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‘Jazz Under the Stars’ to feature a rising one

By Loren Keller

KCCK general manager Dennis Green knew six years ago he wanted Gabe Medd to perform for his station’s “Jazz Under the Stars” series.

Medd was just 11 years old at the time and had been playing the trumpet for less than a year.

“I remember vividly his dad (trombonist and Iowa City West High School band director Rich Medd) was playing several years ago at Jazz Under the Stars and I went up to say hi afterwards and Gabe and his brother were right there,” Green says. “I turned to him and said ‘Jazz Under the Stars 2010, mark your calendar.’ I’m happy to say we beat that by two years.”

The Gabe Medd Group is set to play the free “Jazz Under the Stars” series at Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Just how good is this 17 year old on the horn?

Listen for yourself, then check out the photos on his web site. There he is with Wynton Marsalis, who soloed with Medd and other members of the 2007 Jazz Band of America, an elite group of high school musicians selected from a nationwide pool. Another shows Medd posing with Sioux City native Ryan Kisor, longtime member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. And there’s another of Medd performing the national anthem for Barack Obama’s Earth Day rally on the University of Iowa Pentacrest.

In February Medd played with the Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Ensemble in Los Angeles. As a member of the Next Generation Jazz Ensemble (alumni include Dave Koz, Gordon Goodwin and Joshua Redman) he played at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland last month; before he plays with the group again next month at the Monterey Jazz Festival in California he’ll attend the Vail Jazz Workshop in Colorado.

Further proof that Medd is one of the most talented young trumpet players in the country can be seen in YouTube videos posted here and here.

Can his own Wikipedia page be far behind?

“He’s not just an outstanding student musician, he’s an excellent player,” Green says.

“People who know such things tell me that he’s better now than Ryan Kisor was when he graduated from college. Of course Ryan is our other great jazz trumpet story of recent vintage and he now plays for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and records professionally in New York City. That’s pretty high praise, and it’s from another trumpet player.”

Despite the critical acclaim and his stellar resume, Medd seems more concerned with getting his homework done.

“This year especially I’ll be missing some school, which isn’t really what I want to do, but it’s worth it for the opportunities I get,” says Medd, who is about to begin his senior year at West High School. “I work hard beforehand to make things up.”

Medd typically practices his instrument about two hours a day and performs with the West High jazz band and wind ensemble as well as his own jazz quartet, Eufouria. Over the summer he’s been teaching five students.

Ask him to name his influences and he lists known quantities like Clifford Brown, Dave Douglas and Miles Davis. But he’s quick to acknowledge the inspiration of lesser known players he’s been exposed to.

“There’s so many I can’t even name all of them,” he says. “And then also just the peers I see when I go out and do these jazz conglomerates—they really influence me heavily just because you see what everybody else is doing and what stage they’re at. It really contributes to my creativity.”

Medd describes his own style as one that puts his own spin on the traditional.

“I try to pay tribute to old tunes but at the same time put a new twist on them and try to be very original and organic,” he says.

After high school, Medd plans to major in music and is applying at several music conservatories. He’s already made some friends at the Manhattan School of Music, his top choice.

His group performing Thursday will feature pianist Adam Kromelow and bass player Jeff Koch, who are roommates at the Manhattan School of Music. The combo’s drummer is David Gugliano, a science/music double major who will be a junior at the UI this fall.

“He’s put together a great lineup,” says Green. “We had originally talked about doing it next August as kind of a farewell performance before heading to college, but I was afraid that he would already be on the road someplace. So I thought we better catch him now.”

Serious jazz fans are advised to do the same.