June 20th, 2007
SPOTLIGHT: Paul Tillotson
By Frank De Blase on May 16th, 2007

Call it an urge or a compulsion; but pianist Paul Tillotson understands a musician's frontier spirit. He understands the drive to boldly go where no one has gone before in search of the un-played or yet-to-be-played. You know, those notes and phrases and patterns that taunt musicians in all their Advertisementelusive and profane glory. Tillotson is willing to get out there, dad. He's got this urge himself.

Tillotson's also aware "out there" can leave listeners in the dust. He - along with drummer James Wormworth and bassist Mike Merrit, the other two members of The Love Trio - explores and improvises, but never at the listener's expense.

"My experience has always been following the first note with the next note that makes sense to me," Tillotson says from his home in New York City. "Not just patterns and weird stuff that really is not accessible. I like to keep it closer to the melody and the form."

Tillotson, who was mentored by jazz great Gene Harris, is a master of melody, keeping it prominent no matter how camouflaged it may seem.

He's also a master of ceremonies, where the trio transitions from soul-cat subtlety to 4th grade hi-jinx, and pandemonium ensues with interpretive dance, improvised raps, and audience sing-a-longs. Jazz ain't always a serious business, after all.

Tillotson frequently takes leave of the piano throne to mug and antagonize. The always-barefooted Wormworth bops manic and cool, swinging his arms in a blur like an octopus swatting at a swarm of mosquitoes. Acrobatics aside, he is deft and powerful; a killer drummer. Merrit, who helped bring the band together, is so in the pocket, he frequently seems ahead of Tillotson's next pitch.

Tillotson is what you might consider a heavyweight in the New York jazz scene. He's played the Montreaux Jazz Festival, The Den Haag Jazz Festival, The Jazz in the Canyon Festival, The Gene Harris Jazz Festival, and Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble. His trio returns to his native Boise every winter for a residency at the famous Sun Valley Lodge.

The first jazz record the 42-year-old Tillotson heard actually took a while to knock him out.

"It was Oscar Peterson's ‘The Sound Of The Trio,"' he says. "And that's what got me thinking. It took me a coupla weeks to get my head around that record because I was still in high school. It was so complicated and it was such a mind-blower. It would give me a headache there was so much information."

Tillotson would spin a little more each day until the needle finally hit the label on the B side.

"My jaw was on the ground when I realized how incredible what they were doing really was," he says.

You can do the same with either of The Love Trio's two albums, "Funky Good Time" or "Tequila Time," but you won't need a slide rule or Vicodin. It's multi-layered and gently textured with new things popping up at each listen. So the jazz fan up for a challenge can hang and the newbies can dig on the newness knowing things won't get too nuts.

"Tequila Time" showcases seven Tillotson compositions along with The Love Trio's take on tunes by artists like Prince, Lennon/McCartney, Duke Ellington, and Joni Mitchell. Sure, these covers are interpretive, but Tillotson likens them more to tributes.

"I tend to pick songs that, first of all, mean something to me," he says. "Because I'm a composer, I like when someone else writes something that rings; the lyric or just the melody draws me in and then I wanna play it because I think it's beautiful. I'm paying tribute to that song and that composer because of the things that draw me in and make me excited about it."

And it's with his original tunes that he pays tribute to what's around him, like strolling the streets of New York or how he recently proposed to his girlfriend in Mexico.

"I like to keep the music accessible," he says. "I like people to go along for the ride with me."

The way Tillotson tickles the ivories is magic, eliciting lilting cascades, rumbas, or somber musings while Wormworth and Merrit fall in behind. The rhythm section follows Tillotson's improv tighter than his own shadow. And that's everything to him.

"To stay in there and interact with the guys," he says, "that's the joy that we get playing together. That's the thrill."

Paul Tillotson Love Trio plays Saturday, June 9, 6 & 10 p.m. at Montage Music Hall, 50 Chestnut Street, as part of the 2007 Rochester International Jazz Festival. Tickets cost $20-$25 or free with Club Pass. For more information visit http://www.rochesterjazz.com/.

Originally Published in City Newspaper.

February 10th, 2007 
Paul Tillotson interview in the Idaho Statesman:

A&E: Paul Tillotson carries on the torch of his mentor Gene Harris
by Dusty Parnell

If there was one thing Gene Harris brought to Idaho with him, it was the pure love and joy of music that swings and puts a smile on your face and in your feet.

So it's only fitting that the piano torch of the late jazzman has been passed on to locally grown keyboardist Paul Tillotson, because the fun just spills out all over the place when he gets on stage.

"Every key has got its own little planet, and I'm just tickling them," he said.

This from someone who said that if he wasn't a jazz pianist, he would probably be an inventor. But fortunately, Tillotson met Harris in 1982 and wound up spending "night after night after night after night" at the Idanha in Downtown Boise listening to and playing with his mentor. Tillotson was still just a teenager.

"Every note he played was super precious … and he was always on," Tillotson said, also praising him for his jazz nurturing and philosophy that every day was a holiday.

"No matter what level you were, you always played better (with Harris)," he said. "He was able to bring the music out of everybody — more than you knew you had in you. … That was Gene's legacy, truly. You didn't have to have a huge understanding of music — it was simply happy."

