It has been a busy time since the last Cadenzas, and, though I am reluctant to take up too much space because I feel the article following is important, I do want to let you know a little of what has been going on this year.

There were some wonderful quartet dates in Chicago and Houston. Ed Soph and I went to Chicago in February to play the Green Mill - great club, great audience. We were joined there by bassist Kelly Sill and pianist Mike Kocur, and it was an amazing musical weekend. The blowing was really free and the group very cohesive; Kelly and Mike are marvelous musical cohorts. This was our third visit there, and the manager told us after Saturday's gig that there were such long lines outside waiting to get in that they were unable to accomodate everyone. A good friend, John Hagstrom, second trumpet with the Chicago Symphony, was one of those! The quartet with Ed, Bill Mays and the excellent Fred Hamilton on bass worked in Houston, and as always the playing is uplifting when we are together. A very special group to work with! You all know my feelings about working with Bill Mays and Ed Soph. It's a brotherhood!

There were symphony concerts in Charlotte, NC, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Allenton, PA and another in Sheboygan, WI. While some people might question the quality of these orchestras because they are not the Philadelphia, NY, Boston or Chicago, let me tell you - each one was remarkable, and the musicians played beautifully. The quartet was with me in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, and they really lit the place up! The orchestra players love these guys because they are not only great musicians, they are warm human beings. And let me say thank you to the conductors of these orchestras - Guy Bordo, Albert Moehring, Clyde Mitchell and Dianne Wittry - they were all outstanding to work and make music with!

Bill Mays and I have half of a second duo CD "in the can," and if we can ever get off the road at the same time, we might finish it! We have been invited by pianist Dick Hyman to perform again this next season at the 92nd Street Y in NYC, a superb venue that presents concerts and lectures of all kinds throughout the year. We also performed two lecture/recitals in March at Texas Christian University and Houston's High School for the Performing Arts. Saxophonist Warren Sneed, an excellent musician and teacher, took over the position left vacant when my friend Dr. Bob Morgan retired. Bob hasn't really retired - he gigs all the time in Houston and is involved in all sorts of projects and among other things, teaches in Aspen, CO every summer at workshops for teachers presented by Jazz @ Lincoln Center and Wynton Marsalis.

There were some special moments at a number of schools besides those mentioned above. Playing and working with the DePaul Univ. Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Bob Lark was really a ball! A fantastic program, a terrific band with many excellent soloists! Master classes at the Univ. of Wisconsin/Milwaukeewere arranged by Prof. of Trumpet Kevin Hartman and Milwaukee Symphony trumpeter Dennis Najoom who also teaches there. Members of the Milwaukee Symphony brass section also attended - besides Dennis and Kevin were trumpeters Dennis Najoom, Mark Niehaus,  and Fred Fuller, trombonists Dick Kimball, Noreen Baer and tubist Al Baer - and it was really fun! They all participated with the students, and their input and the exchange of ideas with all these great musicians was enlightening.

I enjoyed a week's residency at Illinois State Univ., the best kept secret in music education. Faculty members Amy Gilreath Majors (trpt.), Sharie Huff (euph.), Steve Parsons (trbn.), Joe Niesler (horn) along with grad student Kelly Watkins (trpt.) provided some awesome quintet performances. The wind symphony led by director Steve Steele left me many times with my jaw hanging down. They played such stunning yet quite difficult compositions -and made it sound easy! I sat in on the last piece of the last concert, and they just blew me away! The woodwind faculty - Kim Risinger (fl.), Aris Chavez (cl.), Michael Dicker (bssn.) and Judith Dicker (ob.) is also magnificent.

Memorable moments were experienced at Wayne State in Detroit and Denison Univ. in Granville, OH. Wayne State's ensemble led by talented saxophonist Chris Collins exemplifies the Detroit Jazz tradition. A small group set with Chris and old friend Dennis Tini on piano was fun as well. At Denison, the whole music school has been reorganized under the leadership of trombonist and dean, Dr. Andrew Glendening. Besides being an first-rate musician, he is totally respected by his faculty members because he has not forgotten that music's first reason for being is playing! Pete Mills is a tremendous saxophonist and is the Jazz director there. He assembled a great group for our concert that also included guitarist Tom Carroll, drummer Guy Remonko and bassist Doug Richeson. I also performed with the Heisey Wind Ensemble, an admirable community group led by Rick Blatti, director of bands at Ohio State.

