details

New Light will perform at
5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 4, on
the Wayne State University
Pyramid Stage. “The Music
of Elvin Jones” will be the
topic of group members
2:15-3:15 p.m. that day
in the Talk Tent. Festival
performances also can be
viewed at live.detroitjazzfest.
com for free but without the
livestream capability (all four
stages, all four days). It costs
$10 to watch livestream
performances using the app
(Detroit Jazz Fest LIVE!),
which provides festival maps
and other details for free.
Detroitjazzfest.org.

Quartet and the Michigan State
University Jazz Orchestra.
“I was at the Detroit Jazz Festival
last year playing with guitarist John
Abercrombie,” Nussbaum, 61, recalls.
“I played there several times with the
late Michael Brecker [saxophonist]
after working with him from 1987-
1990. Michael was a friend and col-
league and will be remembered by
another panel this year.”
Nussbaum, who has played for
hundreds of recordings, performed
on the Grammy-winning “Don’t Try
This at Home” with Brecker.
“I started studying classical
piano when I was 7 years old,”
says Nussbaum, whose wife of 30
years, Susan, is a special educa-
tion teacher. “During that time, I
was always listening to good music
because my parents had a diverse
record collection.
“When I turned 12, I got serious
about playing the drums in perfor-
mance with other people. Because
I came to the drums from music, I
think that affected my whole point
of view.
“I started playing in bands while
still taking private lessons, but a lot
of what I picked up was from listen-
ing, watching and getting the oppor-
tunity to play with many people who
played better than me and gave me a
chance to learn and develop.”
Nussbaum, raised in the Reform
tradition, remembers his first
paid performance as being at a
Connecticut temple.
With a progressing career in New

York City, Nussbaum worked with
many jazz stars, including pianist
Gil Evans and saxophonists James
Moody and Stan Getz. He also
formed bands, such as BANN with
Seamus Blake, Jay Anderson and Oz
Noy; We3 with Liebman and Steve
Swallow; and The ZZ Quartet with
Ratko Zjaca, Simone Zanchini and
Martin Gjakanovski.
Nussbaum reaches out to the next
generation by holding master classes
at universities and conservatories.
Consulting with instrument makers,
he helped design drums and cym-
bals.
“I recently recorded ‘Silent Voices’
with saxophonists Kirk MacDonald
and Pat LaBarbera,” says the dad
of two 20-somethings who pursue
music as a hobby. “I have a project
coming out soon playing the music
of Lead Belly, who was a very famous
blues and country folk singer.”
The drummer, who did not par-
ticipate in music throughout public
school but took some classes at the
Davis Center for Performing Arts at
City College of New York, believes
he got more out of trying his tal-
ents before live audiences than
he ever could have experienced in
classrooms.
“When I was starting out in New
York City, I was getting the chance
to play with so many people that
I began getting calls to go out and
work,” he explains. “That’s what I did.
My formal education, as such, was
by doing. I had a chance to walk the
walk, not just talk the talk.” •

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August 24 • 2017

47