FEATURE Perpetuating America's Music The Monterey Jazz Festival provides a wonderful annual display of some of the world's best jazz talent. Equally wonderful as the Festival itself is the ongoing jazz education program that the Festival sponsors.

By Don Huntington

The Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF) - affectionately referred to by professionals and aficionados around the world as simply "Monterey" - has been a fixture in the jazz world for a half century.

Everyone knows about the role that the Festival plays in providing a venue for the display and promotion of jazz musicians. But relatively few people are aware of the important role that the MJF plays in developing passion for and knowledge of jazz in the emerging generation of performers and enthusiasts. From its beginning the Festival has invested resources in educating and guiding the progress of the next generation of Peninsula musicians.

The Jazz Education Program is currently being administered by Dr. Robert Klevan. Dr. Klevan also conducts the wind ensemble and big band at the University of California at Santa Cruz. For 27 years, Dr. Klevan served as Director of Music and Fine Arts at the Stevenson High School in Pebble Beach and was President of the California Music Educators Association, MENC. He is the Vice president of the California Division of IAJE, and a Resource Team Member of the organization. Plus, he was named Jazz Educator of the Year by CMEA.

As the Jazz Education Director for the Monterey Jazz Festival, Dr. Klevan administered the various parts of the education program. Here are some program details.

Giving a Hands-up to Emerging Musicians
In 1983, under the leadership of Board Member Ruth Fenton, the MJF founded the Jazz Education Program, which has been on a mission of advancing music education for Monterey Peninsula young people. The original program had no official budget and worked with an ad hoc set of activities in meeting the needs and wishes of several local music teachers. The Jazz Education Program has grown since then and its annual budget currently runs to more than 700 million dollars.

Representatives from MJF work together with middle and high school music teachers from Monterey County schools in providing a range of music educational services to area students. An unintended outcome of the program has been to bring the participating schools into contact with each other. Students and school music directors alike are caught up in a cooperative effort while supporting the many facets of the program.

The Jazz Education Program, like the parent MJF organization itself, depends upon grants from foundations, plus contributions from businesses and individuals in the private sector. Energy and resources from the vibrant Monterey Jazz Festival has helped the education program to thrive through the periodic school closures and cuts in music budgets that are facts of educational life in our modern society.

Under the leadership of General Manager, Tim Jackson, and the Education Director, Dr. Rob Klevan, the Festival's Jazz Education Program continues to promote the study and enjoyment of jazz among school-aged children from elementary to high school levels, while at the same time developing future jazz artists and audiences. The program is rallying people and leveraging Festival resources in perpetuating what staff members refer to as "America's music."

The Jazz Educational Program is a multifaceted effort including a number of projects, programs, and special events. The MJF Digital Music Education Project is the newest member of the MJF's continuing jazz education effort. The project puts the enormous resources of the Internet to use in encouraging music education by providing podcast interviews with leading jazz musicians exploring their life, work, and passions. Young people receive from the highest sources such things as recommendations, inspiration, tips, warnings, and advice.

The Bob Phillips MJF All-Star Band Endowment Fund, named for one of the Peninsula's most respected and beloved music teachers, is another part of the educational support that the Festival is providing for young musicians.

The main parts of the Monterey Jazz Festival Jazz Education Program include the following components.

Traveling Clinicians Program
The Jazz Education Program provides top musicians and vocalists to spend one week every month throughout the school year helping students in Monterey County classrooms develop their jazz skills. The Traveling Clinician Program provides regular hands-on training and mentoring with school jazz bands and ensembles. The program provides professional level support for both directors and students. The clinics are sometimes held in connection with regularly scheduled classes. Otherwise sessions are held before or following regular school hours.

The nine professional musicians/educators are currently working with student musical programs in more than 20 Monterey County schools. Each clinician has a band specialty - horns, percussion, vocal, etcetera. The clinicians offer advice and demonstrate style and technique while performing alongside the students.

The clinicians nominate outstanding students for membership in the MJF County High School All Star Band, a Vocal Honor Band, and a Middle School Honor Band. Participants in the 2007 All-Star Band came from schools in Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Salinas, Palma, Stevenson and York. In addition, the clinicians qualify recipients to receive scholarships in Summer Jazz Camp.

