Jazz Notes

“If people are passionate enough,
they are going to make it wherever they want to go.” 

The windows of a coffee shop separate us from the bustling life of Franklin Street. Rachel Therrien still smiling as her 2016 album Pensamiento: Proyecto Colombia plays over the shop’s stereo, I set my scripted questions aside. Therrien tells her story and captures the essence of jazz with ease and brevity.

Therrien, a Canadian-born musician, performs and teaches as a guest artist for the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop. Her story reflects a dominant theme articulated in the workshop’s classes and performances: Jazz is a musical and cultural conversation.

Raised in the French-speaking region of Quebec, Therrien recalls an early love for music. While she recounts her formal musical education, she found her own among Quebec’s huge diaspora of West African community.

“I owe a lot to those cultures,” she says. “I learned how to improvise with them.” Unlike the notation and theory taught in a classroom, she says, “there are no charts, you learn by ear.” After a brief pause, she emphasizes, “They open with solos in every tune.”

Welcomed by the foreign community, Therrien faced challenges as a university student. The professors were excellent musicians, yet she notes that “they were not necessarily teachers.” They harped on how hard the career would be, how difficult it would be to make a living — she proved them wrong.

After two years of university, she left to study at the Instituto Supêrior de Arte in Havana. In Cuba, teachers make less than musicians — this means they really enjoy teaching. Therrien says with conviction: “If you are a teacher, if you are a real teacher, you are going to see the level of passion in your student.”

While no jazz musician myself, her passion for music radiated throughout our conversation and only increased as she explained the backstory of Pensamiento: Proyecto Colombia, the album playing in the background of the coffee shop.

“What I wanted to do was an experiment putting Jazz musicians with Afro-Colombian musicians in a room, having a musical conversation” After touring in Colombia, she stayed behind to record her side project.

Starting with the rhythms she knew, Therrien also explore the two musical currents running in Colombia. The Atlantic coast region differed from the poorer, less exported Pacific coast style. After weeks of recruiting musicians with only a flip phone and a list of contacts, Therrien had 12 committed musicians: four from Columbia’s Pacific coast, four from the Atlantic coast, and four jazz players.

With a laugh, she describes how they managed to all cram into the tiny studio. The bass was in the closet, the marimba was in the office and one musician played while sitting on the toilet bowl.

I asked if she felt nervous about the project, if she felt nervous not knowing any of the musicians prior to the recording. She replied with a smile, “The process is beautiful, if it doesn’t work out — great.”

At this moment, Therrien touches upon something unique about jazz. When performing Jazz, the process is more than reading notes from a page. As Therrien notes, “Jazz comes from a philosophy.” It comes from people with “different backgrounds having a conversation together through improvisation.”

Students of jazz history in the UNC Summer Workshop learn that jazz is an American art form. While it’s important to know the origins of jazz, Therrien’s passion for the art looks forward to the future as well. “What I wanted to show is that jazz is not just the evolution of that American concept, it can happen again,” she says.

This week at the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop, it is happening again — thanks to international musicians like Rachel Therrien performing and teaching with UNC’s faculty and students.

The 2022 Summer Jazz Workshop is a course that is open to not just students, but all members of the community. This brings a group of participants that comes from various different backgrounds and experiences. This enriching week was one of the most unique and satisfying experiences that I had during my time as a UNC student. As the workshop comes to an end, here are my top 4 takeaways on why you should join as well.

1) The Jazz Workshop is very flexible.

Before this jazz workshop, I had just finished my course in summer session 1 and was debating whether or not I would take a summer session 2 course. With some events occurring, I decided that I have to take a summer 2 course. Now it was a choice of which course. With the course selection being limited in the summer semesters, I had my sights on one course, but then I stumbled upon the MUSC 364 course, through ConnectCarolina. It was first intriguing to me that there was a course that was 3 credit hours long but lasted only 1 week. As I dug deeper and researched about this workshop, I was convinced that I should take this course, from its culture of developing participants’ music skills in the form of jazz to the amazing community that is formed during its time, I knew that this is something I wanted to take part in.

That being said, I reached out to the workshop director, Stephen Anderson, to ask if it was too late for me to participate in this workshop (I joined very late into the course). He replied very kindly and told me that he would be happy if I were to join the workshop. I mentioned that I wanted to experience this workshop as a musician, but was not confident enough to perform, which brought up the option to do this course as a hybrid. The hybrid course would be that I would bring my instrument and participate in the performer classes in the morning and in the afternoon, and I would take the journalism class. I decided to take this route and never looked back.

2) The journalism assignments are fun and interactive.

