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Benny Green at Columbia College
Benny Green at Columbia College
Date Posted: June 02 2010
Written By: Chicago Jazz
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Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Presents Chicago’s Top High School Jazz Musicians in Concert with Jazz Great Benny Green, June 3 at Columbia College
Chicago, Ill. – The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, in conjunction with Chicago Public Schools and After School Matters, will present the Gallery 37 Jazz Sextet in concert with internationally acclaimed jazz pianist and Blue Note recording artist Benny Green on June 3rd at the Columbia College Concert Hall. The concert will mark the culmination of the Institute’s year-long Advanced Arts Education Program in Jazz Performance at Chicago’s Gallery 37 for the Arts designed to prepare the city’s next generation of great jazz artists. The Institute’s Gallery 37 program is made possible by generous funding from United Airlines.
“The group is comprised of six of the best young players in Chicago,” said Thelonious Monk, Jr., the Institute’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees and son of the legendary pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. “Seeing and hearing these extraordinary teenagers play this music at a level that so belies their years is heartening; their level of technical proficiency, creativity, and artistry for their age is off the charts.”
The Sextet is comprised of drummer Lane Beckstrom, 17; bassist Liam Cunningham, 16; saxophonist John Foster, 17; drummer David Pohlad, 17; guitarist Adler Scheidt, 17; trumpeter Nico Segal, 16; and pianist Alec Watson, 17. “It is incredible what jazz music can do for young people,” said Segal, who recently returned from a week in Honolulu where he represented Chicago in the Institute’s National Performing Arts High School All-Star Jazz Septet performing with sax great Antonio Hart. “Jazz has taught us respect, dedication, collaboration, and humility.”
Besides Green, the concert will feature two additional guests, Chicago saxophonist Jarrard Harris and drummer Michael Mitchell, who direct the program. “I learn as much from these kids as they do from me,” said Harris. “Everyday is a new adventure.”
The concert will be held on Thursday, June 3rd, beginning at 7:30 PM at Columbia College Concert Hall (1014 S. Michigan Avenue at 11th St.). Free and open to the public, the concert will feature and evening of standards, jazz classics, and contemporary jazz, programmed to delight an audience of all ages, including the young performers’ peers.
“As young people are so influenced by kids their own age, who better to expose them to this great American art form than those of their own generation?” added Monk. “And with Benny Green – one of the most exciting performers on the jazz scene today – it’s truly an extraordinary opportunity for everyone: students, teachers, musicians, non-musicians – everybody.”
For further information, call Gallery 37 at 312.742.1461.
ABOUT BENNY GREEN
Benny Green is one of the top pianists in jazz. Born in New York in 1963, he grew up in Berkeley, California, and began studying piano at age seven.
He has since gone on to perform in virtually every major venue throughout the world and appear on over 100 recordings with such renowned artists as Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Betty Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Milt Jackson, Diana Krall, Russell Malone, Christian McBride, and Bobby Watson. He also has recorded 14 critically acclaimed albums as leader on such eminent labels as Blue Note, Telarc, and Criss Cross.
Influenced by everyone from Art Tatum and Erroll Garner to Thelonious Monk and Oscar Peterson, Green says his main focus is to “swing and have fun and share those feelings with the audience.” Besides being an internationally acclaimed performer and composer, Green is a gifted jazz educator and enjoys working with up-and-coming young jazz artists and has presented jazz workshops around the globe.
ABOUT THE GALLERY 37 CENTER FOR THE ARTS ADVANCED ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM
Culturally located in the heart of downtown Chicago, the Gallery 37 Center for the Arts Advanced Arts Education Program is a tuition-free, fully accredited Chicago Public Schools program that offers specialized instruction in dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and culinary arts. Students participating in the AAEP are selected by audition or portfolio review, attend their respective high schools in the morning, take their advanced arts classes at Gallery 37 in the afternoon as part of their regular school day, and receive honors credits toward high school graduation.
Currently, over 200 AAEP students coming from 38 Chicago public high schools attend the Program, enjoying an art-inspiring diversity reflective of the city. Since its inception 11 years ago under the leadership of Chicago First Lady Maggie Daley and in conjunction with After School Matters, a City of Chicago initiative offering teens hands-on job training in the arts, sports, technology, and communications, the AAEP has enjoyed a standard of excellence second to none. The school’s principal is Carolyn Levystein; saxophonist Jarrard Harris and drummer Michael Mitchell direct the jazz program.
ABOUT THE GALLERY 37 JAZZ PERFORMANCE PROGRAM
The mission of the Chicago Public Schools Advanced Arts Education Program (AAEP) in Jazz Performance is to facilitate the education of Chicago’s gifted high school jazz students, offering them the opportunity to participate in a highly specialized performance-based jazz curriculum, study with some of the world’s most eminent jazz artists, perform in a jazz combo comprised of their peers, and prepare for entry into the country’s most distinguished conservatories and university schools of music.
Comprising two combos, the AAEP jazz students study, explore, and perform all styles of jazz from its inception to today. Emphasis is placed on a working knowledge of standard jazz repertoire as well as the development of original compositions. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz provides consultation regarding curriculum development and instructional methodology, daily instruction, high-profile performance opportunities, and funding for visiting guest artists and educators as well as private lessons for each participant.
The program includes the presentation of peer-to-peer jazz informances in selected Chicago public schools in which the students play and talk about jazz, educating their peers about America’s indigenous art form and the values it represents: teamwork, unity with ethnic diversity, and freedom with responsibility.
ABOUT THE THELONIOUS MONK INSTITUTE OF JAZZ
The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz is a nonprofit education organization established in memory of Thelonious Monk, the legendary jazz pianist and composer. Monk was one of the primary architects of bebop and his impact as both performer and composer has had a profound influence on every genre of music. His more than 70 compositions are classics that continue to inspire artists in all disciplines.
Monk believed the best way to learn jazz was from a master of the music. The Institute follows that same philosophy by bringing together the greatest living jazz musicians to teach and inspire young people, offering the most promising young musicians college level training by America's jazz masters through its fellowship program in Jazz Performance at Loyola University in New Orleans, and presenting public school-based jazz education programs around the world.
Helping to fill the tremendous void in arts education left by budget cuts in public school funding, the Institute’s programs are provided free to the public and use jazz as the medium to encourage imaginative thinking, creativity, a positive self-image, and respect for one’s own and others' cultural heritage. Jazz great Herbie Hancock serves as the Institute’s chairman. For further information, visit the Institute’s website at www.monkinstitute.org.
Benny Green and the Gallery 37 Jazz Sextet
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