Institute/LAUSD All-City band wows attendees at Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival

Students in the Institute’s Los Angeles-based Jazz in the Classroom program showcased their skills at this weekend’s Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, one of the premier live jazz events on the West Coast. A joint project with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Beyond the Bell Branch, the Herbie Hancock Institute/LAUSD All-City Jazz Band drew plaudits not only from the assembled audience, but also Festival staff and high-profile participants. Festival Host and jazz aficionado Arsenio Hall said he “could not believe it was a high school band. They were on fire!”

The Herbie Hancock Institute/LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Band performs at the 2022 Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival. (Photo by Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging)

Reflecting its credentials as a collection of the city’s most talented young jazz musicians, the All-City group shared billing with an array of eminent musicians. The 2022 Festival, which was presented from June 25-26, featured such jazz luminaries as Veronica Swift, Gerald Clayton, Gregory Porter, Terri Lyne Carrington and Carmen Lundy. Also appearing were venerable crossover acts including The Roots, Tower of Power, and Femi Kuti & The Positive Force. The All-City Jazz Band’s set featured exciting big band arrangements of Perdido (Duke Ellington/Juan Tizol), Cantaloupe Island (Herbie Hancock), Now’s the Time (Charlie Parker) and Blue Bossa (Kenny Dorham), giving the audience a taste of multiple eras and flavors of jazz.

The Institute has been a consistent presence in Los Angeles public schools for more than 25 years, and the All-City Jazz Band is a mainstay of its educational and mentorship efforts. Each year, the Institute selects approximately 20 exceptionally talented young musicians to participate in this full big band. Students rehearse and study with Institute teaching staff and perform for the Los Angeles community at leading venues and events. In addition to more than a decade of appearances at the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, the All-City Jazz Band has also performed at LA’s storied Central Avenue Jazz Festival, the historic Roxy Theatre and the Catalina Jazz Club, among other venues.

“Could not believe it was a high school band. They were on fire!”

Arsenio hall, 2022 hollywood bowl jazz festival host
The Herbie Hancock Institute/LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Band performs at the 2022 Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival. (Photo by Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging)

A Unique Learning Opportunity

All-City Jazz Band participants receive intensive instruction and coaching from Institute Vice President of Education and Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas, as well as guest instructors. Dyas co-directs the band with LAUSD Beyond the Bell Branch Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator Anthony White. The musicians study advanced performance techniques associated with performing professional-level big band repertoire, drill down into harmony and improvisation, and learn about each chart’s history and place in the jazz tradition. As an integral part of the Institute’s approach to the All-City Jazz Band, every student in the group is required to memorize the melody and chord changes for each tune, as well as develop competency with soloing.

The Herbie Hancock Institute/LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Band at the 2022 Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival. (Photo by Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging)

At the conclusion of every school year, the All-City Jazz Band delivers a featured performance as part of the culminating spring concert for the Jazz in the Classroom program, alongside a renowned guest artist. Recent guest artists have included pianist Kris Bowers; drummer Peter Erskine; guitarist Kevin Eubanks; saxophonists James Carter and Joshua Redman; and vocalists Patti Austin, Tierney Sutton, Lalah Hathaway, Jane Monheit and Michael Mayo.

The Institute thanks the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival for its kind invitation for the All-City Jazz Band to perform this year–and looks forward to our next appearance.

An Impressive Finish for Jazz in the Classroom Class of 2021

Among the myriad challenges COVID-19 has created for students and teachers, music education has proven a tough nut to crack. This is particularly true for jazz, with its emphasis on interaction, musical conversation and spontaneity – all rendered decidedly less practical by the constraints of virtual learning. Students like Elder Gindroz, a pianist, longtime participant in the Institute’s Los Angeles Jazz in the Classroom program and member of the Class of 2021 spent much of the last academic year finding creative ways to stay engaged when the bandstand was off limits.

“It was very disappointing to not be able to play live with my school ensembles and combos this past year,” says Gindroz, echoing similar sentiments from young jazz musicians across the country. Still, the talented pianist turned his long hours at home into an opportunity for growth, from brushing up on fundamentals (“practicing, transcribing, listening to a lot of music”) to acquiring new competencies that will serve him long after the pandemic has faded. “The newest skill I learned,” he notes, “was how to better navigate the process of making recordings at home.”

