GILROY
– Gilroy High School teacher Richard Nelson will be spending his
spring break next week in New York. It might not be a tropical
locale, but when Carnegie Hall comes calling, you listen.
GILROY – Gilroy High School teacher Richard Nelson will be spending his spring break next week in New York. It might not be a tropical locale, but when Carnegie Hall comes calling, you listen.
Nelson, an independent studies teacher at GHS, also is a first tenor for the eight-person vocal group The Spartoons, which was asked to perform for a jazz music festival at Carnegie Hall. The group will perform Monday night on the famous stage.
“It’s very humbling when you consider the talent that has been up on that stage,” Nelson said. “It could be emotional, too.”
The Spartoons, which include Ray Silva, Dave Fleckless, Jack Bunzel, Bob Hosfeldt, Bob Mullins, Kathy Russell, Ned Kraft and Nelson, were founded by San Jose State University President John Bunzel in 1973 when he decided that he wanted to be a part of a good vocal band.
“Most of us came out of the San Jose State program,” Nelson said. “That’s how we got the name.”
Nelson joined The Spartoons in 1978. They never played regularly, but instead performed just for get-togethers and special ceremonies.
“It wasn’t every weekend, it was just for special occasions,” Nelson said. “We went off and on until 1996, when the music professor who put the arrangements together retired.”
When professor Brent Heisinger retired, the group decided to make a CD of their music.
“We gave it to our friends at Christmas,” Nelson said. “We didn’t sell any commercially.”
However, that CD eventually found its way into the hands of Phil Matson when new Music Director/Arranger Bob Russell went to a New York Jazz Festival, and soon the Spartoons were invited to play at Carnegie Hall. The group will play at 8 p.m. Monday and will sing a few of their original songs.
“We’re pretty excited,” he said. “We’re not nervous about our performance; we’ve been working on it for a year.”
Nelson said the jazz vocal group is somewhat of a rarity today.
“It’s kind of a combination between big-band sound and vocal jazz,” Nelson said. “There’s a lot of instrumental jazz, but not a lot of vocal jazz. We fit the style that they were looking for.”
The Spartoons were officially invited to play at Carnegie Hall last year and have been practicing weekly ever since.
“The joke is ‘How do you get to Carnegie Hall?’ Practice, practice, practice,” he said.
Nelson shares the first tenor part with The Spartoons one female singer, Kathy Russell.
“The first tenor part in vocal jazz is the lead part,” Nelson explained. “It carries the melody. The lead tenor usually gets to do the solo lines.”
While Nelson is excited to play on the famous New York stage, he is no stranger to playing for a crowd. He has participated in the American Music Theater in San Jose, South Valley Civic Theatre and Odyssey Theater in South Valley and even had a stint teaching music and performing shows at Gavilan College.
“Some people play the violin, some people play the trumpet – I sing,” Nelson said. “My dad was a singer and did some professionally. It was expected that I sing, too.
“When you ask how long I’ve been doing this, I have to say all my life,” he said. “It’s just always been there. The music is always going to be there and it should. It sounds kind of cliche, but it’s the universal language.”
