A-JAM Performances and Interviews at KRTU Studios - An Annual Tradition

On June 3, 2015, multi-instrumentalist Thomas Mullins led his combo into KRTU's Studio B at Trinity University for what has become an annual tradition since 2011: a recording session featuring participants in the A-JAM program. The session was produced by KRTU Operations Manager Emilio Alvarez, for broadcast as part of the South Texas Jazz Project. For many A-JAM participants, this marks their first professional recording, and--for most--their first on-air radio broadcast. A-JAM thanks KRTU for their support of our program! Listen to the show right here.

Thomas Mullins

This year, the group was primarily alumni of the A-JAM program: Odie Wallace on bass (A-JAM 2013, IASJ Denmark), James Buentello on drums (A-JAM 2011), Marco Antonio Escobedo on guitar (A-JAM 2011), with newcomer Alisa Cotto (Northwest Vista College) on voice. Standing by and joining in were potential A-JAM candidates for 2016, Francis Stromboe from San Antonio College on guitar and bassist Roberto Alaniz from Northwest Vista.

Thomas Mullins, a 2015 graduate of Northwest Vista College, will enter the UTSA music program with a scholarship in composition this fall. A student of classical guitarist Dan Smith, he auditioned on guitar. He studies trombone and improvisation with Armin Marmolejo of Palo Alto College. As a composer, Mullins received a Jack Stone Award for New Music in 2013, while at Northwest Vista College. Thomas Mullins is the 2015 A-JAM delegate to the prestigious IASJ international jazz meeting, to be held this year in Lisbon, Portugal.

Top 10 Tunes to Know in Jazz (IASJ 2000, Paris)

Highlights of this year's recording session were performances of two of the "IASJ Top 10 Tunes to Know in Jazz," "There is No Greater Love" and "Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise."

The performance segment of the program was followed by interviews, with students recounting memorable moments of their A-JAM experiences. 

"What are you experiencing now--that you didn't have before you entered the program--in your musical journey?" Alvarez asked Mullins. "Someone to push me into the scenarios that I need to be in, in order to grow as a musician; as a jazz musician, but--overall--as a musician. Going to the open jam sessions, going to the master classes; things I'd probably shy away from if given the opportunity. But Katchie is very good at pushing, so it just puts you in the scene, makes you get your hands dirty, do the heavy lifting. You get up there, do the best you can, take your licks, go home to the drawing board, and try and come back stronger the next day."

The conversation touched on aesthetics, with Mullins contributing heartfelt and profound thoughts. Asked who he was listening to lately he replied, "I've gotten into Thelonious Monk a lot more than I had been prior. But I've been straying more toward vocalists, like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone. Something about…they've got this beautiful melancholy that really draws me in. That's one of the aspects of music I really enjoy.  Sometimes more upbeat music seems to me a bit false, like it's got something to hide. But those melancholy songs, they're revealed, they're laying everything out, they're vulnerable. It's fragile. I really enjoy that kind of music...I want to try to encapsuslate that style."

Eric Ineke masterclass with Odie Wallace (IASJ 2013, Denmark)

Odie Wallace, who was the A-JAM student delegate to the 2013 IASJ international jazz meeting in Denmark, summed up his experience there. 

"It was life changing. I was just telling some of the guys before we started this interview that, going over there, I got my butt kicked all up and down the streets of Denmark--musically of course--but it was a great learning experience. If it hadn't have been for that, I don't think I'd be where I am today, with the knowledge that I have today and the connections, the networking. It was just a big combination of playing, learning, meeting people, and then you get to take that home with you, even if you felt you didn't do 100%. I've felt, ever since I got home--ever since I hit the state soil again--that it has been nonstop for me, trying to be better than I was when I was over there. Just having that--being part of that experience alone--has been the most important thing to me. It was the catalyst for where I am today." 

As of this writing, Odie Wallace is on full scholarship in the jazz music program at St. Mary's University, where he studies electric bass with Jim Kalson, drums and percussion with Joe Caploe, and plays in small and large jazz ensembles. He auditioned on drums, bass, and percussion. The faculty of St. Mary's reported that his was among the best auditions they'd ever had. Wallace performs currently as a leader and side person in various groups and settings in and out of town. Keep up the good work!

