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This week, the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop gathered Carolina students and community members together to learn and be immersed in Jazz performance and studies. Students of all ages played and learned together, for a learning experience which was for many their first in-person educational time in 18 months. Here are the highlights.

• The Music: Each night, students enjoyed free jazz concerts put on by faculty and visiting musicians. The music played at these shows represented a diverse array of jazz tunes and techniques, and many songs were played by their composers—an addition to the experience which makes any concert more memorable.
• The Masters: Each morning, masterclass jazz clinics taught by distinguished musicians challenged students to critically think about their technique, style, practice routines, and more. Musicianship is about more than just how well we play, and masterclass instructors with experience in composing, leading bands, and simply playing really, really well were prepared to bring the musicianship of those gathered here to the next level.
• The Combos: As part of the UNC SJW experience, performers were divided into small ensembles called “combos” to learn and perform pieces of music at the conclusion of the workshop. These groups, divided by skill level and style of music, gave students hands-on experience in improvisation and performance, and facilitated important collaboration between students and faculty members. These combos will perform live and via streaming on Friday, June 25th beginning at 6:30pm.
• The Connections: Coming out of a pandemic, students were understandably a bit rusty playing in front of their peers and connecting with fellow musicians. But getting to watch them come out of that shell, really perform, and truly improve and blossom was such a special experience. Meeting these students and learning what I have about jazz performance and history, which would any other year feel so mundane, was something that this year felt truly priceless.

The UNC Summer Jazz Workshop is a short yet substantial educational opportunity for students and/or lovers of jazz music. Here is my top 4 takeaways from my time as a Music Journalism/Jazz History student:

1. There is ample opportunity to hear live jazz music performed by talented faculty and musicians.

The UNC Music Department organized a list of skilled musicians for evening performances. The musicians played a variety of different jazz styles like swing, fusion, Spanish-style, classical jazz and more. Take a look at my twitter feed for highlights from Wednesday, June 23rd’s performance of La Fiesta Jazz Band ft. Juan Álamo!

2. It offers students an easy and fun way to earn an Experiential Education (EE) credit with minimal workload.

3. You learn the history of jazz from the beginning of the 20th century to present day.

Professor Dan Davis is awesome at bringing you through the history of jazz. My favorite aspect to the class is watching videos of performances from legends such as Louie Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and Pat Metheny.

4. You will gain a stronger appreciation of the music learning process.

You get to be a fly on the wall as a Music Journalism student while you observe jazz lessons and group combos take place. During these sessions, you’ll see the teaching of Jazz music theory and gain a sense of how much practice goes into the creation of a skilled jazz performer. Kudos to all the performers and faculty this week for their hard work!

 

The 2021 UNC Jazz Workshop rolls on!

On Wednesday, students in the journalism class live-tweeted the concert by La Fiesta Latin Jazz Band featuring Juan Alamo. Use the #UNCjazz hashtag to see what the students posted about the performance, and watch a replay of it on YouTube.

During my time at UNC’s Summer Jazz workshop, I have met many talented students both in the performer and journalism tracks. Many of the participants I have had the pleasure to meet are multi-talented instrumentalists, vocalists, or recreational musicians coming to learn jazz. One of such students who I recently had the pleasure of interviewing is Caleb Gill, a rising UNC sophomore from Oxford, NC majoring in computer science.

Caleb is part of the journalism track of the workshop and his day consists of attending classes on jazz history and basic music skills, music journalism, and sitting in on multiple lessons and demonstrations daily, including piano lessons with Professor Stephen Anderson and combo group practices. He says he enjoys his classes particularly because of the direct, small group instructions, and likes his lecturers, Dan Davis and Professor Andy Bechtel. Caleb had previously been in Professor Anderson’s Introduction to Jazz class and heard about the summer jazz workshop through him.

