[From the Ithaca Times]
The musician and songwriter Michael Stark has lived in Ithaca for over 10 years, and is widely considered by his peers to be one of Ithaca’s finest musicians. But how well do you really know him? In person, Stark is thoughtful, reserved and careful with words. Stark’s also one of the most accommodating and compatible musicians in town, and other musicians love him for his ability to fit in seamlessly within his surroundings without sacrificing his own voice. As those in the audience who have witnessed this musical chameleon can testify, his playing is agile, and equal parts forceful and mellow, depending on the musical context.
Since moving to Ithaca from New York City in 1995, Stark has played everything from avant-garde jazz to dub-rock to singer-songwriter folk, and has served as the foundation and soul of countless albums. Stark has backed nearly all of Ithaca’s most celebrated names — Jennie Stearns, Johnny Dowd, Mary Lorson, Hank Roberts, Kevin Kinsella — as well as helming his own projects, including the jazz-fusion trio Wingnut, the duo Tzar and the ever-changing collective Orbiting Art Ensemble.
To say that this full-time musician is a versatile player is something of an understatement - the man seems equally at home within jazz, rock, pop or funk traditions. Stark’s influences include Brad Mehldau, Cecil Taylor, Bjork, Keith Jarrett, Sun Ra, McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane.
Stark is criminally underrated, and to say that he is one of Ithaca’s most talented players is simply not enough.
From the beginning
Like many successful musicians, Stark began playing music at a very young age. “I think my earliest memory of getting interested in music was watching my grandfather play. He was an organist at a church, but he also played the piano,” Stark says of his childhood in Queens, N.Y. “I remember standing next to him while he would be at the piano, and it amazed me.” From his family and relatives, Stark soaked in stride piano, New Orleans jazz, church music, the blues and Southern rock.
Stark went on to take piano lessons from age seven until he graduated from high school. “My piano teacher really kept my interest at an early age. They were traditional piano lessons — classical music and a lot of theory, which is what you would expect — but the last 15 minutes of every lesson he would say, ‘What’s your favorite song on the radio?’ And this was in the 80s, so I would name a Michael Jackson tune,” Stark laughs. “He would write out the melody and chords for me, and let me do my own thing with it. And that got me into improvising. Later on, when I got a little older, I started to see the relationship between pop music and jazz, and how those two could be mixed together.”
Then it was time for music school. A student at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Conn., Stark’s studied jazz performance and worked closely with respected jazz saxophonist Jackie McLean. He stayed in school a year and a half before leaving to move back to New York City in 1994. “I don’t regret it at all,” Stark says of leaving Hartt. “I don’t think I was ready to be a strict student at the time. I kind of got to the point where I knew what I needed to work on, and it was just a matter of putting the time in.”
Once back in NYC, and inspired by watching John Zorn, Marc Ribot and the Lounge Lizards play downtown, it wasn’t before long that Stark, then 19, joined a band. Two members were students at schools in Ithaca. “We just made a decision to move up here as a band, so they could finish school, and we could continue with the band,” says Stark.
Soon, though, Stark connected with Ithaca’s established music community. “I just started writing my own music. I had my own interests, and I decided to stop playing in that band and start doing my own thing,” he says.
“I definitely made a big effort to be really active. I was really sure that I wanted to make a living with music,” Stark says. And since moving to Ithaca, Stark has focused on music, and only music - it’s his full-time job, and, if we’re lucky, his career for life.
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Three’s Company
In 1997, Stark formed Wingnut, a forward-thinking instrumental trio based loosely around the traditions of avant-garde jazz, funk and soul. The trio was fleshed out by Walt Lorenzut on bass and Zaun Marshburn handling drum duties.
“I think I got a lot better by playing with Wingnut — just going out there and doing it, trying to get gigs,” Stark recalls. “In Wingnut, we made a conscious decision that we all wanted to learn how to play jazz better — and I consider that a broad term, not just bebop or ragtime — but to really be open with all of the styles.” Stark continues, “I don’t like to limit myself to any style. Wingnut may be more jazz-oriented than a lot of other projects I’m in, but I don’t think of it as a ‘jazz band.’ It’s just whatever our best song is about — and that could be a classical concept, or electronic music, or anything.”
