The Fields of His Youth: Dan Polletta talks with Chip Stephens

Aired February 22, 2000

From the fields of his youth in Ashland, Ohio to winning a Grammy for his playing with trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, pianist Chip Stephens career has followed a path that is very similar to many of his fellow jazz musicians, yet like each artist, has a story is that is also unique. The thirty five year old Stephens paid his dues playing in the Glenn Miller band, studied with local legend Pat Pace and recorded with tenor saxophonist Ernie Krivda while still in college at the University of Akron. Stephens would go on to the Woody Herman Orchestra and later play in the bands of trumpeters Maynard Ferguson and Sandoval. The pianist has a Bachelors degree in Classical Piano Performance from the University of Akron and a Masters Degree in Classical Performance from Cleveland State University.

Following the release of his second CD Fields of My Youth (Azica), Stephens dropped by the 90.3 WCPN studio for a chat with evening jazz host Dan Polletta on February 22, 2000. The conversation took place just a few days before Stephens gave a concert at Night Town in celebration of the release of his new disc. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

Stephens and Polletta talked about the pianist's childhood days on the family farm in Ashland, Ohio. The two also discussed Stephens career path and how he feels the business of jazz has changed over the years.

Dan Polletta–Congratulations on the new recording!

Chip Stephens–Thank you.

DP–Fields of my youth. So what were the fields of your youth?

CS–Well, I kind of dedicated the record..to..I grew up in Ashland and my dad owns a five hundred acre farm down there. So, that is kind of where that came from.

DP–I noted, in reading the notes, it said you had incredible memories of childhood. So what sticks out? So what is one?

CS–Oh man! Well, I think I've seen a lot of things that most people just can't imagine. Like cows being born, calves being born...and fishing and hunting. It was a great way to grow up. It really was.

DP–Do you have any time to engage? Do you ever go out to the farm?

CS–Oh yeah! I go down there all the time. My wife and I have a young son and its a kick to take him down there. We go camping down there for extended periods of time in the summertime.

DP–So how does a guy who grew up on the farm become a jazz pianist? How did you gain the interest?

CS–In the beginning, I must say, resistant to it. My mother, I have two older brothers and a sister and they were somewhat rambunctious, to say the least ...and so she decided she was going to have an artist...and whammo! She picked me.

DP–You were dubbed!

CS–So I actually started out on the organ. She was always fascinated with the organ in church. Started out playing that and when I was 16, I made the switch to the piano. I have been playing ever since.

DP–You studied with...?

CS–Oh, I've studied...one of my primary teachers, at least when I was in college was Pat Pace down in Akron, Ohio. Pat is really kind of a second father to me. I've studied with a lot of people classically over the years, because the actions from the organ to the piano are so different. In the beginning of making that switch, I really didn't play the piano with the whole arm. I used my fingers like you do when you play the organ. So, classical music I think really gave me a lot in that regard, you know.

DP–When you were sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, did you know that is what you wanted to do?

CS–No, I had no idea.

DP–No?

CS–I don't think I did. When I look back, it just kind of was the kind of thing where people said you have talent and if you keep at it, I think you are going to do something in music. It wasn't until, I think, when I got the gig with, let me think, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, that I really realized, you know what? I might be able to make a living doing this. I had been playing, what for twelve years, and it was just something I did. I didn't really think about it being an occupation. I put in the liner notes on the record, that I never made a conscious decision to make music my life but rather it gave me my life. I think that is kind of hip...because a lot of people set out to really do it and I don't know...maybe it becomes an obsession or maybe they get sidetracked with...I don't know, frustrations...but for me, it just kind of happened.

DP–How have things changed from those Glenn Miller days to now? Seriously, what has changed in this business? What is different about it?