This expertise was on full display at the Institute’s Jazz in the Classroom Virtual Spring Concert, presented in June 2021 with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell Branch Music and Entertainment Education. Gindroz joined his classmates from the top combo, led by Jazz Director Philip Topping, at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts at Hamilton High School for a virtual rendition of Cedar Walton’s “Ugetsu.”

Elder Gindroz, top left, joined fellow students from the Academy of Music and Performing Arts at Hamilton High School (clockwise from top right) Osmar Barrios on drums, Brennan Sakata on bass, Kobie Dozier on tenor saxophone and Declan Houlihan on vibraphone for the Institute’s 2021 Jazz in the Classroom Virtual Spring Concert.

Students performed under the direction of Institute teaching artist Kevin Kanner, a Hamilton alum. As has become a familiar practice over the past 18 months, individual parts were recorded asynchronously at home, and then stylishly edited together by the students. Though none of the players were in the same room, the performance sounded crisp and lively, with swinging solos by Gindroz on piano and bandmates Kobie Dozier on tenor saxophone and Brennan Sakata on bass.

The masterful recording is especially impressive considering that Gindroz, along with fellow recent Hamilton graduates Osmar Barrios and Declan Houlihan, began his jazz journey just five years ago as a Jazz in the Classroom student at Walter Reed Middle School.

All three students credit their time in Institute programs with helping them develop a deep-seated passion for jazz. Notes Barrios, a drummer, “it was amazing to be able to work with extremely talented musicians like Dontae Winslow and Kevin Kanner. They are incredible musicians and human beings. In the sessions that I would get with the school combos I would learn a lot about jazz; not only how to swing but also where jazz comes from. The Institute is a great opportunity to grow musically and as a person.” 

For Houlihan, a vibraphonist, “the Herbie Hancock Institute was a very significant and essential part of my jazz education, starting in middle school up until my senior year of high school. I feel very lucky and privileged to have been shown the foundations of bebop, how to transcribe, how to listen to my bandmates and play with them–the truest essence of the music.”

“I was excited to see three students who were previously in the Jazz in the Classroom program at Reed continue with the program at Hamilton,” says Reed Middle School Orchestra and Jazz Director Stewart Rosen. “It is truly amazing to see how far they were able to take jazz in their four years in high school. I am so proud of them, and I know they all have so much to look forward to after graduating.”

Gindroz, Barrios and Houlihan now join more than 80 other Institute students across the country who are slated to start their collegiate studies in the fall.

Many members of the Class of 2021 will be entering professional music programs at prestigious institutions such as the Berklee College of Music, Juilliard, New England Conservatory of Music, and Manhattan School of Music. Others plan to pursue studies in areas as diverse as marine biology, physics, business and pre-med at schools including New York University, Stanford, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan, Vanderbilt, California State University, Northridge and many more. Three students will matriculate at UCLA, recently ranked one of the top 15 universities in the world by Times Higher Education and the home of the Institute’s master’s degree program, the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Adding to the impressive slate of college destinations is the fact that 76% of graduating seniors secured significant scholarships, with most covering at least 25% of tuition. This financial support is crucial in enabling many Jazz in the Classroom graduates to attend college. As part of their participation in the Institute’s program, students have access to experienced mentors and teaching staff who provide vital input on scholarship applications and even advocate directly for students.

Jazz in the Classroom has been a core program of the Institute since 1989, introducing millions of young people to jazz and its rich history through weekly music instruction and instrument training sessions. Like all Institute programs, Jazz in the Classroom is offered entirely free of charge to participating students, families, schools and communities. In addition to regular instruction in major cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., the program reaches tens of thousands of students every year through master classes and assembly programs in urban, rural and remote areas of the country. Leading jazz musicians and educators teach and serve as role models, helping students enhance their creativity and self-esteem.

Beyond enhancing students’ understanding of and appreciation for jazz, programs like Jazz in the Classroom have well-documented related benefits, especially for students from low-income or otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds. Through intensive mentorship and regular technical instruction, students are given the tools to unlock their potential in addition to their musical ability – preparing them for success in academics, in the workplace and in later life. As a recent report by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music notes, “The benefits of music training reach far beyond the domain of music-making. Children perform better on IQ tests and enjoy enhanced abilities in other domains, such as mathematics, the ability to focus, make decisions, and hold multiple ideas in their minds at one time.” In addition, music programs “improve school attendance and graduation rates.”

The Institute is proud that 100% of Jazz in the Classroom students graduate from high school, with more than 95% going on to college.

