Dick Hyman rehearses a portion of his new concerto with his jazz trio at his studio in Venice on Feb. 21, 2015. The trio includes himself on piano, Jeff Mael on percussion, Isaac Mingus on electric bass and Kenneth Bowermeister as conductor. (Staff photo by Rachel S. O'Hara)
VENICE — Jazz pianist, composer and raconteur Dick Hyman totes a large briefcase up to a sidewalk table one day recently for lunch.
Inside are his original penciled notes on lined paper and many pieces of handwritten sheet music, some notes whited out and rewritten, parts labeled “piano,” “violin,” “brass” and more along the edge. It’s the score to Hyman’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 2.
“This is the Ür-text,” says Hyman, shuffling through the oversized pages.
Saturday, the Venice Symphony under the baton of Kenneth Bowermeister with Hyman at the piano will present the world premiere of the concerto.
As noted by its number, the concerto is only the second Hyman has written — the first was 45 years ago, in 1970 — perhaps surprising for a man whose jazz compositions and performances are legendary in the music world. For more than six decades, he’s been a musician with a hand in television and film scores, Broadway shows, and countless recordings and concerts.
At 88, he’s as full throttle as ever.
Tonight’s concert, billed as an “Evening with Dick Hyman,” will include not only the premiere of the new concerto, but performances of Hyman’s “The Piper Patriot of ‘76” with Beth Morrison on piccolo and Jeff Mael and Dean Anderson on drums, and “Shreveport Stomp” with Hyman at the piano.
He’s given some thought to what influenced the composition of the new work.
“I’ve been trying to make my mind up about that,” he says. “I’ve been influenced as much by my experience as a player of popular music, movie music, a writer of movie music, as well as my fondness for composers of the past.”
He named composing giants Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Chopin and Gershwin.
“Composing is a reflection of everything else I’ve done.”
Piano legend Dick Hyman, 88, is a full throttle as ever. (Staff photo by Rachel S. O'Hara)
Born in Manhattan, he got his start early, playing the piano before he was 10 years old under the tutelage of an uncle, classical pianist Anton Rovinsky. It was his older brother who introduced him to jazz music, and the die was cast for decades of work as a jazz session musician. It was the Sarasota jazz community that brought him and Julia, a sculptor to whom he’s been married for 66 years, to Venice in the 1980s.
They have “a rich social life,” says Hyman. “We go dining frequently.”
Earlier this week, at a concert preview at the Venice Art Center, Hyman drew inspiration from Julia’s sculptures for some improvisation at the piano.
A sculpture titled “Waiting” drew a few moments of music, after which Hyman said, “To be perfectly honest, that began to resemble the third movement of the concerto.”
He invited another musician, Bill Buchman, to join him at the keyboard for some boogie-woogie four-hands.
“Dick has been part of my life since I was 13 years old,” said Buchman. “He is one of the pianists who’s inspired pianists around the world. It’s been an unexpected privilege and an absolute blast to get to know him.”
Getting down to composing
Hyman has been working on Concerto No. 2 for about seven months, as a way to celebrate the opening of the new Venice Performing Arts Center. As is true of many things, an approaching deadline accelerated the compositional process.
“What a composer undertakes to write something with a great span to it, it’s not just choruses of ‘I’ve Got Rhythm,' ” he says. “I’m a deadline writer. That’s the way you get things done. Deadlines spur one’s creative ideas. If you’re going to sit around in the sun and wait for inspiration, it may happen. . .”
The concerto has three movements and may contain some surprises.
“The scoring is perhaps more classical than we might expect it to be,” says Bowermeister, conductor of the Venice Symphony. “Besides strings, of course, there are pairs of woodwinds, pairs of brass, and he’s downplayed the use of drum set and electric bass which were very prominent in his first concerto. In this concerto, they’re mostly in the third movement, but much less so than one might expect from a jazz-oriented concerto.”
The three movements are distinctly different, Bowermeister says.
“The first movement is based on two themes with development and some improvisation on Dick’s part. The second movement is a bossa nova. And the third combines blues and gospel. It’s really quite wonderful. It’s something that takes you quite by surprise.”
Changing the score
The Venice Symphony has been rehearsing the concerto this week after Bowermeister met several times with Hyman at his studio on the island of Venice.
“We met yesterday for an hour and a half and he revised some of the scoring,” Bowermeister says. “There were a few things he felt could be more effective.”
The score of Dick Hyman's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 2. (Staff photo by Rachel S. O'Hara)
But writing for a 75-piece orchestra is different than writing for a small jazz ensemble where improvisation is second nature.
“The orchestra has a certain weight to it,” Hyman says. “You have to decide whether to go along with their tendency or try to rouse them.”
Negotiations on timing or changes to the score will be mostly between Hyman and Bowermeister.
“There will be wrong notes and uncertainty about the tempo,” said Hyman philosophically.
Bowermeister says Hyman is “wonderful” to work with.
“He’s very patient, he’s very kind, and always willing to do things as many times as necessary to make it right.”
INTERESTED?
The Venice Symphony “Evening with Dick Hyman” is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Way, Venice. For ticket information, call 207-8822; thevenicesymphony.org.
DICK HYMAN BIOGRAPHY
• Born March 8, 1927, Manhattan
• House pianist at the famous Birdland jazz club.
• Organist for Hartz Mountain Canaries commercials on the radio.
• Piano player for Sid Caesar and Buster Crabb on the radio.
• Music director for Arthur Godfrey.
• Specialist in recordings of ragtime and early jazz music.
• Toured Europe with Benny Goodman.
• A regular on “Sing Along with Mitch” on NBC.
• In-house organist for the game show “Beat the Clock” for five years.
• In 1969, recorded the groundbreaking album “MOOG: The Electric Eclectics of Dicky Hyman.”
• Composer, arranger, conductor and pianist on 11 Woody Allen films, including “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” “Radio Days,” “Broadway Dany Rose,” “Stardust Memories” and “Hannah and Her Sisters.”
• Wrote the score for the 1987 romantic comedy “Moonstruck,” starring Cher.
• Winner of seven Most Valuable Player Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
• Two-time Emmy Award winner, for his original score for “Sunshine’s on the Way, a daytime drama, and for musical direction of a PBS special on Eubie Blake.
• Composed and performed the score for “Piano Man” for the Cleveland/San Jose Ballet Company.
• Member of the Jazz Hall of Fame.
