Augusta jazz is on an upswing

Karen Gordon pondered the question she posted to Garden City Jazz's Web site earlier in the week.

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Zach Boyden-Holmes/Staff

Karen Gordon plays at Davor's in Aiken. Gordon founded Garden City Jazz in 2003.

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Zach Boyden-Holmes/Staff

Jazz Musician Karen Gordon plays at Davor's in Aiken.

Just what, exactly, is the state of jazz in Augusta?

"I don't even know where you begin," said Gordon, a jazz vocalist and piano player. "In one word? It's complicated."

Gordon founded Garden City Jazz in 2003 to promote, book and produce jazz in the Augusta area. She's found that opinions on just what jazz is in Augusta -- and what jazz should be in Augusta -- vary.

As soon as she posted the question, responses poured in.

"Nobody agrees, but at least they're all eager to talk about it," she said.

Depending on who you ask, jazz is alive and well, tired and forgotten, or dead and gone.

That's because jazz exists in a paradox.

There are always acts and big names who draw crowds while local musicians can hardly pay their bills. Shiny young talent breaks through while the community mourns the passing of one of its greats, as Augusta did recently with the death of Tommie W. Gulley, who founded Jazz Unlimited, a non-profit in support of jazz.

It's easy to reminisce about the old days and about what jazz must have been like here in the '50s and '60s, Gordon said.

"Live music was huge then. They played at clubs and people danced. It's just different now," she said. "All the dances you dance today, you dance by yourself. People think they don't need jazz."

THERE ARE SEASONS in jazz just like anything else, Gordon said, and, if anything, Augusta is on an upswing. There's live music almost any night. Hotels, bars and restaurants all play host to local jazz musicians.

Venues have also taken a turn toward family-friendly, with The Augusta Market and Candlelight Jazz concert series. Both showcase jazz, but in an atmosphere accessible to beginners.

"It's perfect for someone hearing jazz for the first time," Gordon said.

Getting out to see jazz is crucial, said Joel Cruz, the saxophonist who fronts The Jazz Collective.

"More people would 'get' jazz if they would just go see jazz," he said. "Jazz music is live music. It's meant to be seen. You don't understand it unless you're there watching it happen.

"It's like, you listen to a recording and you don't realize it, but the guy sneezes and it makes everybody laugh and they all play a funny little lick. You'd miss that if you weren't there."

Cruz gives lessons to students at the Augusta State University Conservatory, and he encourages his students to get out to see shows.

"They learn how hard it is," he said. "They learn that the only thing we have control of is how well we play the music, and that's not guaranteed to draw crowds."

Despite a rough economy, Cruz says the trio continues to find work, with gigs scheduled every week.

"That makes it sound like jazz is more popular than it is," he explained. "It wasn't the popularity that allowed us to work. We had to work to get work. You have to take the role as a bridge builder. You can't just be a band that's good at music to make it."

And they are, Cruz said.

"We got into the business in 2003 and it was awful. A lot of veterans were starting to lose work. It hasn't really started to come back around, but we're still here, in the desert," he said.

IN AUGUSTA, SOME STYLES of jazz sell more readily than others.

Smooth jazz is popular here and tends to draw the largest crowds, Gordon said. On Friday, the Third Annual CSRA Jazz Festival features smooth jazz, with performances by Norman Brown, Alex Bugnon, Phil Perry and Eric Darius.

Smooth jazz is "essentially instrumental R&B. It exposes people to the fundamentals of jazz. It's an entry point," she said.

It also causes tension in the community.

"Jazz is evolving in this town," Gordon said. "We have one camp married to the traditional, classic jazz. And we have others who think it should be different, more accessible."

Whatever the sound, she'd like to see more cooperation among artists, which would open up opportunities for partnerships, gigs and venues.

"This is a hard way of life. Talking to some of the older musicians in town, they say Augusta is paying the same dollar as the clubs were 30 years ago," Gordon said. "What I'd like to see become popular has nothing to do with the music, and more to do with the attitude.

"I'd like for us to embrace each other."

Gordon estimates there are 120 or more jazz musicians and groups, playing everything from classic jazz to fusion to funk and R&B.

The pool might be diverse, but if Augusta isn't careful, it'll lose the opportunity to bring up its next generation of musicians, said John "Doc" Bradley, the director of the Augusta State University Conservatory Jazz Band.

Bradley, 74, teaches high school and middle school musicians from Richmond and Columbia counties.

"They tend to leave here and go places all over the country," he said. "They're flooding the Atlanta area."

Bradley says better music education, larger jazz festivals, scholarships and jazz publications are needed in Augusta.

"Just like a baby, you've got to feed it. You've got to nourish it," he said. "You've got to help it if you want it to grow up."

Bradley, a trumpet player, started with big bands while in college in 1954 in Texas and has been an educator since. He moved to Georgia in the 1980s.

"When I moved to Georgia, jazz was just a zero. Everybody was playing rhythm and blues. People were playing what they heard on the radio. Augusta wasn't a jazz town," he said. "I think the truth is, jazz is alive in Augusta, but it's not well."

Gordon hopes it can be.

"As long as the musicians in town are dedicated to keeping the art form kicking, we'll be OK," she said. "Atlanta, Charlotte, they're going through the same kinds of things we're going through.

"There's just a larger pool of talent and more venues, but the issues are the same. Jazz in the end wins."