Preparing for the Concert? Play Along

We're into dress rehearsals for the first annual NXNVC (North by Northwest Vista) festival, Monday, April 13 through Thursday, April 16, 2015. Four funfilled evenings of music by students, faculty, and guest artists. Jazz ensemble and student-led combos are up on Thursday night. Gourmet food truck. Looking forward to it!  For more information, visit this website: PalmettoArts.org.

After sufficient careful/mindful slow work  in the practice room or woodshed, a quick--and pleasurable--way to grab a few extra run-throughs is to play along with the arranging publisher's demo recordings. 

They're easy to find with the following BIG THREE search terms on Google: "song title in parentheses" "arranger name" and the word "listen." Voilà! The audio pops up first virtually every time.

Here are some of the tunes you'll hear us perform on Thursday. Play along if you're in the band!

"Bye Bye Blackbird," arranged by Dave Rivello (James Coleman, trumpet soloist)

"Gentle Rain," arranged by Kris Berg (Andrew King, alto saxophone soloist) 

"I Got Rhythm," arranged by Dave Wolpe (A-JAM honors student Thomas Mullins, trombone soloist) 

"Straighten Up and Fly Right," Wolpe (Alisa Cotto, vocal soloist)

"How High the Moon," Wolpe (trombone section feature)

Happy practicing. Break a leg!

Branford Marsalis - Performance & Master Class

If you missed the open rehearsal with YOSA (Youth Orchestra of San Antonio) or the master class at Ruth Taylor Recital Hall, or if you caught those and want to see the musician in action, come to the Tobin Center Sunday, February 22 at 7 PM. 

Students with valid ID get in for a mere five bucks. This is a chance to take in the splendor of our newest and most prestigious  performing arts venue while hearing a bonafide Jazz Master perform classical music composed for the jazz instrument par excellence, the saxophone. Don't miss it.

In a rambling but straight talking master class at Trinity University, New Orleans saxophonist  Branford Marsalis talked about his royal family and musical journey to an audience of enthralled students and teachers, including A-JAM trombonist Thomas Mullins, on Saturday, February 21.  

His talk was peppered with anecdotes and correctives, including facts about his family. People assume that the Marsalis dynasty is patrilineal, he said. But the musical genes are mainly on his mother's side, he explained. Wellman Braud, the distinguished bassist with Duke Ellington's band, was his mother's kin, for example. 

With so many musicians in his family, people sometimes imagine that it was a non-stop family jam session growing up. But no. With almost seven years between him and his younger brother, there was "no way" he was going to be jamming--in or out of the house--with a ten year-old when he was seventeen, despite what his parents might have wished.  But Branford and his distinguished brother Wynton Marsalis, who were much closer in age, did work and play together.  Growing up, Wynton worked hardest to become the amazing classical trumpeter that he continues to be to this day. If you're not familiar with this side of his work, check out his classical discography. But, of course, we all know him as the man who lead Lincoln Center to become the jazz bastion that it is today. And it was Wynton who first moved to New York, the jazz capitol, and persuaded Branford to join him, which he does not regret.

How to learn songwriting? "Learn every tune ever written," he said, then smiled. "It's all about melodies," he continued. When improvising, he's thinking of melodies, not simply chord progressions.

He doesn't aim to please an audience of 20-something people. Why? "My music is for adults," as he put it. It takes years to develop one's art and craft in jazz. One has to be willing to suffer "humiliation," but not to succumb to defeat; to admit that there are things to learn, and to keep on working to improve.

NEA Jazz Master, renowned Grammy Award®-winning saxophonist and Tony Award® nominee composer Branford Marsalis is one of the most revered instrumentalists of his time.  The three-time Grammy Award® winner has continued to exercise and expand his skills as an instrumentalist, a composer, and the head of Marsalis Music, the label he founded in 2002 that has allowed him to produce both his own projects and those of the jazz world’s most promising new and established artists.

