NEC Celebrates 150 Years William Paterson Builds on Brilliant Legacy CJC Offers New Opportunities James Morrison Soars as Bandleader & Educator OCTOBER 2017 DOWNBEAT 79 Student musicians at George Mason University (Photo: Evan Cantwell, Creative Services, George Mason University) SCOTT SHAW PHOTOGRAPHY Oberlin College & Conservatory students in concert he next generation of strivers and issue of DownBeat, and you can find a com- recording studio or the chemistry lab, the band Tinnovators has their work cut out plete listing of these ads in the DB Buyers room or the executive suite, a degree in music can for them. As more and more indus- Guide on page 200. provide the boost you need. tries move into the digital frontier—the We’ve also got four features that shine a Good luck on your journey. music industry notwithstanding—it becomes spotlight on venerable institutions celebrat- —Brian Zimmerman increasingly important that students entering ing milestone anniversaries, as well as new the workforce are equipped with the skills and programs on the vanguard of jazz educa- strategies needed to make an impact in their tion. On page 82, we examine the legacy of the field. For most, this means developing a flu- New England Conservatory in Boston, which FEATURES ency with technology and a disciplined com- is commemorating its 150th year in exis- 82 NEC CELEBRATES 150 YEARS mitment to professional growth. And while tence. On page 112, we talk with pianist Bill The venerable New England institution these skills can be learned within a number Charlap, director of Jazz Studies at William has a rich history and a bright future of university departments, from astrophysics Paterson University, about his pioneering 112 WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY to zoology, a degree in music is another great approach to music pedagogy and the school’s Jazz Studies Director Bill Charlap discusses WPU’s place to start. four-decade track record of success. We zoom innovative approach After all, the values inherited from a music in on the California Jazz Conservatory on 154 CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY EXPANDS studies program—leadership, communica- page 154, detailing the school’s expansion The West Coast conservatory opens a new annex and adds more programs tion, adaptability, precision—are applicable and new offerings. And on page 176, we talk to a wide array of professional situations, and with Australian multi-instrumentalist James 176 MORRISON PARTNERS WITH UNIVERSITY even students who choose not to pursue music Morrison about his namesake music acad- OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA Trumpeter-bandleader James Morrison shares professionally after graduation find them- emy, which he leads in partnership with the details about his namesake music academy selves relying on their musical education to University of South Australia. advance their careers. The modern workplace We did our best to make sure the listings is competitive and demanding, and now, more are up-to-date and accurate, but music depart- SCHOOL LISTINGS than ever, “making it” requires the ability to ments often make changes to their programs, adapt, conform and improvise within a con- so be sure to visit a school’s website if you’re 86 EAST stantly changing market. They don’t call it the interested in learning more. It’s a good idea “gig” economy for nothin’, but as a music stu- to speak with faculty and staff members from dent, you’ll be ready. your prospective school. They can answer 116 SOUTH This guide is here to prepare you. At its questions about auditions and scholarships. heart is a detailed listing of jazz programs at We hope this guide brings some 247 institutions, complete with deadlines, much-needed peace of mind to students eager 130 MIDWEST costs and key faculty members. They’re orga- to pursue a degree in music and parents ner- nized by region, and we’ve even included an vous about footing the bill. The best advice we 156 WEST International section for schools outside the can give is to look downfield and remember U.S. While browsing, you’ll notice that some that a college degree is the first step in a long schools are listed with color banners. These path toward professional fulfillment. 180 INTERNATIONAL schools have placed advertisements in this Whether you’re aiming for a career in the 80 DOWNBEAT OCTOBER 2017 OCTOBER 2017 DOWNBEAT 81 ANDREW HURLBUT/NEC Ken Schaphorst with NEC students Lake Street Dive in concert with the NEC Jazz Orchestra and a string section Gunther Schuller Student Life and Performance Center on the NEC campus NEC Teaches Jazz by Example By Jon Garelick he New England Conservatory, now riculum. In 1972 he created a Third Stream and Musical Development (1968). Tcelebrating its 150th anniversary, has department, intended to explore his ideas of What Schuller did was unusual for the one of the most distinguished histories blending jazz and classical disciplines. time. While other schools were experiment- in music education. Founded on a model of the “The school had the vision