“Our partnership with the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz has been fruitful in more ways that can be measured,” says Tony White, coordinator for LAUSD Beyond the Bell Branch Music and Entertainment Education.

“Having the teaching artists from the Institute work side-by-side with our schools has encouraged participants to continue studying and performing jazz, but more importantly has taught them how to use the creative energy that jazz intensifies in all parts of their lives. The students and teachers involved in the program continue to sing (and play) the praises.”

For Gindroz, Jazz in the Classroom has played an important role in helping him expand his horizons both on and off the bandstand. The 18-year-old, who will matriculate at California State University, Northridge in the fall, gave his first public jazz performance as an eighth-grader at an Institute concert, and just a few years later was selected to compose and perform an original piece in honor of jazz legend Herbie Hancock.

“Jazz opens up your mind,” says Gindroz, “and provides you with a better understanding and appreciation for many other genres of music. Unlike classical piano, which is more about learning and perfecting pieces exactly how they are written, jazz requires you to delve deeper into yourself to improvise and have your own voice. I believe this process builds confidence and originality that will help in many different aspects of life.”

Asked about the role of jazz in helping him navigate the challenges of the pandemic, Gindroz simply replied, “Having jazz as a creative outlet during that difficult time was how I kept a positive outlook on life.”

Virtual Informance with U.S. Dept. of Education shows the uplifting power of jazz

U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona joined Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock to co-host a special virtual peer-to-peer jazz informance for students and educators across the United States and around the world, highlighting the extraordinary history and legacy of jazz as a healing, uplifting art form.

The session, organized in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month 2021 and the 10th Anniversary Celebration of International Jazz Day, included virtual performances by the Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer All-Star Jazz Septet along with an educational presentation by Institute Vice President of Education and Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas. Hancock and Secretary Cardona participated in a memorable 15-minute discussion on the importance of jazz as a tool for self-affirmation and self-expression.

“It takes a lot of courage to play jazz,” noted Hancock. “To not know exactly where you’re going to go, and then when that moment comes, to…jump off that cliff–that takes courage to do that. After a while, you kind of get used to that feeling of ‘it’s going to be ok,’ so it develops this spirit of being fearless. Everybody needs that.”

The April informance was offered as a free webinar in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education and with lead funding from United Airlines and the National Endowment for the Arts. The program attracted attendees from more than 30 countries, including the United States, Brazil, Finland, Indonesia, Japan and South Africa.

The full informance is available to watch below:

The Institute goes virtual in response to COVID-19

With schools across the country closed indefinitely and state and local governments encouraging self-isolation and shelter-in-place strategies, the Institute is deploying its industry-leading educational resources and award-winning teaching staff to support students, parents and educators across the United States. Programs like Jazz in the Classroom and the National Performing Arts High Schools initiative are still being offered via Zoom to our partner schools in Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New Orleans, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and beyond.

Working closely with band directors and music teachers at each school, each online session is tailored to the needs of each student or ensemble and includes lessons in jazz history, theory and improvisation, transcription, key jazz repertoire and technical skills, including “gap” areas in student knowledge that can be adeptly addressed through virtual learning such as reading and playing syncopated rhythms. 

NEW Online Summer Sessions Announced

The Institute recently announced that it would be offering a series of free online summer sessions for students from grades 4 through 12, based on the innovative Jazz in America and BeBop to Hip-Hop education programs.

Beginning on June 22, Institute Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas will lead a virtual webinar series using the Jazz in America jazz history and appreciation curriculum. Each age-appropriate session will take students on a fun, fascinating journey through jazz. Sessions will be offered in three groups: grades 10-12 (June 22-July 8), grades 7-9 (July 13-29) and grades 4-6 (August 3-12). Learn more and register for the free Zoom sessions today.

On June 25, Institute staff and teaching artists will offer a 10-week BeBop to Hip-Hop Masterclass Series, at no cost to participants, for up to 100 students across the country. Aspiring producers, musicians and rappers will create music with guidance from renowned music industry professionals. Students will have opportunities to collaborate virtually on original music projects. Applications must be received by Tuesday, June 23. Find out how to submit your materials today.

We Need Your Help to Offer the Best in Jazz Education–Now Online

Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock explains how the Institute is updating its programming in response to the coronavirus.

Have a look at how students across our programs, from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to Jazz in the Classroom, have been continuing their students virtually:

The Institute will continually update this post with new distance learning resources geared to students of all ages. Stay tuned, and stay healthy!

