Cover Story
It's the first thing that greets you from the wall of jazz master Bram Wijnands' home: a black and white hand drawn picture of an old clock…
That represents the first of several times in my life when I had the sensation of time suddenly accelerating. I think I was eleven-years-old. I wanted to hold that moment, so I sat down and drew that clock that hung in my house. It's modeled after a 150-year-old clock that my parents still have – and it's still ticking. Ever since that day when I made that drawing, I've been obsessed with time.
It goes so fast.
TIME KEEPER
In 1991, a young man, fresh out of college, crossed an ocean from his home in The Netherlands, arriving in America with one destination in mind: he was going to Kansas City to play jazz. Bram Wijnands heard Kansas City swings, so that's where he wanted to be. Fate ordained Wijnands to be the keeper of the time when jazz became America's classical music. Consequently, Wijnands has spent his lifetime mastering the swing jazz form predominant in the 1940s, and in particular the piano style called stride . A living conduit from the first generation of great stride pianists, Wijnands honors and recreates that time with his relentlessly swinging, raucous jazz performances in Kansas City venues and by request around the world.
Wijnands performs with his trio or seven-piece band, clowning with crowds as he exhibits his mastery of the keyboard. An energetic showman with Nordic good looks, Wijnands makes the impossible look effortless. His left hand “strides” across the keyboard, while the right runs around the melody. His rapid-fire, ambidextrous, harmonic arpeggios ( a la Art Tatum) mesmerize fans . His hands move with such speed that they have actually been clocked.
Oh yeah, and he sings… his delivery – Sinatra-smooth, with the familiar inflection of vibrato that characterized American swing crooners of the ‘40s.
Some invisible hand seemed to guide Wijnands' destiny from child prodigy to the twenty-first century jazz master who takes life very literally in stride.
“I remember my mother taking care of me when I was about a year and a half old, but there's nothing else that I remember from that time until I played the piano.
When I was three, I stayed with my Aunt who had two neighbors with pianos. I went from one to the other – playing. My Aunt called my father and said, ‘You've got to buy this kid a piano.' So he did!”
Wijnands also composes in the jazz styles of the 1940's. He gives rare solo performances, but more often arranges for his trio that regularly gigs at The Majestic Steakhouse in Kansas City on Friday and Saturday nights. (Wijnands on piano, Tommy Ruskin or Jurgen Welge on drums, and a rotating guest third) His seven-piece band is featured every second Wednesday of the month at Jardine's Jazz Club on the Plaza. (Carl Bender on baritone sax, Dan Thomas on alto, Tim Doherty on tenor, Barry Springer on trumpet, Tommy Ruskin or Jurgen Welge on drums and Lucky Wesley on bass). Wijnands has a unique jazz sound coming out of Kansas City today - a throwback to the time when he first discovered swing.
“When I was five-years-old, my father played Django Reinhardt records. I fell in love with those tunes!
At seven, I got a record of barrelhouse blues piano, which most people erroneously call boogie-woogie. I wore both records out!
Then I saw the Glenn Miller story, and there was Fats Waller playing “Stormy Weather” and “Ain't Misbehavin,” and I said, ‘That's it! I've got to be playing that ! ' That was stride. I was eight-years-old and I figured out that the sound I needed would come from a tenth in my left hand., It wasn't until about age eleven that I could finally reach those tenths – I was so happy. I'm still practicing though, still missing notes.”
Wijnands laughs the easy laughter of someone who doesn't take himself too seriously - the counterbalance to his obsession with mastery of the classic stride form. Though outwardly happy-go-lucky, Wijnands is a lover of order whose life is a juxtaposition of balance and counterbalances. He exhibits the wisdom of an “old soul,” yet he has what scripture calls, “the faith of a child.” Surely, a child-like love of fun and play colors his intense, delightful performances. Hearing the beat of a different drummer, Wijnands defied the trends of young artists throughout his upbringing, and in the current music scene, to concentrate very narrowly on the musical niche he's perfected.
“I love the swing period in American history; that love has never waned; it's only getting deeper the more I learn about it. I love Erroll Garner and Art Tatum – monster piano players! Tatum was freakishly good! He thought up stuff so fast! Yet, if you slow it down, every single note makes perfect sense, even 32 notes in one measure on a swing tempo. That's why his music lives on.
