I recently attended the IAJE convention held in Toronto, Canada. It was quite cold and wintery while I was there (like it is supposed to be in Canada in the winter, I guess). I was impressed by the sheer volume of activity that took place over four days. It would appear that there are still quite a few folks interested in jazz music and jazz education. Although there is an obvious element of commerce and promotion at such gatherings, one can still take in some good musical presentations and some good workshops. If you have never been to the annual IAJE convention, I would urge you to go. It is an excellent opportunity to network with people that share some of your same interests.

In our ongoing effort to improve the infrastructure of our organization to better serve the membership (that's you!) we have appointed four zone representatives for different regions of the state. These representatives were chosen because they are generally active and knowledgeable of the various activities in their particular region. They are your first option for which you can seek answers to questions you may have and possibly inquire as to various types of assistance we can offer to you in your activities. If your representatives do not have an immediate answer, they have the means to find out the answer and will do everything possible to assist you. Do let them hear from you about any concerns you may have specific to your area or activities. They are here to be of service to you.

We have been a bit slow in launching our new Website that we hope will better publicize various aspects of our organization. The site is currently under construction and will hopefully be up and running by April or May. The delay has been due mainly to my busy schedule and not having enough time to get to it. Hang in there... it's soon to be a reality. Perhaps you can look for it soon at: www.iajeny.org.

Please take the time to read this entire newsletter. Our organization can supply assistance of various kinds toward the implementation of festivals for students, clinicians, teachers, and members. Assistance can be financial, logistical, or both. Try to familiarize yourself with what we have to offer and take advantage of it.

Think warm thoughts and let us know how we can serve you. The officers and zone representatives contact information is contained herein.

 
Sincerely,
Todd Coolman
Director of Jazz Studies
Purchase College (SUNY)

The Jamie Begian Big Band was prominently featured at this year's IAJE conference in Toronto. Thursday, January 9, saw the band serve as the 'house band' for the ASCAP Established Composer (Robin Eubanks) and Emerging Composer (John Hollenbeck) commission premieres as well as the Gil Evans Commission (Patrick Zimerli); the pieces were premiered at the conferences general opening session. Later that night the band held court at the venerable downtown Toronto locale "The Rex." Friday, January 10, was the band's own IAJE showcase, playing Jamie Begian's original compositions at The Fairmont Concert Hall. The response was fantastic to all performances; the concensus being that this is a band with its own voice and identity ready to be heard by the music world at large.

The Rochester City School of the Arts (SOTA) is a public magnet school serving approximately 1200 students in grades 6 through 12 in the Rochester City School District. Students attending SOTA major in one of six subject areas: Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Music, Theater Technology or Visual Arts. For the past 5 years, more than 90% of SOTA Arts graduates go on to further their education at colleges, universities and conservatories. Annually, over one-third of all graduates receive college scholarships.

The music program at SOTA is a comprehensive course of study encompassing all areas of general, classroom and applied music education. Jazz is an integral aspect of the school's daily curriculum. The SOTA instrumental program consists of three concert bands and three jazz groups which meet during the school day and an after-school jazz combo. At the high school level, the Jazz Ensemble rehearses every other day during a scheduled 80-minute Arts block. The Sr. Jazz Combo rehearses once a week for an hour after school. In the middle school, the Jr. Jazz Band rehearses a total of three hours a week. The program at SOTA has been supplemented with guest clinicians such as Wynton Marsalis, alto saxophonist David Glasser, trumpeter Terrell Stafford and pianist Eric Reed. Students from SOTA have also participated in collaborative events with the Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, Heuvelton Central School, Rochester Institute of Technology, Eastman School of Music, SUNY Potsdam and SUNY College at Geneseo resulting in memorable performances with both local and nationally renowned musicians. This year, SOTA students were selected as the opening act for David Sanborn's concert at the Eastman Theater on March 2nd. Four works for jazz ensemble have been written specifically for members of SOTA groups sponsored by The Commission Project, a Rochester-based organization.

The School of the Arts Sr. Jazz Ensemble, Sr. Jazz Combo and 8th Grade Jazz Group are directed by Alan Tirre. The Middle School Jr. Jazz Band is directed by Mario Belculline. Mr. Tirre and Mr. Belculline are both graduates of the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY.

The Brevard Music Center, located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, is pleased to announce the second annual Manhattan School of Music Jazz Institute at Brevard Music Center, June 8-22, 2003. As part of the development of "the complete jazz musician", students are trained in three critical areas of jazz music: performance, composition, and pedagogy.