On the first day of class, I didn’t know what to expect, with no experience in any form of journalism. Professor Andy Bechtel made learning fun and easy. We learned about the basics of journalism, such as understanding news values, interviewing, use of social media, and writing headlines and captions. Professor Bechtel gave many great insights from his vast experiences in journalism and made it very simple for someone like myself to learn. In conjunction with the lectures, there were assignments that made us apply the things we learned, using a website (tarheels.live/uncjazz2021) that was specifically made for this course. This consisted of writing a review of the concert, using social media (Twitter) to post live events, interviewing other participants or staff, and writing a profile about them. All these experiences were very new for me, but Professor Bechtel made it a fun and enjoyable experience.

3) Every night there is a jazz performance, and it’s a treat.

During the workshop week, every night the instructors would put together and perform a free concert that would be open to the public. Participants would experience music from professionals and witness how jazz can be performed. Each nightly performance will blow you away with how performers use dynamics, chromatics, passion, and much more to convey what they want the audience to hear. Every night I had a blast listening to the various styles and forms of jazz, and it was always a great way to end the night.

4)  It is an experience that you won’t get from any other course.

Right off the bat, the course is already unique for being only a week long and 3 credit hours worth, but don’t be afraid as you probably won’t get to experience any like this from another course. In such a short period, you can learn about the history of jazz from improvising properly on your instrument to also learning how to Salsa dance. The various different ways you can get a unique experience for yourself are limitless. Since the workshop is open to students and members of the community, there is a large range of ages, backgrounds, experiences and skills, but this diversity will enrich your experience at this workshop. You get to interact and spend the majority of your time with these participants and you get to learn and experience the workshop together. There is a sense of camaraderie when entering the workshop, and the friends that you make here will always be a great memory for years to come.

If you’ve ever taken MUSC 145 (Intro to Jazz) at UNC with Professor Stephen Anderson, this workshop is the one for you. If you haven’t, you should still come to the workshop and should also take MUSC 145.

Coming to the workshop on the journalism/jazz history route has had me test my knowledge on what I learned in the Intro to Jazz class and given me a new appreciation for journalism. It has been enjoyable to say the least to do things such as play piano and interview new people.

Some of my personal takeaways on what to expect are as follows:

1. You should expect difficulty with piano lessons if you have long acrylic nails.

If piano lessons is still on the schedule for the journalism/jazz history portion of the program, I recommend not getting lengthy acrylic nails. It flew over my head that piano lessons actually meant practicing piano, trying to lay my fingers nicely on the piano was tough. After searching on Google I came across an article that validates my advice, Joshua Ross talks about how playing piano with long nails is not recommended. Nonetheless the piano lessons were one of my favorite things to do at the workshop. Dan Davis, an amazing drummer who teaches the jazz history portion also does the piano lessons and is enthusiastic, encouraging and had a lot of patience when it came to teaching me to play with long nails. Whether or not you take my advice, I encourage you to just have fun.

2. You can expect to partially become a twitter-tweeting expert.

Andy Bechtel is one of UNC’s journalism professors, he teaches the journalism class for the workshop. One of the assignments required the class to live-tweet one of the workshop concerts. As someone who didn’t use Twitter prior to this class I was nervous. Luckily enough, Professor Bechtel walked us through what our tweets should look like, and I would say it was a success. Live-tweeting allowed me to express what I saw and heard while watching the Kate McGarry/Baron Tymas Quartet perform, and I was interested to see what my classmates had to say. If you’re interested in viewing some of these tweets, search #UNCjazz on Twitter.

3. You can have the best of both worlds: jazz and journalism.

The workshop has amazing musicians and professors who run the program. As previously mentioned, Dan Davis taught us about jazz history and Andy Bechtel taught us about journalism. Both of these individuals are knowledgeable in what they teach and are excited to do it, and that simply makes learning so much fun.  Even if you aren’t majoring in either of these, it’s a great opportunity to learn and get acquainted with them. You never know if you’ll pickup a new hobby whether it’s learning a new instrument, studying the cool jazz era or live-tweeting an event you attend.

4. You could meet the next big star.

I chose to attend the vocal lessons for the first couple days of the workshop. The lessons were for the singers who were to perform on the last day of the workshop. I was able to watch them warm up and got a sneak peak of what they would sing at the concert. I also chose to interview one of the singers, Ruthie Collet, and learned about her background with singing jazz music. The lessons are taught by amazing musicians, so you could even be meeting someone who has already taken the music industry by storm. What I’m trying to say is that you never know if you’re meeting someone who could go on and become a well-known singer, or maybe even meet the next big trumpeter.

