Geoffrey Keezer©Brad Buckman

“A refreshingly open-eared sensibility in the modern manner, and he has more than enough virtuosity and sheer musical wit and intelligence to weave all of his apparently disparate strands of influence into an original and compelling whole.” –Time Magazine

Interest in global music is neither new in jazz nor new to American pianist Geoffrey Keezer. Jazz from its inception melded cross-continental influences, predominately the rhythms of Africa and the Caribbean with the forms and instrumentation of European cultures, and the pervasive influence of other world traditions has been evident throughout the genre’s evolution. And Keezer, one of the most respected performers and composers on the scene today, has already consummated projects based on the folk roots of Hawaii (Falling Up, MaxJazz 2003, with slack-key guitarist Keola Beamer) and Okinawa’s Ryukyu Islands (Yasukatsu Oshima with Geoffrey Keezer, JVC Victor 2007). It’s perfectly logical in the development of both jazz and Keezer, then, that new interest has surged in Afro-Peruvian music. For Geoffrey Keezer, the attraction has pushed him to his newest project on ArtistShare, Áurea.

The Roots: Lando and Festejo

Like American jazz, Afro-Peruvian music grew from the African Diaspora and the freeing of slaves brought to South America. The two main styles, Lando and Festejo, are dance rhythms of coastal Peru: Lando evolved from an Angolan dance (londu) brought to Brazil by West African slaves, thus combining Spanish and African rhythms in a slow tempo and call-and-response vocalization. Central to lando is the cajon, the box-like drum improvised by slaves in place of their original West African instruments. A recent example of American jazz’s appropriation of lando can be found on Maria Schneider’s acclaimed Sky Blue, specifically on “Aires de Lando” which integrates the lando rhythm with irregular time signatures. Also featuring the cajon, Festejo is a competitive circle dance characterized by an uptempo, compound-duple rhythm and festive percussion, song lyrics and choreography, a celebration of joy in times of hardship. Festejo has become synonymous with the revival of interest in Peruvian dance and folk music, very much a part of Limeno pop culture. Afro-Peruvian music is beginning to find its way into American jazz, through bands such as trumpeter Gabriel Alegria’s Sextet. Which brings us to Geoffrey Keezer.

Geoffrey Keezer

Hinting at a fantasy blend of Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, and McCoy Tyner, Keezer has evolved a singular style of intellectually abstract lyricism woven over exotically complex rhythms and harmonies. Now in his late 30s, his highly regarded discography, unique compositions and acclaimed performances in a variety of configurations command the attention typically reserved for the living legends of jazz.

A child prodigy, Geoffrey Keezer grew up surrounded by musicians and music educators (father Ron Keezer headed the jazz band program at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire). He performed at the Dakota Jazz Club in nearby Minneapolis when he was only 16, three years before his stint with Art Blakey’s last edition of the Jazz Messengers. He has since forged an amazing early career, including fifteen recordings as leader or co-leader, touring as a very young collaborator with James Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Donald Brown, and Harold Mabern in the Contemporary Piano Ensemble in the early 1990s, and recently touring and recording in the company of such heavy hitters as the late Ray Brown, Christian McBride, Jim Hall and Dianne Reeves.

Encounters With Afro Peruvian Music

Keezer notes that his interest in global music traditions dates back to childhood. “I wasn't exposed to ‘world music’ exactly,” he recalls, “but my dad ran the percussion department at the university in my home town (Eau Claire, WI). I went to his student percussion ensemble concerts as a kid, and by its nature, percussion-based music tends to have a ‘world’ concept. My dad had a lot of traditional percussion instruments from various countries, and his record collection also included Smithsonian recordings of traditional music, as well as records by Weather Report, Chick Corea, etc., who obviously incorporated world elements into their music.”

While many American musicians can cite such influences on their music, Geoffrey, more than most, seems to have thrown himself headfirst into a study of world traditions. “I think somewhere along the way, maybe in my 20's, I had a kind of heart-opening experience listening to traditional Japanese koto music, and then started checking out Balinese Gamelan, North Indian classical music, etc., etc. I kind of went nuts in Tower records and bought everything in the ‘world music’ section. I think I was hearing connections between every kind of music in the world, not so much in a technical or intellectual sense, but in a heart sense, something in music that speaks to our common humanity. I was realizing that every culture has ‘soul,’ to paraphrase Ray Charles. Plus I was getting into a rut with ‘straight-ahead’ jazz and needed some fresh inspiration. Listening to music that had nothing to do with jazz really opened up my ears to different ways of phrasing, timing, everything.”

