Jared Alpern’s hands seem to move haphazardly over the keys on the organ, randomly striking notes.
But then the music starts to come together, and it’s clear Alpern knows just what he’s doing.
His parents say he was pretty much born knowing. He can sit down with an instrument and play something beautiful the way most people can sit down and have a conversation.
He has perfect pitch, his mother said.
`There’s no such thing as perfect pitch,` Alpern replied.
The tinge of exasperation in his voice underscores the fact that despite the CDs and concert fliers that bear his name, Jared Alpern is still just a teenager. He’s 14 years old and a freshman at Shaker High School ` one who has darn near perfect pitch.
He rattles off all the things he likes to do: He bikes. He hikes. He kayaks. History is his favorite class, but biology is his favorite subject.
He spends a lot of his spare time playing the piano or the organ or the guitar. He doesn’t have a deep philosophical reason for liking music. He likes to create stuff. In the music room in his Latham home, he likes to tinker with his instruments and his amplifiers, looking for cool sounds that he might incorporate into new songs.
As for performing live, as he will on Saturday, May 14, at the Linda WAMC’s performing arts studio in Albany, `It’s a really fun thing to do.`
Alpern was 5 when he first sat down at the family’s Steinway grand piano. He took right to it, so his parents hired a piano teacher to come and work with him.
That lasted all of two lessons.
`It was unnecessary,` his mother, Laura Bulatao, said.
Bulato is a musician herself, having studied at the Manhattan School of Music. But it didn’t come as naturally to her as it does to her son. Jared learned to read music, but he rarely does.
`When I learn songs, I can just play it,` he said.
Jared’s dad, Matt, doesn’t play an instrument, but he has a deep love of music. He and Jared talk excitedly about all the concerts they’ve seen together. When Jared was 9, they took in an Allman Brothers concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. That was it. Jared wanted a guitar.
He got one for his 10th birthday, and soon, he started learning from Jim Wilson, the owner of Parkway Music in Clifton Park. One day, Matt mentioned to Wilson that Jared loved Hammond organs.
`It sounds different from any other instrument in the world,` Jared said. `It’s got a very full sound.`
Wilson pointed the Alperns to Tony Perrino, a Saratoga Springs musician who is an accomplished organist. Jared started playing with Perrino in 2009, creating a musical partnership that resulted in a CD, `All Conjured Up,` last year. The two frequently perform together, with Perrino chiefly playing organ and Jared guitar. They will share the stage at the Linda.
Jared said they sometimes mix up the instruments they play ` `It all just depends on what we feel like.`
He said he doesn’t get stage fright, no matter how big a crowd he plays in front of. His dad said the bigger the stage, the more comfortable his son seems.
`This is easy for me,` Jared said with a shrug.
His mom called him `a really old soul.` She doesn’t know how else to explain the way he has such an innate sense for music.
For both his parents, watching Jared play is a thrill. But it’s about more than his musical ability.
`It’s the way he handles himself,` Matt said. His son is respectful to his teachers. `He genuinely wants to learn.`
That’s true whether it’s music or science.
`With school, he’s very organized and self-sufficient,` Matt said.
His mom added that he’s on the high honor roll.
Jared shot her an exasperated look.
The Jared Alpern Band and friends will play at the Linda, 339 Central Ave., on Saturday, May 14, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7. Presale tickets are $10 online and wwww.capitalundergound.com and $12 the day of the show. For more information on Alpern, visit www.jaredalpern.com.“
