UK Jazz News

Mondays with Morgan: Alexa Tarantino

Taking over from Ted Nash at Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

Alexa Tarantino - Photo credit Anna Yatskevich.

Morgan Enos writes: “Apologies for this one-off Tuesday publication — instead of the column’s titular Monday. But my interview with saxophonist and educator Alexa Tarantino needed to be lined up with Tarantino’s touring schedule….”

Last year, longtime Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) saxophonist, flautist, clarinettist and arranger Ted Nash — a member since 1999 — revealed he was leaving the ensemble; Alexa Tarantino has recently been announced as his successor.

Tarantino will be touring with the JLCO into late June, with dates at the Barbican Centre in mid-March. Links to her website, to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s, and to the tour dates, are at the end of this article.

“If you could tell 10-year-old Alexa that she would end up being a full-time member of the band,” says a 32-year-old Alexa, “she would not believe you.” Which isn’t self-flattery; to the saxophone phenom, it’s a testament to the efficacy of jazz education, and arts programming.

“Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Wynton Marsalis, were some of my first inspirations in this field,” Tarantino relates. “So, it’s super important to me to continue that trajectory of accessibility to the music, and to education — and, of course, representation.” (Notably, Tarantino is the first woman to become a permanent JLCO member since 1991, when it became an official department of Lincoln Center.)

Keep reading for a full interview with Tarantino about this prestigious leap forward.

UK Jazz News: There’s a sense of gravity to the seat that Ted vacated. How would you explain that to somebody not entrenched in the jazz world?

Alexa Tarantino: If there was a sports analogy: it’s like playing for one of the top teams in the league. I always think of us as a basketball or football team, or something. It feels kind of like when you see players get recruited for a team — although, I suppose, in sports, people don’t hold 10 years as long.

In the music world — not necessarily as specific as the jazz world — if you look at the New York Phil or something like that, it feels like a crossover into a new generation of the band and the organization. A kind of passing of the torch.

UKJN: How would you describe Ted’s importance?

AT: Ted represents so much in music. He represents the quintessential saxophonist and woodwind doubler, but with the ability to balance his own sound and approach with all the eras and styles and bands that have come before.

He’s had such an incredible career as a sideperson. He played with Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Gerry Mulligan — so many other people. He’s got these amazing influences, and, of course, his family influences him as well [as his uncle was a fellow saxophonist of the same name, Ted Nash, and his father is the trombonist Dick Nash].

But he has this incredible gift, in a very unique voice — in terms of his writing, his small group, the projects he has released with various themes that touch on integral aspects of humanity and the world.

So, he’s the total package of an artist who has been able to have a successful, thriving, healthy career — not to mention his work as an educator, too. He does everything so well. He seems to be the only person I know who is always himself, and he can bring that into every aspect he’s working in.

Alexa Tarantino. Photo credit: Anna Yatskevich.


UKJN:
How do you apply your personal voice to an institution like the JLCO?

AT:
I have absolutely been influenced by Ted, and [JLCO alto saxophonist] Sherman [Irby] — and all the members of the section, and those were there before.

You know, I remember when I first heard the band. The section was Joe Temperley, Walter Blanding, Sherman, Ted, and Victor Goines. So, it’s been amazing to become a part of that tradition.

I’ve also had influences outside of the band, and the saxophone world. The touring that I did with Cécile [McLorin Salvant], and then a little bit with Artemis, and then with my own quartet. Or, say, the DIVA Jazz Orchestra; Arturo [O’Farrill]’s band; Darcy [James Argue]’s.

There are so many amazing people out there today who really helped me figure things out musically, and career-wise. To bring that in is really special. And to feel supported in the band, and in the organization — to be like, Yeah, this is an opportunity to express myself within this framework. That’s really special.


UKJN: In a DownBeat feature this month, you say, “The challenge is to help people see beyond a single snapshot of the band from 15 to 25 years ago, to realize what it’s grown into and what it’s doing to connect with audiences around the world.” What has that evolution looked like, specifically?


AT: Well, I believe the JLCO is the only full-time jazz orchestra in the country. I don’t know if that’s technically correct — but I’m pretty sure it is, in terms of being a salaried orchestra in the United States.

