A reminder - for those of you wanting to respond to what is written in Cadenzas and/or desiring to express your own thoughts and views on matters appropriate to this site, please email your posts to me at marstam@aol.com, and I will post those - pro or con - that are in keeping with the spirit of this newletter at In Response, the new area created for that purpose. A direct link to my email address appears in the In Response area of this web site. Also in this issue, check out The Voice, a guest article  written by pianist Joe LoCascio that I am sure you will find quite interesting. A final note... for my continually updated itinerary, go to the Schedule area of this newletter by the link appearing on every page of this web site.

As usual, things have been quite busy since the last issue of Cadenzas. Upon my return from Frankfurt, Germany in mid-May, I played two concerts at Madison Square Garden in an orchestra accompanying Joni Mitchell. I rarely do this any more, but my dear friend, Vince Mendoza, wrote all her gorgeous arrangements, and I was happy that he asked me to play. Vince is also the finest conductor I believe I have ever worked with. Another old friend, Peter Erskine, was playing drums, so this presented a rare opportunity (with all of us traveling so much and living on opposite coasts) to visit with him and his wife Mutsy and with Vince and his wife, Pamela and son, Luca. It was great to meet Mark Isham, the very fine film composer and trumpet soloist who also performed on the recording and traveled on this tour. Mark is a fine musician, and he played beautifully behind Joni.

I flew to Topeka, KS in late May for the Topeka Jazz Festival where I was invited to be the trumpet artist for this year's event. This was an amalgamation of East and West Coast jazz musicians and a number of musicians from the Kansas City area. Needless to say, there wasn't a lemon in the bunch, and there was some absolutely marvelous playing. The list of players included Terry Gibbs on vibes, pianists Alan Broadbent, Junior Mance, Paul Smith and Frank Mantooth; guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli, Danny Embrey and Rod Fleeman; bassists John Clayton, Jay Leonhart, Bob Bowman and Lynn Seaton; drummers Jeff Hamilton, Todd Strait, Jackie Williams and Joe Ascione. Among the horn players were myself, Dan Barrett on trombone and saxophonists Gary Foster, Bob Kindred. It was a great festival, and the playing was inspired. 

After Topeka, I spent a week working with Boosey & Hawkes rep Terry Ward in the Seattle area schools and met some very fine educators there. At the end of my stay there, I worked at Tula's, a terrific Seattle Jazz club run by an old Navy vet, Mack Waldron. Mack loves Jazz and is a real supporter of the music. All the Seattle musicians who work there organized a benefit concert at the club to raise money for an excellent nine-foot grand piano, illustrating the esteem in which Mack is held. I worked with the excellent trio of bassist Chuck Bergeron that included drummer Gary Hobbs and pianist Gary Versace. 

The Haynie Y2K Reunion in Denton, Texas was a gathering of alumnae from John Haynie's studio at North Texas. This lovely affair, arranged by former student Melvin Gordy, gave many of us a special opportunity to gather and visit with one another. The end of June took me to the International Women's Brass Conference at the University of Cincinnati, always a special event. Articles about this event and my studies with John at North Texas appear elsewhere in this issue. 

I went back to Switzerland in late July to play two concerts at the Fribourg Jazz Festival. I rehearsed and performed one concert with a big band from the Fribourg Conservatory of Music led by the excellent Swiss pianist Max Jendly and another with Max's fine sextet which  included Yvan Ischer, tenor saxophone and  Danilo Moccia, trombone. This was a nice festival and the perfect way to end the season and begin some down time. 

August was a month of sorely needed vacation, meaning only that I was off the road for awhile. I had promised several articles to various people plus the usual task of booking work and spending a great deal of time networking and communicating with people from all over. Bill Mays and I worked on new material for our Jazz Classical Duo as well as final arrangements and material for the release of the two new CDs, By Ourselves and The Stamm/Soph Project. The CDs are highlighted in the next section of this newsletter for those of you who may not have received the E-notice of their release this month. 

In September, I was a featured soloist at the San Angelo Cactus Jazz and Blues Festival playing with the stellar John Adams group featuring John on bass, Joe LoCascio on piano, Ed Soph, drums and one of my favorite trumpet players, Dennis Dotson. Dennis and I have contrasting styles and, when we are paired, make an interesting front line.We really enjoy playing together.

