Photo by Andrea Canter

On December 20^th, jazz from northern Minnesota in the form of “Black Ice” will glaze the stage at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis. The celebration of the debut recording for drummer Steve Hirsh and his quartet (Larry McDonough, Pat Riley, and Richard Terrill) marks a long and detoured journey in music. The Jazz Police investigated via the following online interview with Hirsh.

JP. Tell us about your background in music and your current work.

SH. I started playing music as a kid— guitar lessons, saxophone in the junior high band. I started playing drums at 12. I was getting braces and the orthodontist said that playing a reed instrument would make my overbite worse—idiot! Anyway, I played in bands in college and afterwards, nothing memorable. I wanted to be a professional musician and gave it a go for a few years. I wanted to go to Berklee but didn't know how to go about making that happen, and just gave it up. I gave up playing in around 1980— sold my drums a few years later to pay rent.

I started playing again four years ago, and have been actively gigging around Bemidji for three years, at least as active as a jazz musician can be around here. I've played in two big bands—the Bemidji State Big Band Band and currently in a band out of Grand Rapids called Swing Delivery. I've been playing with my own trio or quartet in several bars and restaurants in Bemidji, plus the occasional casual gig.

I've really worked to try and develop an audience for jazz here, and I think we've had some success. Our gigs are usually well attended, and people seem to enjoy the music. I think that a lot more people would listen to and enjoy jazz if they were exposed to it. I did a radio show on KAXE for a year or two, which was intended to introduce the music to people. I received a lot of favorable reactions to it. Unfortunately, the station changed its programming rules in a way that wouldn't allow me to do the kind of show I wanted to, so I left.

I have a day job. For the last seven years I've worked for the Center for Reducing Rural Violence. I've been the executive director for four years. We just found out we're losing our major funding and so I'm laid off as of 12/31. Before that, I was a legal aid lawyer, which is how I first met Larry [pianist McDonough].

JP. Tell us about your inspiration and general goals for this recording (Steve Hirsh/Black Ice, 2005).

Blakc Ice, Photo by Andrea Canter

SH. Well, actually, no real reason. It occurred to me one night during a break during a gig in Bemidji. We got to talking about all the gigs
where we drove long distances on crappy roads to play for no audience and no money. And we spoke of one particularly bad winter night of white-knuckle driving on black ice. At the time I thought it sounded like a good name for a band, and I filed it away. But black ice is invisible, slick, and dangerous. I don't know how that applies to this music, but it sounds good—no?

JP. How did you decide what to include on this recording? Are these tunes with special meaning, favorites, etc?

SH. There are a couple of originals. One of Larry's (“Namekagon”) and one by a wonderful saxophone player named Eric Alexander. I studied with Eric at a jazz camp a couple of years ago, and learned the tune then. “Nick of Time” is a Bonnie Raitt tune that Larry arranged. Bonnie was in town last winter to play a benefit, and I was asked to play at a pre-event reception. Larry and Dick were on that gig, and I asked Larry to arrange one of Bonnie's tunes for the occasion. We got to play it for Bonnie, and she said she liked it. The tune is originally in 4, but of course Larry had to monkey with that—we play it in 3.

The rest of the tunes are standards that we all like and enjoy playing. My goal for this recording was just to make some good, swinging music. There's nothing revolutionary here, we're not breaking any new ground. What I'm most happy about with the recording is that it sounds (to me) relaxed and happy and it swings. The four of us had a lovely summer weekend together, we enjoyed each other's company, and we recorded it in a studio (Gary Burger's) nestled in the woods, and had a generally good time. I hear that on the CD.

You can hear on the CD as well, and in person in the metro area on December 20^th, 7 pm, at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis (1010 Nicollet Mall; www.dakotacooks.com). For more about Steve Hirsh and Black Ice as well as ordering information, visit Larry McDonough’s website at http://www.larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com/BlackIce.html . See Jazz Police article including a review of Black Ice— click here!

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