Well-known jazz drummer to perform in Uniontown
Think all steel bands sound the same? Well, think again, especially when the steel band is led by Andy Narell, who’s credited with introducing steel drums to jazz as a solo instrument, playing not only Carribean and Latin melodies but also rhythm and blues, funk and straight-ahead jazz.
Over the years, Narell has released 13 compact discs and performed on numerous other CDs with artists ranging from Aretha Franklin and Nancy Wilson to Tito Puente, Toto and Bela Fleck.
Local residents will get a chance to see Narell when he performs at 7 tonight in the Uniontown Area High School’s Margaret Emelson Auditorium with the Miami University of Ohio Steel Band and the Uniontown High School Steel Band Ensemble led by Chris Tanner and Michelle Hudock, respectively.
“I think people coming with preconceived notions of steel band music will be in for some surprises,’ said Norell. “We do a lot of of different things. The sound is very warm and appealing. There’s some jazz and other influences in the music.
“We’ve received a very good response to the music. People seem to enjoy it wherever we go,’ he added.
Norell has been playing with the Miami University of Ohio Steel Band for three weeks, with stops at various high schools in Ohio and Indiana over the past two weeks.
Tonight’s performance will be the final show on the tour although Narell will team up with the band later in May for two shows at the Virginia Beach Arts Festival.
The Uniontown stop is a homecoming for Tanner, a 1988 graduate of Uniontown Area High School and associate professor of percussion at Miami University. He founded the school’s steel band in 1994 and has watched it grow over the years from 10 to 75 members.
“I’ve known Chris for several years, and he does a great job with his program,’ said Narell. “We’ve been wanting to do something like this for awhile. Usually when I come into a college, I only do it for a week, but we wanted to do something longer this time where we could go out and do some shows together on the road.
“Everything has really worked out great. Chris has done a great job with putting this together. All I have to do is show up,’ he added.
Narell said he has been performing with college students since the 1980s and enjoys working with them.
“I love teaching. It’s a fun thing to do, and it’s a fun subject,’ said Narell. “The cool thing is that I’m teaching the kids my music. I get to compose the music and then teach the students how to play it.
“The kids really seem to enjoy the music,’ added Norell. “I think it means a lot to them that they get to meet the composer of the music and that I try to help them play it. It’s a real experience for the kids, and it’s great for me, too.’
Narell has been playing steel drums since he was a child, growing up in New York City. His father was a social worker and began teaching troubled youths the steel drum as a way to keep them off the street.
Narell learned how to play the steel drum quickly and began playing professionally in his early teens. Later in his teens, Narell started listening to jazz and began studying the piano as well. While the idea of steel drums in jazz hadn’t caught on yet, Narell began writing music on his own, eventually starting a band where he played keyboards and steel drums in a jazz context.
After graduating from college in 1973, he founded the Hip Pocket label, which became associated with the Windham Hill label. From there, Narell launched a productive career which saw him become an innovator and leader not just of steel band music but of jazz and world music as well.
His popularity soared on the international scene as he played for a crowd of 80,000 at a festival in South Africa.
But over the years, the decline of jazz on commercial radio plus the overall decrease in CD sales because of the Internet forced Narell to make some changes in his music.
“I really didn’t see all these changes coming with radio and then the Internet,’ said Narell. “I used to get a ton of airplay on commercial radio but then a lot of stations switched to smooth jazz, and that really hurt me.
“Then, the whole record industry went into pretty much in a freefall with the Internet, and no one knows what’s going to happen next,’ he continued.
“But I’ve been going back to playing steel band music and it’s become my mainstay now. I’m trying to bring jazz thinking to steel bands music, and things are working out for me now,” he added.
In fact, Narell said he’s busier than ever.
He has a performance scheduled for the Jazz at Lincoln Hall’s Rose Hall in June, then he’ll be off to France for some concerts with a group he performs with there.
Then, he’s going to Algeria for a concert later in the year. In between, he’s working on the soundtrack for a movie about the Trinidad All-Stars, one of the foremost steel bands in the world, and a film for French television on steel band music.
“I’m fortunate to have so many new projects going on,’ Norell said.
“It’s challenging but I’m enjoying myself. I just want to keep working and playing as much as I can,” he continued.