{"id":5111,"date":"2013-03-12T15:19:27","date_gmt":"2013-03-12T20:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=5111"},"modified":"2024-07-02T14:20:36","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:20:36","slug":"believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=5111","title":{"rendered":"Believing in the process"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Stephen Anderson says jazz music is his\u00a0life.<\/p>\n

In his office in UNC\u2019s Kenan Music Building, Anderson reaches into a drawer to pull out a giant notebook. He opens it up, flips through the large pages, and\u00a0sighs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my other<\/em> life,\u201d he\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

The notebook contains Dysfunctional<\/em>, his concerto for piano and orchestra. Anderson leads a double life\u2014that of jazz musician and classical composer. He embodies the two roles distinctly, but on occasion, one creative process influences the\u00a0other.<\/p>\n

The latest album from the Stephen Anderson Trio, Believe<\/em>, is about that process. And the story behind this particular jazz album starts with the concerto Anderson is holding.<\/p>\n

Dysfunctional<\/em> premiered to a packed house in UNC\u2019s Memorial Hall on April 13, 2010. It received a Barlow Endowment composer award and numerous positive accolades. Then Anderson spent months sending the concerto to conductors all over the country in hopes that it would be picked up by a professional\u00a0orchestra.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn spite of what everyone said, it got no performances,\u201d Anderson says. \u201cI was just so\u00a0frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dysfunctional <\/em>has never been performed again. It remains in his desk drawer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do I do this?\u201d he kept asking himself. Anderson typically scribbles down ideas for musical pieces on a daily basis, but he suddenly found he couldn\u2019t write. For seven months, he didn\u2019t write any music\u2014classical or\u00a0jazz.<\/p>\n

Sometimes things that aren\u2019t related to music work as the best inspiration. When he isn\u2019t composing, Anderson reads. He travels to Butner once a month to volunteer at a federal prison. He devotes time to his spiritual life and his family.<\/p>\n

While Anderson felt frustrated and creatively stumped, his musical world kept spinning. Conductor Evan Feldman commissioned Anderson to write a piece for the UNC Wind Ensemble in 2011. Anderson was excited about the commission but found his writing was still blocked. He tried to sketch out the piece five different times. He trashed the first four attempts. The fifth came out\u00a0right.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t predict inspiration,\u201d he says. \u201cNotes will pop into my head when I\u2019m making the bed or taking a\u00a0shower.\u201d<\/p>\n

The right opening notes for that piece finally came to him while he was walking across campus. He went straight to the piano and started composing what would become Edge<\/em>. From that point on, writing music came naturally again. He decided it was time to start work on the third album for the Stephen Anderson Trio.<\/p>\n

As he started putting together songs for Believe<\/em>, Anderson posed the question: \u201cHow can we make this one different? What have we already done? How can we make this one a little\u00a0special?\u201d<\/p>\n

One way was to expand the trio slightly. He reached out to Joel Frahm, a renowned saxophone player Anderson had met a couple years back at the Carolina Jazz Festival. Frahm was happy to join as a special\u00a0guest.<\/p>\n

So how does Anderson describe this\u00a0album?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a lot of fast, energetic, crazy jazz,\u201d he\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

The first number on the album, titled \u201cPig Pickin\u2019,\u201d is a tribute to one of the first social gatherings Anderson ever attended in North Carolina (originally from Texas, Anderson moved to Chapel Hill in 2006). True to its title, \u201cPig Pickin\u2019\u201d is a fun, relaxed tune with just a hint of country twang.<\/p>\n

Like any good jazz record, Believe<\/em> also includes a dose of improvisation. \u201cQuiet Lady\u201d is the only track on the album not written by Anderson (it\u2019s by Thad Jones) and Anderson thought it would be best to adopt the simple framework of the piece and leave the rest up for\u00a0interpretation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had no plan for that tune until we started playing,\u201d he\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

Anderson says he is happy with the outcome of the album and thankful for the lessons he learned in its creation, especially those of perseverance and faith in the artistic\u00a0process.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve<\/em> is about believing in the process\u2014believing that it\u2019ll happen,\u201d he says. \u201cYou just have to work at\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Stephen Anderson Trio includes Stephen Anderson (piano), Jeffry Eckels (bass), and Ross Pederson (drums). Joel Frahm appears on Believe as a special guest (saxophone).<\/em><\/div>\n
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[Story by Mary Lide Parker,<\/em> Endeavors <\/a>magazine]<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the story behind Believe, the third album from the Stephen Anderson Trio, led by UNC jazz musician and professor Stephen Anderson. 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