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| Organizers
in 196 countries worldwide produced events in 2014. In Madagascar, for
example, the Madajazzcar Festival and numerous partners organized a free
program of concerts throughout the afternoon & evening (Photo by
Studio D.Mix) |
INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY 2015
Following the tremendously successful International Jazz Day celebration on April 30, 2014, the Institute has been hard at work planning for next April 30.
Outreach to hundreds of partners in all 196 UNESCO and UN countries is
set to begin in January. An unprecedented number of events around the
world is expected in 2015, with hundreds of concerts, jam sessions,
photo contests, art exhibitions, festivals, conferences, lectures,
discussions and other programs already in the works. Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2015 Global Host City,
where a daylong series of educational programs and the All-Star Global
Concert will set the tone for this worldwide celebration.
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The cast of the 2014 All-Star Global Concert in Osaka, Japan (Photo by Steve Mundinger)
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| The Class of 2016 with visiting artist Jimmy Heath (cntr) and renowned jazz educator Dr. David Baker (left) |
MONK FELLOWS LEARN & SERVE
In October, the Institute was pleased to welcome seven gifted young musicians to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance,
our full-scholarship master's program at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of
Music. Alex Boneham (bass), Christian Euman (drums), Michael Mayo
(vocals), Ido Meshulam (trombone), David Otis (alto saxophone), Daniel
Rotem (tenor saxophone) and Carmen Staaf (piano), together known as the
Monk Fellows, immediately dove into their rigorous two-year course of
study, working with jazz legends including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Jimmy Heath. The Class of 2016 is the 10th in the program's history and the second class at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, which was recently named the number 4 music school in the world by The Hollywood Reporter.
Less
than three months into the program, the students already have benefited
from instruction by a host of top artists, including GRAMMY Award
nominees Billy Childs and Stefon Harris and 2013 MacArthur Fellow Vijay Iyer.
In addition to their classwork, the Monk Fellows regularly conduct
workshops with the visiting masters in UCLA's Schoenberg Music Building,
free and open to the public.
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The program also places an emphasis on serving students across
the United States and abroad through free clinics, master classes and
other educational activities. This gives the Monk Fellows opportunities
to share their talents and gain a broad range of performance experience,
fulfilling the Institute's mission of providing public school-based
jazz education programs for young people around the world. In November, the Monk Fellows visited Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles to lead a clinic and instructional jam session. Many more outreach programs are planned for the coming months.
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| The Class of 2016 with music students at Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles |
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| UCLA
Director of Jazz Studies Kenny Burrell at an Institute-sponsored
discussion with West Coast Director Daniel Seeff (Photo by Suzanne
Strong) |
As has become a tradition with the UCLA program, the Monk Fellows continue to host their monthly jam session at Blue Whale, a well-known jazz club in LA's Little Tokyo. This
gives local and visiting musicians the chance to benefit directly from
the Fellows' already prodigious talents. Other
community-based activities include a collaboration with UCLA's
student-directed MindFul Music public health initiative, free recitals
and jam sessions across the UCLA campus, and open discussions with jazz
legends like UCLA Director of Jazz Studies Kenny Burrell.
The college program is lauded especially for preparing students to
face the intense world of professional jazz; with that in mind, the
recently-graduated Class of 2014 has been keeping busy. While
maintaining active individual schedules performing with top artists
including Blood, Sweat & Tears, Stefon Harris, John Ellis, Cyrus Chestnut, Jerry Bergonzi, Helen Sung and others, the members of the class have remained together as a group under the name HOLOPHONOR. The group has already released a self-produced album and will be touring in April and May of 2015.
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| The 2014-2015 All-Stars with teaching artist Ambrose Akinmusire |
BRINGING JAZZ INTO THE CLASSROOM
A
highlight of the 2014 Competition & Gala was a performance by the
Institute's 2014-2015 National Performing Arts High School All-Star
group, made up of top students from our Performing Arts High Schools jazz program.
