Jazz education takes front and center every year at the Monterey Jazz Festival. This year I attended a fundraiser featuring an all-star student big band. They were hot! After the show, jazz celebrity, pianist Herbie Hancock, congratulated the players. The young musicians were starstruck and wanted to talk to and shake hands with a true jazz superstar. This was an unforgettable moment for these young musicians.
Love seeing the enthusiasm and joy on the faces of the young musicians. When did you get interested and involved in music, jazz specifically? What instrument do you play?
Eileen,
Thanks for the comment. I got interested in jazz as a toddler. My parents played Ella Fitzgerald’s “Cow Cow Boogie” and Artie Shaw’s “Begin the Beguine” on their old 78s when I was about five years old. Then in high school, the “cool” people were into jazz – so I went to the Blackhawk in SF and saw people like Miles Davis, circa 1956. Interviewed Dave Brubeck in 1957 for my high school radio show. From there, I was hooked.
Sadly, the only thing I play is the radio.
Rick
HH is a favorite of mine. An all around good guy, creative artist and a graduate of Ben’s alma mater – Grinnell College.