The Noel Freidline Quintet: To Vegas and Back

He has performed in the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands and at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for three years, but Noel Freidline's favorite place to play is on Hilton Head Island.

"(The Jazz Corner) is my favorite room anywhere in the U.S., overseas, anywhere," Freidline said. "It's a listening room, and the audience is so generous. We have the best time."

Freidline and his quintet are back at the Hilton Head venue for the second time this year; performances take place at 8 p.m. today and Saturday.

A Charlotte resident and music instructor at UNC Charlotte by day and a singing pianist by night, Freidline has had a busy few weeks: He played in the Jacksonville Jazz Festival last Saturday, and stopped at an upscale North Carolina restaurant Sunday.

Freidline finds such a schedule welcome, and even locates some humor in the continual requests for him to perform. "They keep paying me so I keep showing up," he laughs.

Freidline's passion for music began halfway across the country, during his childhood in Kansas.

"When I was a kid my dad took me to the Wichita Jazz Festival and I was enthralled," Freidline said. "Ever since I was a little kid that's what I wanted to do."

He began playing at a young age, and his composition skills evolved through college at Wichita State - so much so, he says, that in some cases he doesn't feel like he's playing jazz at all.

"When I'm writing or arranging, (my songs) usually end up in a different genre then jazz," Freidline said. "I think Prince is a genius and cats like Sting are brilliant."

It was that kind of stylistic diversity that helped propel Freidline - and a trio he'd just formed - to Vegas about 15 years ago.
"We decided after a couple years we would starve and go out on the road," Freidline said. "In January of 2000, I got us a 15-minute slot at the Bellagio. We walked off the stage, and they asked us when we could start."

After three years of performing in the Allegro Band Room, his reputation earned him the freedom to play wherever and with whomever. Jakubu Griffin, the quintet's drummer and son of legendary trombonist Dick Griffin, joined Freidline when they were playing in Las Vegas at the same time.

"He got my name from someone, and we did a trio gig at Macintosh," Griffin said. "It's a lot of fun - he's a real swinger. I enjoy that sort of playing."

In addition to Griffin, Freidline's band is filled out these days by bass player Juan Rollan and vocalist Renee Ebalaroza.

"I'm real fortunate with the guys in my band because we have great rapport, and having fun is most important," Freidline said, adding with a laugh, "If I have any talent, it's hiring great musicians to work with."