The 2022 UNC Jazz Summer Workshop ran has run its course. Beginning Monday morning at 8:30, hundreds of students flocked to the Kenan Music Building to begin their week-long journey navigating what this summer’s workshop has to offer.

Upon completion and in regard to my own personal experience as a non-musician, I now feel better acquainted with not only Jazz as a musical genre but as a language as well. Below you will find my top 4 takeaways from this past week…

1. Jazz is a combination of African and European music.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of interviewing Associate Professor of Music at NCCU Baron Tymas. Baron explained to me his love for jazz comes from the combination of traditions behind African and European music, and the blending of their roots. More specifically, jazz usual the rhythmic components of African music as an influence, and the harmonic components of traditional European music. I learned that the blending of the two is what created what is now seen as the American art form of jazz.

2. Jazz has to swing.

Each morning, my fellow classmates and I sat down with Dan Davis for our Jazz History course. One thing that Prof. Davis stressed was the two core elements that make jazz music jazz. Those being the practice of improvisation and more importantly the swing, or as Prof. Davis also described it, the lilt rhythmic components to the music. Through hearing the different sub-genres associated with each era of jazz history, you could hear the presence and importance these two components played in defining the music.

3. Jazz is a complex music genre.

Prior to coming to this summer’s workshop, I was aware jazz was an advanced art form but didn’t realize exactly how advanced. Each night, concerts were held free to the public. Through these concerts and hearing the music live and up close, I was exposed to the deep complexity behind Jazz. Acts such as the Caribbean Connections Band and Kate McGarry opened up my eyes to the time and dedication needed in order to master this art form.

4. The best way to receive your EE credit.

Throughout the week, I repeatedly heard faculty quoting “I don’t understand why more students don’t take advantage of our course.” Upon hearing this, I couldn’t agree more. In just five days, I was able to receive not only three credit hours toward graduation but also my Experiential Education requirement, which is a requirement for all UNC undergraduate students. For any students looking to fulfill this component needed to graduate, I strongly recommend enrolling in next year’s Summer Jazz Workshop.

It was a spectacular week of concerts and classes at the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop (MUSC 364)!

Written principally with those who might consider attending the workshop in the future in mind, here are my top four takeaways from the week as a participant in the journalism/jazz history section of the course:

1. There’s nothing quite like live music.

Learning about jazz in a classroom is one thing. Seeing it with all the vigor and spontaneity of a live performance is another. The improvisational character of jazz really comes alive when you can sit for an hour or more and listen to jazz musicians just doing their thing. I’ve always more-or-less liked jazz (even before I became a huge fan of the Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin/Nat King Cole genre of ballads), but I can confidently say to any of you who are not into jazz, that the in-person experience is far more lively than simply pulling up a jazz playlist on Spotify. Give it a try.

2. No musical expertise is required.

Before coming to the workshop, I hadn’t played an instrument with any degree of seriousness in about 7 years. I still can’t read music very well. And yet, I had a blast at the workshop. I particularly want to give a shoutout to Dan Davis – the great drummer and UNC professor, who led our section of the workshop through a basic series of piano lessons – for helping me develop a level of comfort on the piano that I did not think was possible in just a few days’ time.

3. No journalism expertise is required either.

Andy Bechtel did a marvelous job teaching our section of the workshop about some fundamentals of journalism and the tools of the trade in the age of social media. Over the course of the week, we wrote blogs (like the one you’re currently reading), live-tweeted a concert, and learned techniques like how to write a good headline. Whether your interests lay in music or something completely different, increasing one’s understanding of some of the ways in which the media business works could be a very valuable part of this program for you.

4. If you’re a UNC student not studying abroad or doing a major-related internship, you should take MUSC 364.

Just go ahead and do it next summer. You knock out three credit hours, plus the Experiential Education (EE) general education credit (for students who entered UNC prior to 2022-23), in five days of classwork and concerts. You can do this whether a musician or not. It’s one of the best options available at UNC, especially considering the brilliant music and journalism faculty involved.

So, what are you waiting for?

This summer, I had the opportunity to spend time with some real titans in the music and journalism fields. I studied under the like of Andy Bechtel, a former editor of The News & Observer, and Dan Davis, a renowned jazz drummer who happens to teach at UNC. Here’s what I learned:

1. Jazz is so much more than just music.

Spending time dissecting the intricate patterns of each player on stage gave me a new appreciation for their complexities. The improvisational aspect is absolutely staggering.

Dan Davis describes a jazz band like a basketball game: each player has a preset list of rules (the key, the time signature, etc.) but is free to improvise. When someone takes a solo, they have the ball. They do what they want or need to do to further the quality of the whole team.

