teacher resource guide schooltime performance series beats, rhymes and tap shoes with Maurice Chestnut about the performance Explosive, rhythmic, soulful, and beautiful. Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People (JFYP) program. and Midnight Marauders. ATCQ’s debut was heralded Beats, Rhymes and Tap Shoes with Maurice Chestnut is For Lincoln Center’s JALCYO (Jazz at Lincoln Center as groundbreaking and revolutionary. They brought an innovative journey through tap dance, celebrating Youth Orchestra) programs, he is an instructor and a laid-back, playful element to rap while widening the the music of the seminal rap group A Tribe Called Quest. ensemble leader. For Jazz House Kids, a New Jersey vocabulary and emotional landscape that rappers Created by Newark, New Jersey native and dance community arts organization dedicated to educating could inhabit. They did not have a tough-guy image impresario Maurice Chestnut, and with musical direction children through jazz, he is also a drum instructor and compared to other groups and hip-hop artists at the by Jerome Jennings, this interactive performance highlights ensemble leader. At NJPAC, Jennings is a teen mentor, time. The group was having fun and didn’t seem to the jazz sampling that is part of A Tribe Called Quest’s ensemble coach and drum instructor. take themselves too seriously in songs like “I Left DNA. The performance by tap dancers and a live band As a drummer, he has performed at every major jazz My Wallet in El Segundo.” The group also brought will also explore the social issues of today, which are club in the New York City area: the Village Vanguard, in samples from jazz, R&B, and rock artists—like Lou present in the songs of this classic hip-hop unit. Birdland, the Blue Note, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola. Reed—who were not favored at the time, and spliced He has shared the stage with big-name performers in ambient noise like frogs and a child crying. including Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, the Count Basie Many music critics consider their second album, more on the Orchestra, and Wynton Marsalis. The Low End Theory, to be one of the best hip-hop In 2016, he released his debut album, The Beat, which albums of all time, and it still stands as a seminal performance was named one of the top three jazz releases by NPR, influence on rap. The album’s sound is spare, garnered a four-star rating in DownBeat Magazine, minimalist and utilizes bebop jazz. It has gone on Classical Savion, Tappin’ Into Monk, Invitation to the to influence artists like Pharrell Williams, The Roots, Dancer, and ABC-TV’s Dancing with the Stars. He has and was nominated for the prestigious French “Grand Creator/Choreographer Prix du disque” award for Album of the Year. Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Common, Frank Ocean, danced at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater (where he and many more. Throughout the years since its release Maurice Chestnut was named Top Dog Performer), the Playboy Jazz About A Tribe Called Quest in 1991, critics list it as one of the greatest albums. Festival, and throughout Europe as a featured soloist with A Tribe Called Quest (ATCQ) is one of the most storied, ATCQ was part of the Native Tongues, a loose Musical Director Geri Allen, noted jazz composer, pianist and bandleader. He appeared on Sally Jesse Raphael’s My Kid’s a Star, respected and admired hip-hop groups in that musical collective of hip-hop artists who came to prominence Jerome Jennings was named a gold medalist in the NAACP’s Act-So genre’s history. Formed in 1985 by New York residents in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. The artists utilized competition and was featured on the accompanying Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Afrocentric lyrics and downplayed the harder edged, Cast TV special. Off Broadway, his credits includeShades Jarobi White, ATCQ went on to revolutionize hip hop in violent tone of hip hop and rap that were also popular at the time, i.e., gangsta rap. Groups like ATCQ, De La Brinae Ali* (provided additional choreography) of Harlem, The Wiz, and Bubbling Brown Sugar. the early 1990s by artfully combining skillful, intelligent rap lyrics with jazz and creative sampling, a marked Soul, the Jungle Brothers, Afrika Bambaataa, and Queen In his performances, Chestnut evokes bygone hoofing Emma Bigelow difference from their peers in the rap game, which Latifah are closely identified with Native Tongues. Some greats, while infusing his classical rhythm tap training Kyle Wilder typically employed cookie cutter soul samples at the music critics called them alternative rap because the with hip hop, funk and soul. artists rapped about social issues, mundane events, Asha Griffith time. Many music critics