Á

Jazz On Campus
School Notes
Jared Sims, director of jazz studies, conducts the WVU Jazz
Collective at an Oct. 10 concert on campus.
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
KATE FLOCK
From left: William Banfield, director of Africana Studies
at Berklee; Darla Hanley, dean of professional
education; Rhonda Patrick-Sigh; and Deval Patrick.
WVU Jazz Students Focus
on the Creative Process
LOCATED 75 MILES DUE SOUTH OF
Pittsburgh, the city of Morgantown, West
Virginia, is a hotbed of improvised music. A
Thursday night jazz jam session there regularly
draws large audiences, a fall wine and jazz
festival is thriving and a second jazz festival is
scheduled to launch in March.
What accounts for this level of enthusiasm?
A big part of it is the fact that the city’s population
doubles to 62,000 each fall with the
influx of students at West Virginia University.
Morgantown, which has been home to WVU
since 1867, epitomizes the community that
revolves around students.
“There is an extraordinarily good audience
for music here, with lots of venues,” said Jared
Sims, director of the WVU jazz program. “Our
campus is very spread out, so there are lots of
opportunities for playing, and a real extended
community of musicians in the area.”
With a freshman class of 20 and an average
class size of 15, the jazz program is not large, but
Sims said it is very well integrated into the larger
music school, which is more than a century old,
and the overarching College of Creative Arts.
For students looking to gain insight into the
world of music beyond performance, a graduate
certificate program provides broad exposure to
music publishing, recording, career management,
marketing and copyright law.
“A large university like this offers lots of
opportunities,” Sims said. “The students in our
bachelor of music in jazz studies program often
participate in the African Music and Dance
Ensemble or play in the WVU Steel Band, and
we have engineering students who take jazz
classes. We consider jazz a methodology and
not an end-point. It’s about learning the language
of jazz and building the tools you need to
be as expressive as possible.”
Sims said the jazz degree has two main
focal points: to prepare students for potential
graduate school studies and to inspire students
to interact with jazz musicians in the community.
WVU’s master’s program in jazz pedagogy
prepares students for careers in education.
The school maintains 10 jazz ensembles,
ranging from piano trios to a big band, and
Sims explained that the focus is as much on
the creative process as on performance. “Our
rehearsals aren’t just preparation for a concert,”
he said. “They’re about using the language and
learning how to create collaboratively.”
In an effort to extend the collaboration to
prospective WVU students, Sims will launch
a spring festival that will combine high school
musicians with WVU’s ensembles, a faculty
group and guest artist Gary Smulyan.
“I’m going to organize a high school jazz
honors group, which will be selected by audition,”
Sims said. “They’ll get to work with our
faculty and perform a concert with our student
ensembles and our guest.”
Over the longer term, Sims has plans to
build on the strengths he has identified.
“In the next five years, I’d like to extend the
sense of community that exists here and tap
into the enthusiasm I feel so that this program
almost runs itself, because everyone’s so into it.”
—James Hale
Carney's Axes Archived: Former Massachusetts
Gov. Deval Patrick gifted the baritone
saxophone and clarinet of Harry Carney
to the Africana Studies Archive at Berklee
College of Music during a reception held at
the college on Nov. 17. In a 2009 donation to
Berklee, Deval Patrick honored the musical
and cultural legacy of his late father, Pat
Patrick, a saxophonist, composer and arranger
best known for his 40-year association
with Sun Ra. The Patrick family donated Pat
Patrick’s collection, which includes recordings,
scores, 2,000 photographs and personal
correspondence. berklee.edu
Student Jams: The Jazz Institute of Chicago
created the Jazz Links Jam Sessions to
provide an environment where student
musicians can play in front of a live audience.
Students from ages 9 to 19 perform with
one another and with the Jazz Links Mentors
in the house band, including saxophonist
Jarrard Harris, pianist Robert Irving III, bassist
Katie Ernst and drummer Marcus Evans.
Musicians, parents, siblings and friends are
encouraged to attend these free events at
the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington)
in the Studio Theater on Jan. 11, Feb. 8,
March 8 and April 12. jazzinchicago.org
Honorary Degree: Bass player Barry Guy,
founder and artistic director of the London
Jazz Composers Orchestra and the BGNO
(Barry Guy New Orchestra), has been awarded
an honorary doctorate by Middlesex
University in London. Guy said, “I am honored
to be associated with this university and will
endeavor to continue working in a manner
that advances the name of this august establishment.”
The Intakt label has released Guy’s
album The Blue Shroud. mdx.ac.uk
Modal Mastery: Noel Johnston, alumnus
and adjunct instructor in jazz guitar at the
University of North Texas, has published
a new book, Voicing Modes. The 153-page
publication is available from his website and
from Amazon. He describes it as “a book for
all guitar players who want to master their
modal comprehension and ability.”
jazz.unt.edu/node/2226
102 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2017