September brought the annual ABC (A Better Chance) of Ridgefield Concert. ABC is an organization that provides eight young ladies from educationally disadvantaged communities like the South Bronx and East Los Angeles the opportunity to go to high school in Ridgefield, CT. This is done with the permission of their parents, and many of the girls go on to earn scholarships at major universities all over the country. Quite a few of these young people carry on the experience by helping others escape similar conditions and to acquire a good education. The musicians who played in my quintet for this concert were pianist Bill Mays, bassist Jay Leonhart, drummer Dennis Mackrel and guitarist John Abercrombie. All of us are touched by what this program does for these young people and by the manner in which these young ladies have responded to it over the years. 

A few days later, John Abercrombie and I performed a duo concert and lecture for the students at Wooster School in Danbury, CT. This is the school from which my daughters graduated, and the school is providing various cultural events for the student in order to open variety of artistic avenues to them. 

But enough of what was…how about what is? 

What's Next!

Later this month, I will be touring with a quintet comprised of Ed Soph, drums; Stefan Karlsson, piano; Fred Hamilton, bass; Will Campbell, alto saxophone. We will present four concerts at three universities and one high school in Oklahoma as well as a fifth concert at the Univ. of North Texas. We will also perform a sixth concert in benefit of Citizens for Healthy Growth, an important environmental group in Denton headed up by Ed and Carol Soph. We all regard this as an important entity deserving of our strong support. 

The quartet will perform on two symphony concerts this fall, the first  with the Ridgefield (CT) Symphony on Nov. 11 and with the Reading Symphony (PA) on New Years Eve. The personnel will be that of the new CD, The Stamm/Soph Project: Ed Soph, drums; Bill Mays, piano; Rufus Reid, bass. Conducting both concerts will be maestro Sidney Rothstein. Besides these two orchestra concerts, 2001 will bring several more orchestra concerts including one with the Charleston (SC) Symphony. 

Also in November, I will be traveling to China with the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band for concerts in Beijing and Shanghai. In mid-December, the band will go into Clinton Studios in NYC to record a CD of music George wrote and/or arranged for both the Turkish tour last March and this China tour. The CJB performs George‚s original compositions and his arrangements of compositions by various band members. This recording will feature several new originals plus arrangements of new pieces by Dave Bargeron, Turkish percussionist Bürhan Oçal and myself. I am really pleased and excited that we will record George‚s arrangement of my original ballad, "Two As One."

I'll be in the Northwest again in early December for workshops and concerts in the Portland, OR and Seattle, WA areas. We are anticipating a concert in Portland with the Portland Brass Society as well as my playing again in Seattle at Tula‚s with Gary Hobbs‚ trio on Dec. 8 & 9. A concert  is scheduled on Dec.11 with two fine high schools, Shorecrest and Shorewood H. S. led by Paul Harshman an excellent musician and Jazz educator. We are also planning a workshop with the Univ. of Washington Jazz Ensemble now headed up by great Seattle trumpeter Jay Thomas. And, if scheduling allows, a workshop at Garfield High School whose program is led by Clarence Acox, a marvelous Jazz educator and fine Jazz drummer. 

2001 is shaping up to be another excellent year with my focussing on my appearance on Billy Taylor‚s Jazz At the Kennedy Center late in January. But I'll be back with another issue of Cadenzas before then and will update you on what's coming up at that time. In the meantime - as Zoot Sims used to say, "Straight ahead, and strive for tone!" 

CDs and Articles

The two new CDs, By Myself in duo with pianist Bill Mays and The Stamm/Soph Project, a quartet endeavor with drummer Ed Soph also featuring Bill Mays, bassist Rufus Reid and saxophonist Dave Liebman are now available. I hope all of you received the E-notice regarding the release, but if not, I will briefly repeat ordering information here. The price is $15 apiece plus S&H of $3 for one or two CDs, $4 for three, etc. To pay by check or money order, you can obtain the CDs from me by ordering them thus:

By Email:         marstam@aol.com

By Snail mail:  130 Titicus Road
                        North Salem NY 10560-2701

To purchase by credit card, go to web address: http://store.yahoo.com/sonatabop/

I want to call your attention to two interesting and valuable guest articles - a new one by Dr. Bob Morgan and one posted last winter written by Dr. Jack Cooper. I feel they both contain interesting and informative ideas relating to Jazz and Jazz education, and I think you will enjoy them. Because of their length, I am not including them in this Cadenzas, but in individual places in the Cadenzas area. They can be accessed by using the hyperlinks below to their separate sites.