The group clicked. “We really worked together, with no one songwriter prevailing. We got really comfortable for a long time as a trio, and utilizing everybody’s creativity to come up with our sound. From about ‘99 to ‘03, we were consistently on the road, going out for three, four, five weeks,” says Stark.
Stark has self-documented his personal musical growth by recording live shows — over a decade’s worth. “Sometimes it’s too much to deal with, and they’re not all that organized,” Stark laughs, but it seems like a great way to keep track of what has become an increasingly chaotic band schedule, and we can only imagine the musical gems that lay hidden within his archives.
“I started doing it with Wingnut because we were playing so many shows, and it helped us work on our music back then — help us decide what was missing, or what wasn’t working, musically. We would listen back to recordings as a trio, together, and pick it apart a bit, or we would just identify what was great about it, and not so much worry about mistakes, but talk about what we would definitely want to expand upon,” says Stark.
As Wingnut concerts were so much about improvisation, each gig varied from night to night, and the recordings proved invaluable to the group. “Maybe something would come up that you wanted to remember — small phrases or a small melody, or it could be the mood of an entire section that went by for 10 minutes or more,” he explains.
Although Stark has released quite a few studio records, his talent for deftly managing the delicate group dynamic within an improv-heavy environment makes him ideal for the live concert setting. “I mean, I think writing a really great song is more challenging than improvising. To me, with improvisation, you can’t really make a mistake,” Stark says.
The Sweet & Down Low
It wasn’t long before the members of Wingnut began to become involved with other projects, and Stark became more in demand with other musicians around town. “It got challenging for a while, but it also felt natural,” says Stark.
Stark began working with Mary Lorson, with whom he played Rhodes electric piano and Hammond organ in Saint Low (to be sure, every member of Wingnut has, at one point, backed up Mary in Saint Low). “Mary was really attracted to Wingnut as a rhythm section for her music — to have this odd jazz band present her songs,” says Stark.
“At the time, I was working at the Rongo, and Wingnut would play there,” Mary Lorson recalls. “They were amazing; I had not been in town very long, and I was captivated by them.”
“I love what he brings to my music,” Lorson continues. “He’ll bring out so many colors in my compositions that I didn’t know were there, particularly in my early songs. He’s very gifted.”
Wingnut, Meet Hank Roberts
More recently, for the past few months, cellist Hank Roberts has been enjoying a popular residency at the Lost Dog Lounge. Stark backs Roberts up most times he takes the Lost Dog stage, but their roots go back much further, to the days when Stark first moved to Ithaca in the mid-90s. “In the early and mid 90s, I was really into the downtown, avant-garde side of the jazz scene [in New York City],” says Stark. “So when I first moved to town, I shortly realized that he had been playing with those other jazz guys that I had seen play in Manhattan all the time. I was just in awe of him.”
As of late, Hank Roberts’ residency at the Lost Dog has featured some of the most exciting improv-based music in quite some time. “Hank writes some really challenging music!” Stark laughs. “We’re all super sensitive with each other. A lot of the time, we won’t have any idea about the music we’re going to play, not even the key we’re in. Someone just makes a sound and all of a sudden… it happens. It’s nice to play where you really have to listen to each other, because that’s the only way, there’s no other music to turn back to. Hank is really inspiring to do that kind of thing with because he’s just about the most sensitive musician I’ve ever played with, in terms of listening, and a sense of ‘anything goes.’”
“Over the past 10 years I’ve been enjoying a very satisfying and unique abstract conversation through music with Mike. There’s a lot of understanding there,” Hank Roberts recently told me. “It’s great to work with someone who’s so absolutely committed to music. One of the things that initially attracted me to Mike’s playing was his understanding and appreciation for R&B, jazz, and all things improvisatory, including swing phrasing and other more abstract forms. He knows how to make it funky, he knows how to swing and he knows how to go ‘out there.’ I love the way he’s constantly shaping the tone and timbre with the tone bars on the Hamilton… The sound is transformational with the moment and alive. He has a very individualistic and fluid sound.”
