In recognition and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Jazz Studies department and the Jazz Studies program, New England Conservatory is hosting Jazz50, a year-long series of concerts and events. On stage will be the distinguished jazz alumni, faculty, students and special guests offering an incredible array of musical and compositional talent. Performances are to be to held at NEC’s acoustically superb Jordan Hall, providing an intimate and versatile setting. And several other performances are scheduled in New York City, which will serve to round-out the concert venue opportunities for audiences to enjoy a full, stellar cast of jazz artists, ensembles and orchestra. The celebration will take place during the 2019-2020 academic year in Boston and New York City.
Taking a look at even a partial list of alumni and faculty of the Jazz Studies department at the New England Conservatory confirms a very high-bar in musicianship, composition, performance and influence in the jazz world. Prominent alumni of NEC read like a who’s who of jazz as the faculty has been distinguished by its wide range of important artists including trumpeters Ralph Alessi and John McNeil; saxophonists Jerry Bergonzi, Jimmy Giuffre and Steve Lacy; drummers Billy Hart and Bob Moses; pianists Fred Hersch and Jason Moran; bassists Dave Holland and Cecil McBee; and trombonist-composer-arranger Bob Brookmeyer. Vocalist Dominique Eade, who graduated in 1984, became the first jazz performer to receive an NEC Artist Diploma in 1989, joining the faculty and becoming a magnet for gifted young vocalists such as Kris Adams, Rachael Price, Luciana Souza, Sara Serpa, Lisa Thorson and Patrice Williamson.
As an indication of historical achievement, NEC’s jazz faculty boasts six of its most eminent as having received MacArthur “Genius” grants (Steve Lacy, George Russell, Ran Blake, Gunther Schuller, Jason Moran and Miguel Zenón). In addition, Schuller, Brookmeyer, Russell, and Ron Carter have all been named NEA Jazz Masters.
As stated by Ken Schaphorst, trumpeter, composer, conductor and chair of the Jazz Studies Department since 2001, “don’t take our word for it. Jazz Times writes: ‘NEC’s Jazz Studies department is among the most acclaimed and successful in the world; so says the roster of visionary artists that have comprised both its faculty and students.’ ”
The birth of the program starts with Gunther Schuller, nearly 50 years ago, a renown American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian and jazz musician. He was named President of the Conservatory in 1967 and moved quickly to incorporate jazz into the curriculum. As related by current chair Ken Schaphorst, “Schuller was a renaissance man, loved jazz and thought jazz should have a place at the conservatory(NEC).” Aside from all his musical talent and accomplishments, as Schaphorst elaborates, Schuller was also “the perfect ambassador for this idea” of bringing jazz into this conservatory, “forward-looking and at the same time using a historically based approach to teaching jazz.” Schaphorst is also quick to credit Carl Atkins, jazz saxophonist and the first chair of the program in 1969, with the vision and personal standard to create the first class of students “with a connoisseur’s discernment and in 5 to 6 years, set the foundation.”
Currently stewarding and passionately involved as chair of the Jazz Studies department, and an accomplished musician and composer, Schaphorst also directs the NEC Jazz Orchestra as well as teaching classes in Jazz Composition and Arranging, with a focus on the music of Duke Ellington, Gil Evans and Thelonious Monk.
