Sherrie
Maricle of the Diva Jazz Orchestra
Sherrie
Maricle of the Diva Jazz Orchestra
“We
are living with an attitude of gratitude and we perform that way,” says Sherrie
Maricle the bandleader for The Diva Jazz Orchestra and drummer with her quintet
Five Play based out of New York City. Maricle is one of the most delightful and
talented people that I have spoken to. She is engaging and genuinely grateful
for the opportunities that have come her way. Early in her career she kept
overcoming obstacles placed in her way because she is a woman musician in jazz
music. Her talent simply could not be denied.
I went to someone who knows
Maricle and the Diva Jazz Orchestra very well the legendary Tommy Newsom (the
Tonight Show, Benny Goodman, and Erich Kunzel). Newsom has worked on a number of
the arrangements that the big band has performed and in 2004 the Diva Jazz
Orchestra released the Tommy Newsom Tribute CD. Newsom had this to say when I
spoke to him, “I was just talking to a friend of mine and saying that band plays
with exuberance with a flair that almost no other band has. I think they realize
this is their shot. They give it their best every time. I have never seen
anything like it.”
It seems wherever Five Play and the Diva Jazz Orchestra
have performed they have drawn rave reviews from the critics for their energy
and the passion with which they approach their music.
The gratitude that Maricle expresses concerning the
direction her career has taken infuses both the quintet and the big band. “I
think doing this as a career and having an opportunity to play in a group like
Diva, to play the venues that we have been so fortunate to play all around the
world (combined with) the high quality of music that we get to perform would
make any musician happy,” says Maricle.
She says that attitude of gratitude in addition to the
various cultural backgrounds of the women who make up the group infuses both the
ensemble and the big band with energy that strikes an immediate connection with
their audience.
“Our only goal is to make the audience happy.
Fortunately we seem to be able to do that. The audience can tell that we truly
are having a great time doing what we are passionate about, playing jazz. It
reminds me a lot of films you seem of bands from the swing era. A lot of those
bands seem very happy and not afraid to express that,” she says.
Maricle theorizes that, “It is like when (progress) from finger painting to
having your (work) hang in a museum. It is not fun anymore because now you have
to make a living at it. Now it goes from fun to being professional. I don’t know
if that is what really happens but I do know sometimes when I go to listen to
music I watch no matter what is coming out of people’s instruments and voices.
If they don’t look like performing it takes something away from the
experience. No matter how good the music is I sometimes think, “Gee they look
like they are at their best friend’s funeral.”
Another factor Maricle says that contributes to the
tight sound on stage is the fact that the members of both Five Play and the Diva
Jazz Orchestra don’t just get together for gigs but are friends off stage as
well. They hang out together in New York City. “When you get to work with the
people that you love it is a little piece of heaven on earth or heaven on the
stage,” she says.
Newsom says those friendships transcend to the stage
performance and in his words contributes to the impact the players have on an
audience. “It’s their enthusiasm and talent. They take care of business when
they’re on. They have a rapport and camaraderie in that band. All of that goes
together to make the music come alive,” says Newsom.
Sherrie we know the approach that you take to the music
you perform but how do you take your music away from the spotlight? “When I want
to feel really, really happy I put on something that swings. I love Oscar
Peterson’s trio. I love Jeff Hamilton’s and Ray Brown’s trios. When I want to
feel instantly happy, smiling and tapping my foot I put on any of that music and
it makes me feel great,” she says.
Still referring to the music she listens to Maricle
says, “It swings like crazy. The swing and the bounce of it is very infectious.
The groove and the feel that those musicians play with is something that I
aspire to every single day in my own playing. The way that they interact
supporting each other’s efforts is phenomenal for me. I love that. Everything
always has a slight edge of aggression to it which I really like too.”
Five Play just returned (second week of November) from a
tour in Ireland and Portugal. For this tour Five Play consisted of Maricle as
the bandleader and drummer, Noriko Ueda on bass, pianist Tomoko Ohno, Anat Cohen
(tenor sax/clarinet) and Portuguese songstress Maria Anadon.
The tour renewed old friendships and memories for
Maricle. It was twelve years ago while touring Europe that Maricle first met
Anadon and earlier this year recorded on her new CD.
In 1991 and now by her own admission a somewhat young
and naïve Maricle approached the head of the annual jazz festival at Cork
Ireland, played upon her Irish roots and suggested he might want to have her
perform. After listening to her music she got a call from festival organizers
and appeared in Cork performing with pianist Oliver Jones. This fall Five Play
performed at the same festival.
Five Play also toured in Japan early in September. “We
played everything from the smallest intimate jazz clubs that could seat maybe 50
people to the 500 seat concert hall. They were all spectacular,” says Maricle.
As for the type of music Five Play performed she says, “We played stuff that
really swings, with great melody and tried to make their feet tap.”
While Five Play was in Japan Maricle got to make her own
snare drum during her visit to the Yamaha factory. She enthused first about the
quality of the drums and then about making her own which she took on the recent
European tour. “I have really loved the drums because they have always sounded
amazing. Once I saw the care and craftsmanship, it astounded me that every drum
that is brought to the world market is handmade. I couldn’t believe it,” she
says.
“They let me make my snare drum, from picking out the
wood to gluing it into the mold. It was unbelievable. It was incredible when
they asked me (questions such as) what angle do you want your rib cut and do you
want your snare bed sanded? I learned by describing the different sound that I
like and they explained to me how the different angles affect the sound. It was
really fascinating. I made a very deep pitched drum, a very old, warmer
sounding, dark and woody, acoustic sounding drum. It’s great, I love it,” says
Maricle.
Maricle has a special place reserved in her heart and
career for Tommy Newsom. “His writing helped create the sound of our band. He
knows us so well and we know his writing so well. We can say, ‘Tommy we need
this and we need that and he knows immediately what to do to make us sound
good.’ He is brilliant at crafting orchestrations and adding a new interesting
twist to them while retaining a lot of originality for the songs,” she says.
One of the band’s more memorable and spectacular tunes
is “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead” from the Wizard of Oz. It was at the prompting
of the Diva Jazz Orchestra’s co-founder Stanley Kaye that Newsom came up with
some new arrangements. Newsom says, “When that song came out it was like hitting
one out of the park.”
Newsom uses the word stunning to describe the Ella
Fitzgerald medley that the Diva Jazz Orchestra performs. “The audiences go nuts
when they hear this,” he says.
Maricle says, “On our last CD Tommy Newsom wrote an arrangement for us for “Too
Late Now”, I love the song and I love the lyric. He wrote a spectacular
arrangement. We go up to the climax near the end of the song and we all have
goosebumps moments. (It is) just the way that he built up the orchestration for
the ensemble. Our lead trumpet player comes in with this beautiful note and it
is amazing.”
Dr Sherrie Maricle has a doctorate in philosophy in jazz
performance and composition earned from New York University. She hasn’t quit
studying yet and is still trying to hone her craft. “Recently I have been
listening to a lot of Brazilian music, in particular Ellis Regina. I am
embarking on a much bigger quest to create a deeper understanding of Brazilian
music. I love the groove and the feel of samba and bossa nova. I love the sound
of it,” she says.
“I always want to expand my musical understanding so I
have CDs that I listen to from a drummer’s perspective or a composer’s
perspective. (It is) music that I really like and respect because it is so
different and challenging. It is going to help push me and expand as an artist,”
says Maricle.
If you are a young jazz artist starting out you might
want to consider looking to Sherrie Maricle as a mentor.
You can visit the website for
the
Diva Jazz Orchestra here.