The picker's a pragmatist
By BOB KEYES, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
TOPSHAM — Mark Kleinhaut took a job in banking to support his music. Little did he know at the time, that fateful decision more than 25 years ago would prove to be one of the smartest moves of his life.
Thanks to what has turned into a lucrative and rewarding career in the financial sector, Kleinhaut also enjoys success in music.
In the jazz world, the Topsham guitarist is known for his accessible and highly refined playing style that's based on strong, catchy melodies. Kleinhaut has released several CDs, including "Holding the Center" earlier this year, and has a respectable national reputation. He's also toured internationally, taking his trio to Germany and the Netherlands, and also has played in Cuba.
He's got several concerts scheduled in Maine in the weeks ahead - in Ogunquit, Portland and Damariscotta - all part of his effort to raise his profile in his adopted home state.
None of his success in music would have happened if he hadn't gone into banking after graduating from Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1979.
"I needed a day job. I was out of school nine months, and I did play music full-time for those nine months. I got a taste of how difficult it was to make a living as a full-time musician," said Kleinhaut.
He faced a life-changing decision: Business or art?
He could stay with music full-time and augment the money he made playing the music he loved by teaching and gigging as a hired hand or session player.
Or he could take a job outside of music, committing himself to something he didn't necessarily love that would enable him to pursue music on the side, without fretting the financials.
He chose the business route, landing an entry-level job with a small savings bank in Massachusetts. These days, Kleinhaut works as a vice president at Key Bank in Portland.
Ironically, it probably saved his music career, even if it may have felt at the time as though he were selling out.
"I really wanted to play. But I also realized that I probably had to do something other than what I really wanted," he said.
"Holding the Center," released earlier this year with his Maine-based trio, is Kleinhaut's fifth album. A previous CD, 2003's "A Balance of Light" with sax player Bobby Watson, made the national jazz charts.
While "Holding the Center" didn't crack the charts, it did get picked up by about 100 radio stations across the country and has received strong print-media reviews, including one in the September issue of JazzTimes.
"Holding the Center" reflects Kleinhaut's musical philosophy. He approaches music from the perspective of a centrist. He likes tradition, but isn't afraid to push the boundaries, either.
It's taken longer than he thought it would, but Kleinhaut's music career is doing just fine.
"No one will ever accuse me of being a flash in the pan," said Kleinhaut, 49. "It's one of those things. You gradually build this momentum. I don't expect anything to break overnight. It's a slow, steady crawl."
The crawl began in New York. He was born in the Bronx and raised in Washington Heights.
He became interested in music as a youngster, and his tastes gradually shifted to jazz. He liked the improvisation of the music, and he appreciated the opportunity to express his personality through his guitar.
Kleinhaut never doubted that music would be his lifeblood. He just wasn't sure how to make it happen.
He wanted to make a living, and he wanted music to occupy a fun part of his life. But he wasn't willing to play the role of starving artist.
Even today, with international tours and several CDs under his belt, Kleinhaut relishes his private time at home at night, when he sits with his guitars in an expansive, elegant room in his restored 1820s home on Topsham's Main Street.
"I don't call it practice. I call it playing. I don't ever think of it as work," he said, picking a new nylon-string Manuel Rodriquez and Hijos acoustic guitar. "I sit down here and doodle endlessly. I think it's important to have fun every time you pick up an instrument."
Jim Lyden, who plays bass in Kleinhaut's trio, has known the guitarist since 1988.
Kleinhaut was new to Maine, and sitting in with a band at Corthell Hall at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. Lyden liked what he heard from the new guy.
"He seemed to be a good, solid player. Shortly after that, we got together at my house and played some tunes and did some gigs," Lyden said.
He appreciates Kleinhaut's varied writing style, as well as his willingness to take chances with his music. His songs rarely repeat themselves, and he's always game for adventure.
"He's very unpredictable, in a musical sense," Lyden said. "He keeps things different and interesting, and lively."
The third member of the trio is drummer Les Harris Jr.
They try to schedule concerts monthly, although they will be far busier in the weeks ahead. The trio performs Aug. 25 in Ogunquit, Sept. 3 at the Portland Museum of Art and Sept. 15 at Round Top Center for the Arts in Damariscotta.