Caleb came to the course to learn more about jazz, which he had always had an interest in listening to. He notes that along with both classic and prog rock, he has always liked older jazz, new jazz, and thinks fusion jazz has a particularly interesting sound. His favorite hobby, video gaming, connected to his passion for music in our conversation because he is able to appreciate the music in games like Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which we agree has an amazing, award-winning soundtrack. He also enjoys playing the drums recreationally and credits his dad, who plays guitar, and brother, who plays the keyboard, with inspiring him to learn to play drums and giving him a passion for music.

Rising senior Austin Tyner is attending the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop both in-person and online this year. Austin is from Richmond, VA and is majoring in English and Comparative Literature here at UNC. She also participates in student government and is a co-chair of the Disability Advocates for Carolina.

I recently had the chance to interview Austin about her musical interests and experiences, as well as her time at the Jazz Workshop thus far.

Question: What is your background in music?

Austin told me that she had little experience learning or playing music, but expressed interest in doing so.

“It’s hard as a disabled person to find someone with the experience and creativity to be able to teach you,” she said.

She would like to, given the opportunity, learn how to play the guitar.

Question: Are there any genres of music that you enjoy listening to?

“Yeah, most everything,” she told me. Austin likes a variety of music, but she specifically said that she was raised on country music, and she continues to enjoy it to this day. She also discussed classic rock, R&B, and rap.

Question: What brings you to Summer Jazz Workshop?

As previously stated, Austin has been interested in learning more about music. She also appreciated the unique opportunity to take a college course in the span of a week.

She told me that she was somewhat nervous about the prospect of learning music in-person as a disabled person, but she was encouraged and reassured about taking the course after speaking to Professor Stephen Anderson.

“He helped me to be less intimidated, and it turns out I didn’t even need to be intimidated,” she said.

Question: How has your experience been at the Workshop so far?

Austin’s experience has definitely been a positive one. She said that she didn’t know much about jazz coming in, but that she’s been able to learn a lot in a short amount of time.

Attending her first day in-person and her second online, she’s been able to appreciate the Workshop from multiple perspectives. She did tell me that she preferred joining in-person, as she liked being able to see people face-to-face and experience the music firsthand.

“I think there’s something about a live performance that you just can’t beat,” she said.

That being said, she was still impressed by the quality of the virtual setup for Tuesday night’s performance.

Question: Any other takeaways from the Workshop thus far?

One thing Austin said stood out to her was the unspoken language the musicians had with each other. Their ability to take subtle cues off of one another and to know when certain changes in the music needed to happen was particularly interesting to her.

She finds the concerts engaging because of the emotion that shows through in the bands’ playing, drawing particular attention to one of Jerald Shynette‘s trombone solos.

She has also enjoyed sitting in on the combo rehearsals to see the work that goes into preparing the performances and likes the notion that players can still put their own ideas into the music in the moment.

“I was getting my mind blown as they were doing that now that I have some background information from watching the lessons,” she told me.

 

 

 

At the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop, students and faculty come together in person and through Zoom to appreciate, study and perform jazz for one week during the summer. Amongst the participants are Jazz History/Music Journalism students, one of whom I had the opportunity to interview on June 22nd, 2021.

Student Profile

• Name: Brandon Overbeek
• Major: Music
• Year: Senior
• Hometown: Durham, NC

In addition to being a student, Brandon works part-time on the weekends as a Perishable Food Stock employee at a local Food Lion, enjoys playing video games like Destiny 2 and helps repair friends’ electronics in his spare time.

Additionally, I learned more about Brandon’s musical interests and experiences during our interview. I’ve compiled these in the following Q&A format: Note: I paraphrased using my notes rather than providing direct quotes because I forgot to record the conversation.

Q: Why did you want to take the workshop?

A: To complete an Experiential Education requirement, to listen to jazz music and see live performances.

Q: What is your favorite part of the workshop thus far?

A: I am looking forward to seeing more live performances, particularly the performance featuring the Associate Professor and percussionist Juan Álamo. I just completed a Jazz History course with him during Summer Session I which was great.

