March 8, 2012

DSOABANDBEAT

Dreyfoos School of the Arts Jazz Band students with Mr. Wynton Marsalis back stage at Dreyfoos Hall at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. (Right to Left) Holden Ross, Alex Lacy, Benedetto Salvia, Adesh Balraj, Wynton Marsalis, Henry Chateauvert, Phillip Ahn, Nathan Proctor, and Orlando Masso

Dreyfoos Jazz Students Meet Marsalis:

A Night with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
By Brian Ross

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - 03.07.12 The future of Jazz met the modern masters of the music at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday night as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) invited jazz band students from the Band Department of the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Palm Beach Countys public ne arts high school, to a sound check before the show, and backstage after the show. It was the kind of outreach that is a signature of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra both on the road and off: Share the bands passion for their music with young musicians aspiring to be the next generation that will carry on the traditions, and possibly even create the next new sound. Dreyfoos Band Director, Evan Rogovin and Director of Jazz Studies Pedro

Hernandez arranged an invite for 35+ students and chaperones with the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts to the JLCOs pre-show sound check. They were also able to arrange with Lincoln Center an after-show meeting of several of the top students back stage with the members of the Orchestra and Mr. Marsalis. The band worked on a piece called Basque Song, from Mr. Marsalis Vitoria Suite, a collection of compositions from his time in Spain. They played it awlessly in the sections in which they were working. When the band broke for dinner, trumpeter Marcus Printup and drummer Ali Jackson held a Q&A for the invitees. They talked about their personal journeys into the band, which both have played in

for the last seven years. They also talked about the 220 days playing, and the countless hours of bus trips, hotels and breakfast at roadside eateries as the JLCO moves from gig to gig around the country, and around the world. They talked about writing music on the bus, their personal projects, mixing family life with the road, and an upcoming project with singer/songwriter Paul Simon. Asked about the burnout of the road and the long hours, Printup said: Its the passion for the music. You have to have it. This is who you are. Jackson let it slip that they were sight reading Basque Song. They played the tune completely cold, just reading it.

DSOABANDBEAT March 8, 2012

Dreyfoos Jazz Students Meet Marsalis

A Night with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
CONTINUED....

They were sight reading that? several students said in humble awe as they led out of the concert hall and walked across the street to the DSOA campus. More than twenty of the Dreyfoos jazz band students came back to watch the concert later that evening. The JLCO. celebrating Mr. Marsalis 50th birthday, played songs from his personal compositions and arrangements, as well as an arrangement by bassist Carlos Henriquez and an original composition Black Warrior by saxophonist Sherman Irby. Highlights of the night were solos by trombonist Chris Crenshaw, saxophonist Victor Goines, and an amazing bass clarinet solo by the legendary Joe Temperly. Two Dreyfoos Jazz students, 2011 Student Grammy Band trumpeter Christian Marrero, and rising drummer Tyson Jackson were selected by Pedro HernandezIbarra, the DSOA Director of Jazz Studies, to be invited to sit back stage during the sound check, have dinner with members of the JLCO, and watch the show from backstage. 9th grader Jackson, sporting an emerald bow tie and a broad smile fashioned from an amazing evening one-on-one with legends, said it was totally amazing. After the show Dreyfoos jazz students spoke with many of the musicians from the orchestra. Printup, Henriquez, and
JLCO Q&A: Drummer Ali Jackson (LEFT) and trumpeter Marcus Printup (RIGHT) conduct a Q&A after the Sound Check.

"I have to come down and hear you play. I haven't heard you, but something tells me you can play. Youve got a good vibe about you."
Wynton Marsalis, to DSOA drummer Tyson Jackson

Saxophonist Walter Blanding engaged the students in talks about their instruments, technique, what makes great jazz, and the students personal aspirations as musicians. Then came the arrival of the man that they were all waiting to see. Striding quietly from the stage door, Wynton Marsalis came down the hall and met them outside of his dressing room. He preceded to hold court for over half an hour, answering questions on everything from trumpet technique to how to be a good musician-businessman, an oftoverlooked reality check for aspiring musicians in high school. JLCO members commented on the thoughtful questions DSOA students asked. Some mentioned that they might visit the Dreyfoos campus in the coming months to give clinics for these very talented young musicians. It was both an amazing evening of music, and a clinic in excellence that prompted many DSOA jazz students to see that they have continue to work harder to raise the bar to the next level individually and in their bands.

Sax Session: JLCO Saxophonist Walter Blanding (RIGHT) shares insights with DSOA All-State Jazz Band tenor saxophonists Holden Ross (LEFT) and Phillip Ahn

Photo: Brian Ross

PHOTO: Jennifer Ahn