“Well, now, let’s wait a minute here. Jazz is not really popular anywhere! Let’s get that straight.”
That’s successful Harrisburg jazz musician Steve Rudolph’s candid response when I ask him about how the jazz scene in Europe compares to the scene here in the United States. I am admittedly taken aback for a moment, because I simply assumed that the style of music most indigenous to America and arguably of the most cultural relevance was still, well … popular. Rudolph’s to-the-point response isn’t borne out of bitterness or outsider frustration, though. It’s a matter-of-fact assessment of a harsh reality in which he has still managed to carve out a living.
Rudolph has been largely responsible for preserving local jazz tradition and making sure that quality jazz music has a home in Central PA. He points out that many of his famous friends in the world of jazz have few options for earning a living with their music outside of teaching, and for this reason he is grateful that he is an exception to the rule.
Born on a farm in southern Indiana, Rudolph first encountered music in a school system where, as he puts it, “The music education level was pretty low.” He is careful not to disparage the small-time band director at his high school, but explains how, through a sequence of events, this lack in technical instruction would affect his path for years to come.
“His teaching methods were minimal at best,” Rudolph explains of his teacher. “So if you actually got good on your instrument, it had nothing to do with his teaching you how to play it. He could teach you music, but he wasn’t very good at teaching technical aspects.”
Rudolph is being generous here, given that the instructor himself played the clarinet with the mouthpiece upside-down. As a result, Rudolph’s embouchure (the use of facial muscles and the shaping of thelips to the mouthpiece of a wind instrument) on his instrument at the time, the trumpet, was non-standard. Rudolph eventually won a scholarship to study under legendary trumpet player Delbert Dale (who literally wrote the book on trumpet technique – The Oxford Press book on that subject) at Butler University, which is where his odd technique started stirring up trouble.
While playing in multiple ensembles, all required activities to maintain the scholarship, Rudolph discovered that his unique method spelled doom for his future on the trumpet. “When you were a student of [Dale’s], you either played his way or you didn’t do well,” he recalls. “I was trying to play in all those ensembles on a professional level and trying to change my embouchure, and it just became an unbelievable frustration. It really just messed up my chops. I could no longer perform adequately.” After his mother passed away later that same year, Rudolph dropped out of school and moved in with a piano player friend in Indianapolis.
At this point, his future in music was seriously in question. However, having had no prior training whatsoever, Rudolph began tinkering with his housemate’s piano in the evenings when he was out playing gigs. Rudolph explains, “He came home one night and heard me playing. He said, ‘That sounds better than your trumpet playing!’”
Improbable though it may sound, after just a few short years of improvement through countless gigs in Indianapolis, Rudolph found himself on the road with the legendary Tommy Dorsey Band. Rudolph’s humility regarding his story might make this achievement sound like a bit of a fluke – in fact, he only believes that he has been playing at a top-notch professional level for the past 15 years or so – but this belies his determination and hard work during those important Indianapolis years. Rudolph willingly subjected himself to the indignity and insult of sharing the stage with his betters, a trial-by-fire method of honing his new and raw piano chops.
“I went out and hired the best players in Indianapolis that I could find every time I found a gig,” he says. “I’d have them scream at me all night long so I’d learn.”
This determination to improve his skills was complemented by a fearless approach to the business of making music. “You know, if you sit around waiting for the phone to ring, I don’t care how good you are, you’re going to miss lots of opportunities,” Rudolph says plainly.
When his high-profile gig with the Tommy Dorsey Band ended, Rudolph was offered a regular gig at a hotel in Harrisburg. He took the gig with no particular designs on turning the scene upside-down or putting down roots for life. However, that steady gig set the wheels in motion for rapid growth of jazz in Central PA, and also established a life-long career for Rudolph. He very humbly confesses that he had some heavy-handed help along the way that gave a significant boost to his profile during those early days.
“I don’t know if we should print this, but it was organized crime that I was working for,” he says cautiously. “Of all the jobs I’ve had in music, they’ve always been the nicest to me.”
Due to the, shall we say, well-financed nature of the gig, Rudolph benefited from advertising and face recognition that may have otherwise been unlikely or impossible. He elaborates, “Because it was the mob that was running it, they were throwing an ad in the [newspaper] two or three days a week for a room that only sat 115 people, almost a quarter-page ad with my face and name on it for almost a year. So whether I could have played a note or not, I would be one of the most famous musicians in Pennsylvania.”
When the gig was finally over, Rudolph was unsure what the next career move would be. He says, “I just assumed I would probably have to leave town … either go back to Indianapolis or New York. I didn’t know exactly where I was going.” Then his years of hard work and well-oiled business experience began to bear fruit as “all of a sudden, all these clubs came out of the woodwork and I was able to find three or four clubs where I was working six nights a week. One was in Gettysburg, a couple in Harrisburg, one down in Lancaster, even some places in York through the years.”
Rudolph not only stayed in Central PA, but began watering the seeds that had been planted, forming the Central PA Friends of Jazz organization with a few colleagues. Thirty years later, he is still making a living playing the piano, this time with a regular gig at the Hilton Harrisburg, as well as special concerts, tours around the world and recording.
In keeping with his unromanticized and very grounded perspective, Rudolph is not terribly enamored with the cosmopolitan potential for his music. While he tours occasionally, he is profoundly grateful to be making a living with his music right here in Central PA. Rudolph says, “I’ve never really been comfortable in the big city. I don’t know, I’m just kind of a small-town guy.
“I’ve got a comfortable home, I’m married,” he continues. “A steady gig is something that’s rare in our business, so I’ve just basically stayed with it. And I bring in guest artists every week at the Hilton who are from all over the world, so I get all the impetus and inspiration musically that I could possibly use without leaving town.”