Ken Fowser/Behn Gillece Quintet wins Generations International Competition for Emerging Jazz Combos at Yoshi’s San Francisco

Fowser/Gillece Quintet wins on musicianship and ensemble interplay

It was two New York City-based bands squaring off, as the Fowser/Gillece group, led by tenor saxophonist Ken Fowser and vibraphonist Behn Gillece, won the competition over the fine Bruce Harris Quintet. The Fowser/Gillece Quintet’s winning performance opened with a sly, energetic blues by the group’s pianist Jeremy Manasia, called “Jeremy’s Other Blues.” Gillece’s ringing vibes work and Fowser’s warm, muscular sound took hold of the audience immediately, and Manasia stormed the castle with a spry, multi-faceted solo, springing nimbly among cheerful musical ideas. Another highlight was “The Hutch,” Gillece’s tribute to vibes great Bobby Hutcherson. But while the quality of the playing by these three, as well as bassist Adam Cote and drummer Jason Brown, was high throughout the band’s set, it was the empathetic interplay among all five musicians that made the performance shine. It’s not surprising that this quintet had substantial team chemistry on display. They’ve been together long enough to have recorded a fine CD, Full View.

Bruce Harris Quintet provides worthy competition

Leading his quintet, trumpeter Bruce Harris took the stage for the “Battle for the Combos” for a second time. He performed last year in the first ever Generations Competition finals with the quartet, Interplay. Interplay, in fact, won that first ever Generations Fellowship. That Harris was hoping to take part in the Generations Fellowship for a second year is testimony to the quality of the mentoring Fellowship winners receive. Harris was joined by tenor saxophonist Alex Hoffman, pianist Donald Vega, bassist David Wong and drummer Pete Van Nostrand. They opened with the standard “Everything Happens to Me,” taken at a crowd-pleasing swagger, with Harris’ opening solo showing off the band’s affinity for jazz’s late-night, back-of-town roots. Hoffman’s free-flowing and joyful solo on the band original “Break City” was another highlight.

Generations Band brings star power and history to the stage

But these two young ensembles weren’t the only exciting talent on display during this extraordinary night of jazz. The Generations Band, featuring drummer Jimmy Cobb, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, alto saxophonist Andrew Speight, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt (sitting in for regular band member Terrell Stafford), pianist David Hazeltine and bassist Ray Drummond opened the evening’s action. This group of jazz stars was brought together two years ago to serve as performing ambassadors for the Generation project and as mentors for the competition winners, and they have since coalesced into a dynamic performing ensemble. The thrilled the Yoshi’s audience with an extended version of “So What,” from the famed Miles Davis album, Kind of Blue, on which Cobb himself played drums. At the Yoshi’s concert, Cobb’s blistering drum solo highlighted the number, a bravado performance by a great jazz legend.

The Generation Band had the Yoshi's stage to themselves the previous evening, Wednesday, May 6, offering two blistering sets of straight-ahead jazz to a highly appreciate crowd of jazz lovers.

A unique competition inspired by a reverence for jazz tradition

The Generations International Competition and Fellowship for Emerging Jazz Combos is the brainchild of SF State School of Music and Dance faculty member Andrew Speight. and Jeffrey Babcock,, executive director of the ICA.

“The group sound is the real soul of jazz,” Speight says, “The bands of musicians like Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley and Art Blakey advanced the music through the ensemble sounds they created. And information was passed down through communities, in jam sessions, through oral history and within the groups themselves. The Generations project is about re-focusing on the ensemble, and getting back to mentorship-based education. Having Jimmy Cobb and Ray Drummond involved is invaluable. These are musicians who were right there in the trenches when the basic concepts of this music were being worked out. They have first-hand knowledge of history nobody else has access to.”

As they had the year before, this past fall, the ICA sent word of the competition to more than 250 university jazz programs around the world and advertised the competition in major jazz publications. The competition guidelines called for groups of four to seven instrumentalists with a mean age under thirty, with all members holding at least a Bachelors degree or equivalent training. Each group was asked to record three songs from among a short list of medium tempo blues and jazz standards like Thelonious Monk’s “Straight No Chaser” and John Coltrane’s “Moment’s Notice.” The Generations Band members then judged the recorded entries, listening for bands with the best ensemble interplay, tightest grooves and most imaginative voicings. In the end, it was the Fowser/Gillece Quintet and the Bruce Harris Quintet making the trip to San Francisco.

The two bands were in the San Francisco Bay Area for the better part of a week, receiving advice from the Generations mentors, taking part in educational workshops and going out to the jazz clubs of San Francisco to take part in local jam sessions.

“It was truly an honor to be able to work with the mentor musicians for a week,” Ken Fowser said. “Just being in the presence of such master musicians is truly inspiring. We learned a lot, not only by listening to the mentors play and hearing their musical advice, but also by getting a chance to know them on a personal level. It will be a privilege to continue working with them over the coming year.”

Successful first year for Generations Project

This past year, the first for the Generations Project, was a busy time, indeed. The Generations Band and Interplay, the first fellowship winner, convened several times during the year, as Interplay received invaluable mentoring on musicianship and life in the music industry. In addition the Generations Band produced its debut CD, the well received Tough Guys, and Generations Jazzworks, a multi-faceted instructional DVD. The band is currently putting the finishing touches on a brand new CD, which is due in early summer 2009. Interplay recorded a CD of their own, Ask Questions, also due for release this summer.