The International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) returns to New York City for its 31st Annual Conference from January 21 - 24, 2004. The New York Hilton and Sheraton Hotels will host the world's largest gathering of the global jazz community, with over 7,000 educators, musicians, students and industry representatives from 35 countries expected to attend. The IAJE conference was last held in New York three years ago, and has made a long-term commitment to the city with scheduled returns in 2006, 2007, and 2010. Toronto, Canada hosted the annual jazz confab in 2003 and will return as the 2008 site. Long Beach will also be the return site from 2002 to host the 2005 conference.
States IAJE Executive Director Bill McFarlin, “The organization is excited about our return to the most important city in the world for jazz. Traditionally we have moved the conference each year to a different city; however, we will now showcase New York on a more permanent basis. It is clear that the jazz field benefits most from a New York based conference and we are answering that call."
Over 150 artists and clinicians will participate in the conference program, including: Paquito D¹Rivera featuring the New York Voices (presented in partnership with Manchester Craftsmen¹s Guild); Jazz at Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra; Take 6; The Heath Brothers with special guest Clark Terry; Dave Holland Quintet; Nicholas Payton; Saxophone Summit featuring Joe Lovano, David Liebman and Michael Brecker; Jamie Cullum; Maria Schneider Orchestra; Jason Moran; Michel Camilo Trio; David Sanchez; Brussells Jazz Orchestra; Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; Bob Brookmeyer and the New Art Orchestra; The Lynn Arriale Trio; Caribbean Jazz Project; Convergence; Orbert Davis & The Chicago Jazz Ensemble; Lorraine Desmaris Trio; Rosana Eckert; John Fedchock New York Big Band; Flutology; David Friesen; The Global Jazz Orchestra (Japan); Hiromi; Mike Holober and The Gotham Jazz Orchestra; The Greg Hopkins Quintet; Robert Hurst Quartet; U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors; M-PACT; Phil Woods and Hubert Laws (tribute to Herbie Mann); Bill Mays Trio; George Robert; Mulgrew Miller Trio; Charles Pillow & Pictures of New; Tim Ries; Shapes; Bobby Watson & Horizon; and the Walt Weiskopf Nonet.
The Music Academy of Gauteng in Benoni, South Africa, noted for its program, which provides instruments and jazz instruction opportunities for homeless children, is one of a number of outstanding school ensembles scheduled to perform. Other school ensembles will participate from Australia, France, Japan, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Israel, and the United States.
The IAJE Conference will host the 14th Annual National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Awards Concert. Established in 1982, the NEA Jazz Masters program each year elevates a select number of living figures to its ranks, conferring on them the nation¹s highest honor for jazz artists. NEA Chairman Dana Gioia has announced a major expansion of the program in 2004 to include an NEA Jazz Masters touring program, a compact disc release (in partnership with the Verve Music Group), and expanded NEA Jazz Master Award categories.
IAJE President David N. Baker who will host this year¹s event, welcomed the news of the expansion of the NEA Jazz Masters program. Baker, who himself is an NEA Jazz Master (named in 2000), stated, “The vision of the Chairman of the Endowment and his leadership in this new enhancement initiative is truly brilliant and I believe it will impact the jazz field in a major way. The decision to place the NEA Jazz Masters award on a par with the Pulitzer Prize as the highest award our nation can bestow in the jazz field is a courageous act and an historic event." The 2004 recipients are guitarist Jim Hall, drummer Chico Hamilton, pianist Herbie Hancock, arranger-composer Luther Henderson (1919-2003), singer Nancy Wilson, and music critic Nat Hentoff. President Baker will host this special tribute concert on the evening of January 23rd, which will be broadcast on April 4 at 1PM on BET. The concert will feature performances by the Heath Brothers with special guest Clark Terry, Dr. Billy Taylor and his trio, Paquito D'Rivera, Hubert Laws, New York Voices, Dave Brubeck and the New York debut of the Four Brothers featuring Kurt Elling, Kevin Mahogany, Jon Hendricks and Mark Murphy. Each Jazz Master will receive a one-time fellowship award of $25,000. Numerous past Jazz Masters will reunite in a special red carpet procession.
The 4th Annual IAJE Gala Dinner, scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, at the New York Sheraton Hotel, will honor Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis with the IAJE President's Award and Newport Jazz Festival founder George Wein with the Lawrence Berk Leadership Award. Hosted by Nancy Wilson, all proceeds from the Gala will benefit the IAJE Global Outreach Fund. The IAJE Presidents Award, which honors an individual for their extraordinary contributions to the field of jazz education, was presented to Dr. Oscar Peterson in 2003, Quincy Jones in 2002 and Ken Burns in 2001.