And with Harris' leadership and support, it's been a journey Tillotson has never regretted.

"It's a beautiful path, and it's always a pleasant thing when people say, ‘I can hear a little bit of Gene in there."

And Tillotson was not handed that piano torch by lost and saddened jazz lovers after Harris died. No, Harris passed it on himself before he died in 2000.

"I had a great moment before he died," Tillotson said. "In the parking lot after we played, he put his arm around me and said, ‘If you want this, it's yours.'"

And Tillotson is one of the few musicians who have attended the Gene Harris Jazz Festival every year since its inception 10 years ago.

"I can't fill his shoes, but the mentors play and we follow," Tillotson said.

Harris' widow, Janie, considers Tillotson to be her "other son," and said the two had a true love for each other and shared the same philosophy.

"It's a spiritual thing and a delighting in each other's music," she said. "(Paul) knows what to play for whatever audience he's performing for — he and Gene both did."

The director of the festival, Brad Peters, agrees and says Tillotson will be the big closer for this year's Club Night. (Finally!)

"Paul can bring an audience into a performance better than anyone else," he said. "You can't help but enjoy yourself."

"It's as good as any campfire I've ever been around," Tillotson said about performing live. "It's the same spirit. We're all doing it together, it's not just the band. And that's so much fun to be around."

And it's been quite a journey since those "campfire" days at the Idanha where Harris dubbed a young bunch of future musicians as the Young Jazz Lions (which also included Curtis Stigers). Tillotson (Borah High School) and Stigers (Capital High School), were both rivals in another sense, as both were drum majors for the Class of '83.

Tillotson has carried on another torch, too, which Harris started with the festival. Like the scholarships the festival gives out every year, now up to about $4,000, Tillotson has established a $1,000 music scholarship at Borah.

And so the flame burns on.

Tillotson will continue to strive for his dream job of a "nice hotel gig in New York City," he'll continue to visit Sun Valley and Boise regularly, he'll continue his gigs and CDs with his Love Trio and New York Connection, he'll continue to act silly from time to time, and you can bet he'll be back for the Gene Harris Jazz Festival for all eternity.

"I love the groove."

Dusty Parnell writes for Treasure Magazine. To offer story ideas or comments, contact him at treasure@idahostatesman.com or 672-6735.

November 17th, 2006 
Paul Tillotson's big stand with a big band
When your name is Paul Tillotson, it really is a wonderful life.

The Boise native lives in New York City, an urban landscape rich with talented musicians. He visits Idaho each year to put on exuberant piano concerts for loyal, raucous fans.

And beginning Tuesday, Tillotson will be the first musician to headline the Egyptian Theatre for five consecutive nights. Each evening, Tillotson and the New York Connection will perform a concert after a showing of the feature-length classic film "It's a Wonderful Life."

The presentation is a unique stand that probably will require multiple visits from Tillotson's faithful followers to be truly successful. But Tillotson says he's confident in the production's potential for repeat customers.

"When people see the show, I think they're going to want to come back," he says. "And they've got the opportunity to come back — four more times! It's Shakespeare in love, baby! Poetry in motion!"

Tillotson's natural enthusiasm — which is only magnified on stage — is further stoked by this band. The New York Connection, which will play original and cover songs, also includes Boise native and singer-guitarist Jake Stigers (brother of Boise jazz singer Curtis Stigers), singer-guitarist Pete Francis and singer Brooke Lundy. The members of the Paul Tillotson Trio — James Wormworth on drums, and Whynot Jamsfeld on bass and vocals — round out the act. The musicians have played together as the New York Connection for the past five years at Sun Valley's River Run Lodge. But this will be the New York Connection's first Treasure Valley appearance.

The concerts will begin with Tillotson's trio. Then each guest musician will take the stage and sing. Finally, the show will blossom into a round-robin style event with each musician leading the entire group.

"It's fun, man," Tillotson says. "It's got a little bit of variety, and a little bit of ‘you just don't know what's going to happen next.' I don't even know."

As the nightly stand turns into what Tillotson envisions as a "scene," the set will probably evolve. But show staples will include Stigers' cover of John Hiatt's "Riding with the King" and Tillotson's "Pickin' on a Pile of Snow," which was written by his father.

This concert is a stepping stone, Tillotson says, for his big dream: A five-night, 10-band run at the Egyptian. Tillotson says he'd like to organize five out-of-town acts and five locals, then lead the week-long show.

Coming from anyone else, you might dismiss the idea as fantasy. Not Tillotson.

"State it, create it!" he declares.

A portion of the proceeds from this New York Connection run will be given to the fifth annual Paul Tillotson Music Scholarship at Borah High School. Since some fans may not want to watch the movie each night, there will be a short intermission before the music starts. All ages are welcome, but alcohol will be sold.

Tillotson is fully aware that five nights is a lot of music for any band to make. But his voice fills with excitement when he talks about this holiday-season performance.

"I'm taking a chance, I'm rolling the dice, I'm saying whatever. I only live once!" Tillotson says. "I've got a vision, and I like to make music."

From the Idaho Statesman.

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