For over 100 years, jazz has played an integral part of America culture. Derived from African and European music traditions, defining the style has been continually debated. Yet, when it comes down to it, jazz’s key elements are unshakably improvisation and the freedom of innovation.

“For jazz artists, it’s the creation and satisfying yourself that you have created something original. The reward is in the journey itself; it’s the creativity. You aim to reach a level of artistry and once you get there, there is no turning back,” Marlène Tachoir, primary composer and pianist of the Jerry Tachoir Group, shared in a recent interview. “For a lot of visual artists, the reward is to be able to do your craft. It’s to be able to be creative and make a living - that is the ultimate dream.”

The Jerry Tachoir Group will be performing live from 7-9 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 19, at Monthaven Mansion, home of the Hendersonville Art’s Council. During the free concert, local Hendersonville artist Misti Douglas will be painting live from the harmonious inspiration. 

The jazz band, consisting of mallet artist Jerry Tachoir, Marlène Tachoir, and bassist Roy Vogt, has accomplished that and much more through perseverance and following their passions to create enchanting jazz melodies. Living their dream, they emphasize the importance of musical arrangements. Creating powerful jazz, they design pieces to showcase the talents of each individual. They have fine-tuned their craft in originality and style.

Over time, the group has had many incarnations, starting out during Jerry Tachoir’s college years. Tachoir collaborated with various faculty members. Always playing his wife’s, Marlène Tachoir, composed music, there eventually came a point when he needed a pianist. Since the couple both graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, there was a deep understanding of music, the harmonic thinking and of each other. Writing marvelous material, the duo soon became a natural and magical blend.

Once moving to Nashville in 1979, they began auditioning talent to expand their band. Upon final decision, they chose Vogt. The trio has worked closely together since the early 1980s. Marlène Tachoir describes the perfect fit, “I write very different and difficult music. When I give a piece of music to Roy, I don’t need to explain it. He can just read my mind.” For over 30 years, they have been a tight knit group, the nucleus of the band. From there, they bring in various talented drummers to fill in the gap such as Danny Gottlieb, drummer of the original Pat Metheny Group. Moving to Hendersonville a few years later, the city soon became the Tachoirs’ musical haven.

Each member has strong, individual highlights that have set this jazz band apart to make it an intriguing combination. A Grammy nominated artist, Jerry Tachoir was member to several Orchestras in Pittsburg and the International Orchestra in Switzerland. “I always try to be creative; I strive on clarity of sound and articulation. That’s been my personal conquest as an instrumentalist - to try to be as polished and perfect as I can,” Tachoir explains. He has performed internationally at major jazz festivals and concert halls such as the prestigious Montreux Jazz Fest in Switzerland, Northsea Jazz Fest in Holland, etc. He is one of the most in demand artist-clinicians for the Ludwig/Musser Co.

With a strong background in classical, swing and jazz, Marlène Tachoir is an award winning composer and pianist. She has won first and third prize in the International Jazz Composition Contest in Monaco. Tachoir conveys, “I consider myself first a composer, and everything reflects it. Like a sponge, I absorb a lot of classical, swing, blues, and new age-world music. Our music is extremely eclectic and different. As a composer, I like the freedom to write what I feel. I make my statement by writing; it’s easy for me to write notes, to feel the impact of a song.” She has also won first place in the GMN Composition Contest along with multiple book publications and published and recorded compositions.

As the head of the Bass Department at Belmont University, Vogt is the first to have received a Masters in the electric bass in the United States. He has toured internationally and recorded with celebrated artists such as Jerry Reed, Englebert Humperdink, Chet Atkins, Charlie Daniels, etc.

The group has published 12 recordings and is currently working on releasing a new one. The upcoming recording will share a mixture of influences from swing, a lot of bluesy techniques, waltz tempos, Latin, etc. Jerry Tachoir explains their aim, “Vinyl records were called albums because it was composed in such a way that you would listen to the whole thing in that order then flip it over and listen again from start to finish. It’s like you’re telling a story. Nowadays, kids don’t do that. They go to iTunes and buy a cut, and for 99 cents they’ll buy Cut #4. Well, you’re missing that storytelling; it seems to have gone away. We try to think of our projects in that concept, we hope you start at one then go through the whole recording.”

Hendersonville residents are encouraged to attend the concert, but for those outstate or international admirers of the jazz culture, the concert will be broadcasted live via the internet at https://new.livestream.com/accounts/289785/grouptachoir.

For more information, contact The Jerry Tachoir Group at www.tachoir.com. 

By April Stillwell