Home » Jazz Musicians » Claude Bolling Experience in Concert, LLC

Claude Bolling Experience in Concert, LLC

Jeffrey Wahl Jeffrey is from the Vestal area of Upstate New York. He has been performing in various artistic disciplines for the majority of his life and has won many prestigious titles including Junior Mr. Headliner, Teen Mr. Headliner, Teen Dancer of the Year, Mr. Dance of the United States of America, and the International King of Dance. His dance studio “Dance by Jeff '' was ranked one of the top 100 Businesses in the country by Young Biz Magazine. He has performed extensively throughout the US, Canada, Germany, and Russia. He has been sought out to teach master classes in multiple artistic disciplines throughout the United States, Canada, and Russia. On stage he has starred in the roles of Fredrick The Pirates of Penzance, Nanki-Poo The Mikado, Freddy Hill My Fair Lady, Barnaby Tucker Hello Dolly, and Mike A Chorus Line. As a Vocalist Mr. Wahl has sung at major sporting events throughout the country; the Laguna Seca Raceway, the San Francisco 49er’s Season Opening celebration, the Sky Chiefs Salute to the Armed Forces Game and the Concorso Italiano in Monterey California. He has had the distinct honor of performing for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, International Dignitaries as well as State, and Local Officials. As a Conductor, he has conducted groups throughout the world ranging from orchestras, brass bands, and choirs. He has been the Musical Director for Disney's The Little Mermaid, Disney‘s Beauty & the Beast, Cabaret, Man of La Mancha, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, South Pacific, The King & I, and many others. He has also been involved in movie productions, he was the music supervisor and conductor for the film Toddler Tartar. Mr. Wahl is the Musical Director and Founder of the Binghamton Baroque Orchestra a group that features music from the period 1600-1750. As an Instrumentalist, Mr. Wahl has been a featured artist at St. James Church in Johnson City NY. He has also been a featured performer in the Monterey Bay area of California, Garmisch Germany, Petrozavodsk Russia and at St. Matthews Church in Washington D.C. In the summers of 2017-2020, he has been and continues to be a featured Guest Artist and Instructor at the Songe dete en Musique Music School and Festival in Canada where he performed with the Pierrot Consort. As a Composer, his original music has been performed across the country.

Tags

The crossover of classical music and chamber jazz was never better developed than by the late French composer Claude Bolling. Last night (Nov. 12), a talented group of local musicians gave the audience at Endicott’s Cider Mill Stage a sense of the drive, complexity and joyful genius of that hybrid form.

It is not surprising that group, led by recorder player Jeffrey Wahl, comprise the Binghamton Baroque Orchestra. Each musician knows well the intricate contrapuntal elegance of baroque music and can develop those themes in various jazz styles, whether swing, boogie-woogie, or blues. Bolling worked extensively with classical musicians, including flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal, to explore the range and possibility of new expression through the genre of which he was a master.

The introductory number, “Baroque & Blue,” did just that, as Wahl’s sopranino recorder invited keyboard player John Isenberg to join him in a musical conversation. Isenberg replied with stride rhythms that ended with a lively syncopation. Another Baroque-inspired piece, “Allègre,” gave those two instruments the opportunity to weave an intricate tapestry of tune and rhythm to which the drum and bass added their respective punctuation. Drummer Alex VanTassel and bassist Tyler Vallet brought their considerable talents to showcasing the Count Basie-like riffs that Bolling most admired and emulated in his compositions.

Bolling wrote scores for more than 100 films, and the “Love Theme” from California Suite describes the roller coaster ride of that emotion through the recorder and the dreamlike progression of the keyboard that sounds like a harp.

The musical dialogue between instruments was always delightful and engaging; the individual voices chase each other, play tag and then scamper off. They provide an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colors and patterns as the music takes listeners to Brazil in a bluesy haze or Indonesia with its off-kilter rhythms.

The second act brought guitarist Burt Mueller on stage. He played with the cool confidence of a true jazz artist as the group performed selections from Bolling’s Concerto for Classic Guitar & Jazz Piano. The city-themed tunes of “Chicago” and “New York” were familiar yet offered surprising variations, just as if one wandered into a new, unknown neighborhood of each metropolis. The treatments of established musical forms, such as the canon, madrigal and rococo, were all handled with faithful authenticity. The “Canon,” for example, gave each instrument the opportunity to imitate an identical melody in a playful, intricate fashion that respected the original form.

The successful hybrid of classical music and jazz takes off for a memorable trip through time and space, thanks to the gifted performance of these local musicians.

Show less