The 2018 Panama Jazz Festival came to a fitting close today with a free open-air concert in the Central Quadrangle of the Ciudad del Saber business and technology park. Performers included the Yogev Shetrit Trio, the Calypso Collective, the Pan-African Jazz Project—and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble.

The evening capped five days of performances, educational activities and symposia in beautiful Panama City. The jam-packed schedule included nearly 40 workshops, from the likes of musicologist Isabelle Leymarie and vocalist Luciana Souza, as well as intimate concerts and jam sessions lasting late into the night. This year’s top billing included Institute Trustee Wayne Shorter and his renowned quartet, pianist and composer Ran Blake, and pianist Chucho Valdés and his quartet. The Institute’s students took part for the second year in a row, presenting a concert and jam session at the Villa Agustina cultural space and a full concert at the famed Danilo’s Jazz Club. They also participated in the flurry of free workshops offered to local students and aficionados.

The Panama Jazz Festival is the brainchild of pianist and UNESCO Artist for Peace Danilo Pérez, who also serves as Artistic Director. The Institute was one of five U.S.-based educational institutions included in this year’s program, alongside the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, New England Conservatory, New York Jazz Academy and Santa Monica-based Crossroads School. This is our college program’s second trip to Latin America in recent months; in April 2017, the Class of 2018 visited Havana, Cuba for five days of educational outreach around the sixth annual International Jazz Day celebration.

 

For more information on the 2018 Panama Jazz Festival, click here.

Jazz guitarist and Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance graduate Davy Mooney is off to a solid start with his engagement as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas. Mooney recently was profiled in the North Texas Daily, which highlighted his uniquely international background as a musician and educator, noting, “Between international guitar competitions, tours in South America and a Japanese record label, Davy Mooney has had quite the worldly experience in music.”

Mooney, who was a finalist in the 2005 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Guitar Competition and a member of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2009, appears to be applying this experience admirably in his new position. “Davy has been a fantastic addition to the jazz program,” said one student. “He has a very deep understanding and appreciation for the tradition of jazz. His depth of knowledge is so inspiring.” Another student shared, “He is an amazing player with a special ability to notice what aspects students should work on in order to advance to the next level…He’s also very enthusiastic about everything that is happening in school and with his students.”

The Jazz Studies Department at the University of North Texas is widely acknowledged as one of the top programs of its kind in the world, and was the first university in the United States to offer a jazz studies degree. Its renowned One O’Clock Lab Band has served as an early proving ground for Bob Belden, Herb Ellis, Jimmy Giuffre, Conrad Herwig, Ari Hoenig, and many others who have gone on to become leading jazz musicians. With the addition of Mooney – who is himself a graduate of the UNT program – to the faculty, we are certain this number will continue to grow.

Read the full article here.