In particular, this year the Hydeus Kiatta Memorial Education Fund has been started in honor of a woman who's death last November silenced a remarkable talent and a generous spirit. Before her death she wrote the touching words:

"When I'm gone
I pray my dream lives on
Of a world touched by joyous song."

The Education Fund was started this year as an homage to her memory and has already begun underwriting the musical experiences of members from the new generation of artists thus fulfilling the passionate dream about which Hydeus wrote.

The Latin Jazz Program is a companion effort to MJF's Traveling Clinicians Program meeting the needs of school children who are interested in learning the fundamentals of Afro-Caribbean style music. Clinicians provide instruction in Latin musical forms to students from elementary-school age through college.

The Summer Jazz Camp
The Summer Jazz Camp is one major element in the MJF's lineup of educational programs. Every year Monterey County Students gather for two weeks of intensive practice with the Traveling Clinicians and other professionals. The Jazz Camp provides an environment in which participants can focus without distraction upon improving their musical skills.

The camp is available for middle and high school students throughout Monterey County. Sessions range from big bands to small ensembles and include vocal performance and master classes, plus workshops on various music subjects such as music theory. Elements of instruction include jam sessions and classes. Venues are provided for soloists and combos to perform. The camp culminates in concerts featuring soloists, ensembles, and bands.

This year the camp was held June 18-29 at the Monterey Peninsula College. The camp was accessible for any Monterey student who wished to attend because the registration expense was covered for 95% of the attendees. One-hundred-and-eighty students, ranging in age from 12 to 18, gathered from more than 30 Monterey County private and public schools for this educationally rewarding experience.

The line-up of instructors and musical coaches included the nine MJF Traveling Clinicians, plus a number of guest musicians and instructors.

Terence Blanchard, the 2007 MJF Artist-In-Residence was the featured clinician. The training was also augmented by the return of several All-Star High School Big Band alumni as mentors for the current students. The list of jazz educators included the following:

Saxophonists Paul Contos, Virginia Mayhew, and Ben Herod
Trumpeters Sal Cracchiola, Peck Allmond, and Michael Galisatus
Trombonist Terry Russell and Mark Stotzer
Drummer Vince Lateano, Skylar Campbell
Bassist Scott Steed and Zach Parkes
Guitarist Bruce Forman, Tim Fischer
Pianist Joe Bagg and Eddie Mendenhall
Vocalists Madeline Eastman, Dick Whittington, and Julie Kelly.

The relatively low ratio of students to instructors enabled classes and ensembles to be kept to small sizes.

Students were given opportunities to demonstrate the fruit of their efforts in performances at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Four big bands also performed at the Pacific Grove Middle School Auditorium. Soloists and smaller ensembles performed in jam sessions in a nightclub-type environment at Monterey Live, as well.

Tim Jackson, the MJF Director attends the camp regularly and participates in the happy learning that goes on there. "The Summer Jazz Camp Vocal Solo and Combo concert at the Steinbeck Center is a wonderful opportunity for select students to perform in a public venue where they can display their talents individually or in a small group setting," said Rob Klevan, Educational Director.

"It's a fun evening, and along with our big bands and vocal jazz ensemble concert the next evening, it's one of my favorite summertime events. Every Jazz Camp reconfirms the importance of music in providing joy for young people. They leave the camp excited and motivated."

Honor Jazz Ensembles, Next Generation Festival, and High School Competition
MJF's Jazz Education Program sponsors middle and high school honor jazz bands composed of exceptionally talented members from schools throughout Monterey County.

The MJF Traveling Clinicians select students for membership in the ensembles and conduct monthly rehearsals, learning repertoire that they then perform for club meetings and community events. The ensembles are open to only the best student performers. The difficulty of music and the level of performance is challenging even for these exceptional performers.

Performances by the ensembles raise funds in support of an annual summer tour in which the Monterey County High School All-star Band performs at jazz festivals and at several venues in Monterey's Sister City, Nanau, Japan.

The ensembles provide a wonderful boost for the music and performance skills of the young musicians who are involved. Another outcome of the ensemble is in the opportunity it gives to school music teachers in working with advanced students performing challenging music.

An annual spring event called the Next Generation Festival includes young performers from across America. Only participants who survive a difficult screening process are invited to participate.

Younger Festival participants practice and perform together in a middle school band. Older students compete in original big band, combo, and vocal ensemble categories, including an original composition category. Winning ensembles earn cash prizes and are invited to perform at the subsequent Monterey Jazz Festival. During the weekend, jazz professionals conduct clinics, put on concerts, and serve as competition adjudicators.

