Free Jazz Concerts Monthly at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church

photo: Francis da Silva

Don Pender plays one of his saxophones.

By Dmitry Kiper

"Anybody who's an artist is practicing their faith," said Robert Stewart, the reverend at the 96-year-old Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, where on the third Sunday of every month - except August - The Don Pender Quartet gives a free jazz concert. 

"Music is so expressive," he added. "Especially jazz."

A year and a half ago, Stewart and local musician Don Pender were discussing ways to reach out to the community, and a few months later "Jazz Vespers" was born.

Early in the evening of May 15, as the light of the setting sun shone through the large stained-glass windows of the chapel, Stewart welcomed the 20-or-so audience members - the church can sit 150 - to the concert and announced the day's theme: a passion for compassion.

Pender and Stewart collaborate on a theme weeks prior to the event, after which Pender writes an original song related to the theme. The other half-dozen-or-so songs performed are "covers."

The quartet, with Pender on saxophone, opened the set with a classic by John Coltrane, "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes." As Pender changed instruments - soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones - the band changed musical styles, going from a jazz classic to a waltz to a Latin tune, on which Pender played the vibraphone, a percussion instrument with tuned metal bars and metal tubes, which give a vibrato effect.

Halfway through the concert, the soft-spoken reverend reflected on the day's theme.

"A thing you have passion for," he said to the audience, "is a thing you would do if you weren't getting paid for it.

"I can't help but think about you guys," he said, as he turned to the band. "You're doing this from something inside you."

After Stewart appealed to the audience members to look inside themselves and find their passions, the band resumed the set - displaying its passion and virtuosity.

Pender happily shared the spotlight with his band mates - J.R. Witt (piano, saxophone), Greg McFall (acoustic bass) and Bobby "Hot Tub" Ramirez (drums) - who had a solo on almost every song.

While the audience was singing and clapping to "Every Time I Feel the Spirit" (the last song of the evening), Pender strode between the rows playing his sax, coming up to a few audience members and lighting up their faces. As he was bellowing out the last few notes of the song, he closed his eyes and his face turned a light shade of red.    

Smiling, the reverend thanked the audience for coming, thanked the band and reminded everyone that complimentary refreshments and Pender's CDs awaited them downstairs. A plate was passed around for donations for the quartet.

Most people stuck around, conversing and snacking, while the band members juggled their time between moving equipment and talking with the public.

Don Pender, Take Two
Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, in 1947, Pender got an early start in jazz at the age of eight, when his mother gave him a yellow plastic saxophone.

A year later, he played his first gig with his mom on piano and his uncle on drums - they both inspired him to pursue jazz as a career.

"After the show," he recalls, "my mother told me to go practice some more."

So he did.

"When my friends were playing basketball - or baseball or whatever - I was practicing," he said.

After high school, he turned down a scholarship to The Julliard School (because they did not offer a jazz program at the time) and enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

"In my town, I was considered a good sax player," he said, "but you go to a big city and you're just another pea in the pot."

In 1969, he received a master's degree in music from Berklee and in 1970 earned a master's degree from Boston University in music education.

Throughout his multi-decade career, Pender has released 20 albums, one of which - "Sandra Jean" - was nominated for a Grammy in 1984.  In addition to playing four different kinds of saxophones and the vibraphone, he plays flute, clarinet, piano, oboe and the English horn.

"Music has been very good to me," Pender said. "It has let me grow; taught me patience.

"I think you have to be healthy to play," he said. "That's why I walk three miles a day and swim."

Beginning June 13, he will teach a series of two-week-long courses at the church on jazz fundamentals to youth in their teens and 20s. 

"The best thing we can do for jazz is to give something back," he said. "That's what I want to do with the Jazz Academy this summer."

He continues to be incessantly busy and even though he can barely squeeze an extra note into his schedule, he has recently taken up playing with the University of San Francisco Orchestra.

"I'm exhausted when I go to bed," he said.

Stewart and those who attend the monthly church concerts appreciate the time The Don Pender Quartet makes for them and the quartet, in turn, appreciates the attentive ears.

"During most of our gigs, people drink and talk," said Pender. "It's nice when people listen."

The Don Pender Quartet gives a free concert at the Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, 417 31st Ave., on the third Sunday of every month - except August - at 5 p.m. For more information, call Stewart at (415) 751-1140, visit sflppchurch.org or call Pender at (415) 584-8289 or at donpender.com.