Fort Smith Jazz Festival primer: Scott McQuade

Editor’s note: The Fort Smith Jazz Festival is being presented this year by The City Wire, Downtown Fort Smith, Arvest, Kirkham Systems, Raymond James and Associates, Dixie Digital, and Arkoma Services. The festival music begins at 1 p.m., May 22 at Pendergraft Park in downtown Fort Smith. The following is one in a series of Jazz Fest primers.

review by Peter Lewis
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Canadian by birth, Scott McQuade spent 11 years living and working in central Florida, but now calls Tulsa home. He is set to perform on Saturday (May 22) as a part of the Fort Smith Jazz Festival. Recently, he was kind enough to respond to a few questions in advance of his performance. 

The City Wire: When did you first start playing?

Scott McQuade: I started taking private music lessons at age 4 from Marlo’s (Marion and Louise) Music Center and did so all through grade school (started on organ, then took lessons on accordion, guitar, bass, saxophone, then piano at around age 12).

I also come from a musical family. My father plays guitar, fiddle, and sings. Other family musicians include my grandfather on fiddle and my uncle on drums. I was raised on country and olde time music and discovered jazz while in middle school, but was encouraged to improvise long before that by my music teachers, probably starting to ‘solo’ at around age 7 or 8. This year marks my 20th year playing professionally (started playing clubs and private events at around age 15) and my 30th year of playing music in general.

TCW: What first attracted you to jazz?

McQuade: Two sources: I started trading mixtapes with my father’s secretary’s brother, again around middle school age. He wasn’t a musician, but was a huge jazz lover (LPs and CDs lining the walls of his basement). His favorite was Ben Webster, loved his frogtone on ballads.

Also my high school band teacher, Rob Payne from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was also a great influence. We too would trade music and I played saxophone, then piano in his high school big band. Very supportive and cool teacher!

TCW: Are there particular artists/acts that you are preternaturally beholden to or look to as inspiration, perhaps?

McQuade: Six words: Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson, OSCAR PETERSON! I’m told I sometimes sound like Gene Harris too, at times, but I haven’t checked him out much. I almost got to see Mr. Peterson in concert in high school, but they canceled the show due to lack of ticket sales. Him, Nat Cole and McCoy Tyner are huge influences, but I also check out artists like Jamie Cullum, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, and Brad Mehldau.

TCW: Since some of our readers aren’t familiar with the variations within the jazz genre, could you elaborate on your particular style of jazz? Specifically, what sort of jazz should folks expect to hear.

McQuade: Well, it depends on the gig. Certain gigs require playing more “inside/straight ahead.” Those are mostly private functions or gigs where the crowd is expecting standards. But for a ‘club gig’ or jazz fest such as Fort Smith Jazz Fest, the playing is more ‘outside/modern’ since we get to play more of what we want. You’ll recognize some stuff, mind you, but we’ll go out there on occasion.

My style/philosophy is: NEVER play the same song the same way, and preferably in a different key. What you hear at the jazz fest will not be the same as what we play at our buddy Mike’s CD release party the next night in Tulsa. When we do go a little out there, just take it in and wait for us to come back. Our set at Fort Smith will include a mix of standards, a couple of my originals, and maybe our take on a familiar pop tune or two.

TCW: Jazz is a very broad topic and inspires a lot of different opinions and reactions within people. I’d like to know what it means to you.

McQuade: Jazz is past, present, and future. The past is VERY important to understand and appreciate (the music), but present-day jazz and the future of the art form is also important. Jazz for me is an occupation, but also relaxation, frustration, combination, and elation.

TCW: How do you envision the future of the genre?

McQuade: There are so many great “young lions” out there learning the language of jazz (I think I still am one. I don’t know what the age cutoff is, but I’ll be 35 this month). My bassist on this date, Jordan Hehl, is a twenty-something studying at the University of Tulsa and my drummer, Jared Johnson, is a fellow thirty-something who lives in Muskogee.

By the same token, there are also great fans of jazz who patronize the clubs, belong to their local jazz societies, etc, but again, these patrons are mostly 50-plus years of age. The 18-49 crowd REALLY needs to be more exposed to the genre (straight ahead AND modern jazz). I hope that the 50+ crowd can aid this by supporting BOTH straight and modern jazz venues and endeavors (acid jazz, fusion, jam band, R&B, etc.) in the present and future because once they’re gone, we may see a huge dying off of the artform as well. It’s like the old saying, “Each one, teach one.”

More info about the Jazz Festival
The Farmer’s Market will be available in the morning. The Park at West End will be open for fun and refreshments. Retailers and restaurants will also have their doors open during the event, and since the admission to the festival is free, we encourage everyone to feel free to explore downtown and listen to their favorite bands at the park as they please. We will also have Whole Hog BBQ and Sweet Bay Coffee onsite for those who feel the music’s just too good to leave.