Jay Tyer

B: June 24, 1957 - Worcester, MA
Instrument: Guitar

 

by Prof. Richard Falco:

If there is one unifying theme in the career of Jay Tyer it is his relentless acquisition and sharing of musical knowledge. Through his formal and informal study, private music teaching, on-line music lessons and his tireless efforts to keep the jam session tradition alive, Jay has had a lasting impact on the Central Massachusetts jazz community.

John Peter Tyer was born June 24, 1957 to Mr. John (Jack) Stanley Tyer and Mrs. Anne Florence Tyer, in the Hanamen Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Tyer family lived on the first floor of a three family at 171 Highland St in Worcester. He quickly became known as Jay, and was the youngest of the children with two older sisters. Dianne, the oldest, was eight years Jay's senior, and Jean was in the middle.

Tyer picked up the guitar in grade school and never put it down. He recalls that at age ten, his close friend Bobby Swisher began taking lessons at the Del Ray School of Music in Worcester, MA. Jay says to this day that it was because of Swisher that he first became interested in the guitar, and ultimately began studying with Rich Falco at the Del Ray school. Bobby Swisher, Todd Cullen, Joel Cullen and Jay would later play the Children's Folk Mass at St Paul's Cathedral for nearly four years, from 1968 to 1971, offering Tyer some of his first performance experience. Drummer Tommy Murray later joined these young musicians to form a group called "Turning Point," in which they played "old Irish songs". Toward the end of his high school years, around 1975, Jay studied music with Rich Falco for a second time when Rich returned from Berklee College of Music. For a year, Jay went to Forest Grove Public High School, then moved to Holy Name Central Catholic High School until he graduated in 1976.

While in high school he played in a group called Noah, made up of Mark Thibeault, Alex Beliourus, and Mark Laliberte. He also began giving his own guitar lessons during these years to generate much needed income for his family. When he graduated high school, Jay had high aspirations for where he was going for college. Wielding his talent with the guitar as his only income, he planned to some day attend a school for music. He enrolled locally at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, but soon after second semester, he had plans to transfer out of WPI and study music.

Tragically, Jay's father passes away January 28th, 1978 of liver disease. This loss rocked the family, especially Jay. His two sisters, Dianne and Jean, were college graduates and happily married, but Jay was still living with his mother at the time, so he was perhaps the most acutely affected of the siblings. His plans to study music were abruptly discarded, and the very pressing need to suddenly make money and keep himself afloat faced down his dreams. He began teaching music full-time, and returned to WPI. He secured a teaching position in the Auburn Massachusetts Public Schools, and he stayed there until 1984 while giving lessons elsewhere. In 1979 he began teaching at Kurlan Music, taught there until 1981, then switched to Clemente Music, where he stayed until 1984.

By continuing his teaching career, Jay financed his education at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) where took as many courses in music as he did electrical engineering, his major. He attended music classes offered at other colleges through the Worcester consortium. Both of his major projects at WPI, (called the IQP and MQP), were music-related, and his music capstone project was a composition. He graduated in 1984 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering.

After graduating from WPI, Jay stopped teaching entirely, and followed the engineering jobs into Connecticut, settling in Bristol when he was hired by Hamilton Standard. He spent about four years in Bristol, and during this time he met his soon-to-be wife, Erica Derwitsch. They married in 1988 and moved back to Worcester. Almost as soon as he returned to Worcester, Jay went back to Clemente Music from 1988-1994, and beginning in 2005 taught for four years at Wachusett Regional High School. His long teaching career began in 1976 and continues today.

In addition to giving lessons in person, Tyer has used his vast computer knowledge to create online classes for aspiring jazz players. His courses include diagrams, written explanation and brief exams in jazz theory, improvisation, common jazz scales and other techniques used in the art. He first endeavored to create these classes in 1995, and they are now hosted on his website.

Jay Tyer is known most widely for his accomplishments concerning what has become an institution in Worcester, MA: the Jazz Jam. Founded in 1989, the Jam is a weekly open playing session designed to be a fun, educational experience for both new and seasoned players. Jay considers the creation of the Jazz Jam a "way of giving back to the Central Massachusetts community". Tyer's Jazz Jam has provided hundreds of young musicians a low-key opportunity to perform in public, and has played an influential role in the vitality of the Worcester jazz community. Learning "on the band stand" has deep roots in the history of jazz, but rather than the typical "carving contests" characteristic of other cities, Tyer's Jazz Jam has always fostered a nurturing atmosphere and a door through which younger players are welcomed into the Central MA jazz community. Those new to the language of jazz are offered help, advice and encouragement from seasoned players with whom they share the stage; professionals mix with students while exploring new directions and carrying on the jam session tradition of artistic investigation with colleagues.