A concert with the Stanford Jazz Orchestra closed out the school projects for the year and was a great way to end that season. Fred Berry, a fine trumpeter and educator who I know from early Schilke trumpet days, leads this ensemble of dedicated young players, only one of whom is a music major! Fred told me it is really something to stand in front of these young geniuses from the fields of electronics, mathematics, computer sciences, biology and more, all of whom are in the group because they love to play. Now that I have been there three times, I can tell you, "He ain't kiddin'!" Fred really challenges them, and they produce! The SJO performed a great deal of Maria Schneider's music this year, and I can attest to the complexity of her writing. Among her pieces, we performed Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" - a marvelous composition - and they played beautifully.

I must mention two other events: The first was the 30th Anniversary Tour in late April/early May with George Gruntz and the Concert Jazz Band. It was also George's 70th birthday, and it was celebrated everywhere we toured - eleven concerts in as many cities in 13 days! And the two days off were travel days! But the band sounded great, lots of great playing! And while most of us in the band were dragging a bit at the end, George was taking it like a walk in the park. George capped the season off last month with a performance of his symphony for L'Orchestre Suisse Romande, big band and soloists (Dave Liebman, saxophone and Matthieu Michel, trpt. & flugel). A very creative musican!

The second event was a new CD I recorded with drummer Daniel Humair, vibraphonist David Friedman, and bassist Sebastien Boisseau in the south of France after George's tour. We entered the studio with no set plan; only to be free and feel where each player wanted to take the music. It came together quickly, and the first piece, an original by Daniel, set the direction for the whole project - a free Jazz recording - not chaotic, but quite lyrical with definite musical parameters, like  a fine abstract painting. Few have ever heard me play like this, but I found playing  in this manner with these musicians quite exciting, and we hope to take it "live" after the CD is released in the fall.

One of the things I love most is all the varied musical settings I am able to put myself into. It is always a great learning experience and challenge playing with all the great musicians I perform with. Working with fine educators and passionate students is also thrilling and very fulfilling, but unfortunately, there is a dark side to what is happening in education today, so I urge you to read on and think about the article that follows, and if you are so moved - pro or con - share your thoughts with me and other interested persons who also may be reading this online newsletter.
 
 

This is an article I am not happy to write, but in this world of the “glossing over” of so many basic things in our daily lives, I feel these things need to be said. This article is my personal viewpoint, based on almost 40 years of being involved as a clinician in the field of Jazz and music education. It is also a compilation of many years of dialogue between me and my many friends who have been teachers and directors of major music programs in colleges, universities and high schools and dedicated musicians who, like me, have been involved in this field. We are all particularly concerned about what has transpired in music education and the loss of so many basic principles of teaching that have been discarded or compromised.

After writing this, I sent it to Dr. Robert Morgan to review for his opinion and critique. What he wrote back is so pertinent that, coming from a person that has many years’ teaching experience as director of one of the finest programs in the country, I asked and he agreed that I might include it as an addendum at the end of this article.

Recently, I was performing on a symphony concert with an old friend of mine. Though he is a fine musician, his true profession is that of university president. What is different about this gentleman is that he rose to this position “through the ranks” - that is, he started as member of the music faculty and over a number of years emerged to become the president of the school. This is not how it usually happens.

But to continue - during a few free moments over a cup of coffee, we began discussing education – a subject most of you know I feel quite strongly about. My friend looked at me and said, “Marvin, public education in this country is in more trouble than most people realize.” I think most of us perceive this to some extent, but to have someone so highly placed in the education community state it so frankly brings the point home with much greater emphasis.

I have spoken at length about the poor quality of many music educators I deal with when working in that area today as compared to thirty or thirty-five years ago when I first became involved. Today, we are graduating music teachers from our universities that are not qualified to teach, much less be an inspiration to their students. There are numerous reasons for this I am sure, but it goes beyond just the obvious.

Bob Morgan, a very close friend, is one of the finest teachers and educators I know. He spent several years on the faculty of a university before becoming Director of Jazz Studies for twenty-three years at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX - one of the top arts magnet schools in the country. Bob feels very strongly that a large part of the solution to our problems with education is to pay teachers a salary that will attract quality people to the profession. But he goes on to say that he feels the resolve among politicians, and maybe the citizenry as well, is not there to do this; that the problem may go so deep as to no longer be affordable to correct.

