Practicing can be a lot more enjoyable—and productive—given a proper instrument! The Institute was pleased to present a donated electric keyboard to the music program at Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School this week. Institute West Coast Director Daniel Seeff presented the instrument to Rancho Dominguez band director Karin Lopez, along with LAUSD Beyond the Bell Branch Music and Entertainment Coordinator Tony White.
Institute West Coast Director Daniel Seeff (second from right) and LAUSD Beyond the Bell Music and Entertainment Coordinator Tony White present a donated Yamaha P120 keyboard to the music program at Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School, a Jazz in the Classroom partner.
The keyboard, a Yamaha P120, was generously donated by Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance alumnus Glenn Tucker and offered to Rancho Dominguez at the suggestion of White and LAUSD. The donation will provide practice and performance opportunities to the school’s eager music students.
Many thanks to Glenn for his generous donation, and many happy hours of practice to the young musicians at Rancho Dominguez!
The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music presented the school year’s first public master class by an Institute teaching artist, featuring the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble. Artist-in-Residence Carl Allen led the session, which was offered free of charge at UCLA’s Jan Popper Theater.
Hosted by UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology Jazz Performance Lecturer Clayton Cameron, the master class included a question/answer session and musical demonstrations. The latter saw Allen perform alongside the members of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2020.
Artist-in-Residence Carl Allen (far right) performs with the members of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2020 during a free master class at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music: (from left) Paul Cornish, Malachi Whitson, Roni Eytan, Aidan Lombard, Chris Lewis, Emma Dayhuff and Lenard Simpson. Photo: Holly Wallace
With more than 200 recordings to his credit, Carl Allen is an in-demand drummer, sideman, bandleader and educator who performs and teaches around the world. The master class at UCLA kicked off Allen’s weeklong residency at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA, where he will conduct ensemble workshops, give private lessons and provide instruction in composition and improvisation.
Intensive learning opportunities with masters of the music is a hallmark of the Institute of Jazz Performance program. Past Artists-in-Residence have included Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, and Dianne Reeves, among others.
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The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music welcomed seven talented new students to the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA program today. The cohort begins two years of intensive study with the world’s greatest living jazz masters, and offers the opportunity for each student to earn a Master of Music in Jazz Performance degree from UCLA.
The Class of 2020, the Hancock institute’s 12th, includes pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Emma Dayhuff, harmonicist Roni Eytan, tenor saxophonist Chris Lewis, trumpeter Aidan Lombard, alto saxophonist Lenard Simpson and drummer Malachi Whitson. Each a highly accomplished musician, in the coming months the seven students will form a cohesive band that, in addition to receiving daily instruction as a unit, will serve as ambassadors for the program, teaching and performing throughout the Los Angeles area and around the world.
Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA Class of 2020 (l-r): Roni Eytan, Aidan Lombard, Paul Cornish, Emma Dayhuff, Lenard Simpson, Chris Lewis, Malachi Whitson. Photo by Reed Hutchinson/Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz
The new cohort was selected through a rigorous application process culminating in an audition judged by jazz luminaries Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, James Newton and Ambrose Akinmusire, who is a graduate of the program. Hancock is Chairman of the Institute’s board of trustees and Shorter is an Institute trustee; both are adjunct professors in the Herb Alpert School of Music, along with UCLA professor James Newton.
Over the course of the academic year, the Class of 2020 will study and perform with a litany of world-renowned jazz artists, honing their skills both on and off the bandstand. Artists-in-Residence have included Kenny Barron, Terence Blanchard, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Nnenna Freelon, Barry Harris, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Heath, Dave Holland, Wynton Marsalis, Jason Moran, Lewis Nash, Danilo Pérez, Dianne Reeves, and John Scofield, among many others. In addition, the students will receive composition instruction from GRAMMY Award winner Billy Childs and study improvisation with Jerry Bergonzi and Dick Oatts – two of the world’s top jazz improvisation experts.
Under the mentorship of these acclaimed instructors, the students, collectively known as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble at UCLA, present high-profile concerts and lead education and community outreach programs in Los Angeles, across the United States and around the world. Previous ensembles recently performed at International Jazz Day events in St. Petersburg, Russia; Havana, Cuba; and the White House. They also participated in performance and education tours of Argentina, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam with Herbie Hancock.
About the Institute of Jazz Performance
Launched in 1995, the Institute of Jazz Performance accepts one ensemble of musicians for each class and provides unparalleled opportunities to study jazz and its defining element of improvisation with master musicians, composers and educators. All students receive full scholarships, along with stipends to cover their monthly living expenses. This enables them to be fully immersed in their education and development as artists.