As part of the initiative, the Institute provides ongoing jazz
instruction plus visits from jazz masters for students at 12 public
performing arts schools in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Houston, Dallas,
New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami, Newark and San
Francisco.
In addition to their work in the classroom, Isaiah Collier
(Chicago, tenor saxophone), Kayla Williams (Houston, trombone), Joshua
Bermudez (Miami, guitar), Jamael Dean (Los Angeles, piano), Kanoa
Mendenhall (San Francisco, bass) and Derek Fykes (Newark, drums) will
tour the country on an Institute "Peer-to-Peer" tour, mentoring their
same-age counterparts and learning from acclaimed professional
musicians like Antonio Hart, 1994 Vocals Competition winner Lisa Henry, Bobby Watson and 2007 Trumpet Competition winner Ambrose Akinmusire. Peer-to-Peer
Tours featuring our performing arts high school students are being
planned for April and May 2015 in the Chicago and Phoenix/Tucson area
public schools.
Also present at this year's Competition were jazz students and administrators from Newark's Arts High School.
They made the long trip to Los Angeles to support classmate Derek Fykes
(onstage drumming with the All-Star High School group) and to take in
all the amazing musicianship on display - a true embodiment of our
strategy of bringing young musicians into contact with present-day
masters.
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| The
2014-2015 High School All-Stars perform with teaching artist Kellylee
Evans at the 2014 Competition & Gala (Photo by Steve Mundinger) |
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| Dee
Dee Bridgewater interacts with a student at the Bologna Performing Arts
Center in Cleveland, Mississippi (Photo by Rory Doyle) |
The Institute continued its educational series "The Blues and Jazz: Two American Classics"
with visits to public schools in the Mississippi Delta in September.
Accompanied by a stellar ensemble featuring Reggie Watts (piano),
Jonathan Pinson (drums, College Program '14), Institute Special Projects
Director Leonard Brown (guitar) and 2009 Bass Competition winner Ben
Williams, GRAMMY Award-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater
enthralled students in Memphis, Tennessee and Cleveland, Mississippi
with engaging "informances," complete with historical explanations of
the various styles being performed.
The programs were designed to
demonstrate the linkages between the blues - which originated in the
Delta - and jazz, and highlight the artistic and cultural significance
of both musical art forms. Student musicians at Overton High School in
Memphis also had the opportunity to learn directly from the masters,
with Bridgewater and Thomas conducting master classes with the jazz
chorus and instrumental ensemble, respectively. Click here to read more about Institute education programs, including "The Blues & Jazz," Peer-to-Peer Tours, and more.
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MONK INSTITUTE IN THE MEDIA
The
Institute's work continues to garner public recognition in a range of
high-profile publications and forums. In addition to favorable coverage
of the 2014 Competition in major outlets from NPR to Forbes to People, our UCLA program was profiled in The Hollywood Reporter and DownBeat, which also named us one of the "80 Coolest Things in Jazz Today" in its July 2014 issue.
Alex Rodriguez of NPR Music wrote, "The
Monk Institute's arrival has coincided with a noticeable upswing in
jazz activity in Southern California - and the Institute seems committed
to contributing to that trend."
Barrett Wissman of Forbes said the Institute's work in music education "...has
been an inspiration for several generations of talented young musicians
who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunities they have had."
Herb Alpert told The Hollywood Reporter, "Jazz really needs to evolve. A lot of artists are playing what has already been played. We're taking it to the next level."
Finally, there is the growing buzz surrounding Keep On Keepin' On, the 2014 film about Institute Co-founder Clark Terry
and his tireless mentorship of young jazz musicians, including 2011
Piano Competition semifinalist Justin Kauflin. Directed by jazz drummer
Alan Hicks and produced by Quincy Jones, this poignant documentary
has won awards at the prestigious Tribeca and Seattle International Film
Festivals and received critical acclaim from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, USA Today and many more. The Institute was proud to serve as a consultant on the film. Click here to learn about screenings in your area.
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| Promotional poster for Keep On Keepin' On |
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