Q: Do you have an instrument that you are experienced in or fond of?

A: Percussion, particularly single drum instruments. I started learning percussion in the 4th grade.

Q: Are you a part of any musical organizations on or off campus?

A: I am a member of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a music fraternity.

Q: Tell me about your experiences being in Phi Mu Alpha.

A: It’s made up of a wholesome, goofy group of guys. We sing at the beginning and end of meetings and play music together. We also participate singing events where we visit a retirement home and sing and the American Music Recital (AMR). AMR features American artists who perform live music in Person Recital Hall. Additionally, I am a part of barbershop group within the organization where we might perform the Sea Shanty “Wellerman” which I’m excited about.

This week, dozens of high school and college students will be gathered at UNC-Chapel Hill for a Summer Jazz Workshop taught at the university. Ambrosia DeConto, a junior at UNC majoring in music and communications, said she was enjoying learning new ways to play the guitar. 

The course consists of a week’s worth of instrument lessons, combo rehearsals, and clinics with guest musicians. Participating college students earn 3 credit hours by completing the course work.

“I love the flexibility of the workshop. I was able to choose between beginner and advanced levels for performing and music theory, and I’m learning an entirely new genre of music,” said DeConto. 

In addition to instruction in jazz performance and music theory, students are treated to a number of concerts put on by faculty and guest musicians. Featured performers this week include Rahsaan Barber, Kate McGarry, Juan Alamo, and others!

The week will culminate in a performance by student ensembles called “combos”. DeConto said that this performance experience is a really exciting opportunity for participants. 

“We’ll be playing a tune called Killer Joe, which is about a drug dealer. It’s a kind of sad piece, even though it’s uptempo. Understanding the story behind the song, and the emotions that playing are supposed to bring up, has been a big part of what we’re learning in rehearsals,” DeConto said.

Posted on behalf of Austin Tyner

It was a great personal pleasure to listen to the Rahsaan Barber/Jerald Shynette Quintet Monday evening in Moeser Auditorium, especially since it was my first time watching professional jazz musicians perform. The quintet consisted of Rahsaan Barber on saxophone, Jerald Shynette on trombone, Jason Foureman on bass, Dan Davis on the drums and Stephen Anderson on piano.

While the audience was mostly live along with the rhythm section onstage, both Barber and Shynette video chatted in from adjacent rooms in order to respect COVID-19 guidelines. The quintet performed a handful of pieces including multiple written by the members,which I thought was quite impressive, and finished with “Just in Time,” a “gold standard” according to Professor Anderson.

It was eye-opening to me not only to listen to the quintet play, but also to hear them speak about the pieces they were playing. Because at this point I still have a very limited knowledge of jazz, I am most familiar with big band and swing music, meaning that when I thought of jazz before it was equating jazz to entertainment and for dancing as swing music is known for.

I had thought that outside of swing, going to a jazz concert would be akin to going to the opera — too highbrow for me to understand somehow so I had not strayed far from what I knew.

“Leap of Faith” was not only wonderful to listen to as an original piece but in theme, it surprised me, because it wasn’t necessarily about dancing or having fun like swing, but more so about becoming a parent and having to learn to let go. That came across clearly in the very sweet-sounding general tone of the bittersweet trombone.

Rhythmically, my favorite piece of the evening was “Just in Time.” It was upbeat and made me want to swing dance and since I couldn’t do that, I did find myself nodding along and thinking to myself that it was a good piece to end the show with.

I enjoyed the music, I enjoyed the improvisation, and I enjoyed the visuals of the musicians closing their eyes or making focused faces and being able to tell they were enjoying themselves and getting into the rhythm. I was glad to have the opportunity to listen and to further my own understanding of jazz with such a multi-talented group.

The UNC Jazz Workshop brings a lot of interesting and unique students to the program in order to immerse them in a Jazz music-making experience. Some perform while some report on the week of music making. One such student is Danielle Gladstone.