and historians consider ATCQ keeping a positive attitude, being bohemian, or just About Jerome Jennings to be a high point in hip-hop artistry. chilling and goofing off with their friends, again a Voice Q-Tip, a well-regarded soloist in his own right, is the Jerome Jennings is a skillful jazz drummer who has played marked difference from harder-core rap. Mikimari Caiyhe with some of the most prestigious musicians and institutions group’s main producer and an MC. Phife Dawg, who died in 2016 from complications of diabetes, was around the world – over 40 countries and counting. His also the group’s MC. He and Q-Tip would engage in Light Design musical output is grounded in traditional jazz swing, while also drawing inspiration from soul music and hip hop. dexterous, fluid vocal interplay as they rapped about William Fitzgerald love, relationships, capitalism, date rape, and other He graduated from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross social issues. They complemented and contrasted School of the Arts in 2004. In 2007, he earned a master’s About Maurice Chestnut against each other, as some music critics have said, degree at the Juilliard School. In 2017, he became the with Tip bringing a mellow flow and Phife vibing more Maurice Chestnut has been dancing since he was five resident director of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra. street-ready raps. Ali Shaheed Muhammad acts as DJ years old, under the tutelage of local tap dance legend While at Juilliard, Jennings became the first Jazz Studies and co-producer, bringing a laid-back jazzy melodic Alfred Gallman. At the tender age of nine, Chestnut recipient of the Morse Fellowship, an educational backbone to their songs. Jarobi White was an early joined New Jersey Tap Ensemble, his first professional program that enables fellows to teach two classes per contributor before leaving for a successful cooking dance company, where he is still involved as a principal week throughout the academic year at New York City career. He was a member of the group for their debut dancer and choreographer. schools. Jennings has been named an accredited jazz album and contributed to their last album in 2016. His show-biz credits include a who’s who of tap dance: scholar at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The band has released six critically acclaimed albums, He has performed with tap dance great Savion Glover As an educator, Jennings teaches, leads clinics, and most notably their first album,People’s Instinctive Travels in Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk, Improvography, performs educational youth outreach with Jazz at and the Paths of Rhythm, and others, The Low End Theory 2 Beats, Rhymes and Tap Shoes with Maurice Chestnut njpac.org/education 3 An interview with Maurice Chestnut in the spotlight and Jerome Jennings Maurice Chestnut Do New Jersey and Newark have a hop, not only its music component. I didn’t need to learn Why is musical education important? Do you see What inspired you to create a show centered rich tap dance history? hip hop. Jazz I learned from my elders. I embraced hip this kind of performance as a way to foster an on A Tribe Called Quest? New Jersey has a special place in the dance hop and jazz culture as a kid, and still do. appreciation of jazz in kids? world due to Savion Glover and Deborah Mitchell. Beats, Rhymes and Tap Shoes was dedicated to What are the connections you found among tap Music education is crucial these days, particularly the music of A Tribe Called Quest in honor of their (Savion Glover is a famous Broadway choreographer dance, jazz and hip hop? in public grammar schools. I am a product of music contribution to hip hop but also due to bridging and tap dancer who was born and raised in Newark. Tap dance, jazz and hip hop are closely related. All in public schools. Hopefully, we will be able to turn the gap between classic jazz music and hip hop. Deborah Mitchell is the founder of New Jersey Tap three come from the African-American experience. kids on to jazz music through this performance. I also felt like their music was theatrical and thought Dance Ensemble.) Ironically, jazz music and hip-hop music have a dance Jazz is one of the only musical forms that come out that tap dance could bring it to life. We use about Tell us about one of your mentors. component informing each art. If you look at tap, and of the American experience. a half-dozen songs, like “Excursions,” “Buggin’ Out” dance techniques of dancers like John Bubbles and The No. 1 thing (about the late Geri Allen, an internationally This is one of our cultural gifts to the world. and “Check the Rhime.” acclaimed jazz pianist) was that she always gave back. the Nicholas Brothers, you’ll have better grasp of the I’ve attended many concerts of A Tribe Called Quest.