I am aware that there are myriad things standing in the way of solving these enormous problems. Many lie with federal and state legislators, local politics, school boards, administrators, even principals, but I believe it is important to examine the problem that most directly touches and influences our children - the teachers.

First, let me say that I was among the most fortunate of young persons, having gone through public school under the tutelage of some excellent teachers; not all of them mind you, but certainly a good percentage. Those that were excellent were more than just teachers of facts; they were also sources of inspiration, people who encouraged us to be responsible for ourselves and our actions, while motivating us to work and live up to our full potential. They also exemplified what they taught! Most of us will remember those teachers who were so inspirational to us, and they will stay present in our minds forever.

My two band directors in Memphis, Jack Foster and A.E. McLain and my trumpet teacher, Perry Wilson, were three most excellent teachers, so much so that I knew at an early age what I wanted to do in my life. They provided guidance and inspiration (through perspiration) to help me attain what I wanted so dearly to do. They made it clear that I would have to work very hard, striving every day to attain some measure of improvement and that, in the life of a musician, this task was a never-ending one. They showed me the joy and fulfillment of taking on tasks I was unable to perform, then working to master them. They encouraged me every step of the way and never let their diligence flag in helping me accomplish my dream. These three gentlemen are in great part responsible for my career, and, I am sure, the reason I focus so much on teaching and education. Because they made playing music such a wonderful experience, they created in me an insatiable hunger that ensures I never lose sight of why I want to play music.

This brings me to what I believe are very important factors in discussing this subject, the first being that many people in music education today have forgotten why they initially wanted to be involved, which is to play music! I also believe many of these same people don’t really understand the purpose of their teaching, especially pertaining to the music. If a music teacher loses sight of things as important as these and doesn’t know the purpose of his or her teaching, what is the relevance of it all? Or is it just a job?

Something that no music education course teaches is this: It is of great importance that anyone involved in a music-related profession continue to perform or be involved in some active manner because music is something one experiences, something one tangibly feels; and every experience helps garner more knowledge, making one a better teacher.

Music and the teaching of music is not a process or an entity that one learns from a book or in a college course. It must be experienced! So it is important for the teacher to continue playing and be actively involved in music if they are to pass this on to others. When one ceases playing, a measure of growth and acquisition of knowledge is diminished through the lack of these experiences and, in many cases, so is the striving for excellence that playing music exacts from its practitioners. And if one no longer feels the excitement of creating and performing – they will not, in my opinion, become a teacher who provides the inspiration that will motivate others to work toward excellence, seek knowledge, and pursue their dreams.

One should also realize that playing and being involved in music is not just for the professional. It is for everyone to enjoy on whatever level they are able or wish to do so. There are many ways for one to continue their participation. They can perform on whatever amateur, semi-pro or local level they might desire. In many local areas, there are dance bands, concert bands, local or regional orchestras and choral groups in which to participate. And if these are not available, the inspired musician will either seek out or create with others those situations with which to satisfy their musical desires. There are many reasons that this is important. First, it keeps the individual involved and working to improve their playing. Second, it contributes to the cultural life of their communities. Third, it helps to keep the music vital and alive by exposing the next generations to this most important entity called The Arts.

This is important on another level as well. We constantly decry all the social problems surrounding our young people, yet we do nothing to supplant those things that exemplify and encourage violence. Instead we abandon our children to an environment such as TV where they become passive observers rather than active participants. One wonders what might be the result of our supplying them with music and art centers - like the superb Manchester Craftsmens Guild in Pittsburgh - where they would become active participants in positive pursuits. Is it possible this might help in our building a more sensitive, aware society?

While on the subject of society, let me illustrate that of a musical organization. A musical organization is a number of individuals determined to bring their skills up to a level that enables them to band together with others undertaking the same task in order to work as a group under the leadership of an experienced and knowledgeable conductor to produce an excellent finished product – in this case, music! And they accomplish this through positive means, learning when to come to the fore and when to subjugate their own egos when the task calls for it, working together in a non-violent environment, producing something that usually benefits everyone involved – participant and observer alike! Is this not the definition of a successful society?

I believe another pertinent factor relating to our problems in education is that many people teaching today don’t really know the purpose of their teaching, especially something like music. If a teacher doesn’t understand this, then what is the relevance of what they are doing? Or is it just a job?