Institute of Jazz Performance alumni – including Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Gretchen Parlato, Walter Smith III, Dayna Stephens and Helen Sung, along with many others – have gone on to major careers as performing and recording artists, touring the world with legendary jazz musicians and as leaders of their own groups.
The Institute welcomes the Class of 2020 and looks forward to seeing their growth and accomplishments over the next two years.
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is the first – and only – school of music in the University of California system. With more that 450 undergraduate and graduate students, the school offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees through four independent but complementary departments and programs: Ethnomusicology, Global Jazz Studies, Music, and Musicology. The school’s exceptional approach to education provides students with academic opportunities that balance cutting-edge scholarship, performance mastery, and composition, with access to a leading music industry program. Rigorous and improvisational, the school encourages and embraces the exploration of music in all its contemporary and historical diversity. Students have a multitude of performance opportunities and access to world-class archives, music collections, dedicated centers of study and stellar faculty. Within UCLA’s interdisciplinary environment, the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is the portal through which music engages with other disciplines on campus and beyond.
Reviewing the performance, NPR Music Producer Suraya Mohamed called McLorin Salvant “a seasoned jazz singer with a vast vocal range, meticulous technical execution and a superb classical vocal foundation, which actually began when she was just 8. Her background in classical piano is evident in the inventive harmonic and melodic construction of the first three songs heard here; all are romantically themed McLorin Salvant compositions from her third album, For One to Love.”
Watch the whole concert here:
Established in 1987, the Institute’s International Competition is the most prestigious of its kind, recognized for discovering the next generation of jazz masters. The competition focuses on a different instrument each year and features an all-star judging panel. This high-profile annual event has launched the careers of (in addition to McLorin Salvant) Marcus Roberts, Joshua Redman, Chris Potter, Jacky Terrasson, Joey De Francesco, Ambrose Akinmusire, Ben Williams, Jane Monheit and Melissa Aldana, to name a few.
Vice President for Education & Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas began a marathon tour of public schools this month as part of the Institute’s national Performing Arts High Schools (PAHS) initiative. The tour will take Dr. Dyas to six partner schools in five states and include intensive instruction for students and faculty across a variety of settings.
Partner schools served on this tour include the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts in Dallas, Texas; Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey; and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Taken together, the six institutions represent a high-achieving cross-section of the nation’s public performing arts high schools. They boast an impressive cohort of graduates, counting renowned jazz masters like Wayne Shorter, Sarah Vaughan, Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Norah Jones and Roy Hargrove among their alumni.
Institute Vice President for Education & Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas works with students at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas, September 2018. Photo courtesy of Kinder HSPVA.
As part of his in-school visits, which are designed to complement the Institute’s year-round program of daily and weekly instruction by professional jazz artists, Dr. Dyas provides faculty development training, rehearses the schools’ big bands and smaller jazz combos, presents master classes and workshops, and gives private lessons. The visits have proven to be a highlight of each school’s jazz education offerings.
About PAHS
The Performing Arts High Schools initiative brings the Institute’s outstanding teaching artists into performing arts-focused secondary schools in cities across the country. The Institute provides consultation on curriculum development and instructional methodology, regular visits by guest artists and educators, private lessons, and intensive instruction. In addition, the Institute invites combos from selected schools to participate in weeklong Peer-to-Peer Jazz Education Tours in which the students perform with world-renowned jazz musicians in public high schools across the nation.
The late music icon Aretha Franklin receives the Institute’s Maria Fisher Founder’s Award in 2011 with (from left) Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock, Jennifer Hudson, Colin Powell, Dianne Reeves and Madeleine Albright. Photo: Steve Mundinger
The world lost a legend today. And, the Institute lost one of its most beloved friends and loyal supporters.
For over two decades, Aretha Franklin has generously and graciously given her time and resources to the Institute by headlining concerts, participating in our Competition, appearing on our network television specials, and performing during International Jazz Day at the White House – because it was important to her that people of all ages recognize the values, significance, and impact that jazz has had and continues to have on the world.
We salute the Queen and thank Aretha for her invaluable gift of friendship, for her incomparable voice, and for her powerful messages that have lifted our collective spirits and soothed our souls.
Tom Carter
President, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
Students in the Institute’s Los Angeles-area public school-based education programs received top billing at last weekend’s Central Avenue Jazz Festival, a decades-old LA institution. Also on offer were multiple ensembles led by alumni of both the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Competitions.
