Nine-year-old Will Magid had a trumpet and dream: to play like
his idol Louis Armstrong.
About 10 years later, with his friends Dan Marschak on keyboards
and Aaron Leibowitz on saxophone, Magid would form The Goop with
one mission in mind ““ to make instrumental jazz music
understandable and enjoyable for the masses.
Named as a tribute to Magid and Marschak’s roommate Kiran
Gupta, the band will jam together as part of the Fowler Out Loud
series at the Fowler Museum of Cultural History this Thursday at 6
p.m. They will also perform Monday at The Jazz Bakery, a Los
Angeles music venue.
“We’re really into instrumental music, but making it
interesting,” said Leibowitz, a third-year ethnomusicology
student. “We take a lot of the sounds that people do in jazz
and funk and try to bring (them) to audiences in a way that they
understand, closing the gap between the audience and the
stage.”
Knowing that their sound was missing something, they added Max
Griffith to play drums and Chris Bastian on bass, creating what
Magid calls “a jazz, funk, R&B and hip-hop quintet with
an element of improv” ““ a truly unclassifiable
sound.
Although the band members come from diverse musical backgrounds,
they’re all here at UCLA.
Magid and Marschak are second-year ethnomusicology students, and
Griffith and Bastian are first-year undeclared students.
Magid had several musical endeavors before co-creating The Goop,
including playing bass in both a punk-rock band and an
“all-star” competitive jazz band while in high
school.
Thoguh he originally wanted to play in a band like the Red Hot
Chili Peppers, he found his other musical influences, which
included Miles Davis, Erykah Badu and The Roots, led him to another
style of music.
“In rock, the music sometimes is completely separate (from
other genres),” said Magid. “(The Goop) said, screw the
separation. We wanted to have a group that was true to our
influences.”
Dan Marschak has been playing piano for 13 years. Even though he
began by playing classical piano, he was introduced to jazz piano
at the age of 12 or 13.
“Jazz piano is way more fun,” Marschak said.
“You can put in your own interpretation. In some ways,
it’s a lot freer.”
Before The Goop, Marschak and Leibowitz spent their time backing
up singers and artists at local venues. They have had their share
of mishaps together.
“Aaron and I would work at Masker’s Cabaret,”
Marschak said. “Singers would bring in pieces, and we would
play them. One night it was especially horrible. People showed up
late and were mad at us, and we played terribly. We were playing
with a horrible singer. I accidentally pressed this button on my
keyboard that put everything in a half-step lower. It sounded
terrible, but I assumed it was just the singer until someone
pointed out what I had accidentally done.”
Leibowitz stumbled upon his instrument in a more random fashion
than his bandmates. Though he can’t pinpoint the reason why
he began to play the saxophone, artists such as Grover Washington
and Kenny Garret influenced his decision.
“I started playing when my dad brought home a saxophone
one day,” Leibowitz said. “I remember telling him that
I wanted to play the saxophone ““ I don’t know why. He
almost bought me a clarinet, but luckily he bought the saxophone,
or I probably wouldn’t be playing today.”
Since that fateful day, Leibowitz has played his saxophone with
artists such as Jason Mraz and Butch Walla in and around the San
Diego and Los Angeles areas. Notably, he played a show at the
famous Gorge Amphitheater with none other than Dave Matthews.
Together the five members of the band have had their own
adventures, from creating music together to gallivanting around
Tijuana. Through it all, they have created their own brand of
music, just like their idols.
“I remember wanting to play like Louis Armstrong. He has
such passionate, happy, feel-good music with personality,”
Magid said.
“The music we are playing as The Goop is really fun, hands
down,” Marschak added.