Husband and wife WALTER PEARSON and HEATHER PATERSON are more in tune with each other than most couples. These two Lakewood residents head up the Straight Ahead Jazz Quintet, with Pearson playing saxophone and Paterson singing. “We found there was a real good blend with the alto sax and her voice,” Pearson says. Both were involved in music before they met, but were pursuing other careers when their paths crossed. “When we first started dating, we’d go and listen to music,” Paterson says. “But neither of us knew the other had performed at one time.” When they discovered their shared love for jazz, they joined up with some other musicians and formed the quintet in 1987. “Jazz offers a tremendous opportunity for creativity and spontaneity,” Paterson says, explaining that the group members hardly ever practice together because jazz music is largely improvised. Since all of the quintet members have “decades of experience,” according to Pearson, they are able to make up solos as they go along and blend them together. “There’s sort of a jazz language that you learn and get an ear for,” Pearson says. The quintet plays frequently at Greenville Avenue Seafood & Jazz and other local events.
For more information, visit straightaheadjazzquintet.com.