The Jazz Institute is a full scholarship program. Students receive tuition, room, and board. Faculty include Justin DiCioccio, conductor, drums; Michael Albene, composer, arranger, keyboard player; Dick Oatts, saxophone, and Randy Brecker, trumpet. All of the faculty are active jazz performers and teach at the Manhattan School of Music.

The Jazz Institute Big Band will perform two major concerts at the Bervard Music Center auditorium that seats over 1,800 people. The combos will have outreach performance opportunities at different venues in Brevard, Asheville, and the surrounding area.

Highlights of the 2003 program include the following:

The Hal Leonard Corp. has released a new educational method by Buffalo-based, improvising violinist and IAJE-NY member Geoffrey Fitzhugh Perry entitled "Fiddle Jam, a way-cool easy way to learn how to improvise." The book and accompanying CD had its first official public showing recently at the annual conference in Toronto.

Unlike other lick and transcription-based methods, Fiddle Jam features a fun "from the inside out" approach, getting the entry level improviser to jam with as little logical thinking as possible at first, by using boxed fingering patterns called "EZ-Zones" set in the most string friendly keys. This "low impact" approach encourages the desired "mind to fingers" connection earlier in an improviser's development.

The backing track CD features Jazz, Blues, Rock, Funk, Cajun, Country, and other improv-based styles as well as a split track option to jam along with the author, or "go it alone" with the band.

Humorous "Wit and Wisdom" writings are interspersed through out the book on topics such as stagefright, gig etiquette, and electrifying your instrument. A double string Boogie Woogie accompaniment section and a couple tunes at the end pull it all together.

"Fiddle Jam's main mission is to lead the student to the understanding that it's OK to create their own things," Perry says. "Getting a student to experience this can literally change their life! That's my goal... one 'ah-ha' at a time."

2002 was a busy and exciting year for Bobby Sanabria, the ubiquitous NYC based drummer, educator, Grammy nominated recording artist and Chair of IAJE's Afro-Cuban Jazz Resource Team.

Bobby was featured on six new major recordings, and he recently released his own "Bobby Sanabria & ¡Quarteto Aché!" the first since his Grammy nominated big band CD "afro-Cuban Dream... Live & In Clave!!" in 2002.

Bobby co-produced the two-hour Bravo documentary "The Palladium: Where Mambo was King," and he and his power-house quartet are prominently featured in the new CBS documentary "Reaching Out." He is a consultant and contributor to the new 4-year nationwide traveling Smithsonian exhibit, "Latin Jazz: La Combinación Perfecta." He is quoted in the New York Times feature article about the exhibit, and Hispanics Today and Latino USA included programs on his numerous projects.

Bobby and ¡Quarteto Aché! appeared at the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, Birdland, and the Havana Jazz Festival, where he also served as a judge in the prestigious Latin-jazz composition competition 'Premos SGAE Jazz Latino.' His ensembles have performed in Hawaii, Montreal, and the Midwest, as well as in numerous venues on the East Coast, including big band performances at Birdland and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Due to the vision and commitment to the arts of CNY Jazz Arts Foundation Executive Director Larry Luttinger and New York State Sen. John A. DeFrancisco, downtown Syracuse will soon benefit from the creation of a headquarters for the jazz art form. The Senator, a strong patron of the arts, and especially jazz, has provided a $250,000 grant from the Strategic Investment Program for the project. It will be used to purchase a presently vacant Central Business District property at 441 E. Washington St. that will be renovated and enlarged to create a total of 4,100 square feet of space that will house the organization's offices, box office, music library, and a 75-seat theater. To be called "Jazz Central", this new building will host all forms of educational and cabaret events, as well as seminars, lectures, jam sessions and rehearsals, all in support of the jazz art form.

The facility will provide a rehearsal environment for the CNY Jazz Orchestra, the professional regional big band that presents a concert series in the Oncenter Carrier Theater. Additionally, it will provide a home for the newly-renamed Stan Colella Parks and Recreation All-Star Big Band, the foundation's newest youth education program in partnership with the City of Syracuse. "The creation of Jazz Central provides our city with a focal point for all CNYJAF jazz activities that presently take place in borrowed space," said Luttinger. "These events alone will instantly create a busy new downtown venue at the new 'Jazz Central'. And if the overwhelming success of Armory Square's Happy Endings Café theater is any indication, we look forward to developing an equally busy year-round schedule of jazz related events to support the 'Downtown East' area that encompasses Hanover Square, the proposed Montgomery St. arts corridor, and Firefighters' Memorial Park."

