‘Round Midnight…
…but often as early as 7am in school
Jazz and jazz education are sometimes disconnected. Does what is happening in the classroom reflect the true meaning of the music? Are we presenting jazz to students with appropriate context—as Black music? Are we spending all of our time on chord scales and not enough time on melodies and how to play the blues? Are students learning to improvise without having to rely on lead sheets and staring at smart phones? Are students learning the melodies to tunes by ear? Are we as educators giving students tunes to learn and play or are they just learning exercises that may or may not be helpful on the bandstand? Are we training students to know enough tunes so they can be ready to cut a gig outside of school? Are we encouraging students to write music or use technology?
These are many of my frustrations that I have encountered as a jazz player who has taught at several universities, am now directing a jazz program, and am attending conferences in the jazz education world. I openly wonder if what educators give jazz students in school is either relevant or practical for their careers and their own artistry. What are our goals?
I have often said that I am training my students to be band leaders in the 21st century and not side musicians in 1959. We have to remain rooted in the tradition of the music but stepping forward into the future. To me, jazz is a methodology and not an end goal. In other words, if we teach jazz as a methodology, we are training our students to use their ears, play standards without relying on looking at sheets of chord changes, and be able to interact musically with others.
This blog is my attempt at defining jazz and jazz education right now. At this moment we are battling with the effects of quarantine on our musicianship. We are contemplating what our future performance opportunities are and how performances might change. Other thoughts that I have come from my own perspective of having lived as a professional musician in both urban and rural areas. As an educator I am avidly supporting efforts to make higher education more diverse (faculty and students), and I’m intrigued that jazz education is a “moving target” that is seemingly in a constant state of evolution.
Jared, I love you, you are one of my heroes. I love listening to you, be it contemplating music or especially playing music. I am one who is trying to come back to music later in life. I have not learned through the traditional route and am trying to piece together what I can. When push comes to shove, there is an even responsibility of the professor AND the student. No professor can create the perfect curriculum and no student will find success with every professor. You boil everything down and what is left is the passion. You can't instill that in anyone, you can help encourage it, and in my experience, you may find that more in music education that other areas of academia, but still, music is difficult. I have some friends that wrote the song "The Same Fifty" about the artist who back in the day had a great gig and made fifty bucks. A number of decades later and they are still out having a great time, putting on a great gig and what do they make: the same fifty. I don't know how to change that, I wish I did. I understand that passion is hard to maintain when all the blood sweat and tears you put into you craft is, in the end, worth fifty bucks. Personally, I really enjoy those musicians that find a way to make things work. They love their craft, even in the face of society's values on their chosen profession. Obviously they aren't making their living on the same fifty, but they find a way to keep the dream alive. If that isn't passion, I don't know what is. Please keep the passion and keep doing what you are doing. We love you and we look forward to your next gig we get to witness.