Big Band Holiday

Jazz comes from Lincoln Center to Walton Center

Ted Nash arrived in Milwaukee, Wis., early Monday morning after four speedy plane rides and a day of traveling.

Perhaps a bit tired, the world-renowned saxophone player has just returned to the mainland after a short vacation in Hawaii with his daughter Emily. But despite a change of scenery and time zone, he's got to be on his game.

FAQ

Big Band Holidays

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

WHEN — 7 p.m. Sunday

WHERE — Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville

COST — $52-$82

INFO — 443-5600 or waltonartscenter.org

After only two earlier days of rehearsal, Nash and the other members of the Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis are embarking on a two-week, 14-performance tour that will "fit as much Christmas music into the short span as possible," he says.

"We like to fit in quite a bit," he says with a laugh. "We're ready to go every holiday season before the tour begins. Most of what we are doing is Christmas music. I think, even when we groan in mid-November when we first hear it, everyone really enjoys this music."

The holiday music the band performs gets audiences into the spirit, he says, by being the kind of music that makes people feel the warmth of family and good cheer. "You remember a time when you were out of school, had lots of food and gifts. Every time you hear Christmas music, it reminds you of being a child. You can't mess that up."

Nash has been playing and touring with the jazz band for 16 years after, but before that time, his first Christmases weren't necessarily filled with his signature saxophone music.

His father, Dick Nash and uncle, reed-man Ted Nash, inspired the love of jazz in the young boy, he says. He took up the playing the piano at the age of 7 but quickly found the instrument to be too limiting.

"I was at summer camp, and one of the other kids pulled out a clarinet and started playing," he says. "I thought it was the coolest thing because you could take the music with you. Just open a little box and like magic have a little tool that made music."

He was 12, and his passion for reeded instruments blossomed.

"My uncle introduced me to the flute and I thought, 'yeah, OK, that's great,' but I didn't really enjoy it," Nash says. "I saw how happy my father was, and I really wanted to experience that."

Influenced by bee bop and Charlie Parker, the teenager picked up the alto sax and began "very serious practicing," he says. With a musical family supporting him, the young man moved to New York City and quickly found success playing music professionally, which he says was fortunate as he hadn't considered doing anything else as a career.

He joined the Lincoln Center Orchestra in 1998 and has been touring with the group and director Wynton Marsalis ever since.

"We love playing these shows every year," Nash says of the holiday series. "We all contribute to the arrangements, so the audience gets a taste of everyone's style. And this year we are including a fantastic vocalist, Cecile McLorin Salvant, who adds another dimension to the music.

"Putting Christmas music in the context of jazz and the big band embraces all the aspects of the music we as a band embrace," he continues. "It makes jazz accessible. But it makes it challenging."

The challenge, he says, comes from the difficulty of the music itself. The program is varied and moves through a range of emotions, which engages the audience in way that will leave everyone feeling uplifted and fulfilled, he says.

"With this music, you want to involve people," he explains. "People are drawn in and engaged by the improvisation and the complex parts. This music requires the audience not only to listen but to become involved. It's not passive; jazz requires something from you. It's a great feeling."

NAN What's Up on 12/05/2014

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