Danielle is a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Originally from Smithtown, New York, she is in the final year of her biology degree and is also seeking a music minor.

Danielle is attending the workshop this year under the Journalism and Jazz History track. When asked why she decided to take the Jazz Workshop this summer, she said it was, “primarily the [Experiential Education] credit” but that she also liked the musical genre of Jazz.

Her favorite part of the workshop so far is learning about the history of Jazz. Danielle said, “I learned a lot in a short amount of time. Professor Davis is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about jazz and making sure we understand Jazz’s impact today.”

One thing she looks forward to getting out of the remaining time is to see more of the combo lessons. She explained to me that there was a lot of overwhelming sound that she experienced in the Piano specific group lessons. “There’s a lot of sound, and it’s overwhelming.” Danielle was told by Professor Anderson that that’s just part of the music making process, is the creativity and the chaos. Danielle told me she’d like to see more of that and more of how that translates to the stage and performing.

Danielle sees herself as a very creative person saying, “It’s so challenging to be a specialist when you see the value in your own [hobbies] and so on.” Danielle likes to sing and has experience dancing and composing music.  When not in class during the summer, she finds herself hanging out with her family or playing Breath of the Wild.

Danielle has a job in the form of her internship with the Marsico Lung Institute at the UNC School of Medicine, dealing with lung diseases and cystic fibrosis. During the next summer session she plans on taking Spanish 203 to get her language electives knocked out before finishing this year.

The UNC Summer Jazz Workshop hosted a jazz quintet performance on June 21^st, 2021 at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Ch)’s Moeser Auditorium from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM.

The Performers

• Rahsaan Barber (Saxophone), an Assistant Professor in the UNC-Ch’s Department of Music
• Jerald Shynette (Trombone), an Assistant Professor at UNC Wilmington’s Department of Music
• Dan Davis (Drums), a Lecturer in UNC-Ch’s Department of Music
• Stephen Anderson (Piano), the Director of Jazz Studies at UNC-Ch and Director of the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop
• Jason Foureman (Bass), a Lecturer at UNC-Ch’s Department of Music

The Stage

The stage was set up with a drum set on the right, an upright base in the middle and a piano on the left.
Above the stage hung a large projector. Due to COVID-19 safety restrictions put in place by the UNC-CH Department of Music, both brass instrumentalists, Barber and Shynette, performed from remote locations and were able to be seen and heard via the projector.

The Performance

Viewers of the performance attended in person or watched a live stream on Youtube. The quintet played 6 pieces:

1. There was an audio issue through the Youtube stream (0:00-19:07) so I was not able to hear neither the first song’s title nor its full performance.
2. Dan Davis’s “Leap of Faith”. Davis said that the song is connected to Davis’s experience of having his first child. There was a back and forth between the saxophone and trombones as if they were participating in a conversation. It was a pleasant melody with smooth transitions between parts.
3. Tony Williams’s “Pee Wee” was very striking, loud and gripping as drummer hit the symbols and kit very hard.
4. “Swing that Thing” was a faster pace song which made you want to dance and reflected Swing era music.
5. “The Mountain and the Sky” was a slower pace which relaxed you.
6. “Just In Time”

Despite the COVID-19 safety precautions (e.g. separate rooms for the brass instrumentalists and the pianist, drummer and bassist wearing masks) as well as the technical issues with audio cutting out, the performers gave their heart and soul to each piece. Barber rode notes up to musical heights I did not know were possible for a saxophonist to reach. This was especially evident when soloing during “Swing that Thing”. The rhythm section (i.e. piano, bass and drums), similar to what is seen in Swing Jazz tradition, supported the sax and trombone during their solos and improvisations. Overall, all five musicians demonstrated technical expertise for their instruments, passion for performing and energy through foot tapping, leg slapping, head nodding, shoulder shrugging and synchronizing together.