Dr. Bob Morgan, a dear friend from our North Texas days and one of the most important Jazz educators of the last 25 or 30 years, has contributed The Sankofa Tradition. From 1976 - 1999, Bob served as Director of Jazz Studies at Houston‚s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA). He has received numerous honors such as his being selected by National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts as one of two 1997 NFAA Distinguished Teachers in the Arts and the Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award in 1998 by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars at the White House. In 1999, Berklee School bestowed an honorary doctorate upon him in addition to the one he earlier earned from the University of Illinois. This past summer, he was invited by Wynton Marsalis to be director of the first annual Essentially Ellington Band Director Academy held in Aspen, CO, under the auspices of Jazz at Lincoln Center. 

Since the school year is back in full swing, I urge you to visit again this article by Dr. Jack Cooper, director of Jazz Studies at the University of Memphis. Jack holds a BA and MA in music from California State University, Los Angeles and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin. His article gives music educators valuable ideas and insights regarding the building of a successful Jazz program. Jack is a complete musician - a great player, wonderful writer and first-class educator - who has all the attributes of an "old-time" teacher in that he cares greatly and invests himself totally in his music and his students. Jack felt he wanted to reach out to other educators needing guidance with their programs, so I asked him to write this article.

My North Texas Days - Part 1 - John Haynie

I am often asked about my North Texas days, but until now have written little about them. It was certainly a happy and quite rewarding time for me, but I tend to dwell more on the present and future than the past. Recently, several factors have caused me to examine that period in my life: an interview for the Brass Bulletin, an in-depth article for a popular Jazz web site and the Y2K Reunion of the students of John Haynie, my trumpet professor at North Texas. Because I owe so much to that period in my life and experienced so much that fed my passion for music and prepared me for the path I was to embark upon, maybe it is time to dwell there for a moment. There is much to write about, so I will do so in a two parts. Because of his great influence upon me, this first part will speak of my studying with John Haynie - my friend, my mentor and my teacher from that period - and I will take up my lab band experiences in the next issue of Cadenzas. 

I was given an excellent musical foundation in Memphis by my band directors, Jack Foster and A. E. McLain, and trumpet teacher, Perry Wilson. I was ready to go forward with my music, but had no idea where to pursue this. At the time, most music schools were noted more for their concert bands than anything else, and almost none had any real jazz program to speak of. Bob Ferguson, a friend and alumnus of the same Memphis schools, sent me a recording of the North Texas Lab Band. From that time, Bob, who later was the solo trumpet player with the U. S. Army Band in Washington, D.C., became a kind of sponsor for me at North Texas and my initial contact there. He was a great influence upon me as that recording and his enthusiasm regarding his studies with John Haynie were the impetus behind my decision to go there.

John, a native of Texas, studied with some of the truly fine band and music people for which Texas is known. John attended the University of Illinois studying under Haskell Sexton, for many years that institution‚s fine teacher of trumpet. He also performed under the baton of Mark Hindsley, the excellent Director of Bands who eventually became John's father-in law. John's wife, Marilyn, is a fine flautist and pianist whose reputation as a musician almost equaled John's. John was one of the finest trumpet players and musicians I had ever heard, and his performances were always extremely musical while exhibiting great technical mastery of the instrument. After obtaining his Masters Degree from the Univ. Of Illinois, he came to North Texas in 1950 or 1951 and had been there 6 or 7 years when I arrived. John recently told me his first several years there were spent learning how to teach and that his students taught him as much as he was teaching them! 

The day after my arrival, Bob Ferguson took me to John's home for our first meeting. Walking in his back yard, John asked me what I wanted to do with my music, and I told him I wanted to be a Jazz and/or studio musician. John said, "No, Marvin, you'll want to get a Music Education degree and teach!" But I said politely, "No, Mr. Haynie, I want to play!" Though he disagreed with my aspirations, I persisted. John let the subject drop with words letting me know that if I was to pursue that path, I would have to prove myself to him in both the classical and Jazz areas, but from that time forward, he was a strong advocate for my going forward with my decision. 

