Live Music & Teaching

Why I've Been Absent

It has been an interesting six weeks. My summer school class started six weeks ago, along with an intense week of gigs, including a trip to Charleston. It has been non-stop ever since. First, the class.

The class, Introduction to Jazz, was at Furman. I’ve been teaching for quite a while now in the summer. Last year, I changed the focus from a more general “History of Jazz” thing, to a focus on the development of Jazz Piano. This has been very interesting for me, and for the students, I think. There were 28 students, 25 of them student athletes. I showed them a specific way to take notes for the class, and I think it has helped them feel more comfortable and confident about taking part in class discussions.

I chose 25 pianists to begin with. Most of these are essential to the development of this music, some being especially important for me in my own development. We watched some great videos of lots of these musicians, including a great documentary of Thelonious Monk, “Straight, No Chaser”, produced by Clint Eastwood. There is also a great doco of Duke Ellington called, “On The Road With Duke Ellington”, and a really wonderful one about Keith Jarrett, “The Art Of Improvising”.

We talked a lot about how the role of the piano in jazz developed over the last 150 years or so. From Ragtime to Avant Garde. Of course, it’s fascinating for me. I try to convey my love and appreciation for this music, and I hope at least some of that has had some impact on them.

The last day I asked them to write down their favorite pianist from the class, and the reasons for their choice. I was very pleasantly surprised at some of the responses I got. One young football player chose Lennie Tristano, which I never would have expected. There were insightful, thoughtful comments about of the other choices, as well.

In the end, I was very pleased with the level of participation in the class. Looking forward to the next opportunity.

Coming up next, some recordings and video from recent performances.