Auditions are also conducted for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, which includes students from around the nation and which also appears at the Monterey Jazz Festival plus playing at several international jazz venues.

Artist-In-Residence, Terence Blanchard
At this year's Jazz Camp, Terence Blanchard was a standout presence in the midst of the camp's extraordinarily talented faculty. Since last fall Terence has been the 2007 MJF Artist-In-Residence. Each year this program provides a leading professional jazz musician to spend a year sharing with students his/her passion for music while guiding young performers in practice and learning, plus accompanying them in performance.

John Lewis, Pianist in the Modern Jazz Quartet, was the Artistic Director for many years during the early Festivals. The idea of bringing in first-rate talent led to adding the role of Artist In Residence four years ago.

The honor of being appointed to the position was appropriate to the role that Blanchard has played in supporting jazz education throughout his career. In his role, he has become a member of an elite fraternity that includes such super-stars as Branford Marsalis, Regina Carter, and Kurt Elling.

Blanchard was born and raised in New Orleans and grew up as part of that city's famous music culture. He began playing the trumpet while still in elementary school, and was mentored by the legendary Ellis Marsalis. While a student at New Jersey's Rutgers University, Blanchard toured with Lionel Hampton and in 1983, followed Wynton Marsalis as trumpeter in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

Terence brings impressive credentials to his position, having played a central role in bringing about modern jazz styles. He is the recipient of a number of Emmy, Golden Globe, and Grammy nominations.

Two years ago he shared with four other musicians the coveted Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for McCoy Tyner's Illuminations. He is Artistic Director for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, which is moving to Blanchard's New Orleans hometown this fall.

During a solo career that began in 1990, Blanchard recorded eight albums including Jazz in Film, Let's Get Lost, and Wandering Moon. He later recorded the critically acclaimed Bounce and Flow albums.

Blanchard was involved with Spike Lee in creating a number of motion-picture soundtracks including such movies as Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, and Crooklyn. His most recent tour de force was the soundtrack for Lee's poignant homage to Katrina called When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. The piece was featured in a four-hour Hurricane Katrina documentary for HBO.

Blanchard is an excellent representative of the jazz world for emerging artists. His broad-based approach to jazz education, coupled with his wisdom and experience made him a memorable and effective force during the two weeks of the camp.

Terence's role as Artist-In-Residence involves him three times during the year in extended efforts in training, coaching, and encouraging young musicians through performances and clinics. In March he performed at the Golden State Theatre, and served as a clinician for MJF's 37th Annual National High School Jazz Competition. He will perform as a featured soloist with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra at the Festival.

"We are very excited to feature Terence this year as our Artist-In-Residence," says Tim Jackson, MJF's General Manager and Artistic Director. "His artistry, breadth of experience and ability to communicate will make this a residency worth remembering for our community and for our young students."

Instrument Bank & Music Lending Library
School music budgets are always under attack so the MJF provides a bank of instruments, which it makes available for young musicians to borrow and to learn on. It also maintains a Sheet Music Library from which young performers and student music programs can borrow.

The Instrument Bank was created when a local music store provided heavily discounted instruments creating the fledging collection of instruments. A checkout system was created to provide instruments for student and school programs who needed them. Borrowers sign a contract promising to care for each instrument being borrowed and to maintain it in good condition.

The Instrument Bank involved a lot of start-up costs but the availability of good instruments for young performers has proven to be a great asset in Monterey County music programs.

At the same time that it was setting up the Instrument Bank, the MJF Jazz Education Program also created the Sheet Music Library including music, charts, and method books that helped expose music programs to the widest range of learning and performance materials, opening up areas that would, otherwise, have remained closed to the young performers.

The Instrument Bank and the Sheet Music Library lending programs are maintained in a healthy condition through a careful system of labeling, checkout, and return.

The MJF's wide and deep range of jazz educational programs is spreading jazz appreciation and performance from Monterey to the world. The program has created a milieu in which future world-class jazz musicians can be nurtured. Even more importantly, perhaps, the program is giving every young person on the Peninsula an opportunity to realize any dream that has to do with appreciation for and performance of America's music.

For other giving options (credit card by phone, stock donation, planned giving) please contact Development Director Janice Mantell at 831-373-3366.