Advice for young players?

"Advice for young cats?"

the old woman responded,

"Know all of your scales."

"But is that enough?" he asked.

"Learn all your tunes in all keys."

"It's Not About the Music" - The International Jazz Meeting

"...a documentary film about jazz education that's not about the music. It's a film about collaboration, creativity, and community; a film about sharing ideas across cultures, a film about the legacy that passes from generation to generation; a respect for the elders, and the hope that the younger generation will take that knowledge and pass it forward. David Liebman, who won the NEA Jazz Masters award in 2011, founded the IASJ [International Association of Schools of Jazz] about twenty years ago with the sole purpose of creating a forum for cross-cultural communication." - Leon Segal, filmmaker and psychologist.

If you're new to the A-JAM program and haven't yet seen the teaser for Leon Segal's documentary film on the IASJ's annual international jazz meeting, take five minutes to watch it now.

 Learn how this intercultural conference affect the lives, careers, and curricula of students, teachers, and schools; and the impact they have on local and global communities. Very inspiring! Could be YOU next year...

The International Jazz Meeting, a "Pearl Beyond Price" - Perspectives from Ronan Guilfoyle

"It's remarkable that jazz, as a means of human communication between people from different cultures, brings people together for a week in tremendous camaraderie and friendship. I think that's really a pearl beyond price..."

Watch this short and personal history of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ) from founding member artist-teacher and bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, head of the Newpark Music Centre in Dublin, Ireland. IASJ presents the annual intercultural and intergenerational jazz meeting that is the jewel in the crown of the A-JAM program.

"In twenty-three meetings, I've brought twenty-three students, and every one of those will tell you--have told me--that this was really a life-changing experience for them." 

A-JAM prepares young San Antonio musicians to enter the global jazz community, right at the top of the field. The international jazz meeting introduces our best students to their peers from all over the globe.  It's a game changer. Learn why and how it works...

As a founding member, Ronan has been to some twenty-three of the meetings. "In twenty-three meetings, I've brought twenty-three students, and every one of those will tell you--have told me--that this was really a life-changing experience for them." 

Speaking of memorable moments, "It's terribly difficult to pick just one moment, because there are so many moments...I remember particularly being in the United Nations building when the meeting was in New York, the Brazilian music we heard when it was in Sao Paulo, the South African music we heard...and, of course, tremendous performances..."

"It's incredible every year when you go to the meeting and you see the concerts by the students and you realize that--literally from all over the world--the music that they play after only four or five days of rehearsal is really extraordinary."

 

Thanks for your support!

A-JAM helps serious San Antonio students to succeed in the exciting global field of jazz. You can be a part of our success by contributing to the program financially. Your donations are tax deductible, and can be made through the Alamo Colleges Foundation online, via mail, or by phone. To contribute, call Lynne Dean at the Alamo Colleges Foundation, 210-486-4135 during business hours or email her at ldean12@alamo.edu. Tell her you want to contribute to the A-JAM fund, code 340005. She'll take care of everything.

Looking to help create unique opportunities for serious community college students?  Our program gives young San Antonio musicians skills, knowhow, and entry into the exciting intercultural and international world of jazz, right at the top of the field. Your contribution to our A-JAM mentorship fund ensures that this year's A-JAM honoree will be able to participate in the international intensive that is the capstone of our program. 

Endowed, the A-JAM fund sponsors--annually--one student to travel to the IASJ (International Association of Schools of Jazz) meeting. This global summit is a game changer for the individual student and for the local jazz culture. Over the past two decades, I've witnessed the change in communities near and far. The results run deep. 

Your contribution ensures the wherewithal to send students to places like Brazil (Jeané Gaines, 2011), Austria (Stephen Bennett, 2012), and Denmark (Odie Wallace, 2013) to perform and learn with peers from all over the globe. In 2014, the meeting was in Cape Town, South Africa, at the University of Cape Town. 

Exciting, isn't it?  How much money do we need? Costs vary, but an annual income of somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 is ballpark. Not much in the grand scheme of things, is it?

Alamo Colleges music students thank you!