Steve "Red" Wierenga is an old soul. In addition to being a working jazz musician since high school, the 25-year-old enjoys a good game of bocce.
Today, the pianist with striking red hair — hence the nickname — is tickling the ivories all over town. The graduate of Penfield High School and the Eastman School of Music plays regularly at places as low key as his church to more jazzy venues like the Montage Grille.
To date, he's most proud of the work he's done with the Respect Sextet. The group used to play at Java Joe's every Wednesday (until a few guys moved out of town), released a CD last summer and toured the Midwest.
| |||
| |||
| |||
|
Besides taking an active role in playing jazz, Wierenga does his best to get the music to the masses as a DJ on WGMC-FM (90.1). Recently he took some time to chat with insider.
Let's first talk about how you got into music. Do you remember when it first started?
When I was 4 or 5, my parents had an old Hohner reed organ. I started playing on that and at a certain point my parents made my sister and me take piano lessons. When I first started, we didn't have a piano, we just had a reed organ. After a little while, my parents thought it would be a good thing to get a piano, and they went to a garage sale, so my dad and a friend of his brought it home.
Who did you first study with?
My parents thought it would be a good idea if I started taking lessons from Alvin Parris, who's known as a big gospel guy in Rochester. And so from third through ninth grade or so, I took (lessons) with Alvin Parris, and I think, because he got me started in improvisation, that without him I may not have gone into music.
(During this time he lived in the 19th Ward of Rochester. When his parents realized how serious he was about music, they decided to move to a suburb where he could excel in a strong music program.)
They settled in Penfield and, of course, Ned Corman (the music director) was there, and fortunately I got to study with him. (Wierenga's first year at Penfield was Corman's last.) … So, my freshman year at Penfield was really important because immediately I was playing with older and better musicians. I got started in a small group, and actually we started to play out a little bit, and that helped us get some gigs. And so, being a freshman in high school, playing music and making money doing it, I guess it was at that point that I knew I wanted to be a professional musician.
When you were getting into music, who were you listening to?
Early on I listened a lot to Bud Powell, probably the quintessential bee-bop pianist. After that I listened to Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett.
What was the transition like for you going from high school groups to playing at the Eastman School of Music?
For me the transition, musically, was pretty smooth. I had been looking forward to playing at Eastman for a while, and I had heard things about the program, that it encouraged free improvisation and things like that, and that's what I was particularly interested in.
How do you categorize yourself in the jazz scene?
It's a little hard to do that. I think I have a bit of a multiple personality disorder. … What I am trying to deal with musically on my own is closer to free jazz and free improvisation, and I'm primarily interested in electro acoustic improvisation.
Why did you choose to stay in Rochester after school? I mean, aren't there bigger venues for you?
Since I was from Rochester I had so many connections, and while I was at Eastman I just continued to build those connections. I had several weekly gigs and lots of contacts, people calling me for wedding receptions and parties. And, of course, my family living here, especially right after graduation, it was hard to just cut off all that connection when I know I can make a living making music here in Rochester.
So, do you feel like a big fish in a little pond here in the local jazz scene?
A little bit. I'm not one to toot my own horn … but it is a relatively small community, and I definitely see at some point the desire to have a larger pool of musicians and to just work with different people.
Do you think the Rochester International Jazz Festival is bringing recognition to the local jazz scene?
I think it can certainly help put Rochester on the map. If people aren't familiar with Rochester as a jazz town, it can certainly help draw attention to that. And I guess what I particularly like about this year's festival is that you can hear music just all across the spectrum. If you're into just straight ahead (jazz), there's lots of shows for you. And if you're into free jazz or free improvisation like I am, there's actually a good amount of stuff.
Who are you most looking forward to seeing?
Vijay Iyer. He's a pianist and … Vijay is actually from Fairport originally. I've never met him. We've been exchanging e-mails a little bit, and I'm hoping to get a lesson from him when he's here. … I think he's one of the more creative musicians and creative pianists out there now, so I am very excited to hear him.
Who's in your CD player right now?
I guess I have been listening a lot to Vijay Iyer. I've been listening to a pianist who is originally Russian, Simon Navatov. (He's also been listening to) one of the oldest completely free improvisation groups called AMM; they have been around for about 40 years.
What do you hope to accomplish in the near future, musically
speaking?
I'd like to concentrate more on my own music, writing compositions. Hopefully successfully incorporating my laptop and working more on electro acoustic improvisations and having my own group or groups and being able to support myself making my music.