So what’s next for Wingnut? “We’ve been working on a new record, and I feel like we’ve been overdue for a new record for some time now,” says Stark. “We’ve had some hurdles to get over, but now, we’re playing more than we were a few years ago.” Indeed, Wingnut will take the stage at Castaways this Thursday, January 24. The show will feature Hank Roberts, with Eliot Rich opening up.
Karma Chameleon
Although Stark performs a wide range of musical genres — often flip-flopping styles from night to night — he’s still managed to balance them all, and find his own voice in the process. “Finding a balance can be pretty challenging. It definitely keeps me on my toes,” admits Stark. “But I think one of the things that I’ve always craved is to try to dive deep into any one style that I play that really hits home with me — and that’s a lot of different music. So I really try to not think about the fact that I’m in all of these different bands, when I’m actually playing. I try to be in the moment with that group and really get to the root of the songwriter — how they got to make this music, where they’re coming from. And hopefully they end up relating, somehow,” Stark laughs.
It’s a sensitive skill, certainly, and one that every single person he’s collaborated with can vouch for. Stark’s ability to listen well is one of his greatest strengths, and why everyone likes working with him so much.
“There is no one else like Michael,” says Lorson. “He’s the most responsive, attentive musician I’ve ever known. The way he listens, and the way he understands a piece of music is unlike any musician I’ve met. He’s worked with music his entire life, and I’ve learned so much from him,” she finishes.
Piano Man
In the past four or five years, Stark has also worked a great deal with folk singer-songwriter Jennie Stearns, and he can be found all over Stearns’ lush, lovely record, Sing Desire. “Jennie is really into minimalist, bare bones, warm songwriting — where you could hear a pin drop, or the floor creaking,” says Stark. “She’ll write the tune on her own, on a guitar, and she’ll play the song and sing it for me. I just try to listen, and then I’ll try to play it with her. I can hear little melodies spring up in the chords, and so I voice the chords in my own way behind her.”
Earlier in 2007, Jennie Stearns held a long-term residency at Felicia’s Atomic Lounge, where she was often accompanied by Stark’s dreamy piano playing. The nights were magical and serene, punctuated with moments of melancholic clarity and a fierce connection flowing between the two performers. “I loved those nights,” Stark recalls. “I felt like Jennie and I kind of grew a lot, and realized our potential.”
“Music seems to inhabit Mike’s every fiber. His enthusiasm and dedication to his art are revealed through his playing,” Jennie Stearns recently wrote to me. “We’ve played everywhere from the Paradiso in Amsterdam to a dive in NYC, and each experience is a treasure. When I play with Mike I have to be very disciplined not to be distracted by the gems he creates.”
On Sunday, Feb. 10, Stark will rejoin Stearns and the rest of her band at Felicia’s for a show at 7 p.m. Stark told us about his ambitions to work on a duo record with Stearns. “That is something I would really like to do someday,” he says.
Traveling Abroad
With the start of 2008, Stark can be found spending most of his time with a handful of very different, but equally interesting projects. As a member of Johnny Dowd’s band as well as the left-hand organ bass player for J-san & the Analogue Sons, Stark will be quite a busy man in the following months. Stark will tour with J-san through the East Coast and Midwest from the end of January through March.
Stark’s been playing with J on and off for the last eight or nine years, but the latest incarnation of J-san & the Analogue Sons seems to be clicking. “We’re really determined to get working. I think J kind of came to a place with his music where he got tired of waiting for the industry to come to him, so he really pushed it on his own, and that’s how I am with projects, too,” Stark says.
With the forthcoming tour and a fan following that continues to grow overseas, particularly in Japan, the dub-reggae group hopes to take off. “The band has evolved so much, both musically and in the business world, pushing things to get to another plateau. The band is starting to shift the sound of it a bit, into a more experimental dub direction. And for me, musically, it’s really challenging.”
The touring won’t end with the J-san tour, either. Shortly thereafter, Stark will leave for a European tour promoting Johnny Dowd’s latest album, A Drunkard’s Masterpiece. Dowd will be joined by Matt Morano on drums and singer Kim Sherwood-Caso.
“I like working with Johnny a lot. It feels really natural,” says Stark. “He tends to bring out the best in people; he’s good at identifying a player and asking things of him. Johnny knows the sound of the band in his head, and he can write accordingly for you.”