The mere creation of such a space is on the cutting edge of the arts scene in jazz. "I don't know of a single city in the country that can boast such a facility aside from Wynton Marsalis' soon-to-open jazz theater in New York City's Lincoln Center," according to Luttinger. "I'm deeply indebted to John DeFrancisco for his deep understanding of the value of the jazz art form and his belief on our organization's ability to fulfill our mission to the community. The creation of this 'jazz arts center' is entirely due to his vision, generosity and understanding, and puts Syracuse well ahead of the curve in this respect. We will name the new performance space the 'Senator John A. DeFrancisco Theater' in an attempt to permanently honor his commitment to our efforts."

The Jazz Drama Program (JDP) is a cross-cultural initiative that involves theatre, band, orchestra, vocal music, dance, visual arts, social studies and beyond. The JDP was founded by jazz composer, Eli Yamin and writer/teacher, Clifford Carlson, in 1998 with grants from Meet the Composer, the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation and the school's Parent/Teacher Association. It is based at the Louis Armstrong Middle School in Queens near the historic Louis Armstrong House. Pops was renown for his love of children and the time he spent with neighborhood kids on his stoop. In this spirit, student actors, musicians, artists, costumers, stage crew and lighting technicians all hone their skills in jazz and theatre over a ten-month program of study with teachers in their school and professional artists. The JDP is using the language of jazz to tell stories relevant to children's lives. In doing so the program teaches about the diverse styles of the music by getting kids directly involved in swing, bebop and the blues. Each year, new work is dedicated to one or more important jazz figures and their spirit resonates through the company inviting further inquiry. Past honorees have included Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Sun Ra, Mary Lou Williams and Thelonious Monk. Particularly unique to the JDP is the orchestra pit where student musicians play alongside seasoned professionals including master drummer Walter Perkins.

In 2002, the JDP premiered Hear My Voice, which has been called 'the most accurate expression of the adolescent mind seen in any performance art in a long time." The show expresses views of middle school children on issues ranging from sex and drugs to teachers and parents. Building on butterfly imagery suggested by Thelonius Monk in the documentary film, Straight, No Chaser, Hear My Voice explores complex themes of finding one's own voice and building the confidence to express it. Hip-hop meets Bebop in the opening number, Growing Up and Free For All is a blues shuffle. The finale marks the climax of the complicated choices kids make every day and connects modern day R&B influences with a Coltranesque soaring 6/8.

2002 Also marked the first time a JDP premiere got a second run. Students from I.S. 143, the Eleanor Roosevelt Intermediate School in Washington Heights, recently took hold of the lines (literally and nautically) of the original jazz musical Nora's Ark. Sponsored by NYC Project Arts, in collaboration with Young Audiences New York, director Dacia Washington, producer/co-choreographer Tasha Antulov, and musical director Eli Yarnin led 6th-8th grade students through the challenging journey of creating live jazz musical theatre. Nora's Ark is a contemporary retelling of the biblical story, Noah's Ark. Complete with a gospel, blues, and bebop-tinged score, animals from the Bronx Zoo are rescued from the flood by Nora and her daughters and given refuge on a cruise ship. Fitzi however, Nora's youngest daughter, forgets to bring food. This presents a big challenge to the predators and prey. While the hunt is averted, the animals sing of their fate. Free from captivity, yet hungry at sea, they sing in the moonlight with blue overtones... there's blue all around me, but I'm not feeling blue today.

"For me, there's no more beautifully rich sound than a good string section, but I wanted this to be a real jazz recording, with the strings soloing, interacting, and being truly inside the music," says Jim Snidero, reflecting on his new CD "Strings," released on Milestone records on March 11, his first for a major label. Snidero composed 6 of the 8 pieces on the recording (there are 2 standards), including 'River Suite', and arranged all the music for strings and jazz quartet (Snidero-alto sax and flute, Renee Rosnes-piano, Paul Gill-Bass, Billy Drummond-drums). In his liner notes, Grammy award winning writer Bob Blumenthal says that "Strings is a Triumph" and that it "pushes the strings-with-sax envelope."

"I had never written for strings before," states Sindero, "but I've always loved great string writing, both classical and jazz, so it was a pleasure to explore. I think there's so much potential regarding the use of strings in the jazz idiom, and that more and more string programs are exposing their students to jazz. For instance, I premiered 'River Suite', a 3-part composition dedicated to the days I lived overlooking the Hudson River in Manhattan, with the Interlochen (MI) Orchestra in March, and they were very much into it. My publisher, Advance Music, has also released a Violin, Viola and Cello version of my Easy Jazz Conception series, so from both an educational and performance standpoint, strings have a lot of room to grow. It's really very exciting."