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Jazz Notes in Education
40 Years of Jazz at Harvard
In 1971 Harvard hired trombonist Tom Everett as Director of
Bands, a wise decision that resulted in forty illustrious years of
jazz at the university.
Over that time, Everett formed two undergraduate jazz bands and
started a jazz history course. He launched a Jazz Masters in
Residence program that has featured Jim Hall, Hank Jones, Illinois
Jacquet and others, and commissioned new works from composers like
Anthony Braxton, Benny Carter and Steve Swallow.
In April, Harvard celebrated its anniversary with a concert at
Sanders Hall featuring the “Harvard All-Stars,” a group composed of
saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Eddie Palmieri and drummer Roy
Haynes -- all previous Jazz Masters in Residence – plus bassist
Cecil McBee, trumpeter Brian Lynch and saxophonist Don Braden ’85.
Other events included a forum on the history of jazz at Harvard
between Tom Everett, now the longest serving Band Director in the
school’s history, and Ingrid Monson, the Quincy Jones Professor of
African-American Music, and an exhibition of original jazz
manuscripts and memorabilia.
ofa.fas.harvard.edu/music/jazz.php
Milton Academy Jazz Band Visits South Africa
In March, twenty-one students from the Milton Academy Jazz Band
traveled to South Africa for a 17-day musical tour of concerts,
sightseeing and educational exchange with schools in Pretoria,
Soweto, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and townships across the country.
The musical journey was led by the school’s jazz director Bob
Sinicrope, who founded
the successful program in 1974 and established ties with South
African musicians in 1991. The band has a longstanding friendship
with the Music Academy of Gauteng and the Amy Biehl Foundation,
which featured the Milton band at its Human Rights Day Township
Festival in Cape Town. The band performed thirteen times during
their stay, and in between managed to have jam sessions with their
South African counterparts. “The highlight of the trip is always
the merging of the groups, when
the kids play together,” says Sinicrope. The students on the
tours over the years have delivered over $105,000 worth of donated
musical instruments and materials to needy South African school
music programs. How do the American students enjoy the experience?
“They’re already talking about the 2013 trip,” says Sinicrope.
milton.edu/academics/Jazz-Music.cfm
bobsinicrope.com
FamilyTypewritten Text- by Michael P. Quinlin
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