To perform music for his upcoming show at the Little Carver Theatre, “Mr. Winnebago & Friends,” composer/pianist Jaime Ramirez said he needed to find “classical players that can improvise, or jazz players that can read their butts off.”
Drawing from songs on his 2020 album of the same name, Ramirez will augment the original songs with new horn parts and illustrate them with lyrical projections during the performance.
“Circus jazz,” he called the songs. “They’re very orchestral, they’re very arranged, and cinematic.”
Ramirez said his style grew out of his long background in musical theater.
“There’s lots of harmonic craziness going on in some of these songs,” he explained. But there are simpler themes, too.
“There’s another song that’s like two chords, because I just wanted to write a two-chord song, just simple... that feels very kind of dance-like. They all seem to go together in this theatrical kind of umbrella.”
Ramirez’s show at the Little Carver this Friday night will feature him performing on piano along with three string players, three vocalists, a rhythm section of bass and drums, and a horn section of clarinet, trombone and trumpet.
It’s a big ensemble for an intimate setting, but nevertheless, Ramirez said he loves the Little Carver Theatre because “it feels cozy, it feels inviting.” He added that the Carver has been very supportive of the program.
“I’m excited... I hope those who are attending enjoy it and get on board with it. I’m grateful to get to be able to do this.”
