Ace of bass

Brian Torff lives a double life.

During the week, he’s a rather unassuming, mild mannered associate professor of music here at Fairfield, assigning homework, grading tests, and reading papers.

On the weekend, it’s a far different story: a jet-setting musician playing gigs in smoky jazz clubs and concert halls throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, even Germany, sometimes making it back in town just in time for class on Monday morning.

“It’s true, it really is a double life,” says Torff. “I’m both a musician and a teacher, and I love both.”

Sitting in his office, with his walls covered with CD’s, videos, and posters of some of his favorite jazz performers, Torff both writes lesson plans and scores for the horn section of his band. He both goes over attendance sheets and restrings his electric stand up bass, which he frequently plays in his office through a dusty Roland guitar amp.

This double life of Torff’s started thirty years ago next year, when he, still a student in music school, made his professional debut in what is arguably the most prestigious stage in all of music: Carnegie Hall.

“I was scared, man,” said Torff. “I had done other little gigs in clubs and things, but that was my first professional show.”

The show in Carnegie hall was with a British singer, Cleo Laine. Torff was encouraged to do the show by Milt Hinton, regarded by many as one of the greatest jazz bassists who ever lived. Hinton, whose picture is one of the many hanging of Torff’s office wall, took a liking to Torff when they met and trained him in preparation for the sold-out Carnegie show.

Torff’s entry into the world of teaching, on the other hand, was much less dramatic than his entry to the world of professional music. In fact, it was mostly a matter of random chance. Torff, who calls himself an “educational back-door man,” subbed in for a friend of his who became sick and taught a history of jazz class one afternoon in the late 80’s for a college near where he was living. While the class didn’t exactly go smoothly, Torff was hooked.

“I had no idea what I was doing, so of course I fell on my face in that classroom, but I thought to myself afterwards, ‘Hey, I kind of like this,'” says Torff.

Despite the rough start, Torff says that teaching has made him an even better musician.

“When you have to explain things, it helps your perception as a player,” says Torff. “Explaining things to people helps you find out what you understand, and what you don’t really understand.”

“There are days teaching when you’re just happening, you’re right on, and there are days when you can’t get in your rhythm, and it’s the same thing with being a player,” says Torff. “Some nights the bass plays itself, and sometime you can’t figure out what’s going wrong.”

Torff hopes to have a night of the former when his eight-piece band Thunderstick plays at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on the Thursday after spring break, March 20 at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Thunderstick, Torff explains, has gone through several incarnations.

“I started it a number of years ago as a trio: just guitar, bass, and drums,” says Torff. “I kept the drummer, and added a horn section two or three years ago. It’s always tough to work with a band with so many parts, but it’s a labor of love for me.”

While he’s proud of his music, in the end, Torff says that it’s the rewarding parts of being a teacher that he’s most proud of in life.

“If I help someone, in some way, then I’m more proud of that then any gig or anything like that. I get more satisfaction helping someone on their way, and find their own direction.”