The saxophone kid

Posted 8/21/12

Rowan Lynch has played the saxophone for three years and has already performed at many locations, written original music for and recorded a jazz album with the Rowan Lynch Quartet, participated in …

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The saxophone kid

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Rowan Lynch has played the saxophone for three years and has already performed at many locations, written original music for and recorded a jazz album with the Rowan Lynch Quartet, participated in the Keystone College Summer Jazz Institute, and played at the Scranton Jazz Festival. Oh yeah, and he’s only 13.

Rowan is in the seventh grade at Wayne Highlands Middle School and is a member of the concert and jazz bands there. He says he practices the saxophone for 10 hours a week, and also plays the guitar and piano. His dad Rob says, “We’re really proud of him, he works so hard. It’s amazing how many hours a day he’s been practicing the saxophone. He loves doing it and we love hearing it.” Rob also jokes that he and his wife do a lot of driving, as Rowan takes lessons at the Black Bear Conservatory in Hawley, Main Street Music in Scranton, and piano lessons with Ralph Liberto.

The other members of the Rowan Lynch Quartet are Norman Sullivan, Mark Terwilliger and Jason Merrill. All the guys laud Rowan’s dedication and talent and say his skill is far beyond his years. It says a lot when someone older says they aspire to be like someone younger. “Rowan embodies what I aspire to be like when I retire,” said Terwilliger. “I’ve studied music at the higher education level and have been around a lot of good musicians. It really is unusual to encounter somebody with Rowan’s, not only ability, but drive, at such a young age. It’s very inspiring.”

The Rowan Lynch Quartet recently recorded an album, “Strange Carp,” which has six original songs written by Rowan and four jazz standards, and performed at The Cooperage. Rowan said he just “gave it a shot” and brought some songs in to his teacher Merrill, who encouraged him to make an album. “I loved the idea,” said Rowan. “It seemed like a great opportunity.”

The guys in the group say Rowan’s song-writing abilities are impressive. “There’s this one song, ‘It’s Raining in Macando,’ which I think is a place from a book he read, and I get that stuck in my head all the time,” said Merrill. “And I’m like, man, there is this 12-year-old kid that came up with something that’s sticking in my head, it actually reminds me of a Radiohead song.”

Rowan’s favorite musical style is jazz. He first got into it when his parents took him to see a jazz trio that included Terwilliger play at the Silk Mill in Hawley. After that he would borrow jazz improvisation books from Terwilliger. and Rowan’s parents asked him to come play music with Rowan at a dinner party. Terwilliger said, “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought he was going to play guitar, I didn’t know he had developed into an accomplished saxophone player.” He said Rowan had a long list of tunes he wanted to play. “I did my best to accompany him, and everybody was pretty amazed,” he said.

Now, Rowan is a genuine jazz musician. Sullivan said, “He’s very into it, and quite knowledgeable about jazz, not just for his age but for anybody. He has the musical maturity of a much older person at this point.”

Rowan’s dad says playing music is educational in a lot of ways. “It teaches work ethic, discipline, practice, delayed gratification of the performance and putting in a lot of hard work,” he said. Black Bear Conservatory encourages public performance for its students, and Rob observed, “It instills them with a good work ethic.”

Rob said that the guys in the band encourage and help Rowan and that “Jason has been instrumental in getting Rowan out there in the public. He’s been so much more to him than just a guitar teacher.” He added, “We’ve got a nice community of musicians here in Honesdale and Wayne County.”

It seems that everyone who knows Rowan would agree with what his guitar teacher Merrill said: “He’s just an amazing kid.”

[You can buy the Rowan Lynch Quartet album, “Strange Carp,” at CD Baby or iTunes.]

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