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Young Guns
By
May 2, 2007
If it's spring at Jazz at Lincoln Center, it must be the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz band program, which culminates in a competition and festival in New York May 4-6.
In 2007 Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrates a dozen years of invigorating and inspiring young
jazz students from across the country with its ever-growing Essentially Ellington High
School Jazz Band Program. This year alone more than 5,400 newly transcribed Ellington scores,
reference recordings, and additional teaching materials were distributed by Jazz at Lincoln
Center to more than 900 high schools in the U.S. and Canada, as well as to American schools in Bolivia,
Brazil, France, Japan, Malaysia, and Switzerland. The internationally renowned program, which
culminates in an annual Competition and Festival May 4-6, was even featured in a documentary titled
Chops at the Tribeca Film Festival this year.
"After decades of doing master classes in high schools across our country,
it's hard to believe the impact this program has had on jazz bands," says Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic
Director Wynton Marsalis. "Bass players with sounds! Brass players wah-wahing with plunger mutes,
the return of the swooping clarinet, swinging rhythm sections … the blues! Through this
program, we have seen the power of Duke Ellington's music bring out the best in our young people.
And each year our band directors and their communities become even more committed. This is one of
my favorite times of the year — when families come in from across the country in support of their
bands and directors and other peoples' kids and music programs. You can feel their energy. And it
enriches us all by illuminating the human value of this great music. It reminds us that jazz is indeed
alive in the next generation." This year Essentially Ellington has expanded to three tiers
of membership: Premium (the original program with some added benefits), Basic, and Student Membership.
The new levels are intended to provide more high school jazz bands with the opportunity to receive
the educational resources of this program, including an easy-to-medium-level chart that teaches
the skills to play Ellington's music.
"This expansion will give more students and directors the opportunity
to engage with America's music through quality resources from one of the most important composers
of the 20th century," says Jazz at Lincoln Center Education Director Erika Floreska. "Ellington's
music teaches the building blocks of playing jazz while also introducing students to the history,
the people, and the rich heritage of this homegrown art form. We hope the study of this music will
become an annual part of all high school jazz band programs in North America." For the second year, noncompetitive Essentially Ellington
regional festivals took place that were designed to offer bands of all levels the opportunity to
perform the music and receive professional feedback from Jazz at Lincoln Center clinicians and
other jazz professionals. These regional gatherings were held in March at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Temple University in Philadelphia. Also this year, Jazz at Lincoln Center held its Sixth Annual Essentially
Ellington Student Essay Contest, inviting students from all participating high schools
to submit written pieces each describing a personal experience with jazz. Essays were received
from across the U.S. and Canada and jazz expert and scholar Dan Morgenstern chose the winners. First
place for 2007 was Alex Dugdale from Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Washington. Second place
went to Jon Morgenstern of Mamaroneck High School in New York, and the third place winner was Julie
Hansbrough from Greenwood High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky. What do high school band directors have to say about Essentially
Ellington? Timothy E. Hooker of Mamaroneck High School says, "Working on this music has focused
each individual in each section to work harder to reach higher performance goals. It inspires excellence." The competition for this year has been, as expected, top-shelf and tough.
"Our finalists make up an array of outstanding communities that are dedicated to teaching jazz
to their students," notes Jazz at Lincoln Center's Floreska. Throughout March and April, a professional
musician was sent, free of charge, to each of these 15 finalist schools to lead an intensive workshop
of rehearsals, lessons, and master classes. These free clinics were part of the rich 12-year history
of this unique music education program, which has reached more than 210,000 students in over 3,700
high schools, produced and distributed more than 66,000 copies of 71 previously unavailable Ellington
scores, and brought 78 finalist bands to New York City to participate in the Competition & Festival.
Eighty-eight bands entered the competition this year by submitting
a recording of three Ellington works. The entries were evaluated in a blind screening by jazz education
experts Ronald Carter and Loren Schoenberg.
A full season schedule for Essentially Ellington:
www.jalc.org/jazzED/ee/b_timeline.html
More information on the history of Essentially Ellington:
www.EssentiallyEllington.org
The Essentially Ellington Alumni MySpace:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=61034021
Scott H. Thompson is Assistant Director for Public Relations at
Jazz at Lincoln Center.
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