CS–Yeah, its a great question. I think that the business haschanged dramatically. Let's see, I got on the Glenn Miller Orchestra when I was nineteen and I'm thirty five, so that was sixteen years ago. I think the thing that I have seen, is that...and the thing that I try to stress to my students is that you really have to be able to do a lot. I remember when I was on the Miller Band, there were guys that didn't read very well...and I was actually one of them. You know, today that is a different story. Its very difficult to make a living in this business if you don't know who to read. I encourage my students to really learn as much as they possibly can. If you can learn to write, that's another asset. Learning how to accompany, learning how to play with other people. The bigger the bag of stuff you can draw upon, the more sort of "user friendly" you are going to be.

The other thing I don't think anybody can argue with is that the competition has gotten incredibly tough and its only getting tougher, primarily because of jazz education. The one thing I can say with certainty, the music has given me back, almost everything that I put in to it. (laughs)

DP–That's, a pretty good...that's a decent trade.

CS–Yeah, yeah.

Stephens spent two years in trumpeter Arturo Sandoval's band. It was during his stint the trumpeter that the pianist played on the Sandoval's Grammy Award winning recording "Hot House." Stephens and Polletta talked about the importance of winning that award to a jazz musician. Stephens also reminisced about his days as member of the Cuban expatriate's band.

Dan Polletta– Chip, the Grammies are just around the corner. You had the honor of being on a Grammy award winning recording, when you spent a couple of years with Arturo Sandoval.

Chip Stephens–I sure did. Last year, I won a Grammy for my contributions to the CD I did with him called "Hot House" and I'm very proud of it. I don't think I'm going to win one this year...I wish.

DP– Let me ask you though, we talk about the Grammies, we had a conversation about the Grammies on JazzTracks a couple of days ago and everybody likes to handicap the horse race and all that kind of thing... but on the other hand, especially as a jazz musician, what does it do for you? Does it do anything for you?

CS–I think...it can validate your career..

DP–Really?

CS–I think it can. As a jazz musician, maybe not as much as a pop artist but I think for sure, it doesn't hurt.

DP–Right. I mean it is better than someone saying "don't quit your day job" but I mean does it really help that much?

CS–I think it helps in the record industry because those people look at that in terms of dollar signs. I don't know how many Grammies Arturo has won... but its better than a blank, that is for sure. You know, I think the bottom line for jazz musicians is "can you play?" You know, so many of the pop people that win Grammies, can't. That's the truth, I hate to say it but its the truth. So, I know what you mean about it-does it really do anything? Well, I think it does in the big picture and certainly in the record industry. It, as I say, validates your existence and what you are doing. In terms of being a player and an artist, probably not.

DP–How long were you with Arturo Sandoval?

CS–Two years...a little over two years.

DP–You guys traveled a lot?

CS–Oh, all over the world, many times.

DP–What was like...give us an exotic location.

CS–Let me think, well we went to Hong Kong. That was a real trip. Went to Australia a couple of times.

DP–Now, did people know who he was?

CS–Oh yeah. You know, he was with that band Irakere for a long time. Of course, he has kind of a story that's, I wouldn't call it a "myth" or anything like that but its somewhat interesting because he defected from Cuba and he's gotten a lot of attention in this country because he applied for American citizenship and they denied him...but yeah, he's a very well-known guy. I really enjoyed that experience, the only thing that I would say that, for me, got to be somewhat precarious, if you will, was the Latin groove. I love the groove, its infectious, don't get wrong. But, once you start playing it Dan, you can't stop. There is not a lot of hills and valleys, if you know what I mean. Latin music, just by its very nature, is kind of crash and burn. I learned a lot. I learned a lot about that idiom and that culture but it really got be kind of stagnant for me. Man, I really wanted..."man, lets just play a set of ballads" kind of thing.

DP–Did Sandoval ever talk, when you guys were on the road, about his days in Cuba-what that was all about?

CS–Oh yeah. In fact, we used to fly-a couple of times we played in South America-we would fly over Cuba and he used to joke that Fidel was going to bomb the plane.

DP–That's always a comforting thought, isn't it?

CS–Gee thanks, Arturo. He was the ambassador of music in Cuba. He was really a huge star. He was a celebrity, he had the very best of everything but obviously, didn't like the Communist mentality. He made a decision to defect. You know, he hates that whole scene down there with a passion. I think he is much happier being here but I think when he applied for citizenship here-

DP–That must've hurt.

