Venerable Union jazz event resumes

“Behind the Beat,” back at a better time at the Memorial Union, features some of the best jazz talent around in a comfortable, laid-back atmosphere.

The event is the brainchild of the Performing Arts Committee of the Wisconsin Union Directorate. It’s every Friday, 4-6 p.m. in the Rathskeller in winter and on the Terrace in spring, weather permitting.

“Behind the Beat” this semester kicks off Friday, Feb. 2 with Moses Petrou’s “Beats, Rhymes and Bass Lines” in the Rathskeller.

Upcoming performers include Erica Mather, Feb. 16; Sapphire Tonics, March 2; and Ben Hans, April 20. On Feb. 23, BTB is hosting a special show featuring “Ladies Must Swing,” a 17-piece female jazz band. The event coincides with the performance in the Union Theater the following night by famed jazz violinist Regina Carter.

The significance of “Behind the Beat,” according to Michael Goldberg, is that is attracts high-quality jazz talent from the campus, community and beyond and offers them a low-key, friendly environment to jam with colleagues before an appreciative audience.

“There is a lot of mixing and matching going on among jazz musicians,” says Goldberg, director of the Wisconsin Union Theater and program advisor to the Performing Arts Committee. “During a season, people will float in and out, performing with the various jazz groups or individuals. They are not exclusively linked to UW, though many are students and many used to be. But they like to play here because it’s a nice gig.

“It’s a jam opportunity for musicians to play in front of an appreciative audience, and bring in their friends to join them.”

Many accomplished jazz artists have played on Friday afternoons over the years: BTB alums include Leo and Ben Sidran, Roscoe Mitchell, Richard Davis, The Big Band, the Little Big Band, Les Thimmig and Jeff Eckles, the jazz bassist who has performed “with all sorts of different people,” says Goldberg. “He teaches at UW-Whitewater, and sometimes brings in his band from there, the Whitewater Rafters.”

Erica Mather also returns regularly to perform — as a student, she was the BTB coordinator. That job is held today by co-coordinators Sam Khazai and CJ Wagner.

“It is a great way to relax after a busy week,” says Wagner, “to sit with friends and socialize, or study while listening to some of Madison’s best musicians.”

In the early ’80s, the WUD Theater Arts Committee started “Mornings with Mozart,” now called “Bagel and Bach,” featuring classical musicians from the Music School performing live during breakfast at Lakefront Café. At that time, one of Goldberg’s students, Jill Kowal, thought that the group should do a similar event for jazz. So, with Goldberg’s help, the committee decided to create a regular, low-key music series that would feature campus and local jazz artists.

“With more than 500 music majors, we figured we‚d have no trouble getting people to perform, even for a modest stipend,” says Goldberg. “What began about 10 years ago as Jazz Juggernaut in the Rath on Thursday evenings eventually became Behind the Beat on Fridays, and has featured some of the best jazz talent in the area over the years.”

Behind the Beat goes on Fridays in the Rathskeller. Be there, or, as the old-time jazz musicians might say, be square.