Excitement is buzzing through the walls of the University of Northern Colorado’s (UNC) College of Performing and Visual Arts; particularly the shared office wall of first-time Grammy Award nominees guitarist Steve Kovalcheck and oboist Tim Gocklin.
The 67th annual Grammy Awards, recognizing excellence in the recording arts and sciences, will be held on Feb. 2, in Los Angeles.
Kovalcheck, a 15-year professor of Music, Jazz Guitar, is nominated in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble category for his part in the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra’s album, And So It Goes. Gocklin, an Oboe adjunct faculty member and Artist in Residence at UNC is nominated in the Best Instrumental Composition category for his part in the Akropolis Reed Quintet’s song "Strands”on their album, Are We Dreaming the Same Dream.
While both School of Music faculty members have been playing music since they were children, their journey to becoming Grammy-nominated musicians marched to different beats.
An Easy Yes
A lifelong guitarist, Kovalcheck has performed professionally in diverse styles since his youth, growing up in Nashville and playing rock music in high school. Throughout his life, Kovalcheck has watched the music industry transform into a small, tight-knit community. He will often meet people while working on one project and then be asked to play in a different project, allowing him to meet and work with musicians from around the world.
That’s how Kovalcheck began playing with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. The orchestra is led by bassist/composer John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton.
“I’ve known Jeff Hamilton for about 14 years since the band would come on tour to UNC’s Jazz Festival, and then we played on some things for other people until the opportunity for me to actually join his group happened,” Kovalcheck said.
Kovalcheck got the call from Hamilton just two weeks before the album And So It Goes was to be recorded in Simi Valley, California, in June 2023. It was a quick, “Yes, of course,” response.
“I knew the experience would be great,” Kovalcheck said. “I have friends in the band that are more like family, and they make me feel very welcome.”
The orchestra consists of five trumpet players, four trombones, five saxophones, and a rhythm section of piano, bass and drums with Kovalcheck on guitar. While recording the album, the musicians were all playing on the spot, meaning Kovalcheck was reading the music for the first time as he played.
“Going in, it’s all brand new,” Kovalcheck said. “John Clayton’s music is very clear, but there is a little pressure there and the recording was done very old school. We were on a soundstage. There was no separation from other musicians, so it wasn’t about making the perfect modern record. It was a simple ‘hit record’ with a big band in a room, which was the first time I had done that.”
The album is inspired by co-leader John Clayton’s brother, Jeff, who passed away. Kovalcheck says what makes it unique is the rhythmic feeling of the band, which in the jazz world is called swing.
“The way Jeff Hamilton’s drumming fits like a glove with John Clayton’s arrangement and the feeling that they create through that is totally unique,” Kovalcheck said. “While the music is sophisticated, it can still be appreciated by a wider audience.”
The whole album only took 12 hours to record over two days. Kovalcheck then went on tour with the orchestra in October 2023 for two weeks in Europe. It wasn’t until last November that he received a text message from Hamilton saying the album was nominated for a Grammy.
“I wasn’t really surprised,” Kovalcheck admitted. “John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton are legendary jazz musicians. They have more than 50 years of experience in the industry, working with everyone from Quincy Jones to Whitney Houston to Barbara Streisand and Diana Krall, so I’m not surprised that their music would be recognized.”
As for his involvement, Kovalcheck is honored to be part of something so special.
“I’m very grateful,” Kovalcheck said. “I also recognize the wonderful support from my colleagues here at UNC, all of whom perform and compose at an extremely high level. I’m constantly inspired by my fellow faculty and students.”
Sticking With the Same Tune
Tim Gocklin’s journey to his Grammy nomination started when he was a freshman in college attending the University of Michigan. He and his friends formed the Akropolis Reed Quintet and have been playing together for the last 16 years. The group has evolved into a performing arts nonprofit organization that sells sheet music, gives seminars on career development, coaches other small ensembles and of course, plays concerts.
“We tour together about two-thirds of the year, every year,” Gocklin said. “We play about 120 concerts at middle schools, high schools, concert series and universities all around the world.” The group is currently getting ready for concerts in Canada and will be traveling to the Netherlands next fall.
By now, the musicians have become like a family, especially for two of the members, the saxophonist and clarinetist, who are married with a baby boy. The group has always dreamed of receiving a Grammy for their work, but Gocklin said it was hard to know which project would be revered with such success, until now.
“This one had the secret sauce,” Gocklin said.
The Akropolis Reed Quintet started recording their latest album Are We Dreaming the Same Dream with composer Pascal Le Boeufin 2020, completing it in 2022.
“The project was created in two parts. After we made the first part, we knew we wanted to make a full album. It was a little bit drawn out, but it has always been a labor of love, and we just wanted to put out the best product because of the people involved and how much we believed in the music,” Gocklin said.
The album combines music from the Reed Quintet (an oboe, an alto saxophone, a bassoon, a clarinet and a bass clarinet) with piano and drums. Throughout the record, and especially in the nominated song "Strands,” the musicians dove into the concept of the American Dream and how people who work collaboratively to achieve it come from many different paths.
“The whole project is a compilation of the composer’s identity, one who goes into the jazz and classical idioms, which is why there are so many bits of this that sound like Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Dave Brubeck and Geri Allen,” Gocklin said. “It’s an amalgamation of different styles.”
As the oboist in the group, Gocklin said working on the album made him feel like a total rock star.
“You’re jamming with the drums and the piano and they’re both so intense. With the music we’re making it creates a rock and roll kind of feeling,” Gocklin said. “You lose yourself in the notes. The feeling of electricity happened from the very first day and continued whenever we got together for the project.”
Even though the quintet members live in different states, they were together performing a concert at Oregon State University when they found out “Strands” was nominated for a Grammy.
“It was super special. Having this opportunity to share with these people who I care about and have worked so closely with for so long is really meaningful to me,” Gocklin said. “We knew that the project was something pretty remarkable from the very first day.”
Gocklin and Kovalcheck worked on their projects while teaching at UNC and both expressed their gratitude to their shared colleagues and students for being flexible with them during that time. The office neighbors will find out on Feb. 2 whether they get to take home a Grammy Award trophy.
“Maybe the synergy from our office wall will help us,” said Gocklin. “There’s something there, some music magic working between us.”
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