Leadership Through the Jazz Paradigm

by Dr. J.B. Dyas, Institute Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development

This article originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of JazzEd Magazine.

Jazz is being performed all over the world in every kind of venue imaginable – jazz clubs, concert halls, festivals, universities, high schools, coffee shops, shopping malls, hotel lobbies, restaurants, art museums, and more. But who would have thought that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would be among them? Turns out that besides loving the music for the aesthetic enjoyment it provides, the FTC powers-that-be realize the important lessons in leadership that can be procured from jazz. With a mission of protecting the consumer via the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices, monopolies, and false advertising–along with over 1,000 employees from investigators to attorneys to specialists in information technology, public affairs, financial management, and public policy–the FTC recognizes that effective leadership is paramount.

The FTC’s chief learning officer, Mark Kern, contacted me as the Commission was organizing a three-day Leadership Academy for their highest level employees. Apparently, there’s some infighting in Washington, D.C. these days (Really? I hadn’t heard!), including at some of our federal agencies, and Kern thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if the FTC ran more like a jazz group?” They were interested in, “learning from the jazz space how to build better coalitions and partnerships on teams in their space.”

This all came to fruition at the FTC Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where the Herbie Hancock Institute National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Quartet–comprising four of the most impressive high school jazz musicians in the country–along with renowned jazz trumpet recording artist Sean Jones and I presented a workshop entitled, Leadership Through the Jazz Paradigm.

After performing a couple of tunes, we gave our “What is Jazz and Why It’s Important to America” presentation, demonstrating how jazz works and how jazz exemplifies our most deeply held American values: teamwork, unity with ethnic diversity, the correlation of hard work and goal accomplishment, democracy (individual freedom but with responsibility to the group), persistence and perseverance, respect for one another, tolerance, and the vital importance of really listening to one another. This was followed by our describing leadership in jazz and what might be gleaned from it to inform current and future leaders at the FTC and others outside the music realm.

Following is a synopsis of six exemplary leadership lessons found in jazz that we examined and demonstrated:

Jazz musicians…

1. Know how to overcome problematic working conditions. For example, if the stage is too small, the piano is out of tune, the acoustics are bad, the pay is way light, and/or whatever else, we still have a great set! If the hi-hat doesn’t work, or the drummer doesn’t show up, we still have a great set. And if a couple of players in the band don’t see eye to eye, we not only have a great set, we just might create some of the most beautiful music in history like jazz greats Miles Davis and John Coltrane did in their 1950s group. There you had two musicians who had such totally different philosophies on the “right” way to play jazz (Miles using space, Trane filling up every space, et cetera), and no one would ever accuse them of being best buddies. Yet, that group has gone down in history as one of the most exquisite pieces of art (irrespective of genre) of all time–right up there with da Vinci, Beethoven, Mozart, Picasso, Baryshnikov, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Spielberg…And, from a business standpoint, the album, Kind of Blue, that Miles and Trane recorded in 1959, is not only a masterpiece, it’s the best-selling jazz record of all time.

2. Take turns leading. Even when there’s a designated leader in the group (which is most often the case), each member of the group will take turns leading, depending on the moment and the situation. For instance, at any given moment during a performance, the soloist might be in charge, or the drummer, or the rhythm section collectively, or whoever. Everyone in the group acknowledges this and goes along, enjoying the different leadership of the moment. For example, although piano luminary Dave Brubeck was certainly the designated leader of the iconic Dave Brubeck Quartet, leadership changed hands continuously among Dave, saxophonist Paul Desmond, and the rhythm section (bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello) throughout every performance. Collective leadership can be heard on their extraordinary recordings as well. The superlative results are legendary.

3. Know that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and that the goal is more important than anything else. In the case of the jazz combo, the goal is to make great music. So, once on the stage, we ignore any personality conflicts, we check our egos at the door, we work together and enjoy the experience regardless of whatever–all in order to achieve our goal of making great music. No matter what, jazz musicians always “maintain civility in the workplace”–something that all those in government agencies, business, higher education, healthcare, and everywhere else should do.

