November Trio

by Christi Marsico
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 12:12 PM MST

For Ben Waters, jazz is about communicating a feeling through each moment. It's about the improvised aspect that musicians bring to the table.

It's about playing music that makes memories.

On Saturday, Feb. 23, from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m., the blues boys of the November Trio, comprised of Waters, Matt Smiley and Steve Kovalcheck, will create an ambience all their own.

Their free performance is scheduled at Elixir's, 303 S. Wolcott, above the 303 restaurant.

Waters looks forward to playing in his hometown, where he believes there are venues that support live jazz, plus a lot of room for diversity.

"Casper has people who are willing to take the journey with the musicians, and they have a tendency to interact with the scene," Waters said.

The biggest difference between music and other art forms lies in the production process for him.

"What you see is the journey with all the stopping points, creating the story that we tell, and what the audience observes is the visual process, the spontaneity on stage," Waters said.

Creating a mood that will vary throughout the evening, November Trio desires to play compositions that will enhance and add to others’ experiences.

Original compositions, as well as standard repertoires of jazz, will be featured in the vein of a "straight ahead" style. And, according to Waters, that style stems from bee bop, hard bee bop, post bop and modern jazz.

Melding all of the influences together to create their own sound, November Trio fuses live moments with comfort, as their sense of camaraderie unites.

Part of the bliss of being in a trio is knowing where the others are going in the music, and also supporting those moments.

As Waters simply states, "We're friends who challenge each other."

Waters on voyage

Waters was born in November, and after scheduling gigs during that month, the name seemed to choose itself.

With Waters on drums, Smiley who's from Tennessee on bass, and the Virginian Kovalcheck on guitar, November Trio makes room to makes noise by taking chances and loving what they do best.

After graduating from Natrona Country High School in 1996, Waters attended Northwest College in Powell for two years.

When he finished his undergraduate degree in jazz studies in Fairbanks at the University of Alaska, he and his new bride moved to New York.

There, Waters played freelancing gigs for two years while his wife attended graduate school for piano performance in Ithaca.

Waters decided to go back to graduate school himself and attended the University of Northern Colorado's Master's of Fine Arts program, which he just completed last spring.

Currently residing in Greeley, and when he's not playing gigs, Waters is the publishing manager of the Jazz Press. It provides a library of jazz publishing music, as well as teaches music lessons.

Embracing that "even an amazingly gifted musician needs a back-up plan, which provides the opportunity to create music," Waters is all about the voyage he's experiencing.

Making music and memories, the November Trio is looking forward to giving back a little bee bop, blues and jazz with all of the trimmings in Casper.

For more information, e-mail bth2os@gmail.com.

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