East Bay Drive returns to The Homestead’s “Music on the Mountain” series
By Ross Boissoneau
Sun contributor
The concluding show for Music On The Mountain at The Homestead on Sept. 9 will feature the easy-grooving sounds of East Bay Drive, the popular Traverse City-based jazz band. Now an official five-piece, it will be augmented again this year by special guest Miriam Pico on vocals.
The band is an outgrowth of happenstance and shared interests. When longtime Traverse City pianist David Chown was forced to leave his studio at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, his occasional bandmate Rick Kiehle suggested they go in together on a space that could serve as an office and studio for both of them. That would also allow them to enlist others as their musical needs dictated.
They signed a lease at the Tru-Fit Trouser building on Woodmere in December 2019. Three months later, the pandemic struck and live work came to a halt. “We had just moved things in,” says Kiehle. Cobbling together materials, they were able to outfit the space with enough equipment and plexiglass sheets to safely operate within the boundaries established by the government.
Unable to play for live audiences as venues were shut down, they turned inward, and began working with friends. Eventually they settled into a four-piece, with Chown on keyboards, Kiehle on guitar, John Paul on bass and Alex Wyant on drums. They had all played together previously in various configurations, and found they shared an affinity for tuneful crossover jazz by such musicians as Bob James, David Sanborn, the Rippingtons and others.
With no live audiences, they set up a high-end streaming service for those who wanted to continue to perform while observing the social distancing restrictions. MusicHub Live became both a studio and audio/visual service.
Once the restrictions were lifted, the core four continued to work together. Guest saxophonist Ryan Critchfield fit in so well they made him a permanent member, and today East Bay Drive is officially a five-piece band. It plays arrangements of popular jazz and jazz-inflected tunes, such as songs by Steely Dan, Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love” and other pop-jazz favorites.
“The four of us and Ryan played in the Northwestern Michigan College big band,” notes Kiehle. “Ryan was just a perfect fit. He’s got a great personality and plays his horn like a mensch. He’s kind and humble and made it easy to try anything. We did the Scully tour (a weeklong tour of West Michigan towns overseen by Tim Scully), and had so much fun we formally asked him to join.”
Critchfield brings another key strength to the band: Like the others, he enjoys writing original music. That continues to serve the group well as they write and record. Last year the group released its first EP of original music, and the group is currently recording enough new music to make that EP a complete album.
“We have four new tunes ready to record,” says Kiehle. “Two more are getting there.”
One of the band’s original ideas was to work together to back singers. They’ve done some recording with John Paul’s musical partner Rhett and have also worked with Skyelea Martin Fitch, one of Chown’s former students in the audio-tech program at Northwestern Michigan College. They may be joined at this show by another of Chown’s students, Rheanna Gilzene. She accompanied the group on some of this year’s Scully tour dates.
The featured guest vocalist this year is Chown’s longtime duo partner, Miriam Pico, who also guested at last summer’s show at The Homestead. It was a hit, drawing the biggest crowd of the year. That stretches the band’s repertoire to including more vocal tunes, including Motown favorites.
“Miriam and I have been working together for 19 years,” says Chown. While they no longer perform together as often, that longstanding relationship enables them to easily adapt to one another and the band configuration.
Most artists decry labels, but when pressed Kiehle described East Bay Drive’s sound as contemporary cool jazz. When joined by Pico, that definition gets stretched to the breaking point, as it opens up the group to more pop favorites.
As evidenced by the crowds the group draws on the Scully tours, at the Music House and at the finale of Music On The Mountain last time around, whatever you want to call it, it works.
“The gigs we are doing are listener-oriented concert style,” says Kiehle. “We’re getting a warm reception.”
Tickets are $22 and are available at TinyUrl.com/tickets-MOTM. As the sun will set shortly after 8 p.m., this show will begin a half-hour earlier than the others, starting at 6:30 p.m.
