Academic and Performance Areas
MSU Jazz Studies Program in Full Swing On and Off Campus
The MSU Jazz Studies Program performed more concerts than ever in its history during the 2002-03 academic year, blending its heavy performance schedule with outreach, competitions, fundraising and education.
Jazz Cinema
No time was wasted in getting the season off to an early start with the presentation of Jazz Cinema: A screening of Oscar Micheaux’s “Body and Soul.” The silent film screening was accompanied by a new jazz score composed by Wycliffe Gordon, visiting artist of trombone at MSU.
The score was performed by a 30-piece jazz orchestra including jazz students and faculty, and guest artists including Alvin Atkinson Jr., drums; Danny Barber, trumpet; Marcus Belgrave, trumpet; Vincent Chandler, trombone; Jeff Clayton, saxophone; Eric Reed, piano; and Bob Stewart, tuba.
The score was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center and first performed at Avery Fisher Hall on September 24, 2000. Gordon, as a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, was commissioned to compose the score through a collaboration between Jazz at Lincoln Center and the New York Film Society. The performance on September 28, 2002, marked the Midwest premiere of the score.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jazz Celebration
In January, as part of MSU’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Celebration, the jazz area performed its annual ‘Jazz: Spirituals, Prayer and Protest Toward Peace’ concert. It attracted yet another overflow crowd prompting organizers to initiate the distribution of tickets for the 2004 concert, even though the event will remain free and open to the public.
The mistress of ceremonies was Dr. Jualynne E. Dodson, professor in the Department of Religious Studies, and African American and African Studies Program at MSU. The event featured an evening of jazz discussion, lyric interpretation, and music as it relates to the Civil Rights Movement. Some of MLK, Jr.’s favorite hymns and gospel songs were performed, and Max Roach’s “Freedom Now Suite” was performed by guest vocalist Maya Orr, guest drummer Ali Jackson, and the Professors of Jazz at MSU.
Racking in the Awards
In February, the Jazz Studies Program racked in many awards from the 36th annual Elmhurst College Jazz Festival. MSU Jazz Band I was awarded outstanding recognition, and seven students won individual awards for outstanding recognition (see article on page Jazz area racks in many awards at Elmhurst College Jazz Festival).
Wynton Marsalis jazzes up ‘Jazz Spectacular’
At the annual MSU Jazz Spectacular event in April, Wynton Marsalis made a special appearance for a standing-room only crowd inside the main lobby of the MSU Student Union. He conducted a master class with MSU Jazz Band I, shaking things up with some fancy, crowd-pleasing demonstrations in-between instructing the students. Other guest artists who presented master classes and/or concerts at Jazz Spectacular were: drummer Harvey Mason, saxophonist Andrew Speight, pianist Buddy Budson, and vocalist Ursula Walker. Throughout the year, the jazz area also did master classes with pianists “Vana” Gierig, Eric Reed and Kenny Baron.
Chicago Jazz Train Weekend
Every April, the jazz faculty take part in the College of Arts & Letters - Alumni & Friends Travel - Chicago Jazz Train trip. The trip to Chicago offers a travel experience to MSU alumni and friends, complete with social events, and concerts on the train and in Chicago. The 2003 trip sold out with fifty travelers who enjoyed a first-time performance by the ‘Professors of Jazz at MSU’ at the Jazz Showcase, Chicago’s premiere jazz club.
Outreach
In outreach news, the jazz faculty is in the process of finalizing a partnership with the Arts League of Michigan (Detroit), a community-based arts organization dedicated to developing, presenting promoting and preserving African and African-American cultural arts within its multicultural community. Through the partnership, the Professors of Jazz at MSU (PJ's@MSU) would run an annual jazz camp - which already began in summer 2003 - as part of an artist mentorship program. The camp gives aspiring musicians in grades nine through twelve the opportunity to hone their jazz skills and further enrich their study of music. In addition, if the partnership is approved, the PJ's@MSU would begin a regular concert season in Detroit through the Arts League, and an Artist Studio Program, through which MSU jazz students and faculty would teach a sixteen-week jazz program for junior high and high school student musicians.
Professors of Jazz at MSU to start concert season
On a final note, the ‘Professors of Jazz at MSU’ (PJ's@MSU) will start appearing more frequently throughout Michigan, nationally and internationally. The ensemble consists of the entire MSU jazz studies faculty, and was established and is maintained through the MSU Jazz Studies Program. Performances sponsored by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Creole Gallery (Lansing), and the Okemos Christian Center are also scheduled for the 2003-04 season. The Okemos Christian Center is offering a subscription concert series open to the public to be held each month on Sundays at 3 p.m. The concerts will feature the PJ's@MSU along with other world-class artists, who will also present master classes for MSU jazz students.
The goal for the PJMSU is to start a regular concert season with weekend performances each semester in Michigan, a two-week national tour every June, and a European tour every July. Visit the new PJ's@MSU Web site for more information at http://www.music.msu.edu/professorsofjazz/ for the PJ's@MSU concert schedule to be posted on the site soon.
Join the MSU College of Music Jazz Mailing List
Visit http://www.music.msu.edu/events/ and click to join the College of Music Mailing list, choosing ‘jazz’ as the list you wish to join.
Contributions to the MSU Jazz Studies Endowment can be sent to:
College of Arts & Letters
Office of Development
101 Linton Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1044
Please make your check payable to MSU and include “Jazz Studies Endowment” in the memo portion of your check. For more information about this endowment, call
(517) 353-4725.
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