John couldn't have known that his challenge echoed that of my band directors and trumpet teacher in Memphis. I wish John could have known them for they would have established an immediate rapport. During those earlier years whenever I started to "slack up" occasionally, "Mr. Mac", as he was known, knowing my desire to pursue a career as a performer, would stick his head in my practice room door and say, "I guess you‚ve decided on becoming a local Memphis musician, hmm?" Perry Wilson, who had studied and worked in Boston, also knew about the "real world" and encouraged me, urging me always strive for more, to reach beyond myself. So John just continued this challenge that I had experienced from my Memphis teachers, but now in a more intense environment among more experienced musicians …the right thing at the right time. 

I loved the group of North Texas musicians I played with there, and many of John's students at the time went on to become fine professional players or excellent teachers. All these people were an influence upon me at one time or another. Graduating the year before I arrived were Fisher Tull, the marvelous and prolific composer whose works are performed extensively world-wide; Bob Ferguson, solo trumpet, U.S. Army Band; and Dale Olson, a head design consultant to the F.E. Olds Co. who worked with Raphael Mendez and others. Among those during my tenure were Don Owen, principal trumpet, Florida Symphony; Bob Morgan, celebrated Jazz educator; Fred Sautter, principal trumpet, Oregon Symphony; Tom Wirtel, director of Jazz Studies, Univ. of Illinois. And these are only a few of John's students who attended at the time I was there. In the ensuing years until John retired recently, literally hundreds of students passing through his studio went on to become pillars of the trumpet and teaching community throughout the U.S. and abroad. These and the many other wonderful people who populated the concert band, orchestra and lab bands, were among the strong group of players at the school, some with whom I retain close relationships today. It was such an exciting time, and along with my earlier training in Memphis, was to provide a strong foundation from which my career would grow. 

John gave me a more expansive view of the trumpet world in the form of repertoire and recordings and set very high standards of performance with his own playing. He was an amazing soloist. As broad as my Memphis foundations were, my exposure to the greater outside world of trumpet literature during the 50's was a bit limited. Besides the excellent concert band literature I had been exposed to, I had studied privately with Perry Wilson from the Arban and St. Jacome Methods, the Schlossberg Daily Drills and Exercises and Klose technique books. Perry and I also did a lot of duet playing from the St. Jacome and Amsden methods, and I also learned some of the earlier cornet and trumpet solos; but John opened up an even wider experience for me. While utilizing some of the former methods, John also introduced me to more American literature such as the Herbert L. Clarke Technical Studies, Ernest Williams Methods, Charles Colin Lip Flexibility Studies and more. French literature at the time had recently become widely available, and he exposed me to works published by Alphonse Leduc, among which were study and etude books by Alexandre Petit, M. Bordogni, Eugene Bozza, Theo Charlier, Marcel Bitsch and others. Solo literature was another important ingredient in my studies with John. We performed the old chestnuts of cornet literature as well as much of the newer French and American repertoire at the timeamong which were compositions by Kent Kennan, Leo Sowerby, Bozza, Tomasi and Chaynes. His entire studio had to perform a piece on at least one recital per semester, and trumpet majors like myself also had to do a junior and senior recital. 

Much of my days at North Texas were spent in the practice rooms as well as playing in all the ensembles the school had to offer; John insisted on this. My ensemble experience there was extensive, and I played in the lab band, concert band, symphony orchestra and brass ensemble. I also did a lot of playing outside of the school with the great Dallas/ Ft. Worth musicians who also taught me a great deal about Jazz and studio playing. It was a time of fruitful learning for me, and I was like a sponge soaking all of it up. These experiences were to be quitey meaningful to me over all of my career.

But special among these years was my relationship and time spent with John. John could be a strong taskmaster, but one who provided us with the best musical training while inspiring us to realize our potential. He spent a great deal of time with me, especially after I became a trumpet major in my junior year. He saw me through many frustrating times with the trumpet; but he never gave up on me, musically or personally. Because of his teaching and his urging me always to strive for more while at North Texas, he was a great factor in my success as a musician and solo performer. 
. 
Through the years, John remained a strong factor in my musical life. Two unique instances from so many stand out in my mind regarding my relationship with him, both occurring after I had graduated. The first was when I returned to Denton after having been with the Kenton Orchestra for a year. I approached John about a problem I was having - cutting my lip from the difficult playing on that band. John took the time to coach me through the initial stages of making some small changes in my embouchure and helped me to understand that this was the correct though difficult move to make at this critical time. This was a most arduous task for me, and John encouraged me through all the terrible frustration going through this ordeal, probably the most difficult episode of my trumpet life. His encouragement helped me through this formidable task.

