With lead funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and United Airlines, the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz brought its Peer-to-Peer jazz education program to Alabama public schools this week, with A.H. Parker and Wenonah high schools among the stops on the tour itinerary.
Combining performance with educational information, these “informances” are presented by the Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Sextet, comprising six of the country’s most gifted high school music students.
They will be featured alongside internationally acclaimed saxophone recording artist Don Braden, Kansas City jazz and blues vocalist and a former winner of the Institute’s International Jazz Vocals Competition Lisa Henry, and renowned jazz educator Dr. JB Dyas.
The tour arrived at Parker today for two performances followed by workshops for each school’s jazz band and choir with the visiting student performers playing alongside and sharing ideas with their Alabama counterparts. The program continues tomorrow at Wenonah.
“We’ve found that sometimes young people can learn about certain things better from kids their same age, and one of them is jazz,” said jazz great Herbie Hancock, Institute Chairman, NEA Jazz Master, and Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “And when you hear how accomplished these musicians are at such a young age, you know their peers are going to listen.”
Besides playing jazz at a level that belies their years, the students talked with their peers about what jazz is, why it’s important to America, and how a jazz ensemble represents a perfect democracy. They also will discuss the important American values that jazz represents: teamwork, diversity, the correlation of hard work and goal accomplishment, perseverance, and the importance of finding a passion early in life, being persistent, and believing in yourself. When young people hear this important message from kids their same age, they are often more likely to listen.
The members of the all-star sextet selected nationwide to participate in the Alabama tour include alto saxophonist Ben Leviathan (17) from New York; drummer Troy Liman (17) from Houston; bassist Sofi Longa (17) from Miami; pianist Tinashe McGowan (18) from Dallas; trumpeter Allie Molin (18) from Santa Ana, CA, and guitarist Nigel Valle (17) from New Orleans. “What an incredible opportunity to perform with Mr. Braden and my peers from around the country,” said Molin. “His music has been both challenging and fun to learn, and has made us better musicians.”
“I’m really looking forward to going to Montgomery and Birmingham,” said Leviathan. “They’re such important places in the history of the civil rights movement in which jazz musicians have played an integral role since the beginning.”
The performance at Parker also featured choir member Deshaun Jones, who joined the group on vocals for a call-and-response number.
After performing at Wenonah tomorrow, the weeklong tour will conclude later that evening with a concert open to the public at 7:00 pm at The Sanctuary in Tuscaloosa (1710 25th Ave), just an hour from Birmingham. At the Sanctuary, Alabama residents and visitors are invited to enjoy an evening of music with Braden and Henry alongside jazz's future “young lions.” The octet will perform standards, jazz classics and contemporary jazz, including Braden’s jazz arrangements of Earth, Wind, & Fire and Stevie Wonder songs from his latest album, Earth, Wind, and Wonder – Vol. 2. For further information, call 205-535-9620 or visit https://www.thesanctuaryon25th.com.