Some might say that Stark has more freedom in the Johnny Dowd Band than in some of his other bands — Johnny seems loose and open to suggestions, and Stark’s organ sound is indeed one of the most recognizable elements of the band’s one-of-a-kind, beatnik-country blues sound.
“Our working relationship is excellent. He’s very versatile, but he also has a style of his own and if you want him to open up to it, he’ll bring it to the music,” says Johnny Dowd of Stark. “He brings a nontraditional organ style to the music that he plays with me. He’s very good to work with, very conscientious. And he can drive for hours and hours on the road — an excellent quality in a musician,” Dowd deadpans.
“I don’t play any keyboards, so I just have the basic song, and then I might express to Mike a certain attitude that I would want, like be dreamy, or aggressive, or crazy — but I don’t give specific directions,” Dowd continues. “And sometimes I won’t have any idea, and I’ll ask him about it. It’s all very collaborative in that way. He’s very much a defining part of the Johnny Dowd Band sound.”
Back to the Future
So what’s next for Michael Stark? We have a feeling that his fans and friends alike all hope that he’ll break out with more of his own solo material. “Right now, trying to make my own style grow more is a huge concern for me. One of the biggest and most important things in music, for me, is to do something new. To do something that hasn’t been heard before. That’s my main thing, and that’s within any style,” Stark says firmly. “That’s all I’m really concerned about, so as long as I keep track of that, new things will continually develop within my style.”
These days, Stark is so busy it’s near impossible to find the few precious hours a week to work on his solo material. He’d also like to do more work with scoring music for films. “I’m really anxious to do that more, but I have so many things going on,” Stark sighs. “For a while, I was pretty prolific with writing, but lately, I feel like I’m falling behind a bit with some of my own music. That can be frustrating, but I’m determined and working on it.”
Nevertheless, Stark has been able to work a lot of his musical concepts and ideas into his work with other groups. Stark reflects, “I would love to get a record out with my own solo stuff, and not just me solo, but it could be a band. I’ve messed around with singing on my own, and I have lyrics, and I definitely plan on putting some other music out there that’s my own, and that’s not instrumental. It’s something that I feel like I need to do… It’s just a matter of when.”
After all, he’ll need a break from the road eventually. “I’m really into the idea of finding other avenues besides dogging it out on the road, although I really enjoy traveling and performing in other places. But if I’m around Ithaca for too long without playing in other places, I get really antsy. It can be exhausting, but I like the balance: I like going out, and then I like coming home.”
More recently, Stark has enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with another of Ithaca’s most talented players, the drummer Willie B (who also incorporates organ bass pedals into his drum setup), under the moniker Tzar. “We’ve been playing together forever, although Tzar is fairly new, about two years old,” explains Stark. “We’re working hard on our second record right now, and we’re hoping to be done by March or so. I really like challenging myself, and an ongoing priority with me and Willie is challenging ourselves and trying to make breakthroughs with our minds, as far as being independent thinkers.”
“I’ve known him since 1996 or 1997, when he started Wingnut,” recalls Willie B. “Later on, we had a house band up at Stella’s that was really fun, and it just snowballed from there. And Michael is so great. The strange thing about him, is he’s like a chameleon. He can play the piano, the Rhodes organ, electric piano… anything. He’s so learned. Michael is really easy to work with, he’s got good ears and a great musical background. His harmonic vocabulary is vast, and he grabs onto new ideas really easily. I love the organ, but I love the way he plays the organ. That’s my favorite, the way he plays the Hammond. He gets so much sound out of it.”
It’s hard to imagine Ithaca without Michael in it — he may not be Ithaca’s flashiest musician, but he’s certainly one of our most precious. Perhaps Jennie Stearns put it best: “Mike is a gift to this town, and those who haven’t seen him play are missing out.”
Wingnut will perform at Castaways on Jan. 24 with Hank Roberts; J-san & the Analogue Sons will perform Castaways Feb. 1 and the Chapter House March 1; Stark will perform solo at the ABC Café on Feb. 10 at 11 a.m., and later that day at Felicia’s with Jennie Stearns at 7 p.m. Catch the Johnny Dowd Band at the Chapter House April 5.
