V.S.O.P. #36  JON METZGER QUARTET: OUT OF THE DARK

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This recording was released on V.S.O.P. RECORDS in 1986 and was one of the first new recordings that were published on our label.   It features a quartet comprised of Jon Metzger on vibes, Fred Hersch on piano, Marc Johnson on bass and Joey Baron on drums.  The following liner notes from the LP best describe what this recording is all about:

"Out of the Dark" is an intensely revealing musical portrait of an emerging new star on the jazz vibes, Jon (pronounced "Yon") Metzger.  From the darkness comes light, and out of the deep shadows off-stage, now moving into the national jazz spotlight, Jon Metzger comes, bringing with him a brilliant jazz conception and finely polished musical skills in composition, technique, style and the all-important sense of swing necessary to the communication of jazz.

A Washington D.C. area native (born July 30, 1959), Jon began private studies at the age of eight, and in 1970 he started his mallet percussion career with the D.C. Youth Orchestra.  During high school years at Langley, VA he became involved with jazz improvisation, playing vibes in the high school band under director George Horan.

Jon's early influences stem from attending a Milt Jackson concert in D.C. in the mid-70s and meeting musicians like Count Basie, Dave Brubeck and Jimmy Heath at jazz festivals where the Langley High School Band performed.  Soon after hearing Bags, Jon also became impressed with Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton.

After high school graduation in 1977, Jon wanted to get a classical music background, continuing his mallet percussion studies under the direction of Massie Johnson at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, where he went on to receive a bachelor's degree in music.

Jon's enthusiasm and growing sophistication in the art of jazz improvisation drew notice from faculty members, and in his sophomore year, the NCSA International Music Program sponsored his quartet in a performance tour of Germany and Italy.

Jon continued playing jazz in North Carolina throughout his college days and formed his own quartet of fellow students, playing jazz clubs in Greensboro, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham and Winston-Salem.  He also jammed and freelanced with musicians of stature like Buddy DeFranco, Duffy Jackson and clarinetists Bill Smith.  Eventually he established himself as one of the premier artists in the area.

Following graduation, Jon taught music at Oak Ridge Academy in Greensboro, where he created a music curriculum while still continuing forays into the jazz world, including work with Keter Betts and appearances at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, the River Bend Festival in Chattanooga, TN and the Jamfest Festival in Kingston, Jamaica with Donald Byrd and Lionel Hampton.

During this time, Jon made his first jazz recording, a New York studio session with Phil Markowitz, piano; Marc Johnson, bass (Marc is also on "Out of the Dark"); and Ted Moore on drums.  This 1984 session was released on audio cassette and Jon has succeeded in selling over 1,500 copies at his concerts and club engagements, no small testament to his appeal and popularity among those who have heard him.

The finished product, "Jon Metzger/Vibes," was submitted to the National Endowment for the Arts and Jon was awarded an NEA Jazz Fellowship Grant for Performance.  Among the benefits of receiving the NEA grant was the subsequent selection by the United States Information Agency Arts America Program of Jon's group for a tour of Central America.  His group toured Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama during October and November, 1985.

After this succesful tour, Jon returned to his present home in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. to present a very well received Corcoran Art Gallery concert in November, 1985.

Which brings the tale to the present recording.  The remarkable group cohesiveness evident in "Out of the Dark" was brought about at the suggestion of recording engineer Chris Brown who also handled Jon's first recording session at Fred Hersch's Classic Sound Studio.  Chris suggested that Jon record with an established trio and recommended Fred Hersch, Marc Johnson and Joey Baron. 

Hersch has worked extensively with Art Farmer, Stan Getz, Toots Thielemans and Joe Henderson, recorded his own trio album with Johnson and Baron, and just released a duo album with saxist Jane Ira Bloom, as well as completing an ambitious recording project with Eddie Daniels and symphonic orchestra. 

Johnson is currently one the great jazz bassists on the scene today, having played with the late Bill Evans, with Stan Getz, and is now involved with guitarist John Scofield in the group "Bass Desires."  Baron is the drummer with Lew Tabackin's trio and the Akiyoshi Tabackin Big Band, and is now active as a freelancer in New York, after making his mark on the West Coast jazz scene for many years.

The group on this album was together for ony four days and the seasoned professionalism of these experienced jazz sidemen helped Jon handle the task at hand with spirit and aplomb.  This is music that is easily assimilated.  Its essence is that of attuned personability,  and like any perfect image, it will not face away and is not easily forgotten.

OUT OF THE DARK, written by Metzger, is about coming up with something and coming out with it.  There's a feeling of confidence that emanates from this performance that sets the pace for the entire album.  Jon says of his writing, "I try not to over-write so that the improviser has room left to create something himself....I concentrate on good melody, interesting harmonies and possibilities for  tension and release."

After Metzger's opening solo statement on "Out of the Dark" which introduces his compelling and swinging improvisational style, Hersch offers a strong chorus and Jon takes the tune out.

SUMMERSONG was written by Fred Hersch and originally appeared on an Art Farmer album, "Work of Art."  The melody line has a Brazilian tinge to it, and you may be reminded of Clare Fischer's classic "Penstiva."

SHERWOOD'S PARTY is a ballad, the slow pace contrasted by a double time bridge to enhance the feeling of tension and release.  Jon says he wrote this to play at gigs where they ask him not to play any ballades: a sensitive remembrance of good times.   After Metzger's solo, Marc Johnson offers an example of his bass work that is exemplary.

BELIZEAN BUMP was written by Metzger after returning from his Central American tour.  The bouncy feeling is a comical musical sketch depicting a slow drive down bumpy dirt roads in this small country.  Baron really puts the pots on the stove on this one, a happy, carefree swinger of a tune in which Metzger, Hersch and Baron create swinging frolic in their solos.

REMEMBERING GOOFAR is another Metzger original.  "Goofar" is an imaginary childhood playmate, and the song is designed to express the happiness and well being of creating music for the sheer joy of creating.  That can certainly be heard in the performance!  After the elegant theme is stated, first in rubato fashion, Metzger, Hersch and Johnson solo effectively.  Hersch is an extremely adept pianist who picks up on every nuance of the tune in his wonderful solo, and Johnson has another articulate outing, as well.

MIRAGE is Fred Hersch's second composition on the record.  Fred originally composed this with bassist George Mraz in mind for another Art Farmer record also titled "Mirage."  Metzger interprets this slow, sensitive ballad gracefully, and the trio performs with immaculate perception.

LINDA'S BACK is a happy swinger and a fitting close for the musical proceedings, probably the most straight ahead tune on the album.  Everybody wails on this one.

When you've heard "Out of the Dark", I think you'll agree that Jon Metzger's arrival on the jazz scene is an important one.  It is not the kind of debut record in which the artist must lean artistically on the style of his predecessors on the instrument.  Happily, Jon Metzger has come along and he's really saying something of his own.  You can't miss it!

                                                              JEFF BARR                                                                                                               1986

Recording produced by Jon Metzger

Project Coordinator:  Linda Brookshire

Engineers:  Chris Brown, Judy Elliott-Brown

Recorded at Classic Sound Studio, New York, November, 1985.

Cover:  Sean Murphy

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