Jazz meets classical at Lyrica Chamber Music concert

In the 20th century, composers were drawn to the smoky, improvisational sounds of jazz. Here, classical music discovered a greater freedom and jazz fit itself into more formal structures.

Lyrica Chamber Music will embrace that musical handshake when clarinetist Mark Dover and pianist Jeremy Jordan perform Saturday, March 17, at 7 p.m. at Mondo, 426 Springfield Ave., Summit.

Their program will include pieces by Gershwin, Poulenc and Bernstein, composers who were adept in both idioms.

Dover, a clarinetist who is comfortable playing music that was composed centuries ago or written just yesterday, thinks jazz and classical have established a symbiotic relationship.

“Jazz influenced many 20th and 21st century classical composers in a profound way,” he said, “and that musical influence has had a natural impact on classical musicians performing that music.”

Jazz originated in America, so it’s natural that American composers feature prominently in Saturday’s program.

“Jazz was American popular music in the swing era, and while popular music did eventually move in a different direction, I think jazz will always be in the DNA of all American music that came after it,” Dover said.

But Dover didn’t begin by listening to Beethoven and Benny Goodman.

“I grew up listening to Motown music,” he said. “And then hip hop and r & b. I came to classical music and jazz later. I've been playing jazz almost as long as I've been studying classical music, so I think the interest in both genres was always there.”

Jordan, who will play a Chopin polonaise as well as the sonatas for clarinet and piano by Poulenc and Bernstein, started out in the classical camp. But he says he always listened to all genres of music.

“Jazz and classical music are at their core the exact same thing,” Jordan said. “The tools used to construct jazz and classical music are identical; they are simply employed to different ends. If anything, the earliest jazz musicians were influenced by classical traditions. They transformed the presentation of these traditions to fit what they were trying to express.

While pondering the question of whether playing jazz had influenced the way he plays classical music, Jordan first had to come up with a definition of jazz.

“Herbie Hancock said that jazz is very difficult to define, but it's very easy to recognize when it's being played,” Jordan said. “I think that's the safest definition of jazz. If we go with that concept then I believe that it has certainly shaped the way that I play through composed classical music in a positive way. It helps me to understand how a classical composer might have improvised if they were around today.”

Dover is enthusiastic about the repertoire on Saturday’s program, which will also include a contemporary piece by Jonathan Ragonese, Non Poem for Clarinet and Piano, as well as selected jazz standards.

“It's a super interesting lineup,” he said. “Poulenc's sonata was actually commissioned by Benny Goodman. And the piece was premiered shortly after Poulenc's death by Benny Goodman with Leonard Bernstein at the piano at Carnegie Hall. It's a beautiful piece, full of vigor and joy but also sorrow.”

The Bernstein sonata was the first piece the 23-year-old composer ever published.

“Throughout the piece you hear a lot of dance like sections that really foreshadow ‘West Side Story,’” Dover said. “He was living in Key West when he started writing this, and was listening to Radio Havana, so he was inspired a lot by that music and you can the Latin influence throughout the piece.

“And Jonathan's piece was written for Jeremy Jordan and me, so it's really tailor made for our aesthetic.”

Praised by Opera News for his “exemplary clarinet playing,” Dover’s vast array of musical experiences has helped him establish himself as one of the most diverse clarinetists of his generation. In January of 2016, Dover joined Grammy-nominated wind quintet, Imani Winds. He has performed with the Detroit Symphony under Leonard Slatkin, the Cleveland Orchestra under David Zinman at the Kent/Blossom Festival, numerous times with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and other symphony and chamber orchestras throughout the Northeast.

Dover is committed to new music and in 2017 commissioned Jonathan Ragonese’s Non-Poem and teamed with Jordan to give the world premiere live on WFMT Chicago and WKCR NYC as part of the Live at National Sawdust series. He has an extensive background in jazz and improvised music. He is a frequent collaborator with Vulfpeck, an American funk band formed in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Mich. His playing can be heard on their album, “Thrill of the Arts.”

Jordan has appeared as soloist and chamber musician at notable venues in the United States and Europe including Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Rudolfinum in Prague. Mr. Jordan is a winner of several prestigious piano competitions including the Steinway Competition and recipient of numerous prizes and awards including the National Association of Negro Musicians Inc. and the Gluck Community Service Fellowship in New York City.

Jeremy Jordan received his Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School of Music as a recipient of the Van Cliburn and Irene Diamond Scholarships. He studied with Matti Raekallio and Regina Syrkin with additional studies with Andre Watts, Yoshie Akimoto, Jerome Lowenthal and Eteri Andjaparidze.

Tickets for the concert are $25-$30. For more information about Lyrica Chamber Music, visit www.lyricachambermusic.org or call 973-309-1668.