By K. Michelle Moran
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Jason Gittinger of Warren isn’t a Detroit native, but he’s as committed to improving the fortunes of the community’s rich jazz scene as someone who’s been here for a lifetime.
Backed by some of the area’s leading jazz players (called The Gittinger Group on the album), drummer Gittinger recently released “Solitary,” his first album of jazz originals (most penned by collaborator and guitarist David Mason). But he’s trying to promote more than his own work. He’s also formed an organization called the Detroit Jazz Collective, with the hope of sending groups of three stylistically diverse Detroit-based jazz acts to perform shows together in other cities.
“Not a lot of people from town here do that, but what’s funny is, Detroit jazz musicians tend to be pretty prominent [in the field],” Gittinger observed.
Gittinger wants to make sure that the next generation of aspiring musicians can hone their chops as well. With Grosse Pointe South High School Band Director Dan White, he’s in the process of putting together a high school jazz workshop at which students can study with professional local musicians.
It’s that selflessness that has led colleagues such as Ann Arbor saxophonist Mark Kieme to call Gittinger “a great guy … Everyone I know that works with him loves to work with him.”
Kieme, who played tenor and soprano sax for several tracks on “Solitary,” said Gittinger established a friendly environment in his studio that helped with production of the album.
“The music is deep, engaging and challenging harmonically,” Kieme said of “Solitary.” “It’s music that lends itself to repeated listening … [and] Jason’s a really great player, and that comes through on the record.”
Gittinger, who also teaches music and runs his own record label, has worked with everything from worldbeat to blues to Dixieland to Orthodox Jewish wedding bands. He’s performed around the world, and his music has been used in advertising campaigns for a number of major companies, ranging from Cadillac to Buffalo Wild Wings.
For his own project, he assembled what he describes as an “eclectic electric jazz ensemble.” While the caliber of the players means not everyone on the album is available for all of the live gigs, Gittinger’s already planning his next project.
“At some point, you have to invest in yourself, as they say, to create your own product,” Gittinger said. Having put together his own record has “made me more comfortable with the stuff that I do or that I have done, and I can listen to myself now and not cringe so much … and be comfortable with the fact that everything that I played was a valid thing to play at that time, because it’s me saying something on my instrument.”
The Gittinger Group will perform during a record release party for “Solitary” July 12 at the Music Menu in downtown Detroit’s Greektown. The band is also slated to perform at the Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival in downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza over the Labor Day weekend. For more on Gittinger and his productions, log onto www.gititproductions.com, or send e-mail to gititpr@gititproductions.com.