So, that alone shows how much growth there can be in the country, for recognizing the importance of the art form and what it does for our communities, and for our kids — and for each other, in terms of bringing people together.

In the past, maybe there were opinions about whether the Jazz at Lincoln Center way was the right way — or different camps of people within the scene, vying for certain things. But, in my opinion: if anybody is succeeding, then we’re all succeeding.

First of all: Jazz at Lincoln Center, as an organization, is so invested in giving more opportunities to musicians, via many education and touring programs they put out across the country and world.

One of their main missions is to create communities for people to play — and the orchestra is a representation of that, in the sense that we go out and we teach; we’re doing as much outreach as we can while we’re on the road.

But then, it’s an example of: We could have more of these around the country. Our jazz education framework is, I would say, thriving in the U.S. — with things like Essentially Ellington, and many amazing jazz departments, and summer jazz programs, started by people all over the country.

UKJN: As 2025 kicks into gear, what are you excited about regarding the JLCO?

AT: A lot of things, actually. We’re heading to Europe in March, for about a month. We’ll be in London, doing some of Wynton’s larger works. We’re doing some residencies in London, Brussels, and Vienna, with symphony orchestras in those cities.

I’m very excited for the closing of our season in June or July; we’re going to do a concert of the best of the JLCO. Original works and arrangements from the members of the band over the years.

UKJN: Which larger works by Wynton?

AT: We’re going to do a piece that we’ve frequently toured called The Jungle, for JLCO and orchestra; that’s the one I’m most familiar with. But I know the orchestra has also toured and performed other pieces of his, like Swing Symphony and All Rise.

He’s super prolific in that respect, and has been an inspiration to me. Because, last year, I ended up getting commissioned to write my first piece for symphony orchestra. I was pretty shell-shocked when I got the offer — but I accepted it, and it was an amazing learning curve and lesson.

Having had the experience to really sit inside the orchestra — and dissect Wynton’s writing for orchestra — was very, very helpful.

UKJN: How would you describe the learning curve between jazz and classical orchestras?

AT: So, I was commissioned to write an original piece of 10 minutes or so — and I think I had about six months from the start, to the performance date. Which really means less, because you need time for editing and copying and printing and all that stuff, and then rehearsal before the performance date. So, I would say, maybe four or five months.

And it was very challenging. It felt like a huge life moment when I submitted the piece. But, basically, I took a jazz composition approach to it — which is all that I knew. 

I had hoped to take a lot of lessons, and read a lot of books, and all that stuff. But between touring and teaching and traveling, all at the same time: it’s not l could cancel everything for four months, and just live in a cave.

So, I wrote out a lead sheet of a tune that was speaking to me, and decided to orchestrate it in three variations; it became a theme-and-variations-style piece. And I gave several members of the orchestra written solos, so that they were really rooted in blues and expressive sounds on their instruments, to make the piece feel human and conversational.

I basically tied together each of the major variations with those individual solo moments. We ended up with a waltz, and a flute solo going into a fanfare, and some brass moments going into a sort of percussion roll-off, going into a cello ballad, solo, and chorale.

So, it was challenging, for sure — but it really did break the boundaries in my mind that even I had set in terms of classical composition, orchestral composition, and jazz performance and composition. At the end of the day, I was like, Wow. It really came together.

And I think the musicians had a really great time — because at the end of the day, it’s stylistic differences, but we’re all dealing with the same 12 notes.

UKJN: Any other projects you’ve got coming up?

AT: I have a new quartet record that should be out this summer. It’s going to be on Blue Engine Records, which is the label at Jazz at Lincoln Center. A bunch of original music, a couple of arrangements, different instruments, great bands. We’ll be at Dizzy’s Club, and then we’ll be at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

UKJN: Who’s in your quartet these days?

AT: [Pianist] Steven Feifke, [bassist[ Philip Norris, [drummer] Mark Whitfield, Jr. I’m super excited about my special guest that I probably shouldn’t spoil at this time, because I’m still finalizing everything.

But, I wrote a handful of pieces. There are some grooves in there; I kind of just wanted to get up there, and swing — let it rip, honestly. Everybody brought their fire to it. It was a really great session, and I’m hoping that after a few years off from releasing my own records, that the audiences will enjoy it.

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