Brookline resident Dan Fox manages
myriad musical acts
By Susie Davidson
Advocate Correspondent
When Dan Fox and other Berklee students
joined up for a student recital 13 years ago, they never dreamed it would
become a long-term, international gig. The origins were humble, the mission
nondescript. ÒWe didn't know the traditional jazz style very well, but we knew
it was fun,Ó said Fox, a Brookline resident who, today, operates the
management/booking agency Made in the Shade Music.
They opted to keep the fun going. ÒThat
Fourth of July, we went to the Boston Common with the handful of New
Orleans-style jazz and swing tunes we knew,Ó said Fox. To their surprise,
audiences loved it. ÒThe following summer we played almost every day on the
Common, Harvard Square or Downtown Crossing,Ó he recalled. They began to get
gigs, and following graduation, found themselves playing on the streets of 10
countries in Europe over a three month period. The band has been together ever
since, playing clubs, concerts halls and festivals. In conjunction with Young
Audiences of Massachusetts, the group has also appeared at over 300 schools,
teaching students about the history of jazz and improvisation. Its musical
pallet has broadened as well.
ÒThe core musicians from Made in the Shade
were so versatile that we started other groups,Ó explained Fox, who now manages
The Sticky Skillet Swing Orchestra, The Royal Island Players, which span
calypso, reggae and Latin, and the Holiday Brass Quartet. ÒWe also play Irish
and Jewish, as well as classical and rock and soul covers,Ó he said. The
groups, wholly composed of other Berklee grads, range from two to eight pieces
in size.
Made in the Shade, who recently released their third CD, Clarinet Marmalade, played in the
BrooklineÕs Emerson Park Concert series this summer. The group has performed
three times at the Boston Globe and Newport Jazz Festivals, and has appeared
live on WGBH, WERS, WICN and the cable TV jazz show Studio One.
Fox has kept busy with additional
involvements of his own. After Berklee, he toured and recorded for five years
with the Grammy-nominated jazz group Either/Orchestra. With the Ben Swift Band,
an original rock act with which he toured for four years, he has contributed
his electrified trombone playing to television soundtracks throughout the
world. He plays electric bass as
well, and has recently taken up the tuba. Locally, he has played with The Fully
Celebrated Orchestra, the Greg Hopkins Big Band, Lou Colombo, and Felicia
Brady.
Fox was born in Chicago in 1969; his
family, Polish Jews on his motherÕs side and German Jews on his fatherÕs, moved
to Berkeley, California when he was nine. ÒI started on trumpet in 5th grade
and soon changed to trombone,Ó he said, recalling his interest in the High
School's award-winning jazz band. ÒWhile other kids were listening to rap,
rock, and pop, I was listening to Bird, Diz, and Trane,Ó he said. His older
sister, a trombonist as well, was a music major in college. He enrolled at
Berklee in 1988. Married with a child on the way, he has achieved
self-sufficiency as a musician.
ÒI really enjoy playing Jewish music,Ó he said, noting that when the band plays a hora at a wedding, the energy generated by the music and the dancing is incredible. ÒWith Made in the Shade we have a lot of fun interpreting Jewish tunes,Ó he added. ÒFor
example, we do a version of
"Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof in 7/8 meter, and we play
ÒSimcha DanceÓ starting slow and gradually getting up to almost warp speed.Ó
The band has also found that ÒIf I Were a Rich Man" lends itself well to a
reggae feel.
Made in the Shade played an Oct. 17 benefit
for the American Cancer Society as part of Music for a Cause, a concert series
based at 38 Cameron St., Cambridge, which partners selected musicians with the
organization of their choice. On Nov. 16, the Dan Fox Quartet, featuring Ben
Monder on guitar, John Lockwood on bass and John McLellan on drums will be
performing at St. MarkÕs School in Southboro. For more information on Made in
the Shade Music, please visit http://www.madeintheshademusic.com.