San Antonio Express-News
S.A. Life Page 4D
Slavin and quartet jazz up the Empire
Jim Beal Jr. Express-News Arts Writer
Ken Slavin and his jazz band might want to work the Charline McCombs Empire Theater more often. Maybe once a month.
Saturday night, vocalist Slavin and the quartet of Andrew Langham (piano, music director), Chuck Moses (bass), Steven Glaeser (drums) and Mike Berglund (trumpet, fluglehorn), staged Slavin's sixth annual benefit concert for the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.
The music and the beautifully refurbished, but woefully under- utilized, downtown jewel-box theater proved to be a perfect fit.
Though he appeared to be more nervous than he needed to be in front of an audience of about 350 people predisposed to get behind his every note, Slavin shook off the jitters and took the willing crowd on a stroll through the varied world of vocal jazz.
The two-plus hour show ran the gamut from chestnuts to new compositions.
Opening with classics such as "It's A Good Day," "What A Difference A Day Makes" and an inventive fusing of the Gershwin brothers' "Summertime" and Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies," Slavin worked the microphone with aplomb and gave the band plenty of room to maneuver.
Since Slavin started putting together the SAAF benefit concerts, he's deftly mixed ambition with imagination and good sense.
The good sense is manifested in the front man's willingness to give the musicians their due and to let the music director have some fun.
Consequently, young Langham, a 23-year-old who will make big marks in the jazz world, came up with arrangements that were fun as well as challenging.
"Angel Eyes," from the Frank Sinatra set list, was given a stark, almost spooky minor-key treatment. "Bye Bye Blackbird" featured a serious muted-trumpet solo by Berglund. "Night & Day" wound up as an uptempo gem with a Latin beat. Moses, solid on the upright bass, and Glaeser, switching between brushes and sticks as the mood required, laid down as solid a foundation as a group could need.
The Empire is a cozy theater; a space in which amplified music can quickly get too loud. The Saturday sound crew kept the levels perfect and the balance between vocals and instruments where it should be.
Slavin and company kept things fresh and well-textured by presenting the music with different combinations of players.
A rousing version of "Route 66" was followed by a trio reading of "Since I Fell For You."
Slavin always tries to present a surprise or two during his concerts. This year's new wrinkle was Slavin and Langham dueting on a ballad called "If You Go Away," a song written by local composer Tom Masinter. Slavin should keep it in his set.
Though Slavin is drawn to ballads, the surprise hit of the night was a new arrangement of the bluesy "Fever" which called for the crowd to do some finger-snapping and ended with a roar. That tune captured the mood of the night.
San Antonio Express-News
SA Life Page 5D
Slavin's AIDS benefit has matured into superb must-hear concert
Jim Beal Jr. Express-News Arts Writer
Ken Slavin's annual concert to benefit the San Antonio AIDS Foundation has made a giant leap - from labor of love to labor of love/don't-miss jazz event.
Friday, in front of about 400 people - representing a cross-section of the city and clad in everything from Bermuda shorts to slinky dresses - at the Carver Community Cultural Center, jazz crooner Slavin and a band staffed by some of the city's best - and busiest - jazz musicians turned in a two-hour concert of classic vocal jazz/pop and superb individual and ensemble musicianship.
With the invaluable assistance of music director/Small World guitar ace Polly Harrison, Slavin put together a program that balanced standards with musical surprises.
The band - Harrison, Small World drummer Kyle Keener, bassist Chuck Moses, pianist Fred Salas, reed man/flutist Bill Holman, trumpeter Ed Sherry and, for the second half of the show, well-traveled jazz violinist Sebastian Campesi - is the kind of group that could, if necessary, follow a singer down 100 miles of gravel road and wind up making everyone involved sound great.
Fortunately, there wasn't a gravel road in sight Friday.
No hard-boiled saloon singer, Slavin, especially during his fundraising concerts, wears his heart on his sleeve. Slavin and Harrison did an admirable job of choosing tunes for an appropriate fusion of humor and seriousness.
The show opened with the uptempo "Will You Still Be Mine?," to which Slavin added funny lyrics about Christie Brinkley, Dennis Rodman and other current newsmakers.
This year's concert did not fall into the cliched jazz-concert format of verse, chorus and then solos ad infinitum. The vocal aspect of the presentation was clearly the centerpiece. When the musicians took solos, they were well-placed and heartfelt.
Holman and Sherry teamed for smooth spots during "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." "It's Too Darn Hot" featured Slavin having a good time with the lyrics and Sherry punctuating the mood with a hot trumpet ride.
