JAZZ musicians have long lamented the loss of the apprenticeship system, which vanished along with the nightspots that lined former music hubs like Dixwell Avenue in New Haven and West 52nd Street in Manhattan, where players of different generations shared bandstands, beer and trade secrets after the marquees went dark.
Billy Taylor, 89, is now artistic director for jazz at the Kennedy Center, but at one time was the protégé of the piano titan Art Tatum and worked as the house pianist at the original Birdland, where he absorbed the tenets of bebop alongside Bird himself, Charlie Parker. These days, he said, “you don't have the after-hours clubs, you don't have the kinds of places that lend themselves to that kind of getting together."
But cultural and educational institutions are starting to pick up part of the slack. While they rarely provide the kind of trial-by-fire that aspiring musicians routinely experienced while jamming in the wee hours with their elders, they do offer students, including some promising musicians in Westchester and Connecticut, opportunities they otherwise might not have had.
“We've been able to bring people together the same way that I was brought into the context of people who could help me and wanted to help me," Mr. Taylor said.
Billy Taylor, 89, is now artistic director for jazz at the Kennedy Center, but at one time was the protégé of the piano titan Art Tatum and worked as the house pianist at the original Birdland, where he absorbed the tenets of bebop alongside Bird himself, Charlie Parker. These days, he said, “you don't have the after-hours clubs, you don't have the kinds of places that lend themselves to that kind of getting together."
But cultural and educational institutions are starting to pick up part of the slack. While they rarely provide the kind of trial-by-fire that aspiring musicians routinely experienced while jamming in the wee hours with their elders, they do offer students, including some promising musicians in Westchester and Connecticut, opportunities they otherwise might not have had.
“We've been able to bring people together the same way that I was brought into the context of people who could help me and wanted to help me," Mr. Taylor said.
