Time on His Hands

Time on His Hands

Date Posted: June 24 2008

Written By: Ben Dockery

Bookmark it!

Time on His Hands

Ben Dockery

If you have spent much time in Chicago's jazz scene then you have probably heard the pianist and accordionist Don Stille. If not then you are in for a real treat. For over eleven years local audiences have enjoyed hard swinging performances by the pianist who the Twin Cities Jazz Society named the Mainstream Jazz Pianist of the Year. Stille was also a finalist in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville Florida in 1994. His critical acclaim is matched by a musical association with a stellar who's who of Chicago ensembles. He has played with The Chicago Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, is the accordionist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and is the regular pianist with the Rob Parton’s Jazztech Big Band. Although well known as a Chicago musician, Don is a native of St. Louis. His musical training began at the age of 5.

Many musicians who play at Don's level discover their prodigious abilities at similar ages, but Don was encouraged to study the accordion for a very nonmusical reason. Almost unbelievably, this gifted musician suffered from an acute lack of coordination. Stille recalls that it was difficult for him to even alternate hands when using his fork and knife at the dinner table. After only a week of lessons the coordination problem was almost completely gone. Today his complex rhythmic arrangements often require seemingly miraculous coordination. Don attributes this success to "…the power of music." He cheerfully adds, "And let's not forget the power of the accordion…". His creative propensity was evident from nearly day one. Stille remembers, "…I was reading what I was supposed to learn for the week, but I was improvising on that immediately."

Although he was always adapting his accordion technique to the piano, Stille did not begin formal piano training until the age of 13. It was not long before he was studying at the Institute of Music in St. Louis where some of the classical piano faculty members were also playing in the local jazz scene. As they say, one thing led to another, and by 1971 Don found himself playing as a full time musician in New York City. From there he moved to Quincy, Illinois, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis for sixteen years, and finally returned to Chicago in 1997.

Over fifteen years have passed since Don put out his first album, Aurora’s Dance. His new album, Keys to my Heart, features his trio playing a wide variety of Standards with fresh arrangements and a sophisticated harmonic concept. If you see Don play you are likely to see him perform with some of Chicago's most revered rhythm sections. On this recording the same is true. Stille uses John Bany, Dick Bunn, and Stewart Miller on bass and Charlie Braugham and Bob Rummage on drums. One of the highest marks of a composer or arranger is his or her ability to write for the personnel in the band. Stille has done just that. Each arrangement seems to feature not only the leader’s distinct musical voice but also the unique abilities that each of the sidemen possess. In reference to picking musicians for each tune Don says, "I knew that that was the kind of thing that they really dug doing, so I knew it would come off well in the studio."

What is amazing about this album is the number of factors which change, and at the same time there is a cohesive flow from one selection to the next. It is remarkable to have a trio recording with piano and accordion, a variety of personnel, and a song list diverse enough to contain both Cheek to Cheek and Wayne Shorter's Yes and No. But Don seems to handle these challenges with ease, "if you listen to the album …maybe there is some, a good word you used, compartmentalization. But I think if you look at the whole thing it's just, "Ok how did this particular tune strike me. What feels natural?" Time on my Hands, if you listen to the beginning of that, I just sat down, "Ok …time should imply something rhythmically, and how does that melody line strike me rhythmically?" And I think that comes across, you know, when you hear that. And then in contrast something like Lush Life, you know. I tried to…thinking of Strayhorn, I think of, and I don’t mean this in a negative way, I think of flamboyance, very colorful. So, …I felt very rhapsodic at the beginning of that. So I try to do each thing on its own terms, not thinking of a particular idiom. It's just what comes to mind and what I can call upon in my history, in my background, to make this happen right now."

This ability to see the larger picture is one of Stille's special talents, and it plays no small role in Keys to my Heart's success. When asked about his upcoming recording project scheduled for the end of this year Stille replied, "I’m going to stick with the same trio format. I definitely want to use the same guys,…you know, there are some other players, I might even subdivide it even more on this trip around. …There are a lot of people I really enjoy working with in town here, and that’s always the thing." This natural collaborator appears to show no signs of downsizing any time soon.
Don's philosophy about music is similar to that of Duke Ellington's. Don recently said, "I think if there were a final point I would make, it applies to me and anybody else…and that is that we need…we have to be a student to the end, you know, a student of the art all the way to the end. I mean that should never stop for anybody." Don Stille continues to reap the benefit of his lifelong study. For such a virtuoso Stille never becomes pretentious. His honesty and the humanity in his music is an invaluable part of Chicago’s jazz community.
You are likely to find Don Stille at a number of Chicago’s greatest jazz clubs in any given week. He regularly plays at Chamber’s on certain Thursdays and at Green Dolphin on Wednesday nights. For more information or to contact Don personally you can visit his website under the musicians tab at www.chicagojazz.com.

Don't miss anymore Chicago Jazz Information.
Subscribe to Chicago Jazz magazine / Get A Free CD.
Subscribe to our Chicago Jazz weekly newsletter.