INTERVIEW: Anderson twins find inspiration from Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong
Photo: Peter Anderson and Will Anderson will play the tunes of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong at their Songbook Summit at Symphony Space. Photo courtesy of the artists / Provided by the Andersons with permission.
Peter Anderson and Will Anderson, twins and a virtuosic musical duo, have created a summer staple at Symphony Space in New York City. Their Songbook Summit series offers thoughtfully arranged and perfectly executed jazz interpretations of great American composers.
This summer’s engagement, which kicks off Tuesday, Aug. 13, will honor the work of both Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. On the Ellington nights, folks should expect to hear renditions of “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” “Mood Indigo,” “Caravan” and “In My Solitude.” On the Armstrong nights, audience members will enjoy “Potato Head Blues,” “Swing That Music” and “Hello Dolly.”
The Andersons, aces on saxophone and clarinet, will be accompanied by their six-piece ensemble for the special evenings, which continue through Aug. 23. Joining them for the Ellington nights are Molly Ryan on vocals and Jeb Patton on piano. The Armstrong nights will feature Vince Giordano on bass and vocals, and Jon-Erik Kellso on trumpet.
“As far as Duke Ellington, he might be my all-time favorite,” Will said in a recent phone interview. “He’s really got his own unique style. He’s kind of all over the map with his different compositional stylings. He’s regarded as the most prolific of all the American composers, and obviously he’s a little bit different than a lot of the Tin Pan Alley songbook composers.”
The Ellington songbook has a bit of New Orleans jazz, a bit of Chicago jazz and a host of other styles, all swirling around and impacting one another. For the Andersons, their focus is how he was a master orchestrator.
“Each piece he wrote for his musicians in the band, which is something that’s really unique compared to all these others composers,” Will said. “Duke Ellington wrote for people. That’s something that we’re going to touch upon, and I think it comes out in the way his music is orchestrated.”
Peter said a lot of work goes into putting together each of the Songbook Summits. Over the years, the twins have tackled the repertory of eight composers, diving deep into the life, music and impact of these greats.
“When we put together these shows, definitely a lot goes into it because we’re performing the music, but the shows are also biographical,” Peter said. “So we’re talking about the history and what happened during the composer’s life, what historical events were going on during their peak years. We also have a video component, which we show clips of interviews with the composers, old movie clips and television clips and uses of their songs in many places. I would say we scan through hundreds of the composer’s songs and figure out which songs we want to present, and that’s usually my job. I’m kind of the musical arranger. I pick the songs, and I arrange them for our six-piece group. And then my brother takes those songs that I’ve selected and crafts around it a story about their life, and my brother will put together the video element and weaves it into the various songs that we’ve chosen.”
Will said the challenge of choosing songs for the Ellington evenings, which run Aug. 13-15, was trying to find tunes amongst the composer’s hundreds of options. It was a tall task, but they needed 13-14 hits that were a mixture of recognizable and challenging.
“We chose a mix of his most recognizable songs that are hard to leave out and also more obscure songs that people might not know and they might not have heard before,” Will said. “We want to obviously play songs that are recognizable, but also not so much, and kind of have the audience learn something new about the composer. We really try to give a contrast of what the composer is capable of, so we try to choose compositions all over the map.”
The twins work well together, and they have a unique ability to combine the personal and professional. There are disagreements along the way, but that’s to be expected. Perhaps what helps them is their clearly defined roles and responsibilities in the band.
“I’d say we definitely agree,” Peter said with a laugh. “When you’re talking about these Songbook shows, Ellington and Armstrong and [Irving] Berlin and all these composers that we’ve done before, we both really love the music, so it’s hard to go wrong with the selections and the story. We both are really into the whole concept. We love the music and the story.”
Will added: “We’re forced to agree on everything. It’s a process, and there’s definitely disagreements along the way. I think the advantage of having two people is we get to have two different perspectives, and often if one of us thinks something, the other will take the other idea or play devil’s advocate. And I think it helps balance things out and keeps our options open.”
The Andersons grew up in Washington, D.C., a city they called a great starting point for their musical careers. They had an influential saxophone teacher at a young age, and they became involved in local bands, including an ensemble that played traditional jazz.
“That gave us a really good start,” Peter said. “We had a good high school music program that also helped at Whitman High School, but definitely when we moved to New York when we were 18, that just really opened up a lot of doors, gave us performance opportunities and changed a lot. D.C. gave us a good start, but it’s hard to compete with New York. There is an unlimited amount of resources. It’s just great music here. We couldn’t being doing this if we weren’t in New York, for sure.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Songbook Summit: The Andersons Play Ellington (Aug. 13-15) and The Andersons Play Armstrong (Aug. 21-23) will play Symphony Space in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
