The Fringe Element
George Garzone, sax; Bob Gullotti, drums; John Lockwood, bass.
Where: Monday nights at the Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass. Ave, Cambridge;
617-547-1228
Age: 50
Years playing Boston: 30
Biggest gig: Opening for McCoy Tyner at Berklee Performance Center in 1994
Favorite music: “Playing free and being ourselves”
Having toured and recorded from the Azores to Israel, the Fringe is one of Boston’s most internationally renowned bands. Still, every Monday night, they can be found in the cozy confines of the Lizard Lounge below
the Cambridge Common restaurant on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge.
The trio of Berklee-trained music teachers hooked up 30 years ago.
“I met Bob Gullotti at Berklee,” explains sax man George Garzone. “He was in a class with Richard Appleman, who was our first bass player. John [Lockwood] joined us in 1983.”
The Fringe began its reign as Boston’s kings of improvisational swing with a four-year run at Michael’s on Gainsborough Street. When Michael’s closed, the band moved to Somerville, where they held court at the legendary Willow Jazz Club for 17 years.
After the Willow closed in 1997, the Fringe went on its only major hiatus, reuniting five months later for a trial gig at the Lizard Lounge.
“The Lizard had never had jazz before,” Garzone says, “but they knew of us, and we’ve been jamming ever since.”
Amid the haze and mirrors of Cambridge’s eclectic underground listening room, Garzone and his intuitive partners play with and for each other, sometimes leaping off a familiar standard, other times free-associating on their musical ideas, changing the musical direction altogether with just a knowing glance.
“So many times, they have stopped me dead in my tracks with their quick changes and subtle arrangements,” says Monday night manager Misty Kalkofen. “They’re legends as far as the Boston music scene. I’m so glad that this is their home now.”
Each week, Fringe fans line up out the door to catch the latest chapter of the band’s musical story. Ironically, many of the trio’s cult followers are the band member’s students.
“All day long, we tell these kids to think about what they are doing,” Garzone laughs, “and then they come here and see us doing just the opposite.”
Garzone insists that its free-form approach has kept the band going for so long. “Some bands want everything set,” he says. “We just get up and react and generate energy. Music is freedom and freedom is fresh.”
As an improvisational band, The Fringe combines sounds both avant-garde and primitive. Some performances, however, are more primitive than others.
“I remember when we did one show dressed as Neanderthals,” Garzone says. “Soon, everyone was calling us asking us to do it again.”
While Garzone is considering such a stunt for its 30th anniversary gig next year, he doesn’t like to predict anything.
“When we come here,” he says, “we just play. We don’t even talk about the music anymore. It’s better for us that way.”