Slavin tackled a pair of Spanish-language numbers, "Solamente Amor" and "La Paloma," that proved he's not afraid to take chances. As a bonus, the songs gave Harrison, one of the most commanding and knowledgeable chord players anywhere, the opportunity to switch to acoustic guitar and show off her single-string solo abilities. Salas also added emotional piano lines to "La Paloma."
During the second half of the concert, Slavin did something few front people would even consider - encourage a side player to upstage the marquee name.
After a few ballads, including the Frank Sinatra hit "Summer Wind," Slavin introduced violinist Campesi for a spotlight number, Campesi's signature "I Want to Be Happy." Campesi earned a standing ovation. Slavin beamed.
Campesi remained to help back Slavin on "Dream a Little Dream of Me," a rousing rendition of the Doris Day hit "It's Magic," a Nat King Cole medley and Slavin's traditional finale, "Mack the Knife."
The only problem Slavin has now is figuring out how he's going to top this concert.
San Antonio Express-News
Weekender Page 2H
Slavin brings jazz aid to Carver
Benefit to feature violinist Campesi
Jim Beal Jr. Express-News Arts Writer
Swing will be the thing tonight at the Carver Community Cultural Center.
Yes, swing, and other jazz sounds, will be the order of the evening when crooner Ken Slavin and an all-star band stage "Things are Swingin'," Slavin's fifth annual benefit concert for the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.
"This year we've programmed the show to be very upbeat. The emphasis will be on swing," Slavin said.
Slavin will be joined by Fred Salas, piano; Polly Harrison, guitar; Kyle Keener, drums; Chuck Moses, bass; Mike Berglund, trumpet, flugelhorn; Morgan King, tenor saxophone, flute; and Sebastian Campesi, violin.
Salas, who works with Slavin Thursday through Saturday nights at Polo's in the Fairmount Hotel, and Harrison, of Small World, are responsible for the song arrangements.
"We're kind of tapping into the current craze of swing, which we've always done," Slavin said. "This year there's also going to be a brassier feel. The arrangements by Fred and Polly are so well done that people will have the illusion of hearing a bigger band on stage."
Slavin is only 36, but he's been a fan of older jazz and swing for years.
"I grew up listening to this kind of music. My parents were both fans of big band music. The music became a way of bridging the generation gap between my father and me. My father helped me start collecting the music when I was about 10 or 11," he said.
But Slavin, who works by day in the advertising business with The Atkins Agency, didn't plan to be a vocalist.
"I didn't think I would sing this music. I took clarinet lessons. I thought I would be another Benny Goodman," he said with a laugh. "We moved around so much that I couldn't keep up with the clarinet lessons. I started singing at the age of 29 because the musical part of me was unfulfilled."
Past Slavin concerts have attracted varied crowds.
"This music is timeless," he said. "It can be integrated in an infinite number of ways. If you have even a little jazz in your soul, you'll do the songs a little different every time. The music appeals to a wide range of people from college students to senior citizens. There's beautiful music, wonderful lyrics and it's just fun."
Since the annual concert's inception in 1994, it's evolved into a showcase for Slavin and for the cadre of musicians he enlists for the evening.
"We're going to have a couple of spotlight sections, one with Fred and myself and one, in the second half of the program, with Sebastian. There will also be a four-song tribute to Frank Sinatra," he said. "We try not to over-rehearse. We want the spontaneity of a jazz program. I'm determined to let the musicians have fun. This is meant to be a happy show."
The shows also are a learning experience for Slavin.
"I try to make this concert a challenge every year," he said. "I don't want it to be a walk-on for me. I learn several new songs for the show every year. I put in time researching the stories behind the songs."
Slavin also takes the benefit part of the concert seriously. The annual shows, plus proceeds from the sales of Slavin's 1996 album "Tender Is the Night," have raised about $20,000 for the AIDS Foundation.
"The cause of raising money for the fight against AIDS is near and dear to my heart," he said. "I've known people who have died of the disease. I know people who are suffering with HIV. If nothing else, the concert draws attention to the organization and the fact AIDS is something that's not going to go away. We need to realize we need to help each other. The concert doesn't raise the funds that are necessary to fight AIDS, but it helps. The money goes to the AIDS Foundation's hospice and toward education programs that teach AIDS prevention."
Violinist Campesi, 77, is attracted to the show for a couple of reasons.
"I think the fact it's an AIDS benefit is an attraction for me," Campesi said. "I think the guy's doing a good job of helping the organization. And, I take every opportunity to play. I'm like an evangelist who wants to preach."
Campesi was on the bill last year.
'Things are Swingin',' a benefit concert for San Antonio AIDS Foundation
Where: Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry St.
When: Doors open tonight at 7 p.m. Down beat is at 8.
Tickets: $15 in advance at W.D. Deli locations, On Main and through the AIDS Foundation (Call 225-4715); at the door, $17.