An excellent example of two jazz icons whose personalities couldn’t have been more opposite, but who worked together successfully for years are, again, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. Dave was a devout Catholic, faithful husband, and family man who took care of his health and didn’t indulge in drugs, booze, or cigarettes. Paul was a confirmed bachelor, infamous womanizer, avid drinker, drug user, and chain smoker (he died of lung cancer at age 52). Yet, this duo, too, is universally known for recording some of the most groundbreaking albums of all time, including the fifth best-selling jazz album in history, Time Out, featuring the chart-topping single, “Take Five.” Offstage, Dave and Paul may have butted heads and argued about everything under the sun, but once they hit the downbeat, they were of one mind, one purpose.

4. Recognize the contributions of others. Jazz musicians revere the masters of the past and so enjoy listening to those of the present. We’re always talking about how great someone else plays. We love to help and encourage up-and-coming players. And we’re quick to point out when someone in the band has done something cool and compliment them (“Loved the substitutions you played on the bridge… Man, you sound better and better every time I hear you… Love what you did at the end of ‘Cherokee’ – can you show me?”).

5. Really listen to each other. Jazz musicians can only function if they’re actively and intensely listening to one another. Wouldn’t it be great if Congress were made up of all jazz musicians!

6. Improvise. Often in government agencies, business, and everywhere else, things don’t always go according to plan. Here, improvisation is key – making something that went awry into something better than if it hadn’t gone awry! Piano legend Herbie Hancock tells the story of how once when he was playing with the Miles Davis Quintet in the 1960s, he spaced out for a second and, while Miles was soloing, he played not only the wrong chord, but the “worst chord possible.” Miles immediately changed his note and made it fit beautifully – better than if Herbie had played the “right” chord. This became somewhat of a common occurrence in that group and it, too, has gone down as one of the most successful and influential in history. Miles encouraged his “employees” to experiment, be creative, and lead him as much as he led them.

By the reports, the presentation was well-received by all in attendance. “The reaction to the jazz informance was extremely positive,” wrote Kern in an email regarding the evaluations submitted by the FTC Leadership Academy attendees that included such sentiments as, “Just incredible; I haven’t appreciated jazz until today and the related leadership points were truly illuminating” and “The leadership found in jazz is so very relevant [to our work at the FTC] and brought to the topic a new point of view.”

“The participants came away with a keen understanding of how jazz relates to leading in our agency in an enlightening and permanent way,” Kern continued. “Perhaps our best lesson was on individuals able to do their own thing while positively contributing to the overall good.”

This article originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of JazzEd Magazine. Click here to download the full article.

National Performing Arts High Schools Students Perform at 2020 JEN Conference in New Orleans

Combos from three partner schools in the Institute’s National Performing Arts High Schools Jazz Program participated in the annual Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference in New Orleans on January 8 and 9, 2020. The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) Jazz Quartet and a combo of top students from the Baltimore School for the Arts and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts each performed a set, sharing a bill with distinguished artists including Tia Fuller, Sean Jones, Dick Oatts, Terell Stafford, Chucho Valdés, and Mark Whitfield.

“I’m so proud of the way these students performed and comported themselves,” said Dr. JB Dyas, the Institute’s Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development. “They have made incredible progress since the last time I worked with them just a few months ago!”

A man stands in the foreground playing his trumpet with a group of students, also playing instruments.
Internationally renowned jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis performs with students from the Baltimore School for the Arts and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts at the 2020 JEN Conference in New Orleans

Remembering jazz giants

Contributing to the ongoing centennial celebrations for the late jazz icons Charlie Parker and Dave Brubeck, the ChiArts Quartet performed noteworthy standards by both artists, including Parker’s “Donna Lee” and “Anthropology” and Brubeck’s “Koto Song” and “Here Comes McBride.” The Baltimore/New Orleans combo performed a set of early New Orleans jazz tunes, including “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” They incorporated modern twists in the style of Gumbo Nouveau, the noted album by New Orleans’ own Nicholas Payton. Internationally renowned jazz trumpeter and Institute teaching artist Jon Faddis joined the group for its finale, Bourbon Street Parade.

“My hat’s off to not only these talented students but, especially, their excellent directors, Anthony Bruno, Ed Hrybyk and Michael Pellera,” added Dyas. “They keep producing superlative young players, year after year, reassuring all of us that the future of our music is in good hands.”