The Jazz Jam has been moved several times in its twenty-year life. First it was held at the Worcester Artist Group, also known as the WAG, from 1989 to 1996. When the WAG relocated to Leicester, the Jazz Jam moved there for a year, and then found itself in the Plantation Cafe in Worcester from 1997 to 1999. For a portion of 1999 the Jam was at the restaurant Sakura Tokyo on Park Avenue in Worcester. For the next eight years it was at the Java Hut on Main Street (2001-07), and finally in 2010, Tyer restarted the Jazz Jam in the NU Cafe on Chandler Street in Worcester. Tyer's Jazz Jam is an open, public performance where any player can come and sit in on sets fusing jazz standards, the Real Book and original compositions written by the players.

Because of this forum, it is nearly impossible to trace how many musicians have been a part of the Jam, but there is a hefty list of hosts and players that attended regularly. Victor Helenic, Phil Madison, Tony Erwin, Rocco Savino, Mike Connors, Jerry Sabatini and Thomson Kneeland were all active in the Jam during the WAG and Java Hutt days. Jeff Majeau and Ed Conley began with the WAG and have stayed with the Jam ever since. Rick Cain, Joe D'Angelo, Rich Kazcynski, Paul Chase, Paul Michael, Mike Caruso, Max Zeugner, Bruce Hanahan, and Jesse Rosenfield were all active during the eight years that the Jam was at the Java Hutt. Matt Brown, Tom Grandprey, Adam Casten, Marc Respass, Mark Zaleski, Joe Lis, and Brianna Tyer are all currently active with the Jam at the Nu Cafe.

For several years, Jay played with the Jay Tyer Quartet. They played gigs often, and eventually they begin recording tracks to what they hoped would become a CD. Finally, in 1999, they completed the 8 tracks that would become the CD entitled Metacomet (selections from which are included in this collection). The quartet was made up of Ed Conley on drums, Phil Madison on bass, Jim Allard on the saxophone and flute, and Jay on guitar. They recorded in a local sound studio owned by Brad Pierce, and Metacomet was officially released in 2000. The liner notes were written by Rich Falco, Jay's first mentor on the guitar, and a lot of the improvisational and jazz theory Jay used to compose the music he learned from noted jazz educator and saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. Jay studied jazz with Bergonzi from 1990 to 1998.

Tragically, in 1999, Tyer began showing symptoms of a rare neurological disease known as ataxia. As time passed, speaking became harder for him, as did playing the guitar. Jay is now officially a disabled person. Jazz journalist Chet Williamson has written an article concerning his diagnosis in "JazzSphere" entitled "Metacomet Meets Ataxia".

Tyer participated in the jazz symposium "Talkin' History: Jazz in Worcester, Then and Now", held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute February 25, 2001 (a video of which can be seen in this collection). He spoke about his philosophy for the Jazz Jam, the uniqueness of experiential learning and the art of mentoring. Despite the hardships, Jay continued with his guitar playing. He even tried teaching actively again. Beginning in 2005 he gave lessons through the Artists in Residence program at the Wachusett Regional High School in addition to his ongoing private lessons. He taught there for the next four years.

The Java Hut closed in 2007, and this effectively killed the jam for three years. A slowly advancing ataxia made re-organizing the jam something that he put on the back burner. Jay didn't reopen the jam until 2010, a year after he stopped giving public lessons. Its new home is currently the Nu Cafe on Chandler street in Worcester. To this day Jay still teaches through the internet, even though his ataxia has damaged his ability to communicate clearly and he no longer drives. He works relentlessly on the online courses he offers for the education of the younger generation in jazz performance and jazz theory, and he keeps playing despite all of the obstacles. The jam is still running, a testament to his dedication, and he welcomes all musicians there with open arms.

 

Sources:

  • "Afternoon delight." Worcester Phoenix. 12 May 2000.
  • "Best way to (slowly) swing into Saturday." Worcester Phoenix. 12 November 1999.
  • O'Neill, John. "Guardians of All That's Jazz." Worcester Phoenix. 19 February 1999.
  • O'Neill, John. "In a jam." Worcester Phoenix. 19 February 1999.
  • Schaffer, Noah. "CD Review: Jay Tyer Quartet." Worcester Magazine. 12 January 2000.
  • Tyer, Brianna. Personal interview. January 2011.
  • Tyer, Jay. Personal interviews. 2009-2011.
  • Tyer, Jay. Panel discussion from "Talkin' Jazz Symposium." Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Worcester, MA. 25 Feb 2001.
  • Williamson, Chet and Dick Odgren. Worcester Real Book 208-209. Worcester, MA: Worceter Publishing Ltd., 2003.
  • Williamson, Chet. "J03: Metacomet meets Ataxia". Jazzsphere. <http://jazzhistorydatabase.com/blog-chet/?p=9>.

Discography:

  • Jay Tyer Quartet. Metacomet. Brownstone Recordings, 2000. Audio presented with express permission of Jay Tyer.