And it really is a team sport. Watching the musicians smile in excitement when one of their band members delivers an incredible solo is a touching thing to witness. In that moment, there’s a silent, heightened connection on the stage between the group. Being happy that the music is living through them, through their improvisation, through their work together… it’s a beautiful moment.

2. Reporting on music is difficult… really difficult.

I have a new appreciation of reporters who can synthesize a lengthy, complex performance like a concert or recital into a small, one-page report. While opinions are great, providing context for them can be a challenge. How do you qualify such a spiritual, in-the-moment experience like music through the page?

Andy Bechtel offers some great guidance here: He encouraged us to think of reporting as a conduit for the performer and the reader. Be active in your speech. If it’s a powerful experience, it needs powerful language.

Advice like this is worth taking into everyday life. It may sound odd, but we tend not to use the right type of speech to describe events. If you don’t use active, vibrant language in your description of something — a mountaintop from a hike, the eyes of your partner, a day spent catching up with an old friend — it won’t come across as beautiful as the moment really was. Something that important deserves beautiful language!

3. Interviewing musicians isn’t as scary as it sounds. Truthfully, it’s a lot of fun.

On the second day of our workshop, I was able to interview a piano student attending the workshop. To be frank, I was a little nervous to just walk up and request an interview with someone. When we managed to sit down and chat, though, it was fantastic.

His name is Sam Cifani, and I feel very grateful to have met him. He’s wildly talented and still in high school — he’s got big things ahead. Just getting to talk with him and get an idea of who he was is an opportunity I’m glad to have had.

4. Jazz history is really a tragically beautiful tale.

I can’t go into all of it right now, but I can hit some of the big takeaways:

Jazz is intertwined with America’s history of racist legislature and social dynamics. To draw on such powerful, painful history and synthesize this beautiful, free-flowing music from it is nothing short of a triumph of the human spirit.

It is, in essence, the transmutation of pain into something awe-inspiringly complex. This is not to say all jazz is about racism, but that was decidedly one of the key factors of its creation.

Some jazz makes you want to dance; some to cry. Some just makes you want to close your eyes and lose yourself in the improvised melodies. It’s a special thing, really, and I’m glad to have been given such an incredible experience over the course of UNC’s Summer Jazz Workshop.

This summer, UNC hosted its annual 2022 Summer Jazz Workshop. Students and Instructors come from across the country to learn more about the art form and what UNC’s music and jazz program has to offer.

Amongst the participants, I had the honor to interview jazz guitar instructor Baron Tymas. Baron has taught and lectured globally and won an N.C. Arts Council Jazz Composer Fellowship in 2008. Our conversation went as follows.

1. Question: When did you start playing guitar?

I was 14 and had an aunt who left a guitar at my house. At the time, I had many friends who played and acted as my inspiration to pick up the instrument.

2. Question: What made you want to begin teaching?

I first began to teach and pass down knowledge that others were giving me informally. I thought that was cool and naturally, as time continued, I developed a passion for it.

3. Question: What makes Jazz such a special genre?

It’s the many things that have to do with teamwork and collective creativity. From the musical side, jazz is an expression of African American culture. Lastly, it also uses great elements from African, European and Latin music.

4. Question: What is your favorite part of the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop?

First, it is very well organized. Second, I just enjoy meeting people of all ages who are interested in this type of music.

5. Question: Why do you feel students should take advantage of UNC Summer Jazz Workshop?

You get a lot of individualized attention and great opportunities to meet other people with a shared interests. You also are taught by world-class faculty who play and record right in front of you.

The lights dimly fell over the Moeser Auditorium, marking the second night of the 2022 UNC Jazz Workshop.

Prior to the concert’s start, students, faculty and parents flooded the seats, waiting in anticipation for the night’s music to begin. This night featured the Caribbean Connections Band.

• Piano: Stephen Anderson
• Saxophone: Rahsaan Barber
• Trumpet: Rachel Therrien
• Bass: Ramon Vazquez
• Drums: Guy Frometa
• Percussion: Juan Alamo

The night began with an upbeat tune. Standing center stage, you can hear Rahsaan Barber wailing on his saxophone and Stephen Anderson’s fast-paced piano improvisation. Each of the band members was wearing a smile.

Just once the audience thought to believe that the first composition had come to an end, out comes Rachel Therrien on trumpet as the band continues to flow through their Salsa-inspired number.

Through the night, you can hear the Cuban and Latin influences as the band continued. After each solo, the crowd erupted in applause. The band members played original compositions such as “Susie,” a Cuban rhythmic inspired tune by trumpeter  Therrien when she was just 21 years old.