On Saturday, June 28th, the Thelonious Monk Institute / LAUSD All-City Big Band delivered an hourlong set of classic and contemporary music on the Etta James Stage. A collaboration between the Institute and the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell after-school program, the All-City band enlists some of the district’s most talented student musicians for regular instruction and rehearsal with master teaching artists, as well as high-profile public performances throughout the year. Trombonist Ido Meshulam, from the Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2016, and trumpeter Chad Willis served as special guests for the performance.
Separately, the Thelonious Monk Institute / LAUSD All-Star Combo gave a 45-minute performance at the nearby Dunbar Hotel. An historic property, in its heyday the Dunbar routinely hosted top names in jazz, including Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday, and formed a key locale for Los Angeles’ African-American community in the 1930s and ’40s.
Conducted by Institute Vice President of Education & Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas, the Thelonious Monk Institute / LAUSD All-City Big Band performs on the Etta James Stage during the 23rd annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival.
Later in the day, the festival hosted a special “All-Star Alumni Jam Session” on its Jazz Improv stage, featuring a house band made up of recent alumni of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance. Alto saxophonist Alex Hahn ’18, pianist Miro Sprague ’14, bassist Alex Boneham ’16 and drummer Christian Euman ’16 kept things swinging for nearly four hours while a packed crowd of local musicians, including festival performers and students from the All-City Band, sat in and played.
LAUSD Beyond the Bell Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator Tony White with the Institute’s All-Star Alumni band: Miro Sprague ’14, Alex Hahn ’18, Christian Euman ’16 and Alex Boneham ’16.
Highlights of the program on Sunday, June 29thincluded a performance by the Katalyst collective, led by alto saxophonist and Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2016 graduate David Otis, as well as sets by Institute Class of 2003 graduate and Vocals Competition winner Gretchen Parlato and Vocals Competition semifinalist Tierney Sutton.
Now in its 23rdyear, the annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival is a featured event on the Los Angeles cultural calendar. Offered entirely free and open to the public, the festival pays tribute to the historic Central Avenue corridor, at one time an “epicenter of West Coast jazz” where legendary artists like Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, Dinah Washington and Cab Calloway performed. Previous festival lineups have boasted an array of established jazz artists and rising stars, including Kenny Burrell, Pete Escovedo, Gerald Wilson, Kamasi Washington and many others.
Renowned saxophonist and Institute Trustee Wayne Shorter, a legendary figure in jazz for more than six decades, will be recognized as one of eight recipients of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. The awards ceremony will take place on December 2, 2018, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
As a composer and improviser, Shorter has profoundly impacted the sound of modern music for the last half century. Dozens of his more than 200 compositions have become standards performed by artists around the world. After graduating from Arts High School in his native Newark, New Jersey, he attended New York University and served in the Army while playing saxophone in groups with Horace Silver and Maynard Ferguson. In 1959, Shorter joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, where he soon became musical director.
Shorter (right) performs with Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell at the 2007 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition & Gala at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Photo: Steve Mundinger
In 1964, the same year Shorter recorded Speak No Evil—his first record as a leader for Blue Note—Miles Davis invited him to join a quartet with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Shorter recorded 12 albums with Davis and provided much of the material for the group’s musical explorations. In 1970, Shorter and Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul formed Weather Report, which became one of the most influential forces of the fusion era. In 2005, he won a GRAMMY Award for Beyond the Sound Barrier, taking his total to ten. Shorter currently performs with a dynamic quartet including Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade. Without a Net, the group’s latest release, documents this exceptional ensemble performing live with the Imani Winds quintet.
Shorter has served as a trustee of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz for over a decade and is a regular participant in the Institute’s outreach and education programs, most recently as part of International Jazz Day celebrations in Istanbul, Osaka, Paris and Washington, D.C.
On December 2, Shorter will be honored alongside composer Philip Glass, vocalists and actresses Cher and Reba McEntire, and the creative team of the award-winning musical Hamilton—the first time an artistic work has been recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors. The ceremony, which traditionally includes performances by a host of acclaimed artists, will be broadcast as a CBS television special airing on December 26.
The Institute congratulates Wayne Shorter on this well-deserved honor, and thanks him for his innumerable contributions to jazz music over the past 60 years.
Students at 10 public schools in Fargo, North Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and San Diego, California benefited from jazz education programming offered through the Institute’s spring 2018 Peer-to-Peer tours. Acclaimed jazz masters and our National Peer-to-Peer All-Star Jazz Sextets conducted a series of informances and in-depth educational workshops, with an emphasis on making jazz accessible to students regardless of their level of musical experience.
