Moonlight In Vermont – Howard Brofsky, ‘Dr. Bebop’, and the power of curiosity

In 2012, I befriended a legendary trumpeter and cornet player named Howard Brofsky, who was 84 at the time but still performing, writing, and teaching. He passed away in October 2013, and I feel incredibly lucky to have met him, learned from him, and performed with him.

This Sunday, I’ll be hosting the Howard Brofsky Memorial Jazz Jam at what was his favorite bar in DUMBO, 68 Jay Street Bar (RSVP here).

Dr. Bebop

Nicknamed “Dr. Bebop”, Brofsky grew up in Brooklyn. While studying classical music and composition, he also pursued his true love, jazz. He’d tell me stories of following Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie around town, trying to absorb this revolutionary idiom called bebop. Throughout his career, he befriended and performed with some of the greatest jazz musicians, including Jimmy Heath, Sir Roland Hannah, and Donald Byrd. Brofsky is also the founder of the jazz program at Queens College, where I studied and met him.

In 2012, I started playing with Howard at 68 Jay Street Bar in a series he organized called “Dr. Bebop and the Glocals” (think global, act local). We’d play a set of music and then open it up for a jam session, where many local musicians would come and sit in. This bi-monthly event created a wonderful community of jazz lovers and musicians, and it’s in this spirit that we’ll be performing some of Howard’s favorite jazz songs this Sunday.

Never too old to learn

One of the things that I admired most about Howard was his relentless desire to keep learning and growing. A few weeks before he passed away, when he was in pretty bad health and things weren’t looking great, he told me he took a few trumpet lessons with Michael Mossman (the trumpet Professor at Queens College) because “I need to work on my chops.” One would think his trumpet chops wouldn’t be the first of his worries, but for Howard, it was.

Howard’s deep love for music, along with his ability to remain curious and allow himself to be inspired right up until the end, moves me to this day. I’m grateful to have been part of Howard’s life and can’t wait to perform in his spirit.

Moonlight in Vermont

This week’s reharmonization, Moonlight in Vermont by Karl Suessdorf, is a dedicated to Howard Brofsky. This was one of his favorite jazz standards, unsurprising, as Howard and his wife Robin lived in Vermont for part of the year, and he was a guiding force behind the Vermont Jazz Center.

I love this song—it’s quite unusual in its phrasing. The melody of the A-part consists of phrases of 6 measures, rather than the usual 4 or 8. The lyrics are also unconventional: they don’t rhyme, and each verse is a haiku:

Pennies in a stream
Falling leaves a sycamore
Moonlight in Vermont

Icy finger waves
Ski trails on a mountain side
Snowlight in Vermont

Telegraph cables, they sing down the highway
And travel each bend in the road
People who meet in this romantic setting
Are so hypnotized by the lovely

Evening summer breeze
Warbling of the meadowlark
Moonlight in Vermont

Howard Brofsky Memorial Jazz Jam

I hope you join us this Sunday, September 25th, at 4pm, as the Glocals, Brofsky’s original house band, will open with a set of music, followed by an open jam session at 5pm. Bring your instruments!

68 Jay Street Bar, DUMBO, Brooklyn

4-7pm
RSVP

Jorn Swart, piano

Tobias Meinhart, saxophone

Curtis Ostle, bass

Jon Fisher, drums

Moonlight In Vermont – Howard Brofsky, ‘Dr. Bebop’, and the power of curiosity

Dr. Bebop

Never too old to learn

Moonlight in Vermont

Howard Brofsky Memorial Jazz Jam

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