All members took time to explain their love and passion for Latin music, with band members being from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Anderson takes time at the mic to thank and explain how important his maintained connections are to these fellow musicians.

At about 8:30 p.m., the night wrapped up, and the crowd gave praise to the musicians with roaring applause.

During the summer students and community members can be a part of the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop. In this workshop, participants have a choice to take a workshop with a Jazz Journalism/History route or the performance route. Participants of the performing route will collaborate with one another and learn from the best, which includes Stephen Anderson, Juan Alamo, Rahsaan Barber, and many more!

I got an opportunity to interview Will Jung, who is a former UNC student and participating as a performer.

Background on William Jung:

• Former UNC student
• Currently a band director
• Hometown: Fayetteville, NC
• Instrument: Trumpet

I asked Jung what brought him to this workshop, and he responded: “I always wanted to learn improv better and never got the results that I wanted from independent studying.” He also mentioned that he is a band director at a school in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he wants his students to develop improvisation skills, which he didn’t have. In order to help his students to get to that point, he decided to improve his own improvisational skills at this workshop. He knew about this summer workshop, as a former student, but was very busy during the summer, but decided to participate this year.

I asked, “By the end of this workshop, what do you want to get out of it?” Jung replied: “[To have] more knowledge of how to improv more efficiently. It’s not about just getting better, but how do I get better. … How should I use these chords and these notes?”

Jung says there’s a spiritual aspect in music to being surrounded by many other talented musicians, that “it is very fulfilling” and would like to pass down what he learns here to his students back in South Carolina.

When talking about the workshop, Jung says that there “was never a dull moment” and that it is strategically well thought out with the pacing for the participants, given the short amount of time spent together. “They are having us apply what they are teaching,” he said.

As my final question, I asked for any words that would like to share with someone who would like to join the summer jazz program or learn jazz in general. He replied by saying, “You are never too old to learn … reach out to your resources … and never be afraid.”

The UNC Summer Jazz Workshop is a five-day program where community members and students from middle school, high school and college come together to learn about jazz theory and engage in group lessons in order to prepare for the final student concert on the last day of the program. Attending the workshop is 16-year-old high school student Ruthie Collett from Morganton, North Carolina.

I learned from Ruthie that her experience with singing began early on and that her focus has mainly been on jazz and rock. For the first two days of the workshop, I’ve been attending the vocal lessons taught by jazz vocalist, Kate McGarry where I’ve gotten to observe and learn a bit about what goes behind rehearsing and have also gotten the opportunity to hear Ruthie sing. To say the least Ruthie has an incredible voice, and I am very excited to see how great her performance is on Friday.

When I approached Ruthie about interviewing her, she was so kind and welcomed any questions.

How did your experience with singing begin?

Ruthie said that at a young age she showed an interest in singing, so her parents encouraged her to sing at her church choir around the age of 9. When asked how she got into jazz she said, “It’s been a constant thing in my life because my dad always played it around the house, so I got exposed to it early on, that and rock.”
In middle school she was in her first ensemble, where she sang rock music, and was also in a jazz group for two years.

Did you always know you wanted to be a singer?

She said she tried some instruments including the piano, and the saxophone but didn’t think it was going too well, so she stuck to singing.

Do you participate in any musical extracurriculars at the moment?

Ruthie said that she currently partakes in her high school acapella group, called Azure which focuses on rock music.

Favorite singer?

“Ella Fitzgerald, I love her so much. She had a great career, and she was never classically trained, which I think is really interesting and that’s something I can kind of relate to because I’m also not classically trained.”

How did you find out about the workshop?

Ruthie said that she told her mom that she was interested In attending some type of workshop over the summer, so her mom found the SJW and it was close to where she lived.

What do you want to take or gain from this workshop?

“I definitely really appreciate the experience of singing in a combo,” said Ruthie.  She also hopes to gain more music theory knowledge and has enjoyed learning about improvisation.

Do you consider singing a hobby?

Ruthie said that singing isn’t something she would consider just as a hobby as she is very passionate about it. She wants to carry it forward and is going to try to audition for her high school’s ensemble next year. She doesn’t think she’ll major in it in school, but is something she plans to keep in her life nonetheless.

If you could perform with any artist/musician dead or alive, who would you pick?

“I know there’s a really good bassist named Esperanza Spalding. She won some Grammys a few years ago, and she’s just massively talented and her voice is insane. She sings and plays at the same time, which is crazy.”

How are you feeling about the upcoming concert?

Ruthie said she feels excited and mentioned that her combo group is very talented and loves the song that she will be singing at the conclusion of the workshop.