Spontaneous Creativity

Yardley’s community arts center is turned into an improvisational jazz club during each edition of Jazz Jams.

By: Amy Brummer

			At CAPS! in Yardley, a converted municipal garage will become a hip club for Friday Jazz Jams, which features jazz improvisation from the likes of saxophonist Mike Pica (left).
	On Feb. 21, the jam will be hosted by Don Moyer on bass, vocalist Lynn Randall, Dave Reynolds on drums and Scott Gurney on keyboards (below).

   Artists transform things. It is in their nature to take raw material and change it into unexpected forms.
   At CAPS! in Yardley, this phenomenon is everywhere. From the converted municipal garage that houses it to the creative endeavors taking place inside, the organization is a springboard for inspiration.
   This carries over to the third Friday Jazz Jams, where the community arts center is reinvented once again, this time as an improvisational jazz club. On Feb. 21, the jam will be hosted by Yardley residents Don Moyer on bass and vocalist Lynn Randall. Along with Levittown resident Mike Pica on sax, Yardley resident Dave Reynolds on drums and Langhorne resident Scott Gurney on keyboards, the quintet has been the house band at CAPS! for more than a year.
   "Our five-piece nucleus starts to play and we greet everyone," Ms. Randall says. "As people come in we incorporate them into the group, they come up, take someone’s place, play a tune or two, then we see how it goes."
   As a group, their playlist is based on the American songbook, drawing on the golden-age compositions of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Johnny Mercer and Duke Ellington, to name a few. With tunes ranging from the swing era to the Broadway stage to the Hollywood screen, these classic standards provide a departure point for the improvisation that ensues as different musicians rotate into the mix.
   While this music lends itself to loose interpretation, the evening is not limited to that genre of jazz. The group welcomes suggestions from guest musicians as well as the opportunity to experiment. They bring several books of music with them so musicians can choose something that piques their interest.
   "Sometimes we go through general books and nobody is very familiar with the songs, but everyone is a reader and we just give it a try," says Ms. Randall, who has been singing professionally for 23 years. "Sometimes those are the most rewarding songs, sometimes they are not. You never know. It is very extemporaneous, but that is what music is about. Especially jams because jams are the unknown. You are playing music without a net. You can fall and there is no one to catch you, it is not a rehearsed situation and we like that."
   In addition to owning Pro Line Music in Fairless Hills, Ms. Randall and Mr. Moyer are music teachers and encourage their students to attend the jams. This also expands the scope of the music as many of the younger participants are interested in contemporary jazz artists as well as blues music. Ms. Randall, who will take time to inform the audience about the way a piece works, notes that is important to recognize the common history behind so much American music.
   "There is a link between the music of the past and the music of the present," she says, "that they all evolved from one another and that the basic forms still hold true even though new artists bring their own style to each of the forms."

CAPS! is also hosting a Decorative Arts Showcase Feb. 21, featuring a quilted bowl by Cynthia Groya (above) and a mosaic-tile-decorated table by Jo-Anne Osnoe (below).

   In doing this, she is deepening the students’ knowledge of the musical history, but the biggest lessons probably come from watching the performances themselves. It takes the intimidation out of live performance because there are no preconceived notions about how a session will work out.
   "It is not always a professional level of musician that joins in," Ms. Randall says, "and that is OK because people need to express themselves creatively even if their skills have not progressed to that point."
   On the other hand, Ms. Randall is consistently amazed by the quality of talent that shows up on stage.
   "Yardley Borough is a hotbed of creative people," she says. "There are tons of great artists and wonderful people, many of whom have had professional careers. We have had people dropping in who are just terrific and we have had some guest artists who are as polished as it gets. You never know who will be around that night not gigging, and who will stop by for an hour and play a couple of tunes and knock people’s socks off."
   She cites one particular evening when they were joined by guitarist Eddie Hamilton, an active recording artist with Broadway credits.
   "Everybody was at the top of their game and it was a superb night," she recalls. "You couldn’t have found better music in any jazz club in New York than you heard at CAPS! in the little fire station on the corner in Yardley."
   But you don’t have to be a seasoned musician to wow the crowd.
   "There was a 7-year-old piano student who is a very gifted child," she says. "He sat in one night, and that was something everyone couldn’t believe. The feel that this child had, he was playing a boogie-woogie feel, this 7-year-old, like an adult. That was a pretty remarkable moment."
   In addition to being an all-ages event appealing to a broad range of music lovers, the concert is presented in conjunction with a Decorative Arts Showcase. The exhibit will include decorative watercolors by Diane Greenberg, mosaic tile tables by Amy Mendolsohn, as well as quilted ceramic containers by Cynthia Groya, director and founder of CAPS!
   "People are just inundated with creativity when they come in," Ms. Randall says. "There is all of this art of different types and there is music. It is a very comfortable environment, very casual, like your living room, very laid back and informal."
   It is also the perfect opportunity to witness or take part in spontaneous creativity. If you have been looking for a chance to test your skills in front of a live audience or feel the pleasure of a satisfying jam with a talented group this is the place to jump in.
   "I urge the public to join us," Ms. Randall says. "Come and sit in, because the more the merrier with something like this. The more the input, the richer the evening is for everyone, so we welcome and encourage anyone who plays and loves to play or someone who played and maybe doesn’t play any more, somebody who is itching to get their fingers on an instrument again to come on out and give it a try."
Third Friday Jazz Jam and Decorative Art Showcase takes place at CAPS!, 1 S. Delaware Ave., Yardley, Feb. 21. Showcase opens at 7:30 p.m. and the jam gets started at 8 p.m. Free admission. For information call: (215) 369-0677. On the Web: www.capsart.org