Why Roscoe Mitchell is Important: JACOB REX ZIMMERMAN

Seattle-based alto saxophonist and composer Jacob Rex Zimmerman is an extremely versatile and integral part of the local creative-music community. Jacob studied music at the internationally renowned Garfield High School, the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and Mills College in Oakland. His teachers have included Roscoe Mitchell, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Morris and Anthony Coleman. As a composer Jacob’s main outlets are his large chamber-ensemble project Lawson, and the collective modern jazz trio Anteater. Jacob is an active board member for the Seattle-based New-Music record label Table & Chairs.

After spending countless hours collecting and organizing so many amazing testimonials from such a diverse array of artists, the time has now come for me to share my own thoughts and feelings about my hero and mentor: Roscoe Mitchell.

I first met Roscoe in the Fall of 2006 as a jazz saxophone student at the New England Conservatory. I had been exposed to a little bit of the Art Ensemble’s music, but when word came around that Roscoe would be in residency, on the recommendation of professor Allan Chase, I quickly picked up a handful of Roscoe’s records as a leader: Flow of Things, L-R-G/The Maze, Nonaah, and Songs in the Wind. At the time I was thoroughly obsessed with the medium of unaccompanied solo saxophone, as well as the exploration of alternate fingerings/multi-phonics. Among his many achievements  Roscoe is one of the great pioneers within this area of study. I was particularly inspired by the meditative focus displayed in the solo soprano piece S-II Examples.

The concert at the end of his residency was thrilling. It featured a wide variety of compositions by Roscoe; pieces for jazz ensembles, as well as two extended pieces for chamber orchestra. To cap it all off, Roscoe played a jaw-dropping 10 minute solo piece that I still talk about with people that were there.

A couple years later I was getting ready to graduate from NEC when I heard from Fred Frith that Roscoe had just started teaching at Mills College in Oakland. I was feeling like my own artistic goals were just starting to come into focus, and I wasn’t ready to leave school yet. Studying composition and improvisation with Roscoe sounded like a dream; an opportunity I had to seize while I could. The whole period at Mills culminated in a masters thesis focused on my own original body of music for solo saxophone. Here are some of the memories I have from that time:

• Roscoe literally forced me to learn to circular breathe. I remember in one lesson he had me hold a note and would yell “BREATHE!” every time he wanted me to inhale.
• Having dinner with Roscoe and Muhal Richard Abrams and seeing how much admiration and respect Roscoe continues to have for Muhal. Their duo concert at Mills was perfect.
• Roscoe’s mantra: “Silence is perfect. So when you make a sound, it must be on the level of silence.”
• Performing Roscoe’s “Not Yet” for alto saxophone and piano at Mills and Yoshi’s, and seeing it come out on CD last Spring on Mutable Music.
• Roscoe’s insistence that he attend one of the first rehearsals of my band Lawson. He pointed out “I’m not going to let you leave me behind Jacob.”

Helping to organize this concert has been a whirlwind. I’m particularly proud of the three interview videos (1/2/3) that we’ve produced. The photo above was taken last February when I visited him in Oakland to conduct those interviews. I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to study with and just simply exist in the same world as an artist like Roscoe. There certainly is a lot to do!

Table & Chairs Presents: Roscoe Mitchell Performs Nonaah on June 7th, 2013 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

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