UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 19, Page 3
February 10, 1994
University connection; Footprints makes mark on local jazz scene

     It was a cold and miserable night outside Newark's Bourbon Street
Cafe, but inside the crowd was warm and the jazz was cool, thanks to
Footprints, a band with a strong University connection.
     The group was performing on Jan. 7, when the first ice storm of 1994
hit the East Coast, knocking out power and making travel a high-risk
adventure.
     "It was a nasty night to load and unload equipment," said Alan Hamant,
associate professor of music, "but when you play, that's what you have to
do."
     Threats of snow and ice and hazardous driving conditions failed to
deter the band, or the crowd.
     "The weather was terrible, but the roads that I had to travel were not
all that bad," said piano and keyboard player Michael Arenson, associate
professor of music.
     "I didn't have much trouble getting there, but getting from the
parking lot to the cafe was pretty tough," said saxophonist Vernon James.
"The parking lot looked like a sheet of glass."
     The number of people who showed up to hear the music took the band by
surprise.
     "I was amazed that there was anybody out there at all," Hamant said.
     Tom Palmer, drummer and teacher of drum set and jazz chamber ensemble
at the University, agreed.
     "It was a lot of fun playing at the cafe," said Palmer, a 1981
graduate. "The crowd was great."
     Also on hand that night to lend her vocal talents was Deborah Bradley,
office coordinator in the Department of Music.
     "Debbie did a good job," Arenson said.
     Joining Arenson, Hamant, James and Palmer as regular members are
trombonist Ben Hall, bassist Jerry Kirk and guitarist Tony Ventura, a 1971
University graduate who teaches guitar in the Jazz Studies Program at the
University. Among his credits is a tour with entertainer Ben Vereen.
     Many of the musicians in Footprints also can be heard playing in the
Newark area as members of the University of Delaware Faculty Jazz Ensemble.
     "The ensemble plays mostly for events on campus," said Arenson. "In
addition, we play at high schools and jazz festivals trying to recruit
prospective students for the music department."
     A desire on the part of some members of the ensemble to play more
often in a less formal setting led to the formation of Footprints.
     "We had been working a job for a couple of months," Hamant said. "When
the job ended we decided that we wanted to keep playing. We rounded up a
few more people, and that's how the band got started."
     Footprints takes its name from a Miles Davis composition, which also
doubles as the band's theme song."I chose Footprints because its just a
neat tune," Hamant said. "A friend of mine had sent me a inspirational
story called Footprints. Somehow the song and the story came together, and
that's how the band got its name."
     Arenson said Footprints is something of a commercial venture, but the
members play mostly because they like the music.
     "There is not a lot of money to be made playing jazz in this area,"
Arenson added. "There are just not that many places that offer jazz."
     James, an electronics technician for the music department who also
directs the Second Student Jazz Band, enjoys any chance he gets to perform.
     "I play to practice the craft," James said. "If you don't get a chance
to use it, you will lose it."
     Among his musical influences are saxophonists Kenny Garrett and Bobby
Watson.
     Palmer, who teaches drum set as part of the jazz minor offered at the
University, is one of the band's charter members.
     "I'm just glad to have a chance to play," Palmer said. "We love the
music."
     With its strong horn section, Footprints reminds Palmer of the Miles
Davis Quintet and other horn-oriented groups.
     "I like the style of music we play," Palmer said. "It gives us the
freedom to improvise."
     Playing jazz in a band like Footprints is something of a contrast to
the daily routine of teaching music classes at the university.
     "The main difference between teaching music theory classes and playing
jazz is the type of music involved," Arenson said. "In class, we teach the
great classical masters from 1750 to 1900, while with Footprints we draw
upon the many swing, bebop and traditional jazz standards."
     Music influences for Arenson, who got started in jazz as a kid in a
club in Pensacola, Fla., range from Dave Brubeck to Oscar Peterson and
Chick Corea.
     Footprints, which plays about once a month, offers music by such jazz
masters as Horace Silver, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington,
in addition to compositions by two of its own members.
     "Both Vernon and I have written tunes, and the band plays them every
so often," Hamant said.
     For Hamant, Louis Armstrong, Freddy Hubbard, Chet Baker and Dizzy
Gillespie are among his strongest influences. But, he said he also was
influenced by two musicians on the early Johnny Carson television show.
     "I used to love watching Doc Severinsen and Clark Terry on 'The
Tonight Show' when it originated in New York City," Hamant said. "Those two
guys had a big influence on me as a musician."
     A familiar figure to Blue Hen football fans as the director of the
University of Delaware Marching Band, Hamant also is the booking agent for
Footprints.
     "I just call up the places that have a jazz venue and try to work
something in," Hamant said.
     The manner in which bookings for the band are arranged have changed
since the early days of the band.
     "We used to choose playing dates to fit the schedules of the band
members," Hamant said. "Now we take the jobs first and then figure out how
to get everybody there."
     The next scheduled appearance for Footprints at The Bourbon Street
Cafe, located off the Kirkwood Highway behind Gold's Gym and Accent Music,
is Friday evening, March 25.
                                                  -Jerry Rhodes