Below is an article in the Spokesman Review on our organization on March 25th, 2010.
Feeling the flow of jazz
Area ensemble teaches students a common language
in music
Sherry Kenady
sherrykenady@gmail.com
Schuyler Asplin plays one on one with Marcus
Printup, of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, in a master class he
conducted recently for Spokane All City Jazz Ensembles at the Showalter
Auditorium in Cheney. Courtesy of Spokane All City Jazz Ensembles
(Full-size
photo)
Upbeat, invigorating sounds echoed through the halls at the Eastern
Washington University Music Building, as local high school musicians
rehearsed Tadd Dameron’s jazz classic “Lady Bird.” They swayed and
tapped their toes – they were jamming. They came together from different
area schools and have learned to speak the common language of jazz,
through the Spokane All City Jazz Ensembles program.
“What’s that interval?” director Rob Tapper drilled them Sunday.
“Minor third,” they all replied. At a fast pace, he repeatedly asked
more intervals. With skillful ear training, they answered correctly
every time, nearly without hesitation.
Tapper said his purpose is “to give the kids what band directors
don’t have time to do, like improvisation. In bigger bands the kids can
get lost, but in a small group like this, there is more one on one.
Helping the kids, teaching them the value of independence, these are the
things they can take with them wherever they go.”
Understanding music with both mind and heart is what Tapper teaches.
He tries to provide enrichment opportunities, not only to build musical
skills, but also confidence, maturity and self-esteem.
One such opportunity was the chance to perform with Marcus Printup,
of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Printup tours annually worldwide
with the orchestra. He has an interest in teaching youth and did just
that at the Showalter Auditorium in Cheney earlier this year. Printup,
along with quartet members Brian McCann, Don Goodwin and Dru Heller,
performed in a special concert with SAJE.
“The kids really enjoyed this opportunity. The chance to perform with
Marcus Printup was great for them,” said Audrey Burr, program board
member. “Even in their nervousness you could see how thrilled they were.
So not only is he a great musician, but he has a special ability to
work with kids. You could see this camaraderie in the work they did
together.” One student of the SAJE, Keith Tatham, while fighting a
personal battle with cancer, had his own opportunity to inspire, when he
had the chance to personally meet Wynton Marsallis, Printup and the
band in a specially arranged meeting. Tatham enjoyed the thrill of a
dream becoming reality, playing his trumpet with such company, bridging
the mind and heart in music.
Students become involved in SAJE through recommendations and approval
from their school’s band director. Every year SAJE sends out
information to area high school and middle school band directors about
the program. The directors decide which students to recommend. The SAJE
team groups them by instrument and calls the parents for permission.
Students also hear about the program through involvement in the Jazz
Dialogue Summer Camps program at EWU, a popular annual event since 2001.
SAJE is in its sixth year under the direction of Tapper, director of
jazz activities and trombone instructor at EWU. In the SAJE Program,
there are four middle school groups and five high school groups.
