Hidden Valley’s annual Master’s Festival resumes this week with classical flutist Keith Underwood chairing a week-long residency. Just fine, you say? Ah, but for the students there will first be a twist: Underwood and jazz flutist Ali Ryerson—who just finished her jazz flute master week—will come together to offer a jazz flute and classical flute joint master class.
And there’s more. The two players have long imagined this collaboration. So they will take the opportunity to both teach together, and sit in with one another, at their respective recitals.
“It’s important for classical flute players to understand jazz,” Underwood says. “The jazz players could learn the technical command of the flute the classical players have, and the classical players should understand the freedom of jazz improvisation.”
Peter Meckel, Hidden Valley’s general director, echoes the sentiment.
“To play jazz you have to understand harmonic structure really well, because that’s how you know where you can and can’t go melodically while improvising,” Meckel says. “So it’s good for classical players to understand that because their own experience with that is not usually that strong.”
In fact, Underwood even sees jazz as rooted in classical music theory, explaining that jazz harmony comes from Baroque and impressionistic music, like Debussy and Ravel. “You become a better classical player through improvising because because it gives you more options. In jazz players, the control of the flute is not as developed as it usually is in classical flutists,” he says.
Underwood has specific interests in jazz that go beyond his classical training.
“The reason that we’re doing a jazz club joint class with Ali and Keith is because of Keith’s expertise particularly in Brazilian jazz,” Meckel says. “He’s a gifted teacher as well as a great performer.”
KEITH UNDERWOOD 7:30pm Monday, June 4. Hidden Valley Theater, 104 W. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley. $25. 659-3115, hiddenvalleymusic.org