CS–...and didn't get it, that really bummed him out.

Too often, we stereotype jazz musicians as carefree troubadours without home lives or children. Stephens talked about the changes he made in his career with the birth of his first child, Cole.

Dan Polletta– Chip, you mentioned you have a son. How old is your son?

Chip Stephens–A little over two years old. He is a trip.

DP– How did becoming a father affect your career? Change anything? Give you a different outlook? thing... but on the other hand, especially as a jazz musician, what does it do for you? Does it do anything for you?

CS–Yes, it changed it a lot. When the baby came, my wife Carol and I talked about it and decided that I wouldn't be on the road as much because I had, for a couple of years, been pounding it.

DP–People used to ask me "Whatever happened to Chip Stephens?" I'd say" He's out with Arturo or Woody Herman or whatever" because he's not playing around town. So you really made a conscious decision to be around a little bit more?

CS–Yeah...because you know...getting back to Arturo...I had an interesting conversation with him. My wife was due the early part of October. She was late. I had told Arturo that I was going to need to miss-we were playing in Aruba...I told him that if she didn't deliver that weekend that I was going to have to miss the following weekend which we were playing, I believe it might have been for the President. It ended up that I had miss that gig too...and the weekend that they were away in Aruba, I called and talked to Arturo's wife. I said "I'm going to have to miss next weekend, they are going to induce my wife."

She said "No problem."

So when they got back to town, I get a phone call from Arturo and he said "What are you doing?"

I said "I have to be here, my wife is having a baby." He said "I didn't see my son until he was six weeks old."

I said "Man, that's your problem. I have to be here for this, its very important to me and it may only happen once." So that is really why I made the decision to just sort of cool it on that stuff. Its been really a real joy, I tell you. You should have one of your own, my friend.

DP–We'll see. One of these days. Don't say that too loud.

CS– (laughs) Right!

For several years, Stephens has been on the faculty at Youngstown State University where he teaches piano and directs on ensembles. The pianist talked about some of the changes he has seen from his early days to now, in terms of jazz education. Not all those changes have been positive, in Stephens opinion

Dan Polletta– You've decided to do a little more teaching. You've been at Youngstown State for awhile

Chip Stephens–Yeah. I've been teaching out there for about four years. I've really gotten into that quite a bit. It's not, you know, I still play-that is how I make my living, but teaching is something I really enjoy. I think I'm good at it but I have some, I don't know, struggles with the whole jazz institution thing.One of my biggest struggles is that the kids, from my observation aren't learning how to play the way that I did which was in clubs.They're today, learning how to play in college because the gigs aren't there-at least, not like they were when I was younger.

DP– So what is that doing to their playing?

CS–Well, I think a lot of these kids sound the same. Its like "you play this particular scale on this particular chord" and that's kind of the approach that a lot of, I'd say 99.9 % of the universities, that's how they teach jazz.You don't learn to play it from a book. Sorry, you learn to play it from playing. There was a lot more mentoring that went on I think, when I was younger. Guys took me under their wing and said, "Hey, why don't you try this? Why don't you do that? When you get to the bridge, play this." There doesn't seem to be as much of that, like there used to be...maybe its just me, I don't know.

DP–No, I mean I've heard other people make that same observation.

CS–Is that right?

DP–Oh, sure.

CS–OK. That's one of the struggles I have with teaching because I really feel that its a strange dichotomy, in that we are trying to prepare them for jobs that don't exist.

DP–Well, you know that happens in a lot of fields.

CS– I know it does. So why should we be any different? You are absolutely right.We were talking before about the competition. Its only getting stiffer. So many of these kids can play their butts off today. They're so well rounded. I encourage my students to try to get into as much as they can and learn as much as they can because nothing I ever learned was really a waste of time.

DP–Chip, thanks for coming.

CS–Dan, thank you for having me. You're the best.

DP–My pleasure. Good luck with the recording and this Thursday night. It should be fun.

CS– Thank you very much.