to approach an eight-bar solo from multireedist Ted Nash? Or for advice on how to play blues inflections from trumpeter
JAZZ SCHOOL
Jazz Education for Everyone, Everywhere By Allen Morrison / Photo by Lawrence Sumulong
H
ow much would you pay to get a music lesson, complete with a demonstration, from jazz piano wizard Eric Reed? Or to learn how to approach an eight-bar solo from multireedist Ted Nash? Or for advice on how to play blues inflections from trumpeter Marcus Printup?
ibe 877-904-JAZZ
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How about nothing? That’s exactly the deal offered by the online Jazz Academy, the ambitious new project from Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC), New York’s jazz performance and education juggernaut led by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis. The project’s new website, academy.jalc.org, provides priceless advice from jazz masters, instrumental instruction at all levels and jazz history lessons. The site is an enormous online resource for current teachers and students of jazz, but it also has a loftier goal: to win new converts by demystifying the music. The staff of the Jazz Academy plans to offer 200 different free video lessons by the end of 2013. Another 200 clips, which have already been filmed, are scheduled to be added by June 30, 2014. The videos, which are typically about 4 to 10 minutes long, include subjects such as “Finding Your Own Voice” with Oliver Lake, “Gary Bartz Breaks Down Auditioning for a Conservatory,” “The Things I Didn’t Learn in Music School” by trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and an eight-part introduction to “The Origins of Jazz” by historian and JALC Curator Phil Schaap. Eventually, the entire “Jazz 101,” an introductory jazz history course from the organization’s “Swing University” music appreciation classes, will also be available online—for free. Among the other jazz luminaries who have recorded video lessons for the website are George Cables, Evan Christopher, Marion Cowings, Vincent Gardner, Victor Goines, Sherman Irby, Bobby Sanabria, Helen Sung, Joe Temperley and Buster Williams. The program is overseen by a trumpeter, educator and jazz advocate from Columbus, Ohio, named Todd Stoll, who serves as JALC’s vice president for education. The gregarious Stoll met Marsalis more than 30 years ago when he was a high school band director and Marsalis was teaching a clinic at his school; they cemented their friendship the next day on the basketball court. “A couple of years ago, Wynton invited me to his house,” Stoll recalled while seated in JALC’s 12th floor headquarters above Columbus Circle. “And he asks me, ‘Man, have you seen this [educational website] called the Khan Academy? This guy Salman Khan is teaching math and science, and all these classes online for free.’ So we got on the website, and it was amazing. That could be the future of education. And Wynton says, ‘Let’s do this for jazz.’” The program’s purpose, Stoll said, is not only to educate musicians and future musicians, but also Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members to build the audience for Ted Nash (left) and Joe Temperley have jazz domestically and filmed videos for the Jazz Academy.
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JAZZ SCHOOL around the world. Stoll and Marsalis share more than the trumpet and a love of basketball; they have the same philosophy about how to teach music, and specifically jazz, to children. “I don’t believe in putting things in front of kids that are watered down so they can play it better,” Stoll explained, “or in trying to get a ‘perfect performance’ out of kids. Music education should address the content. Most of the kids in your ensembles are not going to be professional musicians. So why not give them the greatest art you can give them, not a watered-down version of it? Let them struggle with the greatest art they can, and they’ll learn something about their humanity.” Jazz Academy’s videos reflect that approach, never “talking down” to the viewer or watering down the music to make jazz more digestible— even though instruction is available at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The expanding library eventually will include several categories of videos, such as jazz lessons, family activities, Jazz for Young People, and oral histories featuring reminiscences by such legends as drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath and baritone saxophonist Joe Temperley. The library is fully searchable: Visitors can quickly locate videos by instrument, subject, style of jazz, viewer’s level of proficiency, instructor’s name or other parameters. None of this would matter much if the videos weren’t fun to watch. Stoll and his team have
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ing the videos was almost exactly the same as leading a master class: “I don’t consider it so much teaching as it is mentoring or encouraging,” he said. “There’s only so much that a person is going to figure out by themselves or by listening to records. Some things have to be explained.” Reed plans to tape additional segments on solo piano playing, and on the inspiration behind improvisation—subjects that could easily form the basis of full-term courses. “I’ll have to figure out how to condense them,” he noted. “There are other jazz instructional websites with thousands of videos,” Stoll acknowledged. “But the difference with ours is that it’s free. We’re a fan of free. Break down the barriers.” JALC is “looking at another solid three years of work” on the online Jazz Academy, Stoll said. “This is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.” Perhaps the most ambitious aspect of all is a plan to incorporate interactive learning into the site, allowing users to submit multimedia content for feedback from the pros. Will it be possible to provide that type of personalized service at no charge? “We’re planning on it,” Stoll said with a laugh. “We might get to a point where our free model changes, but ultimately we want to keep things free.” Pragmatically speaking, what would happen if the interactive audience dramatically increased in size? “That would be a dream,” he said. “If we have that many people who want to interact with us and really engage with jazz, well, that will be a good problem to have.” DB
Eric Reed, teaching in the video “Comping Under a Bass Solo”
ensured that they have high production values, visual panache, snappy editing and a consistent look and feel across the library. Equally important, they carry the authority of the master musicians who present the material. For example, in Bartz’s video on “The Importance of Melody,” the alto sax master blows the simple, haunting “Star Eyes,” demonstrating the melody as written and as embellished. “Don’t disrespect the melody,” he cautions. “Learn the melody properly. Listen to singers. Know the lyric, because sometimes there may be a tender moment in the lyric, and if you don’t know it, you might play it too rough.” Reed, a seasoned teacher of master classes and private students, is enthusiastic about the online initiative. The pianist’s videos, filmed with his quartet, cover such subjects as “Comping Under a Bass Solo,” “Trading Solos” and “Maintaining Clarity in an Upbeat Song.” Reed said the experience of film-