The second instance was a much happier one. In 1969, John invited Gerard Schwartz and myself to come to North Texas for a special trumpet symposium. We were to talk, hold master classes/clinics and perform on a concert. To my knowledge, this had never before been done at North Texas, and I was honored that he had invited me to participate with Jerry whom I had come to know in NYC. At the time, Jerry had accepted the position of principal trumpet with the NY Philharmonic.He performed beautifully the Tartini Sonata and a second piece with the string orchestra. I played the Latham Suite for Trumpet with the string orchestra and then on the same concert performed with the Lab Band. After the concert, John came backstage and said, "Marvin you‚ve really done it!" With those words, he let me know I had fulfilled his expectations of me, and he was proud of the job we had both done. I cannot say how much those few words meant to me. Though that performance was only the continuation of the process of seeking to be a better musician that, for me, continues to this day, it let me know that I had given something back to John for all that he had given me.

I am positive that, if not for my attending North Texas, I may never have had the opportunities that I did nor would I have been as prepared to meet them. And, my life and career might not have been as exciting and fulfilling as it has throughout all the years since my being there. This period in my life, along with my earlier years in Memphis, was the foundation from which everything blossomed, and I count myself among the most fortunate of people to have experienced all this. Through the years, John and I have remained close friends, and one of the great pleasures I have is getting together with John and Marilyn to share a few meals and a lot of wonderful conversation the several times a year I am in Denton. There are some people whose contributions in your life can never be measured, and that is what I feel about John. I only hope that he always knows of my love and respect for him and what an important place in my life he holds. 

The International Women's Brass Conference - Summer 2000

In late June, I attended the International Women‚s Brass Conference in Cincinnati. I had been to the last conference in St. Louis the summer of 1997 and wrote of my experiences in an earlier edition of this newsletter. Based on past experience, I was eagerly anticipating this conference. My friend, Dennis Najoom, co-principal trumpet of the Milwaukee Symphony, also attended, both of us performing during the conference We once again were sponsored by Boosey & Hawkes for whom Dennis and I design trumpets for French Besson. 

Lovingly created by founder Susan Slaughter, principal trumpet of the St. Louis Symphony, the presidential duties now are carried on by Marie Speziale, formerly associate principal trumpet with the Cincinatti Orchestra and Prof. of Trumpet at Indiana Univ. The IWBC conferences are really special beyond words. The environment at these conferences and the atmosphere of creativity, musicality, camaraderie and friendship present are unique. My having been around for a while now and having been part of many musical gatherings of different organizations, there is nothing that I have experienced like this. 

Although named the International Women‚s Brass Conference, it is not just for women. A number of men are members and participate as performers at the conference, and, of the fourteen members of the Board of Directors, five are males. These include Jim Ross of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Langston Fitzgerald of the Baltimore Symphony, Fred Irby of Howard Univ. and the Kennedy Center for the Arts, Vern Kagarice of the Univ. of North Texas and myself.

This group of musicians is comprised of many of the finest female performers and teachers in the orchestral and chamber music world and colleges and universities all over the world as well as those performing as soloists. As the title suggests, they are international and perform in every gènre of music from baroque to avant-garde to jazz. The intent of the IWBC, of course, is to promote great music. But, as important, it is to celebrate women in the world of brass, and, in this, they have accomplished a great deal. Its purpose also is to provide support for the women in the brass world who are still fighting the fears and prejudices of a chauvinistic world. And don‚t kid yourself, the world of brass has NOT advanced beyond these parameters of such small-mindedness! Many male brass performers are still prejudiced against women in brass, still living in the dark ages. Though it is a different world now and women today can perform on any stage equally with men, they are still fighting a battle that should have gone out with bell-bottom trousers and Nik-Nik shirts. But enough about that! 

The performances and master classes at the conference were excellent and inspiring, and the array of artist/participants was dazzling. While it would be impossible to list everyone, a partial list includes; trumpeters Susan, Slaughter, Marie Speziale, Barbara Butler, Ed Cord, John Rommel, Carole Dawn Reinhart, Lauraine Carpenter, Judy Saxon, Karen Donnely, Dr. Betty Scott; trombonists Deborah Weisz, Rebecca Bower Cherian, Julie Josephson, Debra Taylor, Lynn Mostoller, Donna Parks, Julie Bantin; horns Julie Landsman, Laurel Ohlson, Lisa Ford, Michelle Baker, Kristy Morrell, Nancy Goodearl; tubists Dan Perantoni, Velvet Brown, Kathy Brantigan, Stacy Baker. These artists and more from all over the world, performing in all kinds of ensembles, played so much great music for us to hear and provided so much information for us to absorb.