to hire this com- ing with codifying systems for jazz impro- European conservatory, it served as a training plete renegade,” said Hankus Netsky, chairman visation, Schuller’s pedagogy was more idio- ground for Boston Symphony Orchestra play- of the Contemporary Improvisation depart- syncratic: He invited musicians he considered ers as well as an incubator for Boston’s first ment, the successor to Third Stream. Netsky masters—active on the jazz scene—to teach by opera company. Its resident concert venue, described Schuller as “a high school drop- example. There would, of course, be fundamen- Jordan Hall, built in 1903, is an architectural out with street cred.” The cred derived not tals like harmony and counterpoint, but indi- gem, as valued for its acoustical properties as only from his roles as principal horn with the vidual teachers would not only devise their the nearby home of the BSO, Symphony Hall. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1943–’45) own curriculum, they would in effectbe the But for jazz students, and jazz fans, NEC’s and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (1945– curriculum. So the composer George Russell history started in 1967. That’s the year Gunther ’59), but also as a composer who had played (1923–2009) would teach his Lydian Chromatic Schuller (1925–2015)—horn player, composer, with the Miles Davis Nonet on the Birth Of The Concept (a method credited by Miles Davis as scholar—assumed the presidency. The school Cool sessions (1949–’50). He had also penned a crucial in the development of modal jazz), and began to reflect Schuller’s own varied experi- definitive book on horn technique and would pianist/composer Jaki Byard (1922–’99) would ence, and in 1969 he introduced jazz to the cur- go on to write the seminal Early Jazz: Its Roots demonstrate his encyclopedic knowledge of the 82 DOWNBEAT OCTOBER 2017 ANDREW HURLBUT/NEC ANDREW HURLBUT/NEC NEC Early Jazz Ensemble NEC Jazz Composers Ensemble ANDREW HURLBUT/NEC Michael Moore (left) and Ran Blake at NEC, circa 1978 Matana Roberts entire jazz tradition and a personal style that With that in mind, divisions between NEC songs [usually based on a recording], figure could span that tradition in a single composi- programs tend to be porous. (The school con- them out, we’ll play them next week.’” tion or solo. fers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, doctor- This approach—and the freedom to experi- “Music schools were out of touch,” Netsky ates and non-academic undergraduate and ment—has led to what singer and compos- said of those early days. Institutions most- graduate diplomas. It also includes a prepa- er Dominique Eade (who, like Netsky and ly ignored the musical innovators of the time, ratory school and continuing education pro- Schaphorst, was an NEC student before becom- like Ornette Coleman (1930–2015, who stud- gram.) The Grammy-winning singer-songwrit- ing a faculty member) said is a misconception ied privately with Schuller and performed his er Sarah Jarosz came to NEC to study writing that the NEC approach is “freewheeling.” She works), Cecil Taylor (an NEC grad), Jimmy songs for mandolin, but shifted direction and explained that this perception is belied by indi- Giuffre (1921–2008, who became an NEC facul- spent her junior year studying with avant- vidual teachers’ very rigorous approaches. ty member) or late-’60s renegades with a global- garde guitarist Joe Morris. “She basically decid- When Eade came to NEC, she recalled, ist vision, such as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. ed, ‘I want to be freer in my mandolin to do Blake had her learning “specific repertoire for NEC’s jazz studies department taught jazz things I’ve never done,’” Netsky said. specific melodic and harmonic reasons.” Some tradition as well as standard repertoire. But, in There’s still that idiosyncrasy in jazz studies of it included Blake’s original music, or other Schuller’s formulation, the goal was to create the as well. Ken Schaphorst, who came to NEC to pieces with “unexpected intervallic move- “complete musician” who would have a work- study composition in 1982 and has been chair- ment.” A favorite was “Pinky,” from Quincy ing familiarity with all the important creative man of the jazz studies department since 2001, Jones’ score to the film The Pawnbroker (1964). currents of the day. The Third Stream depart- pointed out that faculty member John McNeil Blake’s talent as a teacher, she said, was in ment, which began under the direction of pia- teaches a required course in jazz repertory, “but choosing “particularly challenging” music that nist and composer Ran Blake (who would lead it’s really John’s view of jazz history.” “would work your ear out in a particular way.” the department for 26 years), would be even Ear-training was emphasized early on by Or, as Netsky noted, NEC students would more expansive: It was not defined by any genre, Blake, and is still a core part of the teaching in be surprised to learn a piece and then come and any tradition was fair game for the grist of CI and jazz studies.