By Jason West
Seattle musicians Neto, Peete, Parks honored
The 2002 International Association of Jazz Education conference-the world's biggest jazz gathering-took place January 9th through 12th at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California, in a whirlwind of live performances, master classes, guest lectures, industry panels, honorary awards and more. A massive trade show schmooze-fest to some, where myriad businesses vie for elusive jazz industry dollars, IAJE is also a place where the life-affirming forces of jazz are nurtured by artists and educators young and old. Where else but IAJE can one enjoy an intimate chat with Charlie Haden, Dave Brubeck, or Horace Silver only to be stampeded by an orchestra of high school musicians racing to their appointed concert.
Over the past thirty years, IAJE's annual conference has ballooned in size with over active 7,000 teachers, students, and music industry representatives in attendance, according to their press guide. Yet, the general consensus was that this year's conference was sparsely attended in comparison to recent years. Some estimated attendance to be roughly half of last year's event held in New York City. In fact, a number of industry bigs, including the popular national magazine, Jazz Times, chose not to attend. No shows included Verve Records and GMN, plus Internet entities Jazz Valley, Jazz Corner and Jazz Online. Perhaps the void was due to fallout surrounding the events of September 11. Perhaps a what's-jazz-without-NYC attitude prevailed. If so, IAJE heads aren't showing any signs of concern, having recently scratched New York as host city in 2004. One thing's for sure, while the California sun provided a regular diet of 75-degree days, the nightlife in Long Beach was fairly non-existent, with jazz after hours confined to hermetic hotel lobbies. IAJE 2003 will be in Toronto. In '04 jazz returns to the Big Apple.
Established in 1968, the IAJE has roots in Seattle, in fact. That spring, the Music Educators National Conference-whose members were, at that time, primarily interested in classical music education-convened at the Seattle Opera House. MENC staffers had scheduled the North Texas State big band to perform, and, legend has it, when that top-flight jazz outfit was announced, many of the classical cats rose to leave. That is until the first chord hit-and the band's energy planted everyone firmly back into their seats. It took about a minute for the MENC board members to realize that jazz, like classical, was not only legitimate music, but was riding a wave of academic enthusiasm thanks in part to expert composers, arrangers and performers.. Thus, the National Association of Jazz Educators came to be, adopting its international title in 1989.
- Factoid #1: Jazz was 2.7% of total CD sales in America in 2001. That's 2.4 million copies sold.
- Factoid #2: Five CDs made up 60% of total jazz CD sales in 2001.
- Factoid #3: In 1999, two CDs made up 49% of jazz CD sales. Both were by Kenny G.
When not manning the JazzSteps/AllAboutJazz.com booth, visiting the cyber cafÃÂÃÂÃÂé, checking out the instrument display area or getting lost among the maze of exhibits, I actually heard some jazz at IAJE. The Boston-based Either/Orchestra has been active for over 16 years, under the tutelage of the group's chief composer, arranger, and alto saxophonist, Russ Gershon. In addition to employing a stable of talented, young players, Either/Orchestra continues to prosper by embracing musical elements from around the world. This was exemplified by Gershon's "Ethiopian Suite," a trio of compositions based on traditional Ethiopian rhythms, one of which featured a bridge metered in 19 and a chorus in 10.
Joanne Brackeen's solo piano performance in the Center Theater and pianist Jason Moran's quartet with saxophonist Greg Osby each made a positive impression. The quartet provided seamless, unexpected transitions from tune to tune, changing rhythms and tempos, making complex arrangements sound unrehearsed. Their deconstructed version of Hank Mobley's "Sidewinder" was a highlight.
Drummer Terri Lyn Carrington starred during a set by Soul Manifesto, a guitar/organ jam band led by Rodney Jones. An energetic, fluent performer, Carrington is best known for touring with Herbie Hancock, and is definitely one to watch. Her latest CD Jazz is a Spirit is due out in March and will be available exclusively on JazzSteps.com.
Not surprisingly some musicians are better speakers than others. Airto Moreira's 45-minute soliloquy on The Spirit of Percussion revealed brief moments of lucidness surrounded by clouds of confusion. At times offensive and often silly, the world-renowned Brazilian percussionist was much more accessable doing what he does best-jamming with a group that included Seattle's own Jovino Santos Neto and Chuck Deardorf.
In fact, Northwest faces at IAJE were a welcome surprise in the mass of strangers swirling from booth to ballroom. Seattleites in attendance included Randy Halberstadt, Chuck Deardorf and Julian Priester, representing Cornish College of the Arts. Independent label owners and fellow percussionists Greg Williamson (PonyBoy Records) and John Bishop (Origin Records) were on the case, as were Dave and Jane Peck. Jay Thomas performed with the Washington Jazz Workshop. Jay Clayton participated in a panel discussion on the animosity that often exists between vocalists and instrumentalists. KPLU's Jim Wilke, Garfield's Clarence Acox, Earshot's John Gilbreath, Paul DeBarros as well as area groups representing MusicWorks NW, the Pierce College Jazz Ensemble, and the Central Washington University Vocal Jazz Ensemble also made the trip south to Long Beach.
My brightest moment at IAJE 2002 was having dinner with eclectic Portland bassist, and wine connoisseur, Dave Friesen. Fans of Friesen, including those who attended his Christmas gig at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant in Pioneer Square, will be glad to know that his new trio album with fellow Portlanders Randy Porter and Alan Jones is due out soon. In addition, Friesen is planning to tour with John Gross, whom he named as his favorite saxophone player.
Special IAJE award winners from the Seattle area included acoustic bassist Andrew Peete, who received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship. A senior at Newport High in Bellevue, Peete was one of five high school students selected for the fellowship based on his blind audition. Peete, who will likely continue his jazz education next year in New York City, was awarded a trip to ARTS Week in Miami, Florida, and an appearance at IAJE with other fellowship winners.
Aaron Parks, 18, who received the Brown/Getz award in 2000, was named a Cole Porter Fellow after winning First Place in the Fifth American Jazz Piano Competition in Indianapolis this past April. The prize included $10,000 in cash, the production of a CD, and professional assistance for two years. Parks grew up in the Northwest; he recently moved to New York City where he gigs regularly with his trio.
Seattle resident, musician and educator Jovino Santos Neto deserves special mention for his musical tribute to the great Billy Taylor, titled "Billyssimo." The 12-minute large ensemble composition was commissioned by ASCAP and IAJE for the opening of the conference and was performed in the spacious Terrace Theater by the Falconaires, the US Air Force Band of the Rockies. "Billyssimo" was conducted by Neto and featured special guest Frank Mantooth on piano. Like much of Jovino's work, the piece moved around a lot, incorporating sections reminiscent of Taylor's stride piano style and the composer's native Brazil. I spoke to Jovino after the performance and he said that there's a good chance "Billyssimo" may show up on his next recording. Unfortunately, Taylor was unable to hear the music written and performed in his honor. The 80-year-old pianist was hospitalized after suffered a stroke just days before the conference began.
