By Hope Smith

When Richard Domek, UK Professor of Music Theory, was in college, there was no such thing as a degree in jazz music. Students who showed a strong passion for the genre were stuck taking classes on classical music and music theory, while they researched and practiced jazz outside of class. Domek not only studied jazz music, he later learned to decode it.

Domek learned several instruments when he was a child, starting with piano and violin, and learned the ukulele from his mother. He routinely got together with young area musicians to practice.

“Several of us used to get together and just monkey around,” Domek said.

But when his Chicago high school orchestra’s instructor pulled him out of his algebra class to urge him to join his band, Domek said he knew he must have “a knack for music.”

At Indiana University, Domek studied to become a high school orchestra director, until he stumbled into arranging. He found that he wanted to do something different with his career, and make music more accessible to a larger audience. While getting his master’s in music theory at IU, Domek recalls that he always kept “one eye on jazz.”

He accepted a job offer from UK in 1976 and taught classes in music theory, while encouraging others to pursue studies in jazz.

“I always found a way to toss jazz into theory, and the students really seemed to like that,” Domek said.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, jazz emerged as a worthwhile area of study, and performances of classic jazz were becoming more popular. However, the only way to bring older recordings to life is to have someone listen to them and transcribe them onto paper for a band to play.

Domek went to the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and asked them if they needed anything transcribed.

“Whenever I listened to music or read anything technical about music, I could just hear and see the notes in my head, and I could feel my ability to do this just growing,” Domek said.

He soon received a cassette tape in the mail from the Smithsonian Orchestra containing a piece to transcribe featuring Artie Shaw, and after transcribing it, was able to attend the performance of the piece he transcribed. The positive reviews encouraged Domek to continue transcribing.

He was asked to transcribe pieces from jazz legend Duke Ellington, which Domek found to be much different technically than other jazz artists.

“Duke’s music was so subtle and moody, so atmospheric,” Domek said. “He worked hard … and his music was so inventive.”

Domek became immersed in Ellington’s music, particularly pieces performed between 1957 and 1967, and looked for ways to resurrect jazz. He has transcribed pieces for the UK Jazz Ensemble to perform, and also continued to transcribe songs for the Smithsonian Orchestra and others, including himself, to perform.

Now Domek is working on a book about the life and work of Ellington, which he expects to publish within the next couple years.

“The admirable thing about Duke is that he always found a way to sit down and compose,” Domek said. “He would perform at a club, go out and socialize, then stay up until 6 a.m. sitting at a piano, writing music. He was practically nocturnal.  People think he was just gifted, but he was actually a very hard worker.”

One of the things that Domek said made Ellington different was the fact that he incorporated dance into his performances. He met Allana Radecki, a professor at Indiana University- Bloomington, last spring and found she shares his vision of reviving jazz music while incorporating dance, like Ellington did years ago.

Domek has invited Allana Radeki to perform her multimedia lecture presentation “Moving the Music: Jazz Dance and Duke Ellington” at noon on Friday in the Student Center Theater. The lecture will include live music, including Domek on the piano, and dance, video and sound. Admission is free.