Jazz education, as always, will be at the heart of the conference agenda with approximately 125 clinics and workshops on far-ranging topics and subjects such as jazz history, improvisation, technology, composition, arranging, performance techniques, and teacher training.
The IAJE Conference industry track will boast upwards of two-dozen hot topic sessions for 2004. These insightful and often times controversial panels and workshops are geared to members of the jazz recording, journalism, presenting, performing, retail, and radio industry. With sponsorship and support from Jazz Times, BET Jazz, Jazziz, Down Beat, NARAS, the Jazz Journalists Association, and DL Media, the industry track will provide an opportunity for industry members to interact with jazz educators and musicians in a series of sessions that encourage honest exchange of ideas and strategies for the new century. Industry track panelists include Branford Marsalis, Donald Byrd, Roy Haynes, Dan Morgenstern, Kurt Elling, Bob Blumenthal, and record label executives Tom Evered (Blue Note), Ron Goldstein (Verve), Jeff Jones (Columbia/Legacy), Randall Kennedy (Warner Bros.), and David Weyner (RCA/BMG).
The International Jazz Festivals Organization (IJFO) and the IAJE will present the third annual International Jazz Award. The award has been revised for 2004 to recognize a rising artist who has yet to sign a major record contract. In addition to receiving a $5,000 prize, the recipient will tour a minimum of 6 of IJFO's member festivals during the summer of 2004 and will also receive career counseling and support. The award will be presented to 14-year-old Italian alto saxophonist Francesco Cafiso, who has toured throughout Europe in 2003 with the Wynton Marsalis Septet and was the 2002 winner of the Eurojazz Competition. Cafiso will be featured in a series of performances billed as the “Umbria Jazz Club," from Thursday, January 22 through Saturday, January 24 in the Hilton¹s Etrusca Restaurant. Italian food and wine from the Umbria region of Italy will be provided, courtesy of the Umbria Jazz Festival and the Orvieto Vineyard. Cafiso will also guest with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra on January 22 and 24 at Alice Tully Hall.
IFJO is made up of the following major jazz festivals: Jazzfest Wien (Vienna, Austria); Festival International Jazz De Montreal (Montreal, Canada); Pori Jazz (Pori, Finland); Jazz A Vienne (Vienne, France); Umbria Jazz (Perugia, Italy); North Sea Jazz Festival (The Hague, The Netherlands); Molde International Jazz Festival (Molde, Norway); Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival (Vitoria, Spain); Montreux Jazz Festival (Montreux, Switzerland); International Istanbul Jazz Festival (Istanbul, Turkey); Vancouver International Jazz Festival (British Columbia, Canada); Monterey Jazz Festival (California, USA); London Jazz Festival (London, England).
The conference host radio station, WBGO Jazz 88, will have daily live broadcasts from their booth beginning at 10AM Wednesday through Friday. Celebrating their 25th Anniversary, WBGO is a jazz survivor, outlasting most jazz stations around the country by engaging its audience (in the tri-state area and worldwide via their website) with the finest jazz music, past and present, and from the young, emerging artists who are the future of this great American art form. Additionally, the Chicago-based Miles Ahead jazz program will broadcast live radio from the Exhibition Hall hosted by Neil Tesser, Mark Ruffin and Alan Goldsher.
Other conference highlights will include performances by the BET Jazz Sisters in Jazz Collegiate All-Stars, the winner of the Montreux Jazz Festival Jas Hennessy Piano and Saxophone Competition, and the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship Recipients (supported in part by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts). The world premiere of the Herb Albert Jazz Endowment Fund Gil Evans Commission and the ASCAP/IAJE Commissions (honoring Quincy Jones) will also be presented during the conference.
A 70,000 sq. ft. music industry exposition will round out the conference with upwards of 300 exhibits representing a diverse mix of companies including festivals, publishers, manufacturers, agencies, schools, and record companies.
Registration is $315 U.S. Current IAJE members can deduct $65 U.S. The conference registration fee covers all sessions and activities except the gala. For more information or to register for the conference, call IAJE at (785) 776-8744, fax (785) 776-6190, email info@iaje.org or log on to www.iaje.org. You can register on site in the lobby level of the Hilton beginning at 9AM, Wednesday, January 21.