Jon Wikan©Andrea Canter

“I'm really just a beginner when it comes to understanding Afro-Peruvian music,” he continues, “but what makes Afro-Peruvian music so intriguing to me is the unique combination of cultures found in Peru, which in turn influence the music. In Peru you've got descendants of Amerindians, Spanish, African, even Chinese and Japanese… Peru's cultural crossover with Africa predates America's, and many more of the African elements are retained in the music than in Jazz. Specifically, it's the beats that really inspire me, the ‘festejo’ ‘lando’ and others. They're unique to Peru and playing inside that rhythmic context really opens up my ears and creativity… The music in particular just has so much soul and passion. When I hear Eva Ayllon or Susana Baca sing, I get a lump in my throat. Those beats, particularly the ‘lando’, touch something really deep and really old... it's like looking back in time through the window of rhythm. Hard to intellectualize, but easy to feel.”

Áurea

Sofia Koutsovitis©Calabash Music

“I'm kind of a kid in a candy store in this band!” says Geoffrey. “I wanted to form a band where I could do a lot of different things. Essiet Essiet (bass) and I played together in my first professional gig, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. Besides being a great bassist and team player, I chose Essiet for Áurea because he's from Nigeria and is well versed in West African Highlife music. I wanted to explore the African side of Afro-Peruvian music a little more, so some of our music is coming from that vantage point. Steve Wilson and I have worked together off and on for the past 15 years or so, in many contexts. The other musicians are mostly new collaborators, for example our vocalist Sofia Koutsovitis. I first heard her when she brought her incredible band to Jazz Aspen Snowmass for their summer program. She's from Argentina, and writes all her own music that draws on many South American influences…very knowledgeable on all the different musics of South America and she has several other projects going with musicians from Colombia and Peru. There's a lot I can learn from her as well…” Although Geoffrey met Hugo Alcazar during his first visit to Peru, he had not really worked with him before getting Áurea underway. But, he quickly recognized that Alcazar and Wikan were “a perfect pairing of musicians.”

On his introductory video on ArtistShare, Keezer notes that he is not simply trying to recreate Afro Peruvian music, that he could not really do so with authenticity. “After all, I am a guy from Wisconsin,” he says. Rather, he seeks to take the traditional sounds and rhythms of coastal Peru and infuse them with… well, with the music of Geoffrey Keezer. “Whenever I hear a new music… I can’t just leave it alone, I have to sort of collaborate, to see how I can speak in that new language with my own voice, with my own way of looking at things.”

Steve Wilson©Andrea Canter

Áurea is not Keezer’s first involvement with ArtistShare--he appears in duet with the great Jim Hall (Free Association, 2005). But this is Geoffrey’s first ArtistShare project as leader. “I'm excited about the ArtistShare format, because it allows me to connect with my fans in a much deeper and more personal way. Fans get to experience the CD as it's being made.” And the experience is multi-media, as anyone visiting the site (www.artistshare.com) can view an informative video trailer in which Keezer explains the project and the music; one can also sign up to participate at varying levels of financial investment, from simply the price of the CD to high levels of production.

And naturally Áurea is not Keezer’s only ongoing project. “I've been very busy working on arrangements for Dianne Reeves' new CD, When You Know (due out this spring), a new commission for the Central Band of the Canadian Forces, starting work on the extended piece I'm writing to fulfill my Chamber Music America New Works grant, writing an arrangement of a Korean folk song for a chamber group in San Diego, and mostly taking care of my new baby son, Cameron Keezer-Wulff... a 24/7 job!!”

If lando and festejo become staples of jazz north of the border, we’ll be able to trace these influences not only to their roots in West Africa and coastal Peru, but all the way to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, hometown of one of American jazz’s most ardent brokers of global music. Watch the development of Áurea on ArtistShare and stay tuned for the release of Geoffrey Keezer’s latest and most ambitious effort to “speak in a new language.”

Learn more about Geoffrey Keezer’s Áurea project and participate in its development at www.artistshare.com; for more information about Geoffrey’s current and past projects, visit his website at www.geoffreykeezer.com. Most quotes in this article from a JazzINK interview with Geoffrey in February 2008. Article first posted on www.jazzInk.com.