The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Giving jazz music a whole new spin
O’mahony putting jazz spin on Nirvana June 2 at Oneida Community Mansion House
Jim O'Mahony is playing a special jazz concert at the Mansion House June 2.
ONEIDA >> Jim O’Mahony likes to play music that is adventurous and unique, catching the audience’s ear with a fresh approach on wellplayed classics.
Rather than have every note planned out in advance, however, he usually prefers to make it up as he goes along.
“By far, my favorite type of music is improvised music,” he explained. “For me, there’s nothing else like spontaneous creation, whether I’m playing it or listening to it. The style isn’t even important, just the spirit. The music that is most closely asso- ciated with improvisation is jazz, but it’s certainly not exclusive to that genre. I don’t even like most jazz if it’s not adventurous. If it stretches out, I usually like it. The Miles Davis Quintet at the Plugged Nickel, 1965 stretches out on familiar jazz repertoire. Phish playing a 45 minute version of their song ‘ Tweezer’ stretches out in a rock context.
The Oneida Community Mansion House will host the “Here We Are Now, Entertain Us: The Jim O’Mahony Trio Plays Nirvana’s ‘ Nevermind’” show on June 2. That gig, also featuring Max McKee on bass and Karl Sterling on drums, promises an interesting twist on the 1991 disc that not only brought fame to the fledgling Nirvana, but pretty much kicked off the entire alternative rock genre.
“The decision to play Nirvana’s ‘ Nevermind’ was based on several factors. I had recently read a short article in the New York Times about how age 14 is a critical, pivotal mo- ment in one’s life for forming musical tastes. I have often found myself nostalgic for the music of my teenage years, and the article affirmed what I believed -- that there’s something about the music you listen to in high school that sticks with you forever,” he said. “I first heard the album in 1991 when it came out. I was working at a baseball card and comic book shop at the time, and one of the older teenage guys who worked there played it every single day over and over again. I knew the album backwards and forwards. It ended up being such a seminal album in rock history, but we had no idea at the time -- we just loved the way it sounded. To this day, there’s a lot of controversy over Nirvana, grunge, and the alternative rock movement that supplanted the hair metal bands in the early 1990s.”
O’Mahony said he has played concerts at the Mansion House for the past two years, each time coming up with a special theme for the show. His one- time only shows in- cluded jazz trio renditions of independently- produced rock songs back in 2011, and that “Changing Standards” show became the blueprint for what he wanted to perform in the Central New York area. O’Mahony said he wants to bring to the area a flavor of jazz people haven’t seen before, defying expectations of what a jazz piano trio usually performed. He followed that gig last year with a show of Beatles solo tunes.
This time, as he wanted to continue the theme of playing music not normally found in a jazz context, he recalled that article and realized “Nevermind” had truly been a pivotal point in his own blossoming musical development that remains just as important today.
In preparing for his Mansion House show, O’Mahony said he is taking special care not to sound like a Las Vegas lounge act playing jazz versions of rock songs, like found
on Pat Boone’s “In a Metal Mood” album where Boone performs rather cheesy big band arrangements of songs like Metallica‘ s “Enter Sandman” and Guns N‘ Roses‘ “Paradise City.” O’Mahony said he tries to keep close to their original chords and form, although with the Nirvana gig he has pushed himself out of his comfort zone to create all- new and neverheard- before versions of the songs.
“Breed” will be played as a laid- back funk tune with a few extra measures added to the progression. “Territorial Pissings” will be performed as a calypso and a drum feature. “Come As You Are” will be in 5/ 4 time, with a similar feel to Led Zeppelin’s “Four Sticks.” O’Mahony said he is allowing one song to be played like a cheesy Las Vegas lounge act -- Nirvana‘ s “Lounge Act,” naturally. Many of the songs will have added sections for improvisation, he said, and he will also do a song or two as a piano solo.
O’Mahony said he always listened to music while growing up in Connecticut, between his parents’ collection and what he found on the radio. His first real musical love was Guns N’ Roses, he recalled, as he was around 11 or 12 and “very impressionable” when he first heard their debut “Appetite for Destruction“album.
Like many kids his age, he found the songs about drinking, doing drugs, and having sex, with generous f- bombs dropped all over it for emphasis, appealing. He also thought names like “Slash” and “Axl” were cool. He followed other “hair” bands of the era, like Def Leppard, Skid Row, Cinderella, Tesla, and Poison , and got into heavier acts like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax -- who he admitted initially scared him -- a little later.
Today, he said the musicians who inspire him most are pianists Brad Mehldau and Herbie Hancock, guitarists Wayne Krantz and Ben Monder, and drummers Keith Carlock and Mark Guiliana. In addition to improvised music, O’Mahony said he also currently enjoys listening to a mix of classic rock and contemporary indie rock.
O‘ Mahony graduated from high school in Greenwich, Conn. in 1995, and earned a bachelors of the arts degree in music from Skidmore College in 1999. He met wife Amanda Larson at a party at Skidmore their junior year, and they dated for a couple of years before breaking up. When they met again for the first time at their 10th year reunion in 2009, however, they found the sparks were still there. Initially hesitant on the long distance relationship, O’Mahony found the attraction was undeniable and the couple started dating again.
He proposed in 2010, moved to Oneida, and they married on Sept. 17, 2011. O’Mahony is step- dad to Larson’s daughter Bianka, who turns 9 on June 4, and they will soon welcome twins to their family.
O’Mahony is now a fulltime musician, making a living mainly through lessons and also with gigs. He counts among his biggest accomplishments opening for Wayne Krantz, one of his musical heroes, at Sullivan Hall in New York City in 2009; playing with Lima Charlie atop Oregon’s Mt. Hood at the 3900 Ft. Festival in 2007; performing at Irving Plaza with the Ian Murray Band in 2007; touring the east coast with Lima Charlie in 2009; playing on his 25th birthday at Amherst College in 2002 for 800 people with the Vibe- Raiders; and playing the Westcott Festival in Syracuse with Grupo Pagan in 2012.
He plays both piano and guitar professionally, and also drums non- professionally, while offering lessons on all three instruments. He can also “get by” on other guitar- related instruments like bass, ukulele, and mandolin.
O‘ Mahony currently plays guitar with Grupo Pagan, who are playing the Sherrill Summer Concert Series on July 30; with vocalist Anna Vogel, and as co- leader of the MOD Trio with Max and Josh Dekaney, playing at the Sherrill- Kenwood Park Festival in August. He also does a variety of solo and duo performances in the area.
“I’m up for almost anything when it comes to future gigs, as long as the players are strong and it grooves,” he admitted.
O’Mahony said he feels his musical journey is one that will never end.
“What keeps me excited about music is that it’s a never- ending quest. For what, I’m not certain, and I’m sure I’ll never be satisfied with my discoveries along the way, but I’ll continue searching anyway. I guess you could say what I’m going after is, appropriately enough, musical ‘ nirvana,’” he said.
“Here We Are Now, Entertain Us: The Jim O’Mahony Trio Plays Nirvana’s ‘ Nevermind’” is June 2 at 3: 30 p. m. at the Oneida Community Mansion House, located at 170 Kenwood Ave. in Oneida. Admission is free.
For more information on O’Mahony’s music, log on to: www. jimomahony. com.