Four students playing jazz instruments perform on a stage with a black backdrop.
The Chicago High School for the Arts Jazz Quartet Performs at the 2020 JEN Conference in New Orleans. From left: Jaden Berkman (senior), Claudia Easterwood (junior), Leo Milano (freshman), Simon Burke-Kaiser (senior)

Getting the Band Back Together: National Peer-to-Peer Quintet performs at 2019 Competition

The 2019 edition of the Herbie Hancock Institute National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Quintet, comprising five of the most impressive high school jazz musicians in the country, recently reunited to perform at the Institute’s International Jazz Guitar Competition Finals & All-Star Gala at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on December 3rd. On the same bill as such jazz luminaries as Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, and Bobby Watson, the group opened the show with acclaimed saxophonist Antonio Hart, performing Hart’s arrangement of Seven Steps to Heaven, one of the first compositions Hancock recorded with fellow jazz icon, Miles Davis.

(From left) Institute Teaching Artist Antonio Hart performs with National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Quintet members Jalin Shiver, Sasha Ripley, and Jeremiah Collier during the 2019 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Guitar Competition at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater on December 3, 2019 in Washington, DC. Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

The power of peer-to-peer

Under the direction of Dr. JB Dyas, the Institute’s VP for Education and Curriculum Development, the peer-to-peer students annually participate in weeklong national peer-to-peer jazz informance tours in which they gain invaluable performance experience playing alongside internationally acclaimed artists while they, in turn, educate young audiences in public schools across the U.S. about America’s indigenous musical art form, jazz. In so doing, they not only help develop jazz audiences for the future, but also exemplify the deeply held American values that jazz represents: teamwork, unity with ethnic diversity, democracy, persistence, and the vital importance of really listening to one another.

The 2019 National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Quintet rehearses with Teaching Artist Antonio Hart and Institute Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas prior to the 2019 Competition on December 3, 2019. Photo by Steve Mundinger/Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

The 2019 group was composed of alto saxophonist Jalin Shiver(Newark), tenor saxophonist Sasha Ripley (Houston), pianist Dalton Hayse (Los Angeles), bassist Dario Bizio (Los Angeles), and drummer Jeremiah Collier (Chicago). The Quintet toured New England in spring 2019 with esteemed trumpeter/educator Sean Jones, performing in high schools in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. They also performed at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, DC, where they presented a workshop for the FTC’s highest level employees on leadership lessons that can be gleaned from the jazz paradigm.

The Institute congratulates these talented young artists on their achievements, and thanks them for their dedication to sharing the positive lessons of jazz with audiences of all ages.

Los Angeles Jazz in the Classroom students open 24th annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival

Students in the Institute’s Los Angeles-area Jazz in the Classroom program performed as part of the featured lineup for the 24thannual Central Avenue Jazz Festival this weekend, continuing a tradition of participation in one of Southern California’s most beloved community jazz events. Made up of top high school jazz musicians from throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Herbie Hancock Institute/LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Band entertained audiences with an hour-long set of big band classics and modern compositions under the direction of Institute Education and Curriculum Development Vice President Dr. JB Dyas and Beyond the Bell Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator Tony White.

As Saturday’s opening act on the Ella Fitzgerald Stage at Central and East 43rdStreet, the All-City group effectively kicked off the two-day series of performances. The weekend highlighted a litany of renowned artists like pianist Eric Reed, saxophonist Azar Lawrence, vocalist Cassandra Wilson and drummer Chris Dave. Other groups, including Stefon Harris & Blackout and the contemporary musical collective Katalyst, prominently featured alumni of the Institute’s high school and college programs. The All-City Jazz Band’s preparatory role for talented young local musicians was in particular evidence, with program graduates Christopher Astoquillca and Devin Daniels leading their own groups on the billing.

A man in a purple shirt stands with a microphone before a group of seated high school students with musical instruments
All-City Band co-directors JB Dyas (left) and Tony White (right) present the group during the 2019 Central Avenue Jazz Festival. Photo by Danny Sheiman, LAUSD Beyond the Bell

Founded to celebrate Central Avenue’s historical role as a major West Coast hub for jazz for much of the 20thcentury, the Central Avenue Jazz Festival is one the largest free events of its kind. Organizers tout a high-profile lineup of established and up-and-coming artists, spanning names from Teddy Edwards and Gerald Wilson to Gretchen Parlato and Kamasi Washington, as well as vaunted local groups like Justo Almario’s Afro-Columbian Ensemble and Barbara Morrison’s Bu Crew.

In addition to nonstop music across four stages—including the historic Dunbar Hotel, famed for hosting legendary performers such as Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Duke Ellington—attendees benefit from an array of local food vendors, free health screenings and professional development resources. The annual event is presented by Los Angeles Councilman Curren D. Price, Jr. and LA’s Ninth Council District, among other partners.

