefit for Austin Children’s Shelter, a group with a good track record of helping at-risk kids, victims of abuse, and families in crisis.
For advance tickets and to support the campaign:

Festivus Campaign

The idea came after years of playing “Festival of Light” type shows that try to be inclusive of all beliefs, customs, and rituals. It’s a nice idea, but it can get culturally clunky and philosophically problematic.

But it is uplifting to come together and do something to help others at this time of year.  Hence Festivus, a completely fictitious holiday that let’s you be as sarcastic and petty as you would be the rest of the year, and yet engage in heartwarming community sharing and caring.  Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice… it’s all good here, as long as you can handle the Festivus Pole hogging center stage!
This year’s theme: “It’s A Miracle We’re Still Here.”
Festivus originated on the hit TV sitcom Seinfeld, as an invented holiday meant to satirize the increasing commercialization of Christmas.  It’s staples are the Festivus Pole, the airing of grievances, feats of strength, and Festivus miracles!  Over the years it has spread around the world wherever tongue-in-cheek humor has a foot hold.

Paul and friends would love for you to join them this year, gather round the Festivus Pole, and help raise money for Austin Children’s Services.  If you can’t physically be there, your donation will help others participate, spread good will, and materially benefit kids who need it. 

Happy Festivus!

Major and Parallel Minor Scales

By


  Major and Parallel Minor Scales.
    A) A “parallel” scale means it has the same starting and ending notes as another scale.  The major scale is generally used as the starting scale, which can be modified to create many parallel scales.  The names get esoteric; historically a variety of names have been attached to the same scales, and it can get overwhelming on a theoretical level.  An efficient approach is to get familiar with the actual intervals in the scales, no matter what you name them.  Then you will find the easiest way for your particular brain to organize them.  For example, many people think of the melodic minor scale as “just the major scale with a lowered 3rd.”  However, some people (possibly ones who have conspicuously neat apartments and arrange their soup cans alphabetically), prefer to think of the melodic minor as the natural minor scale with a raised 6th and raised 7th, and that it should only be played ascending.  I try not to judge; no method is better than another.  Ideally, we should be able to understand music in all its theoretical descriptions, but practically speaking each of us finds our own personal path to understanding.

    B)  It can be helpful to organize scales in parallel, with the same root note.  I find it logical to arrange them as follows:  Major, Melodic Minor (b3rd), Dorian (b3rd, b7th), Harmonic Minor (b3rd, b6th), Natural Minor (b3rd, b6th, b7th).  Here I’m using the Major scale as the starting point and altering tones to create the parallel scales listed above.  There are of course many more parallel scales to be constructed, but this is a good starting point, a total of 5 scales.

    C)  I recommend locking in the root, 4th and 5th of the major scale.  Get those intervals firmly in your ear, and then add the 3rd and 6th and 7th.  Finally, add the 2nd.  When you create the other 4 parallel scales, the 4th and 5th are static, stable tones that help define all the above scales.  The 3rd tells your ear if the scale is primarily major or minor.  Try shifting between the major 3rd and minor 3rd, paying attention to the way you hear the other intervals, as you add in the 6th, 7th and 2nd.  If you just play a complete scale, it may be good for your finger dexterity, but it may be too much information for your ear to process.  Slow down and play smaller pieces of each scale to hear how they differ from each other.

    D)  Play short phrases in the major scale, then alter them to the parallel scales.  This will help your ear recognize the scales in practice, and will also help your improvisational versatility.  For example a phrase using the major 3rd sounds quite different when the 3rd is lowered, even though the body of the phrase and the fingering techniques are almost the same.  The devil is in the details, as they say.

    E)  Work your way through the Circle of 5ths/4ths in this way.  It doesn’t have to be an exhausting chore, but rather a musical meditation.  The ergonomics of each scale present challenges but also finger patterns that feel interesting and will stimulate your creativity, especially for improvisation.  Also, the tonal qualities of your instrument, the actual vibrations, will feel different in each key, and the intervals of the various parallel scales can have different emotive power in different keys.  For example, on tenor sax when I play the G dorian minor (F concert), the 6th is an E (D concert).  This note speaks well in the upper register, it really sings, and often changes the way I approach other notes in the scale.

    F)  What next?  There’s always more, but remember to go slow, so that your fingers, ears and brain can work together.  After you’ve gotten familiar with the above 5 parallel scales, trying playing the diatonic triads, then the diatonic 7th arpeggios.  And then of course there are the 7 modes of each scale.  But first make yourself a nice cup of tea.

Moving In Different Directions

By

The following Tip is about practicing music, but the underlying idea can be applied to most creative and artistic activities.  In music, our language includes scales, chords, rhythms, etc.  What is the language of your art, and how can you become more fluent in it?

Moving in a variety of ways keeps your attention fresh and helps you fit the jigsaw puzzle pieces of life together.  There are common scale patterns, rhythmic patterns and chord progressions that you can practice as etudes and then plug into actual songs.  But the exercise of discovering or creating new patterns also helps your ability to look for and recognize patterns.  This will help you become a better sight reader, improviser, and overall musical person.

This Tip is an excerpt of a longer article.

X

Forgot Password?

Join Us

Password Reset

Please enter your e-mail address. You will receive a new password via e-mail.