The National Peer-to-Peer All-Star Jazz Sextet concludes an April informance for students with teaching artist Don Braden at Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as part of the Institute’s 2018 Peer-to-Peer tours. Photo: Bart Marantz
One of the Institute’s core outreach initiatives, Peer-to-Peer tours bring some of the country’s most gifted high school student musicians into public schools across the nation, accompanied by internationally recognized teaching artists.
From April 16 – 20, Peer-to-Peer All-Stars Stéphane Clément (trumpet), Julian Gonzalez (alto saxophone), Jordan Reifkind (guitar), Dario Bizio (bass), Tyler Henderson (piano) and Jeremiah Collier (drums) demonstrated key musical concepts and discussed the importance of jazz with peers at five Fargo and Sioux Falls high schools. The students also supported jazz workshops with each host school’s jazz band and choir conducted by saxophonist Don Braden and vocalist Lisa Henry. This more intimate experience gave participating students the chance to gain valuable insight on music theory, performance techniques and interdisciplinary skills like nonverbal communication—directly from world-class, professional jazz musicians.
The May tour saw Institute students Joey Currieri (trumpet), Marvin Carter (alto saxophone), Robert Gilliam (tenor saxophone), Ari Chais (piano), Gus Allen (bass) and Joshua Green (drums) visit five public schools in San Diego, led this time by renowned jazz guitarist Bobby Broom along with vocalist Lisa Henry.
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts student and Peer-to-Peer All-Star Jordan Reifkind (left) works with student Emmanuel Michael at Washington High School in Sioux Falls as part of the Institute’s April Peer-to-Peer jazz education tour to Fargo and Sioux Falls public schools. Photo: Bart Marantz
Both programs culminated in performances at top local jazz clubs, with the Peer-to-Peer All-Stars and their accompanying jazz masters wowing audiences at Fernson on 8th(Sioux Falls) and Dizzy’s Jazz Venue (San Diego). “Real world” performance experience is a hallmark of Institute programs at all levels, and encourages the students to put the technical and theoretical elements they have learned into practice on the bandstand.
The Institute’s Los Angeles-area Jazz in the Classroom program held its Spring Concert on June 2 at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, ushering out the 2018 school year with performances by more than 50 talented student musicians.
Each year’s Spring Concert gives every Jazz in the Classroom student the opportunity to put into practice the lessons and techniques they learn during the year through daily and weekly instruction with Institute teaching artists. Groups from more than a dozen partner schools present repertoire for a live audience that demonstrates how they have honed skills like improvisation, group dynamics and nonverbal communication over the course of the academic year.
The student jazz ensemble from Millikan Middle School performs “A Night in Tunisia” at the 2018 Jazz in the Classroom Spring Concert at the Musicians Institute.
Hosted by prominent KJazz radio personality LeRoy Downs, the June 2 concert featured a series of jazz combo performances covering a range of compositional eras and styles, from standards like Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia” and John Coltrane’s “Mr. P.C.” to Kurt Rosenwinkel’s “Minor Blues” to original tunes written by the students. Participating groups represented middle and high schools from across the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), including the Academy of Performing Arts at Hamilton High School, Eagle Rock High School, El Sereno Middle School, the James A. Foshay Learning Center, John F. Kennedy High School, the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, Washington Preparatory High School, and others.
Part two of the concert highlighted the Thelonious Monk Institute/LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Big Band, a collaborative ensemble collecting 25 of the most talented young student musicians from the district. Participation in the All-City Band gives selected students the opportunity to perform regularly at in-demand venues and events around the Los Angeles area, including the Hollywood Bowl and the Central Avenue Jazz Festival. Joined by special guest pianist and 2006 Piano Competition finalist Gerald Clayton as well as vocalist and Institute of Jazz Performance graduate Michael Mayo, the group gave rousing performances of Roy Hargrove’s “Strasbourg/St. Denis,” Juan Tizol’s “Perdido” and John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.”
(From left) Pianist Gerald Clayton, vocalist Michael Mayo and saxophonist Daniel Rotem perform with the Thelonious Monk Institute/LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Big Band, conducted by Institute Vice-President Dr. JB Dyas, at the 2018 Jazz in the Classroom Spring Concert.
As part of the Spring Concert, the Institute and LAUSD presented Hamilton High School senior trumpeter Joey Currieri with the Norman & Rosalind Cutler Memorial Scholarship, which helps fund college tuition for a graduating senior who has demonstrated great musical improvement or achievement. Congratulations to Currieri and to all of our students on a successful and productive school year.
(From left) LAUSD Beyond the Bell Branch Senior Executive Director Alvaro Cortés joins Institute West Coast Director Daniel Seeff in presenting Hamilton High School senior Joey Currieri with the 2018 Norman & Rosalind Cutler Memorial Scholarship.
