PROJECTS
Iron Toys
Iron Toys, the saxophone/woodwind quartet founded in 2004 by Tom Reed, Rich Shanklin, George Shernit and Howie Smith, performs a diverse repertoire blending classical, jazz and avante-garde styles. Because of the doubling skills of its members, the group has over twenty instruments available for any given performance.
Tom Reed (soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, and Eb soprano, Bb and bass clarinets) is Professor of Music at Ashland University, principal clarinetist of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, and bass clarinetist and saxophonist for the Akron Symphony Orchestra. He performs regularly with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Jazz Unit, the Dayton Philharmonic, and the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus. Tom has also been soloist with the Akron, Mansfield and Ashland Symphonies, and has recorded with the Akron Symphony and the Paul Ferguson Jazz Orchestra.
George Shernit received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Theory/Composition and a Master of Arts in Saxophone Performance from Cleveland State University. As a freelance musician for 30 years, he has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Blossom Festival Band, and numerous Broadway shows and entertainers. He also toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the road show of “Annie.” For the past twenty years he has worked in the wholesale music business, including 7 years in Austin, Texas, as national sales manager for Jupiter Band Instruments.
Brad Wagner (soprano, alto and tenor saxophones; flute, alto flute, piccolo and Bb clarinet) received a BM in Jazz Studies from the University of Cincinnati. He is a musician, composer, and arranger for Pulse, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Big Band, The Black Dog Octet, and has been a member of groups including The Hendectet Jazz Collective, Sam Blakeslee Large Group, Moustache Yourself, Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Eclipse, Marc Fields Sextet, and more. As a freelance musician, he has performed with groups including the Cleveland Orchestra, Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Kentucky Symphony, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Jazz Heritage Orchestra, as well as playing pit orchestras for broadway shows, and backing various entertainers from the jazz, rock, and pop world.
The Jazz Unit
The Jazz Unit was organized by Jack Schantz in 1976. Jack’s goal was to create new formal and harmonic environments for jazz improvisation, with an emphasis on compositions and arrangements by members of the band. Thirty-five years later the mission remains the same and the music continues to evolve. The current lineup includes Howie Smith, alto & soprano sax, clarinet and bass clarinet; John Klayman, soprano and tenor sax, flute and clarinet; Tom Reed, soprano and baritone sax, flute, clarinet and bass clarinet; Jack Schantz, trumpet and flugelhorn; Bill Hoyt, horn; Chris Anderson, trombone; Bob Fraser, guitar; Dave Morgan, bass; Rock Wehrmann, keyboards; Mark Gonder, drums; and Ron Busch, vibraphone.
ORGAN ISM
Organ Ism, consisting of Howie Smith on saxophones, David Thomas on organ and Bill Ransom on drums/percussion, was formed in 2007. It was transformed into a quartet with the addition of guitarist Bob Ferrazza in 2011. Its repertoire includes original compositions by members of the group as well as new takes on popular songs by composer/performers of the past fifty years such as Janis Ian, John Lennon/Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, and Jimmy Webb.
David Thomas has toured with Dizzy Gillespie, recorded with saxophonist Phil Woods, and has performed with just about every jazz musician in Cleveland. As an educator he has been an instructor at the Cleveland School of the Arts, Cuyahoga Community College, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University.
Bill Ransom has toured and recorded with musicians such as Patrice Rushen, Beth Hart, Marion Meadows, Cecil Bridgewater, Diane Reeves, Mary Wilson and James Newton. For the past several years he has directed Jazz Meets Hip Hop for the Tri-C JazzFest. He is a member of the faculty in the Music Department at Cleveland State University, and is a consultant to both the Shaker Heights school system and Cleveland Music School Settlement.
Bob Ferrazza has appeared regularly in jazz clubs and concert halls around the world with the likes of Donald Byrd, Joey DeFrancesco, Art Farmer, Slide Hampton, Billy Hart, J.J. Johnson, Joe Lovano, Jack McDuff and David “Fathead” Newman. His first recording as leader, Personal, was followed by The Way I Like It and Rare Beauty: Intimate Gems of Duke Ellington on Koch Records, and all have garnered enthusiastic reviews. He is currently director of the Jazz Studies program at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music
JAZZWORKS
JazzWorks is an outgrowth of TCJF SoundWorks, an ensemble that existed as the resident ensemble of Cleveland’s Tri-C JazzFest from 2009 through 2016. The ensemble’s inaugural concert presented new takes on the music of McCoy Tyner, who had been a featured artist at the first Tri-C JazzFest in 1980. In 2010 the ensemble collaborated with Charlie Haden for a performance of the Liberation Music Orchestra; and in 2011 it presented “Miles & Trane @ 85 Re-imagined” with special guests Benny Golson and Ndugu Chancler. Performances in subsequent years featured original arrangements of music by Dexter Gordon, Jim Hall and Chick Corea, as well as original compositions from members of the ensemble.
