Every JDS student is familiar with weekly Kab Shab musical performances. However, what might be a hobby for some became a career for jazz pianist Jack Gruber (‘14). Gruber went to JDS from grades 7-12, and was involved with music throughout his time at the school, including being a member of the high school band.
Gruber will be one of the artists-in-residence at the Strathmore Hall Foundation in April. In this position he will partake in two performances, one on April 9 and the other on April 23. He will also run a workshop on April 16 about his specific improvisational music style. This style was developed as a result of Gruber listening to popular songs on the radio, and experimenting with playing them in his own way.
“My second concert is going to be me with a string quartet, which is going to be super fun,” Gruber said. “And then I’m going to be giving a workshop on trying to combine jazz improvisation and modern pop music in ways that could reach more people.”
The artist-in-residence program was introduced at Strathmore in 2005 to support new musicians and give them performance opportunities. Six musicians were chosen for April through a selective process in which they send in recordings of them playing, and judges pick the best ones to audition in person.
Gruber’s biggest inspirations are his parents, who are both musicians, and his former JDS music teacher, Charles Ostle. Gruber’s parents encouraged him to start playing piano from a young age.
“They basically just put a piano in my room and waited,” Gruber said.
Gruber’s parents signed him up for lessons when he was 7-years-old, and later participated in a summer camp program at Paul Carr’s Jazz Academy of Music at Sligo Creek Elementary School in Silver Spring. Gruber says this was very important to his development as a musician.
“I remember Jack being a brilliantly talented pianist and extremely kind and always with a broad smile on his face,” High School Assistant Principal Aileen Goldstein said.
After graduating from JDS, Gruber went to the Manhattan School of Music, where he attended both the undergraduate and graduate programs. After that, he spent time performing at various music gigs around both New York and D.C., including performing at the D.C. Jazz Festival.
Pianist and freshman Ayla Gerstenblith, who has listened to Kira Koplow Reporter Gruber’s music, appreciates Gruber’s style of improvisational piano and the way he contrasts different instruments with the piano.
“I really liked the improv, and I really liked his interpretation of jazz style,” Gerstenblith said. “I think it’s really cool the way he played the chords and played them in different times.”
Some advice that Gruber would give to young musicians is to play whatever music they enjoy, and pursue their passions. This is the same advice that Gruber has followed, and he is very happy with where he ended up.
“I think, more than anything, just follow the thread of your in- terests,” Gruber said. “Just follow that to wherever it leads. And I think you’re going to find yourself there.”
Gruber believes his time at JDS was very important for his growth as a musician. He believes that his Kab Shab performances and being a member of the high school band gave him many opportunities to perform, which helped him develop his own personal form of self-expression through music. A challenge for him as an improvisational artist has been trying not to plan what he is going to play ahead of performances, and just breathing before he goes on stage.
“If you say, ‘I’m gonna play this thing right now,’ what do you think happens?” Gruber asked. “It never works out ever. It’s always gonna be kind of weird and sloppy, so I try to let things flow through me as much as I can.”
