Johnny and The Professor Do Not Bowl
Santa Barbara Bank & Trust’s first collection is a groove, not a gutter ball
When people find out I used to be a “rock critic,” they inevitably ask me who the most famous person I interviewed was (tie maybe between Daryl Hall, BB King and Jon Bon Jovi), who was the nicest (Bruce Hornsby, Maria Doyle Kennedy from The Commitments and I hit it off like long-lost sibs), and who was the biggest asshole (honestly, a couple of one-hit or no-hit wonders whose names I have forgotten).
But I am always quick to add that what I look back on most fondly is the fact so many of my hometown buds have made very fulfilling lives with music for many years. Some toured the globe and some never left the neighborhood, but so many of the guys who started out as musicians in Poughkeepsie when I was starting out in journalism have made their worlds undeniably better by sharing their chops.
Chris Kaiser is one of them.
One of his nicknames is The Professor, partly because he’s a history teacher at Newburgh Free Academy, and partly because he exemplifies the lifelong scholar of music. And he plays a myriad of styles behind his drum kit in addition to appreciating and sharing them.
But a sure sign the music gods are hip to this little endeavor is that Chris, guitarist-keyboardist Giancarlo “Johnny Youngblood” D’Agostino, and their jazz fusion band, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, released their first album just as 8495Jazz was launching. They used a vintage postcard of the imposingly beautiful Santa Barbara County Courthouse as the album’s cover art (the band’s name came from a hat owned by Johnny’s grandfather).
And the Missus and I got married on that very lawn. What are the odds two guys from the Hudson Valley who have known each other since the 1980s would end up synchronizing over a tiny parcel of architectural perfection 3,000 miles away on the SoCal Riviera years later?
I do, we did
An early Ambassador
Chris started his musical career as an undergraduate at SUNY-New Paltz, hooking up with Murali Coryell, the son of jazz guitar legend Larry Coryell, shortly after they started classes. In addition to playing together in the college’s jazz ensemble, Murali also brought Chris aboard his own band, The Ambassadors.
“Their drummer had a religious experience or something,” Chris said. “But it was because I knew how to play the drum intro to Jeff Beck’s “Lead Boots” that solidified things during my audition. We played it on the spot and they looked at me and said ‘You’re the guy.’ I had a couple really good years with Murali and we had some adventures.
“But even in that band, we weren’t really playing jazz. I was very interested and I think Murali was too, in mining a little bit of the territory carved out by the band Jeff Beck had for Rough and Ready, and also Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express. Between those two kind of jazz-rock things, that’s what the early Ambassadors was. Then Murali became very infatuated with the blues and met Pete Kanaras and all sorts of other things happened. But that idea of merging jazz with other things was part of the journey.”
Over the ensuing years, he has played with some of the grassroots legends of the Hudson Valley scene, like Rockinitis, The Greyhounds, and Andy Follette and the Bluescasters. SBB&T is just one of the avenues through which he shares his love of music.
“In terms of a music career, when I was becoming a young parent I decided music was great and I wanted to keep doing it but I thought I’d better get a teaching job, which I’ve been doing almost 30 years. I just try to keep up playing, whether it’s blues or jazz, or whatever – whoever will tolerate me. To a degree, I don’t know that I would quickly identify myself as a jazz drummer, because I’m not really trained. But I like to swing – I’ve been told I have a good swing – and Johnny encourages me to be as experimental as I can stand it.”
Not much meandering
Like Chris, Johnny came up through the Hudson Valley blues scene, albeit several years later; his Dad was a blues guitar player, and Johnny apprenticed with established Valley players such as Scott Westergard and Pete Pappas (hence the “Youngblood” sobriquet).
“Basically, I always had the blues as a backbone and home base, but based on my musical influences and where my head is at, I wanted to go a little more into the jazz fusion area.”
The album the band has put out, available on Bandcamp ($7 digital, $10 cassette), is a seven-song, 27-minute or so helping of appealing mellow grooves, all originals by Johnny, and they all make their point and get out. Really nice driving music – especially nice if you have access to a stick-shift car and a half hour’s worth of country roads. FWIW, the clearest flashback I get is a touch of Dixie Dregs on the second track, “All The Ways That I Love You.”
“I have the philosophy, and I think we all share it, of dong the tune justice,” Johnny said. “There’s not much meandering going on in the tunes on this record. They’re put together and arranged to do the material justice and not tire out the listener. There’s a catchiness to it and it’s easy to listen to.”
SBB&T, which also includes bassist Steve Minervini and Chris DiFrancesco on tenor sax, will be playing at Jazz On Main in Mt. Kisco Thursday night (Sept. 19, $20 cover and $25 minimum). Now that the record is out, Johnny said he’ll be touching base with more venues in Westchester and Putnam counties as well as Manhattan. And, though it took six years to get the first collection out, they said they have enough material for a second album already.
“It’s like I tell Kaiser,” Johnny said. “You do this because you have to do it. What else are you gonna do – not do it?”
Or, as Chris put it, “We’re not about to start bowling teams any time soon. We’re musicians!”
SBB&T at Jazz on Main
Out and about in SNE with 8495Jazz
Upcoming club and concert highlights (all information is current at press time, please confirm by contacting the venue):
Uncle Cheef, Brewster NY:
Champian Fulton (vocals, piano), Fri., Sept. 20 7:30 and 9 pm. $15-$25, one ticket good for both sets ($25 per person minimum per set).
Ian Hendrickson-Smith (saxophone) featuring Dave Guy (trumpet), Sat., Sept. 21, 7:30 and 9 pm. $15-$25, one ticket good for both sets ($25 per person minimum per set).
Jazz On Main, Mt. Kisco, NY:
Santa Barbara Bank & Trust (combo), Thur., Sept. 19, 7 pm. $20.
Side Door, Old Lyme CT:
Harold Lopez-Nussa (piano), Fri., Sept. 20 and Sat., Sept. 21, 8:30 pm. $20-50 plus fees
Benny Wallace Quintet (saxophone), Fri., Sept. 27 and Sat., Sept. 28, 8:30 pm. $20-45 plus fees.
Palace Theater, Waterbury, CT
Eddie Allen Quintet (trumpet), Sun., Sept. 22, 12 pm. (Jazz brunch, service begins at 11), $69
First Congregational Church, Madison, CT
Glenn Miller Orchestra, Fri., Sept. 20, 7 pm. $20-95 plus service fees.
Blackeyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Green Street trio (combo) plus jam, Wed., Sept. 18, 7 pm. Free. and under 21 welcomed.
Small Batch Cellars, North Haven, CT
Lucky 5 (swing/gypsy), Sat., Sept. 21, 7 pm. $23.11
Blue Room, Cranston, RI
Secret Jazz PTX (combo), Fri., Sept. 20, 7 pm. $10 at the door.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: Highlights include Ed Cherry (guitar), Tue., Oct. 8 7 pm, session at 8, free admission
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
I love this piece! The writing is intoxicating...just like jazz.