Jazz is alive and well...

[Mike Schwartz]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/ar...37200&emc=eta1

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Mike: somebody posted it earlier today in the news section

http://www.jazzcornertalk.com/speake...681#post577681

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve

Mike: somebody posted it earlier today in the news section

http://www.jazzcornertalk.com/speake...681#post577681

Thanks Steve.
I think it's rather topical (possibly) and should remain here, this one or the other.

[GoodSpeak]

A couple local band directors hereabouts have been using Gordon Goodwin's charts for years. In fact, my son's HS band director had his award winning Jazz Band play Hunting Wabbits from a recent CD of Gordon's. Pretty cool, huh.

It might be interesting to note that Gordon wrote his first Jazz chart when he was only 13. The man is a musical genius and a fine human being. And he is the only musician I have ever met who has perfect pitch.

[Besides, he's a childhood friend of mine...now how about that one, Guys/Gals?]

Go Gordon Goodwin, GO!

[GoodSpeak]

To wit [from the New Trier High School - Winnetka, IL, website]:

Gordon Goodwin's
Big Phat Band

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band has established itself as one of the Los Angeles area's most exciting groups. Lead by Emmy-winning composer Gordon Goodwin, the Big Phat Band is comprised of some of the southland's finest musicians. Their debut album "Swingin' For The Fences" (Silverline Records) received two Grammy nominations and is a best-selling jazz item in the DVD 5.1 surround-sound format. L.A. Times jazz critic Don Heckman says, "The Big Phat Band provides potent testimony to the sheer exhilaration of big band jazz...a combination of crisp accuracy and fiery soloing." The Big Phat Band has appeared with such notable musicians as Arturo Sandoval, Eddie Daniels, Kevin Mahogany, Maureen McGovern, and brought the house down with James Moody at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Conference in Long Beach, and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in 2002.

The Big Phat Band performs regularly to standing room only crowds at the world-renowned Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles. They have also appeared live at the Baked Potato in Hollywood, California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and Universal City, California. Their recent live concert recording at the Musicians' Institute in Hollywood will be airing soon on BETJazz. Most recently, Gordon and the Band were featured on NBC's "The Other Half" with Dick Clark and Danny Bonaduce.

Members of the Big Phat Band have performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, including Madonna, Celine Dion, Billy Joel, Diana Krall*, Johnny Mathis, Ray Charles, Paul McCarney, Toni Braxton, Christina Aguilera, Diana Ross, Supertramp, Patti Austin, Brian Setzer, Paul Anka, and many others.

THE BAND
Gordon Goodwin
Composer/Arranger, Piano and Saxophone

Saxes
Eric Marienthal (Section Leader)
Sal Lozano
Brian Scanlon
Jeff Driskill
Jay Mason

Trumpets
Wayne Bergeron (Section Leader)
Dan Fornero
Bob Summers
Dan Savant

Trombones
Andy Martin (Section Leader)
Alex Iles
Charlie Morillas
Craig Ware

Bass
Richard Shaw

Drums
Bernie Dresel

Percussion
Luis Conte

Guitar
Grant Geissman

Piano
Gordon Goodwin

Source: www.ntjazz.com/Jazz_Festival/Phatbandbio.htm

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

Thanks Steve.
I think it's rather topical (possibly) and should remain here, this one or the other.

Items in "News" tend to sink quickly with not many hits. I'm fine with this being here, too.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve

Items in "News" tend to sink quickly with not many hits. I'm fine with this being here, too.

Agreed.

[clinthopson]

We saw Gordon Goodwin's huge aggregation a year ago and loved it. He is a very creative writer with a wild sense of humor.

The question that came to me fromthe article was that the grads from the jazz programs have developed the technical skills but where they go to learn how to really play?

The big bands that exist are usually made up of established players and the road band is a thing of the past. Where are the Blakeys, Silvers and Betty Carters to take these kids and mentor them?

[Mike Schwartz]

I had a guest on the show yesterday, the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, and we talked a little about the convention and the enthusiastic students who flock to NYC by the bushel chasing down little $40 gigs coming out of these educational factories (albeit that there are great places and great young musicians coming out of some of those places).

They're moving to town (NY in this example) and they are NOT prepared.

I thought to myself that this would be similar to an actor/dancer/painter/etc.,etc, having a dream and giving it a go without getting regular work, or simply not being able to make it.

[cookie]

“What I’m hoping for the future of the music,” Mr. Pierce said, “is that the students who come to these schools go back to their communities, create their own scenes and develop their own audiences so the music can come back to some level, as it maybe once was. When you multiply all these individuals and all these institutions, maybe that can happen.”

It may already have started. “These kids coming out of high school are more advanced than they ever were before,” said Mr. Crook, “and it’s because of the people teaching them, graduates of programs like this one. They’re bringing it back to the culture.”
_________________
We tend to forget that "success" in jazz doesn't necessarily require fame and money and living in a major city or being on a big label. There are wonderful players throughout the world who are vital in keeping jazz alive in their towns. They are creating their own scenes and living the jazz life. They are bringing in artists they admire, they're creating jam sessions, they're playing and reaching and often creating great beauty. Sometimes, I think we tend to undervalue that because it isn't happening in the spotlight and the glossy pages.