Articles

Saxophonist’s sound smooth as glass

By Mark Good

The First Annual Bar Harbor Jazz Festival ends Saturday on a high note with a performance by a quartet led by alto saxophonist Dave Glasser.

Mr. Glasser and his bandmates — Ronnie Matthews on piano, Earl May on bass and Tony Jefferson on drums — are performing at 8 p.m. at the Criterion Theater. Tickets are $12 and $17.

Audience members can expect an evening of straight-ahead jazz rooted firmly in the bebop tradition. This isn’t to say that Mr. Glasser plays retro jazz; he is keenly aware of more recent developments in the music and incorporates them into his own style.

“I want my music to be useful. I want it to be listenable,” he said during a recent interview. “I don’t want it to be too intense. You don’t want to lose your audience.”

Mr. Glasser may not be familiar to many music fans. But he should be. He has both the credentials and the chops to join the jazz pantheon.

A 9-year veteran of trumpeter Clark Terry’s groups, Mr. Glasser has also performed extensively with the Count Basie Band under the direction of Frank Foster and with the late tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet.

His alto playing is spectacular. His control, use of dynamics and tone rank him among the top players on the instrument.

He uses this virtuosity intelligently, choosing just the right number of notes to get his message across. Whether wringing all the emotion out of one long note during a tender ballad or playing a flurry of them in an up-tempo tune, Mr. Glasser never loses sight of the fact that he’s telling a story.

Mr. Glasser has recorded three CDs as a leader, but it’s the give and take between the musicians and audience at a live performance that really motivates him.

“It’s much more energetic and fun,” he said of performing live. “For me music is something you give to an audience.”

Mr. Glasser grew up in New York City. He began playing cello in the fourth grade but always wanted to play saxophone. Once he got his first saxophone in junior high, there was no holding him back.

“I practiced about six hours a day,” he recalled. His early influences included John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon and Cannonball Adderley.

His talent got him into the city’s prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. Following graduation, he attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he received bachelor and master’s degrees.

From Rochester, it was back to the city, where Mr. Glasser played with Illinois Jacquet’s band for a year before joining the Basie unit, which was under the direction of another great tenor player, Frank Foster.

“One thing I learned from them was Basie was all about class,” he said.

He also learned a lot about music.

“We’d just hang out and jam before the concert,” Mr. Glasser said. “It was a great experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

For the past eight years, Mr. Glasser has been combining his performance schedule with teaching in the jazz and contemporary music program at New York’s New School.

“I find teaching to be very rewarding,” he said. “I like being able to motivate students to achieve what they want in life.”

Teaching has improved his own playing, he said.

“I find you become a better player when you teach,” he said. Explaining musical concepts to students has helped develop his playing in ways that practicing wouldn’t have, he said.

Young local musicians will be able to benefit from Mr. Glasser’s teaching. While in Bar Harbor he plans to lead an improvisational workshop for students. Mr. Glasser’s approach should provide years of benefit to the young musicians.

“Ultimately, we need to teach people how to teach themselves,” he said. “I encourage people to discover the music themselves and develop their own approach.”

Contact Dave: dgbebop@gmail.com