It's amazing how short a human life span is – if you take into consideration what you actually want to learn, there just isn't enough time because you're never going to get to it all So I've never had the intention to create new jazz sounds, or new style, or something uniquely me. I've always been a period player; I always wanted to be one.”
Still, all one has to do is listen to the marvelous juxtaposition of time Wijnands captures as he plays Burt Bacharach's 60s pop hit, “Close to You” (popularized by The Carpenters) as channeled through the style of Errol Garner. Then you realize that this young player of old music is an innovator. Just as surely as he preserves jazz roots, he overlays original touches that make his unique mark. In his genre, he created the remix.
“I don't only want music to make me happy, though; I want it to be intellectually challenging. Forties music has a lot of notes involved; you have to harmonize and it has to sound right. Chuck Haddix, one of the first guys I met here, has a wealth of information at the Marr Sound Archives at UMKC. He said, “Come on over, man; check it out.” So I've been there several times. I've studied and learned a lot..”
Wijnands learned well, studying at the Hilversum Conservatory in Holland, where he met Kansas City native, international jazz star Deborah Brown. Deborah brought jazz legend Richard Ross to Holland to do duets; they added the young Bram to become a trio.
“Richard Ross hooked us up with the old City Light Jazz Club; that's how I came to Kansas City. I started going to Tommy Ruskin's Wednesday matinee session at The Levee and met lots of folks jamming there. I met Hal Melia in '98 and we immediately clicked. He was one of the founding members of the seven piece, which started as a six-piece band.
The six-piece had 3 rhythm and 3 horns; that's when Steve Patke was still alive. He played bass clarinet and soprano saxophone, Marvin Hart was on trombone, and Jay Sollenberger on trumpet. Tommy Ruskin on drums, Lucky Wesley on bass and I on piano – made the rhythm section.
Originally, I got the seven-piece together for Myra Taylor, who needed a big band sound to back her up. .I was writing incomplete block harmony, trying to make the sound as big as possible with only 4 horns. I kept the 7-piece together and, in addition to Jardine's, we've done some concerts at the Topeka Jazz workshop. We also went to Florida last year to represent Kansas City at the “Sister-Cities” Convention.
Still, jazz in Kansas City has been affected adversely by the sinking US economy.
When the going gets tough, it's tough for the clubs to pay musicians. Things are getting more expensive and people aren't spending money. We haven't had the variety of work we used to have for some time, but we're grateful for all the places here that keep jazz going seven days a week.
We have a great diversity of different music styles and good musicians in town. A lot of musicians have come to and come out of Kansas City and we are lucky to have that. I guess it isn't as tough for jazz here as it is in other places.”
Bram Wijnands teaches jazz studies at UMKC. Several years ago, the University wisely decided to invite some of Kansas City's world class jazz talent to become adjunct faculty – a gig that helps make extra bread in tough times.
“In the spring I go to Europe to do a festival; I go to Germany, and I may go to the Ukraine with Gregory Sandomirsky to do our Vivaldi project. With all of that going on, I still have to tune pianos, which I actually enjoy, so that's cool. But running around doing all these things, working your butt off, is tough. It's not an easy, get-rich life, so you have to love it. A lot of people in this town do love jazz. Sure, we could get degrees in something that makes a bunch of money. We know our degrees might not make us rich, but making the music keeps our souls satisfied.”
He laughs again - the laughter of the rare, truly free spirit who's pursued a singular purpose made manifest from his earliest recollection. He understands that he's been given a gift and his reason for being is to perfect and multiply it. Perhaps the secret to a good life is the joy he takes in giving that magnified gift back. His is the laughter of one who knows who he is and recognizes that the value of being is not found in material things.
“Next, I want to get the band together to record another CD, some new things - old tunes that I wrote arrangements for that we haven't recorded yet. I also want to do another trio recording.”
When asked about his dreams for the future, the young time keeper looks a little bewildered.
“My dream? People have asked me that before, maybe twenty years ago. ‘Where do you see yourself 30 years from now?' I have no idea because I look back in time. In a way I'm keeping time that's already past. I'm doing what I love to do and not many people get a chance to spend their life that way. There's a lot of stress and there's bills and stuff. But I am playing music I want to play with guys I want to play with, and I have a lot of friends who are musicians, who are appreciators, you know? I've got a roof over my head and under it I've got a nice piano. I'm doing good. This life that swings…this is my dream.”
Sharon Valleau
Check out Bram Wijnands online at http://www.bwjazz.com
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