They say, “Write about what you know.” So that’s what I did with the Michigan Jazz Suite. The idea of composing a jazz suite dedicated to my home state of Michigan came to me, ironically, as I was sitting on a plane heading to California where I was about to play at a jazz festival. As the son of a United Methodist minister, our family lived in six Michigan cities while I was growing up: Union City, Battle Creek, Rockford, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Muskegon. As a professional musician, I’ve traveled to play gigs all over the state and discovered unexpected treasures from Algonac to Allegan, the Irish Hills to Idlewild , Marquette to Morenci, Saginaw to Saline, Torch Lake to Taquamanon Falls, Paradise to Hell, Northville to South Haven to East Jordan to West Bloomfield. I definitely know Michigan. I decided as I sat there buckled into my airplane seat, “I will honor my home state by composing a series of jazz tunes dedicated to specific people, places and icons of Michigan. And why not start right now?” So I did. By the time we landed in San Francisco four hours later, I had written down 15 possible titles and sketched out musical ideas for several new tunes! It had begun.

Over the next few weeks, the fully realized Michigan Jazz Suite began to take shape as the ideas for songs and arrangements flowed out of me like water from a faucet. It was an incredible feeling to be connected to such potent inspiration and then rejoicing in the completion of each new original piece that held so much meaning for me. It also became clear that there would be no way to fully represent all of the deserving towns, people, and items of historical interest that one could choose to include in a musical opus honoring such an important, diverse and culturally rich state as Michigan. The Michigan Jazz Suite recognizes and explores the greatness of the entire state of Michigan through the prism of these 15 songs inspired by people from Michigan I’ve met, Michigan events I’ve enjoyed, and places I’ve visited with my family throughout Michigan.

Kitchitikipi is the Ojibwe name synonymous with The Big Spring, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsular just off M-149 (15 miles north of US-2) near Thompson. This song is an homage to the ancient first settlers of Michigan, the original native Americans, the Ojibwe (aka Ojibway or Chippewa), Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, Menominee, Miami, Noquet, Potawatomi, Ottawa, Huron (aka Wyandot), Iriquois, and Shawnee tribes who flourished here for centuries, long before anyone ever called this land Michigan.

Soo’s Blues honors the magnificent locks at Sault Saint Marie. Every day, as they have for over a century, the Soo Locks usher dozens of slow-moving super-freighter ships from Lake Superior into Lake Huron and back.

Cherry Jubilee is inspired by the Traverse City Cherry Festival and the Leelanau Peninsula. This title has a double meaning in that the song is loosely based on the musical form of Hoagy Carmichael’s Jubilee. Just add cherries and viola! Cherry Jubilee.

Sleeping Bear is a jazz soundscape that evokes the majesty, mystery, charm and allure of Michigan’s largest and most impressive sand dune. The musical imagery of this impressionistic tone poem is vivid, expressive and dramatic.

I have many wonderful memories of happy days living in Saugatuck, MI and playing jazz along the Lake Michigan coast, being young, having fun and loving life! The title of this song Blue Star comes from the Blue Star Highway, which traverses the coast between Holland and Saint Joseph.

Tulip Time is devoted to the Tulip Time festival held every May in Holland celebrating Holland’s history with Dutch dancing in wooden shoes and traditional attire of the Netherlands, Dutch cuisine, street washing, special concerts, parades, fireworks and, of course, millions of beautiful tulips planted all throughout the town.

Grand was originally conceived as an ode to my “hometown” of Grand Rapids. But as this tune revealed itself, I began to feel that it was proper to also honor the many other famous “Grands” of Michigan including Grandville, Grand Beach, Grand Blanc, Grand Haven, the Grand Hotel, Grand Island, Grand Ledge, Grand Marais, the Grand River, Grand River Avenue, and the Grand Traverse Bay. This optimistic melody affirms all that is Grand about life in Michigan.

Corn Flake is a jazz portrait of Battle Creek, the home of Tony The Tiger and Kellogg’s. Battle Creek is also the town in which I attended kindergarten at Westlake Elementary School in 1968.

I recently contacted Mr. Harwell to inform him about the Michigan Jazz Suite and that I had written a song to honor him. Ernie graciously invited me and my family to have lunch with him and his lovely wife Lula. Both Ernie and Lula are 90 years old and are blessed with good health. We enjoyed several quality hours with the Harwells chatting about baseball, music and life.

I asked him where his famous “called-third-strike” phrase came from. Ernie told me that when he was young, he worked with a speech therapist to overcome a stuttering problem. One of his weekly assignments was to memorize and recite a poem in front of the class. Ernie chose Samuel Walter Foss’ 1899 poem The House By The Side Of The Road. Ernie said, “I guess that poem just stuck inside my head and years later it popped out of my mouth during an on-air baseball broadcast. I decided to keep it in the act and it stuck.”

Paul Keller,
Composer
& String Bass

The House By The Side Of The Road
by Samuel Walter Foss (1899)

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the place of their self-content;
There are souls like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze the paths
Where highways never ran-
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner's seat
Nor hurl the cynic's ban-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I see from my house by the side of the road
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife,
But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,
Both parts of an infinite plan-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead,
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
And still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by -
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish - so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat,
Or hurl the cynic's ban?
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

To me, one of the most important places in Michigan is the Firefly Club in Ann Arbor. The Firefly Club is a beloved community asset, a haven for jazz musicians and a steady place to play music where, for many years, Firefly Club owner and jazz singer Susan Chastain has dedicated her life to nurturing and promoting jazz in Michigan. Waltz Of The Firefly is an anthem of thanks to Susan and the musicians and staff of the Firefly Club.

Sunrise Side is dedicated to the East side of Michigan with its rocky shore lining Lake Huron. Sunrise Side recalls early mornings watching the sun rise in Tawas; afternoons in Au Gres wading in Lake Huron as waves splash on the stony coast; and dusk in Alpena as we huddle around a campfire at land’s end listening to the cry of a lonely sea gull.

I have been blessed to make my living performing jazz. Sometimes I travel out of the state or out of the USA to perform. When I tell folks that I live in Ypsilanti, MI, which is near Detroit, they inevitably say, “Oh! Detroit has such a rich musical history and it has produced so many of the greatest jazz musicians ever. What is it about Detroit? There must be something in the water!” I’ve always thought that would make a great tune title and tribute to the many awesome jazz musicians who call Michigan their home. Michigan’s contributions to jazz history are immeasurable. There’s Something In The Water is an acknowledgement and thanks to the many Michigan jazz musicians who have devoted their lives to this great American art form and have given the world a precious cultural treasure.