I had the great pleasure to perform in concert with trombonist Deborah Weisz and trumpeter Brad Goode. Deborah is a successful and busy free-lance musician in NYC who works with her own quintet, in Broadway shows and in chamber and orchestral ensembles. Brad Goode, Assistant Prof. of Jazz Studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory is a marvelous Jazz trumpeter who I met a number of years ago at the Aspen Music Festival. He performs with his own quartet and sextet and is a member of the Ira Sullivan Quintet and the Jack DeJohnette Band among others. Both of these talented soloists provided inspired performances. We shared the stage with the great Cincinnati group, the Blue Wisp Big Band, led by drummer John Von Ohlen, one of the finest Jazz drummers today.

I also performed on a concert with the Besson Brass, a group of Besson artists sponsored by Boosey & Hawkes and formed just for this conference. The personnel included Glenda Smith and Dennis Najoom, trumpets; Carl Vail, euphonium and Patrick Sheridan, tuba. A quartet, they added me on flugelhorn for one piece that had been written for brass quintet. These folks are really fine musicians, and it was great fun playing with them. 

But, for me, the highlight of the whole conference was observing the rehearsals and attending the concert of the Monarch Brass conducted by the marvelous Apo Hsu. Her conducting, her hands were poetry in motion. Such grace and yet, such strength, but, with these great musicians before whom she stood, nothing was ever forced. And the group, the Monarch Brass - made up of some of this country‚s finest musicians - performed brilliantly! The music was powerful, and the ensemble performed with great strength and intense passion. Over many years, I have had the pleasure to be part of many wonderful performances and have been present at a great number more. But this was one of the most powerful and touching performances I have attended. At times, I was lifted out of my seat; at others, I found myself moved to tears, touched to the core. I don‚t know when I have enjoyed a performance more. This was music and brass playing at its most exciting and musical best! And I will admit it - I was jealous - I wanted to be on that stage with them! Maybe…just maybe...if I keep practicing… 

Never in my experience have I seen musicians come together in such a giving and unselfish spirit and be so supportive of one another. It is deep, and it is touching; it was welcoming to each of us and inclusive of us all. And out of all this emanates the beauty and the power of music and a musical and personal bonding that could only be food for the soul and a lifting of the human spirit. Ladies and gentlemen, it doesn‚t get any better than this! 

Curiously, many women brass players I meet in my travels are not yet aware of this organization, and they should be. Not for reasons of gender - but for music! This is a group that all young women - and young men too - should be aware of because of the great music and musical principles represented as well as the environment they create around the music and the organization. The level of professionalism and care is obvious, and these people approach the problems of today‚s women ˆ and men ˆ in music with great concern. If any of my readers know of anyone ˆ man or woman ˆ who might be interested, they can link here to the IWBC web site  or go to: http://metro.turnpike.net/~iwbc/

All of these fantastic musicians, individually and collectively, can be proud of what they have accomplished - in the present and in the times before - to further this most marvelous endeavor. As a musician and father of three daughters, I am proud to be some small part of all this. 

The Voice

Joe LoCascio, pianist and composer, joined the faculty of Houston Community College in 1991 and currently serves as lead instructor of jazz studies. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Joe has lived in Houston since 1977. A prolific performer and composer, he has released nine critically acclaimed albums. He has performed with jazz luminaries such as Chet Baker, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker, Ernie Watts, Freddie Hubbard, Frank Rehak, Bob Brookmeyer, Mel Lewis, Arnett Cobb, George Coleman, Marvin Stamm and Hank Crawford, among others, and his music has received prominent radio airplay across the country. 

The uniqueness of jazz is that it exists in three dimensions of individual performance. The good performer draws from a well-studied past, his knowledge and understanding of tradition; he plays in the present in relation to his own personal beliefs and experiences; and hopefully he aims at the future in an attempt to add something to the music. When a jazz musician is immersed in recreating the styles of the past, the music loses its vitality and urgency. It becomes a museum piece. On the other hand, when a musician plays without regard for the past by merely imitating current styles or plays strictly for commercial value, a very one dimensional, naive music is often the product. 

