Quick Take
Kuumbwa Jazz Honor Band alum, saxophonist and music educator Ben Flocks will return to Santa Cruz on Thursday to perform songs from his new album, “Moonshades,” joined by Billy Mohler and Jay Bellerose.
Growing up in Bonny Doon, Ben Flocks credits the redwoods, the music program at Pacific Collegiate School and his parents’ extensive collection of jazz records with helping shape his career. But there’s one place he keeps coming back to: Kuumbwa Jazz Center.
Two decades after playing saxophone as a high schooler in the Kuumbwa Jazz Honor Band, Flocks is returning to his “favorite place to play” on Thursday, Oct. 8, to celebrate the release of his newest album, “Moonshades.”
Flocks recalls first going to Kuumbwa when he was in the eighth grade: “The first few shows I saw there completely changed my life,” he said.
“Kuumbwa was really the space that transported me to a new musical dimension,” Flocks said. “All I wanted to do from that point was go to concerts at Kuumbwa and practice my instrument.”
And — at the expense of his precalculus homework — that’s exactly what he did, immersing himself in the Santa Cruz jazz scene.
“Having Cabrillo College, having Kuumbwa, even places like The Catalyst and Moe’s Alley and the Civic Auditorium, I feel really lucky that I grew up in such a beautiful spot with so many incredible resources and opportunities that were close by and afforded to me,” Flocks said.
In the Kuumbwa Jazz Honor Band, Flocks performed with other high schoolers at local venues. When he wasn’t on stage, he was attending as many jazz shows as he could at Kuumbwa.
“Kuumbwa is a really sacred space to me,” Flocks said. “The way that the audiences listen and respond to the music, and the way that the people who run the club treat the musicians and value the exchange of ideas and musical dialog, is pretty much unparalleled.”
Kuumbwa Jazz creative director Bennett Jackson added that it’s always a “special, full-circle moment” to bring back an honor band alum.
Once Flocks graduated high school, he attended the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific before finishing his degree at the New School in New York. After graduating, even as he was playing and teaching music in New York, he still thought about his time in Santa Cruz. Flocks released his first record, “Battle Mountain,” in 2014, inspired by Bonny Doon and the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Similarly, “Moonshades” focuses on moon phases and the wonder of the cosmos. The record draws inspiration from various artists, including Betty Carter, Ahmad Jamal and Astrud Gilberto. Jackson described “Moonshades” as a “concept record with a lunar theme.”
“I love that Ben’s music always has a narrative arc, and it’s going to be really cool to see how he translates the thematic world of the record to the stage,” Jackson said.
Flocks said half of the music on “Moonshades” is improvised, which he’s excited to bring to Kuumbwa. Flocks’ trio — with Billy Mohler on bass and Jay Bellerose on drums — plans to play songs from “Moonshades,” John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, coupled with improvisation.
“I like playing music that’s accessible, easy to understand and maybe elicits memories or ideas or feelings from my audiences,” Flocks said, “but I also like to take risks and try new things and see where the music will go.”
He explained he wants to communicate through his saxophone as if he were a vocalist: “I’m primarily playing melodies, but I’m trying to sing them through my horn in a way that reflects maybe how I would sing it.”
Although he now works as a music educator in Los Angeles, Flocks said he still considers himself a “student forever,” constantly learning from his students and fellow musicians. Many of his own teachers have shaped the way he teaches and improvisation.
“A lot of what I teach — the concepts, the sounds, the songs I choose — is inspired by the teachers who showed me things that I fell in love with,” Flocks said. “I’m always trying to help my students fall in love with music in their own way. I’m just trying to pick up where my teachers left off and do what I can to keep the music alive.”
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