A group of students and their teachers pose for a photo with musical instruments
The 2019 Herbie Hancock Institute/LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Band. Photo by 
Danny Sheiman, LAUSD Beyond the Bell

Performances at prominent local venues and community events are a regular feature of the Institute’s programs, matching rigorous instruction in improvisation and group dynamics with opportunities for students to put their skills into practice, onstage—an essential component of the jazz tradition. In addition to the Central Avenue Festival, in recent years the Institute/LAUSD All-City Jazz Band has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, Catalina Jazz Club, the Roxy Theatre and the Musicians Institute, among other settings.

Learn more about the Institute’s Jazz in the Classroom program.

Institute brings life lessons of jazz to Federal Trade Commission

The Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Quartet shared the life lessons of jazz with participants at the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) inaugural Leadership Academy. Led by Institute Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas and renowned jazz trumpeter Sean Jones, the two-hour “informance” analogized real-world management and leadership situations through the lens of a jazz ensemble. Dyas, Jones and a Peer-to-Peer Quartet made up of gifted Institute high school jazz students from across the nation provided live musical examples and discussed why the study of jazz helps develop critical skills. These include overcoming problematic working conditions; taking turns leading; recognizing the contributions of others; really listening to one’s colleagues; and, of course, improvising when things don’t go according to plan.

Dyas also offered examples demonstrating why jazz embodies and supports important American values, including teamwork, persistence and perseverance, the vital importance of really listening to one another and, especially, democracy—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group.

The application of jazz principles in broader social and corporate contexts has seen growing adoption by high-profile members of the corporate community, from Finnish electronics giant Nokiato Chinese dumpling restaurant chains. As Columbia Business School Executive Development Program Faculty Director Dr. Grant Ackerman noted,

“Jazz offers us many of the elements we need for leading and managing successful projects and organizations—from creating space for others to lead to really listening to ideas of others…if we can create these kinds of work practices in organizations, there might be a chance we can leave meetings with the same enthusiasm as jazz musicians leaving a jazz session who say ‘how soon can we do this again?’”

Five jazz musicians hold instruments and perform for a group of seated people
Peabody Institute Jazz Chair and renowned trumpeter Sean Jones leads the Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Quartet in a musical performance as part of the June 20 FTC session.

Designed as an intensive primer in crucial leadership skills for high-level FTC employees, the three-day conference included modules on topics like “Managing Your Boss,” “Unconscious Bias” and “Maintaining Civility in the Workplace.” Chaired by FTC Chief Learning Officer Mark Kern and Chief Human Capital Officer Vicki Barber, the program brought together colleagues from multiple internal departments as well as other federal agencies to share their perspectives on the challenges facing developing leaders.

The Institute’s jazz informance was one of the highest-rated presentations of the 2019 Leadership Academy, with one participant calling it “definitely the highlight of the three days.”

Learn more about the Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Education Program.

Institute leads free workshop for talented South Central music students

Music students at the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center in South Central Los Angeles benefitted today from a pair of Institute-led workshops designed to hone critical skills and help them succeed in competitive university music programs. Dr. JB Dyas, the Institute’s Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development, worked with the Center’s Junior and Senior Jazz Bands on tune memorization, audition preparation, and other practical techniques. 

A man, standing, talks to a group of young seated students holding musical instruments
Institute Vice President Dr. JB Dyas works with students at the Pullum Center on January 22, 2019.

Following the workshop, Dr. Dyas recruited three talented students from the Pullum Center bands for the LAUSD/Herbie Hancock Institute All-City Jazz Band, which comprises the best high school jazz musicians in Los Angeles. The Institute administers the All-City group in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell after-school initiative. As All-City Jazz Band members, guitarist Cesar Gandara and saxophonists Ronnie Heard and Christopher Powe will have the opportunity to study and perform with nationally renowned jazz artists and educators at some of LA’s highest-profile venues, including the Hollywood Bowl.

As part of its decades-long commitment to Los Angeles, the Institute regularly leads free jazz education and outreach programming in schools and community-based organizations like the Pullum Center. Programs include daily and weekly in-school and after-school instruction with renowned teaching artists, as well as public performances and workshops at LA institutions like the World Stage and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

A man, standing, and a group of seated students holding musical instruments all laugh.
Dr. Dyas shares a laugh with students at the Pullum Center during the January 22 workshop.