There are several important prerequisites for the serious jazz musician. Of course he or she must have mastery of his or her instrument. He must also have knowledge of music theory, possess well-trained ears and be well studied in the history and development of his idiom. Beginning with the recordings of Joe "King" Oliver and continuing to those of the present, the jazz musician must realize that all of these musical styles bear a direct relationship to his own. It is only through study of the past and an acute awareness of the relationship of music to all aspects of the present -social, economic, artistic, and even political - that the jazz musician is able to open doors to his future. 

What is at the core of the individual jazz musician? Quite simply, it is the ability to improvise effectively - to fuse his inner self to his musical self - to join the essence of his existence to his music - to find his own voice. In a jazz solo, the moment comes, remains for a short time, and unless captured by recording, disperses forever. Although a musician may recapture the feeling and perhaps even the notes of a previous solo, it is never exactly the same solo. Fortunately, through recordings we are able to trace the paths taken by the great artists, but we only witness a part of it. Since the jazz musician's domain has always been nightclubs and the like, too often away from recording devices, we can assume that for every one great solo captured on tape, at least a thousand have escaped into the air. 

Finding one's voice through the performance of jazz is an adventure that starts the first time a musician plays a note on his instrument and continues until he can or will no longer play. For the young jazz musician, there are infinite decisions and choices he will face the most fundamental being what to play. 

Sometimes when a modern musician attempts to play in an older style, his own knowledge of the styles that came after may be his most limiting factor. Charlie Parker's genius lay in his ability to understand the styles of his predecessors and use them as a launching pad for his own excursions. Today, Parker is considered the key figure in the development of Be-Bop. A musician in the present can emulate the Be-Bop style by copying Parker's recorded solos verbatim which will greatly enhance all aspects of his technical development, but ideally he will to use them only as a foundation on which to base his own explorations. For the modern jazz musician, Be-Bop is a most revered form of study, but at some point the player must push out and not rely on its conventions solely as the basis of a style. 

Today most young musicians have not only been educated in Be-Bop; they have also studied Post-Bop, Cool, Mainstream, "Avant-Garde", Third Stream, and Fusion. In other words, they have studied practically every style of jazz that has come along since Be-Bop, as well as those coming before. Since it is unlikely that a young musician will play only jazz to earn his living, he also will have absorbed the styles of Pop, Rock, Country, Folk, Society, and New Age. If well schooled, he also has studied the great composers from Bach to Berg and beyond. 

Today's jazz musician has an abundance of technical and educational innovations to draw from. There are more recordings to hear, more educational methods, more music schools, more radio stations, instructional videos, etc. Today the musician has personal computers, sequencers, advanced rhythm machines, and an ever-expanding array of electronic technology all within his grasp. His access to the medium is truly staggering, but somehow he must be able to retain his own individualism and the relation to his own music without being overwhelmed.

Duke Ellington once stated that there are only two kinds of music - good and bad. Ellington also disliked the term "jazz" used to describe his music. To him, it was simply music. Today, it remains great music that should defy any categorization, but jazz is also a business, and effective marketing demands categorization despite the creator's feelings.

The term "jazz" has come to describe a body of music so diverse that anyone interested will have his own definition of the music. To some, it is only jazz when performed acoustically. When, in the early 1980's, Wynton Marsalis went public snubbing the use of electronics in jazz, it was a statement that merited critical attention considering Marsalis‚ the stature as a performer. His opinion invited us to look at electronic technologies and determine whether or not they have a place in the creation of jazz. Upon examining the music of Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, Weather Report, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock, among others, we find all the elements of not only good jazz, but also great jazz. Electronics are used in an innovative manner by these artists, and rather than lessen, they increase the possibilities of the genre and expand its horizons. This is not to say that Marsalis' opinion does not have validity, it does as one man's opinion. But jazz is a living art and means something different to anyone who has any connection with it. In short, there is no single definition of jazz, but there are elements that differentiate jazz from any other art form. 

Jazz will always have musicians who master a style, musicians who attempt to forge new styles, and musicians who have the rare ability to do both. The importance of the individual voice in the idiom must never be overlooked, for jazz can exist only through the individual voice, the voice that "calls it's children home." Where improvisation, experimentation, reverence for the past and the ability to write and play from the soul exist, jazz will thrive.