THIS IS A CORRECTED COPY. PLEASE NOTE THAT WORKSHOP IS FRIDAY, MARCH 6 (NOT MARCH 7). WE REGRET THE ERROR IN THE PRINT EDITION.
When Plainsboro resident and jazz musician Gerry Hemingway, right, looks at his basement studio, full of musical instruments, electronic equipment, and recordings of music from all over the world, he feels a sense of satisfaction that the evidence of a lifetime of playing, studying and teaching is right there for him to see, and to hear.
But then he feels a bit of panic because come early fall, the jazz percussionist and composer will be moving to Lucerne, Switzerland, where he will become a professor of music at Hochschule Luzern. And he is worried because there is no way he will be able to ship all of that music to Europe. “I may have to get rid of some of this. And I don’t want to,” he says.
Hemingway will appear with his quartet on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Arts Council of Princeton’s Jazz at the Robeson Center series. Prior to the concert, the quartet holds a jazz improvisation workshop for high school and college age musicians.
Hemingway’s imminent departure to Switzerland brings a slight bit of urgency to his preparation for this concert. “For me, this event is significant, because I have had very few chances to show my students, and the community in general, just what it is that I do,” he says.
Hemingway, born in 1955 in New Haven, is a trim, youthful 53. He comes from a prominent, musical family. And yes, he is one of the Hemingways. “I believe I am the fifth cousin, twice removed, of Ernest Hemingway,” he says.
The Hemingways live just off Plainsboro Park and near the Wicoff School. Son Jordan is a junior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. His wife, Nancy, is a movement therapist and manual therapist. After living in New York and its environs, the couple wanted to find a more child-friendly place to live after Jordan was born. “We set up shop in Hackettstown, which was OK, but rather isolated,” Hemingway says. Then his in-laws, who had moved to Jamesburg, suggested the couple look at West Windsor and Plainsboro, largely for the school district.
“The school Jordan was in was not measuring up to its reputation, and money was getting cut from its arts programs,” he says. “So we decided to come here, and take a look. We liked the fact that Princeton University was here, and we thought this made sense. We had better access to New York via the train.”
Hemingway’s current quartet has more or less been together since 1998. As with many jazz musicians, Hemingway has the blessing, or curse, depending on your perspective, of performing as much or more abroad, primarily in Europe, than he does in his own country. He formed this group to try to concentrate on working and playing in America.
As his son Jordan (now establishing himself as a photographer) grew up, Hemingway and his wife became more active in the community and their circle of friends and acquaintances began realizing what he did for a living. They began asking him to teach music to their children. “I enjoyed teaching young guys. Sometimes they could barely play or hold a stick. Most people who teach kids like that find it so boring, almost an imposition — they just do it for the money. But I love it. I find kids who try to figure out how to use their brain in this way fascinating.
Hemingway also teaches jazz history and world music history at the New School in Manhattan. “It’s not like a job to pay the bills for me, it’s a job I have a lot of feeling for. I enjoy it almost as much as performing, and I do love performing.”
While Hemingway loves teaching, he sees ironies in his being chosen for the position in Switzerland. He had never earned as much as a bachelor’s degree, though he had audited classes at Yale for years. It turns out Hemingway had applied for a position at another institution, he says, but had not made the cut. But a faculty member at Hochschule Luzern found out about it, and one day Hemingway received a letter in the mail offering him the position.
“I have put together a body of work and I have shown that I am an effective teacher, musician, and composer,” says Hemingway. “But I am totally self-taught. I have the knowledge. But I don’t have the paper.”
Gerry Hemingway Quartet, Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street. Saturday, March 7, 8 p.m. $15. 609-924-8777. www.artscouncilofprinceton.org.
Also, Jazz Improvisation Workshop, Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street. Saturday, March 6, 4 to 6 p.m. Gerry Hemingway and members of his quartet. Open to high school and college age musicians with some fundamental experience playing in a group format and advanced players. Acoustic instruments are ideal, but electric guitarists and bassists may want to bring their amps. Also open to listeners curious about improvisation. Demonstration, discussion, and an opportunity for some participants to interact musically with members of the quartet. Register. Free. 609-924-8777. www.artscouncilofprinceton.org.