JazzWorks is comprised of Jack Schantz on trumpet, John Klayman and Howie Smith on saxophones, Chris Anderson on trombone, Bob Ferrazza on guitar, Theron Brown on piano, Aidan Plank on bass, and Reggie Jackson on drums.
CONCERT IN PROGRESS
Howie Smith began teaching at Cleveland State University in the fall of 1979 and toward the end of that year he was asked if he would like to prepare a “recital” for the following year. Since it had been quite a while since he had done something of that nature, he immediately agreed and began to make plans for what became an annual event for 29 years. The program notes for the concert in 2009 provide some background on the nature of the series.
“For the past twenty-eight years I have had the privilege and pleasure of writing, rehearsing, and performing music with some marvelous people as part of this ongoing event known as Concert in Progress. Keyboard artists Mike Nock, Jim McNeely, J.B. Floyd, Neal Creque, Dan Wall and Rock Wehrmann, bassists Bob Bowman, Todd Coolman, Abraham Laboriel, and David Morgan, guitarists Steve Erquiaga and Bob Fraser, drummers Ed Soph and Greg Bandy, multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson, Cleveland Orchestra members Ron Bishop and James Darling, electric violinist Michael Dreyfuss, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Unit, photographer Masumi Hayashi, actor/director Reuben Silver, conductor/horn player/singer Ed London, and audio engineers James Abbott and David Yost are only a few of the 205 people who have performed on this series and made it all worthwhile.
“Though each concert has been unique, almost all of them have begun in the same way. I have searched for people with whom I would like to make music, asked them if they would like to be part of the concert, and after they said yes I began working on the compositions, attempting to come up with material that would be interesting and challenging for all of us.
“In order to attract some attention to the first concert in 1981, it was billed as Howie Smith vs. Howie Smith, playing off the idea of my dual roles as composer and performer. The initial posters didn’t even mention that it was a musical event.
“That first concert was well received and Howie Smith vs. Howie Smith: A Rematch took place in 1982. Subsequent years produced Howie Smith vs. Howie Smith: III (a la Rocky), and Howie Smith vs. Howie Smith: One More Time.
“After four years I was growing tired of Howie Smith vs. Howie Smith and needed to come up with another idea. Something that has always amused me is the unintended message conveyed by signs that frequently appear outside recital halls and performance spaces: “Concert in Progress: Do Not Enter.” It seems like a warning that what is taking place behind those closed doors might be dangerous. Perfect. Concert in Progress was born, and listeners were given a subliminal message that they needed to be alert for whatever might transpire once they entered the hall.”
On more than a few occasions portions of the event seemed more like performance art than a concert. Again, Smith explains:
“The program notes for the 1986 concert listed the opening number as a saxophone duet, but it was actually a work for 60 saxophones, complete with choreography. One concert in the old Main Classroom Auditorium began in complete darkness. When the spotlight came on and the curtains opened, the audience discovered that I was playing saxophone while on a trapeze, about 25 feet above the stage – in full costume, I might add. Wilma Salisbury became an enthusiastic participant for one of these events by agreeing to write a review of the concert prior to hearing the music. She came on stage and read her critique of each piece just before it was played. One of the pieces – Wilma didn’t know which one – was an improvisation by the musicians based on the review she had just read. There was also the year I asked Ed London to sing a blues using the Declaration of Independence as a basic text, and I still consider his performance as one of the highlights of the whole series.
“On at least three different occasions I have been the sole performer, albeit surrounded by multiple sound sources, many of which had been programmed beforehand. Two concerts have been based on the idea of recording solo improvisations during the first part of the concert. A second (third or fourth) improvisation was added as those (sometimes processed) recordings were being played back later in the concert.”
The sound clips below give only a brief idea of the variety of material that was performed on this series.