A little over a month after moving to New York City, a jazz studies alum found himself standing next to Weezer on stage at Madison Square Garden last week.
Saxophonist Jason Arce, who graduated in the spring, studies saxophone in New York University’s jazz graduate program. He said the swift and timely call to play with Weezer caught him a little off-guard.
“It was actually very surprising,” Arce said. “(The tour manager from Weezer) called the jazz director . because Weezer wanted some horns and I was at the school practicing . so I jumped at the opportunity.”
The hired guns faced the immediate dilemma of fitting such an important engagement into their busy schedules. Weezer’s tour manager gave the students barely six hours to prepare.
“I found out about it at 11 in the morning and we had to be at Madison Square Garden at 5 (p.m.),” Arce said.
The five-piece horn section got together prior to the show and arranged lines to be played over several of Weezer’s songs. They played on three tunes for the several thousand in attendance; “Hollywood,” “Island in the Sun” (during which Arce took a solo) and a new tune.
Arce also recently established connections with jazz greats, Seamus Blake and Ralph Alessi. Though currently residing in New York City, he frequently returns to Richmond to play with bands, such as The Big Payback and The Steve Carter Connextion. His first CD as a leader, “Simplicity,” saw its debut in August.
As for the performance? “It was unreal,” Arce said.