As the former president of the Maine Jazz Alliance, Kleinhaut is fully committed to scheduling concerts. He also has been active in bringing other jazz musicians to Maine and in jazz education, particularly at the middle and high school levels.
Tom Levin got to know Kleinhaut when both served with the Maine Jazz Alliance. As much as he likes Kleinhaut's playing, he is most impressed with his work to bring jazz to the schools.
"He's a really important person in the field of jazz in Maine, because he is such a good ambassador. He has that passion about jazz and a desire to share his passion and get others involved with music education," Levin said.
"That's really important work."
Kleinhaut does the work not because his own personal livelihood is at risk, but because he wants to ensure that live music survives in an era of personal entertainment.
"I think we are witnessing a dangerous cultural shift in America right now," he said.
"We seem to be shifting away from live performance art to cell phones and home-based, Internet entertainment, and that in a sense is a shift to a non-culture. It's a culture of isolation. There is no community in staying home. ... If you are a fan of jazz, the single most important thing you can do is go to the shows."
Kleinhaut wrote all the songs on "Holding the Center."
Some were inspired by a mission trip to Cuba that he took in 2004. Others stemmed from an annual vacation he takes with his wife to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
The Cuba trip was particularly motivational, he said. After a week of mission work, he and fellow Maine musician Brad Terry spent several days in Havana, gigging in the smoke-filled clubs with local musicians.
They saw parts of the city most foreigners don't get to see, he said. It was a time he will never forget.
"Everywhere we went, me with my guitar and Brad with his clarinet, we were invited to sit in and jam with musicians. It was just incredible."
He took away from Cuba a sense of optimism and national pride - something he thinks is reflected in the current discussion surrounding the future of Cuba given the illness of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
"A typical comment would be, 'We know we are a poor country, and we know it's a lot of your country's doing because of the economic embargo. But we know it's not you. We're part of America, too.' "
As for North Carolina, Kleinhaut goes regularly in the spring, usually in late April or early May when Maine is still coming out of winter. By the time he arrives in North Carolina after a 17-hour drive, it's summer, with crisp, clear air, abundant waterfowl and sandy beaches.
It's a chance to connect with nature in a different way than he connects with it in Maine. The solitude of the Outer Banks always gives him time and energy to write, he said.
With several concerts at hand, Kleinhaut is thrilled with the chance to play frequently for local fans.
He considers performance a nearly sacred part of being a musician, and he never treats lightly the chance to play live.
"As a musician, you have to be extremely grateful for every single person who comes out to hear live music. We have to recognize how precious each attendee is, and it's something we need to never take for granted."
Mark Kleinhaut relishes the private time he spends playing his guitars in a spacious room in his restored 1820 home in Topsham. "I don't call it practice. I call it playing. I don't ever think of it as work," said Kleinhaut, seen here with his new nylon-string Manuel Rodriquez and Hijos acoustic guitar. Below is his current favorite, a hollow-body Paul Reed Smith electric.
Some of the songs on Mark Kleinhaut's new album were inspired by a 2004 mission trip to Cuba. "Everywhere we went," he said, "me with my guitar and Brad (Terry) with his clarinet, we were invited to sit in and jam with musicians. It was just incredible."
KLEINHAUT'S INSTRUMENTS
Mark Kleinhaut's guitar of choice is a hollow-body Paul Reed Smith electric guitar with steel strings. He also lately has added a Manuel Rodriquez and Hijos acoustic guitar to his collection.n For information, visit
www.markkleinhaut.comn To hear his latest CD, go to entertainment.maine.today.com
IF YOU GO
Upcoming concerts by the Mark Kleinhaut Trio:
7:30 p.m. Aug. 25, the Barn Gallery, Ogunquit; $16; 646-8400.
10:30 a.m. Sept. 3, Portland Museum of Art; free with museum admission; 775-6148.
7:30 p.m. Sept. 15, Round Top Center for the Arts, Damariscotta; $20; 563-1507 or 563-3511, Ext. 0.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/au...leinhaut.shtml
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