I feel the purpose of teaching is to inspire and enlighten young minds, and, in the case of the Arts, to teach them “things of the heart” - those things that open them up emotionally, aiding them to experience those human emotions that dwell on a higher plane and helping them express those feelings through positive methods.

We should also understand that the purpose of teaching music in the schools is not to produce professional musicians, but to expose our youth to things of great quality that will add much to their lives. I believe that music – indeed all the Arts – is a gift that we give to our young people. It is not something we should do with indifference, but with the realization of the richness, the quality that the Arts contribute. It should also be our hope that they will continue to be involved in the Arts in some manner all of their lives, either as participants on some level or as fans and patrons.

Colleges and universities today concentrate on pushing into music education as many music majors as they are able. But should not the primary purpose be to teach them to become good musicians? To teach them to play? And for those musicians, probably the majority, who will choose not to become performers, we offer them alternatives, including becoming a teacher – but only if they possess the passion that teaching, like music, should require. But the platform from which to become a teacher should be that of having become a well-trained musician.

In the music education field today, we are graduating people who have no real desire to learn more than what is necessary to get through the course work and acquire their certification to teach. They have given up playing, at least in the sense of wanting to become a better musician, and after they receive their certification, probably will not play again. Their active self-involvement with music is essentially over, and this will definitely affect what kind of teacher they become.

Many of these teachers will say that they gave it up because didn’t play well enough to be a professional musician. The reality probably is that while they may not have possessed the ingredients to become a professional, they also did not have the desire, the passion and/or dedication and work ethic to be as good a player as they might. Music is not really in their soul. So I ask – why are they teaching music?

The reality of any “musician” is that they continually seek improvement in everything they do. Becoming a good musician requires this, so they carry this discipline over into almost everything they do; they are driven to this. It is exemplified in the way they work with other people and in their sense of responsibility in whatever they involve themselves. Someone graduating with a teaching certificate not having acquired this attitude will not only be a poor musician, they will most certainly be a very poor teacher. If one has no desire to acquire the skills necessary to master the principles of their profession, how can they stand as a leader before others – uneducated children – and inspire them to learn and excel? And inspiration is the key word here, the secret to being a fine teacher.

Regarding teaching: Beyond the initial stages of instruction, I feel that learning by experience is as important as being instructed. To continue to learn and grow in music, as in life, these experiences must be repeated many times in order to reinforce what one has previously learned while also revealing new paths. Inspiration from a role model is one of the strongest motivating forces to a young person. How much more inspiring a teacher of the Arts can be if he or she also is motivated enough to continue practicing – and hopefully performing - themselves. This shows the teacher to be inspired to be a better musician who continues to grow and mature, one more able to pass these experiences on to his students, keeping the cycle in motion.

I have spoken a number of times to music education students at several universities. Standing before them, I ask why they want to teach. Is teaching a “calling” for them? Is it a passion or is it what they believe is an “easy way out” because of not knowing what they want to do with their lives? I ask how many are graduating at the end of the year, and half or more raise their hands. I then inquire how many know their major scales. If one has ever stood before a group and confronted them with something so relevant to what they do, it is easy observe by their body language those that have or have not mastered this fundamental requirement.

I point out that if they have so little inspiration or self-motivation to master even the most basic of skills, how can they expect to stand in front of young band students and inspire them to learn to play; especially being such poor musicians themselves! If this is true of them, I ask that they please find something else - leave teaching behind - because we don’t need any more poor or mediocre teachers. Surely they will be happier working at something they have more enthusiasm for, something that requires less self-discipline.

Outside of the home, the teacher carries the greatest responsibility of any member of society, and a teacher’s dedication to learning and self-improvement must be even greater than mine as a performer. If I give a poor performance, the only result will be that people will not return to hear me play; but aside from that, no one will have been hurt. If a bad music teacher gets ensconced in a tenured job for a number of years, the damage that he or she can inflict on their students by their “turning them off” to music forever is inestimable.

In contrast, let me state that there are those young teachers today who have been under the guidance of teachers who care deeply for and love teaching. These teachers have provided inspiration to their disciples and illuminated their paths, and their students who have embarked on this same journey carry on this great and most important mission. Unfortunately, they are outnumbered by those lacking their dedication and inspiration.

My perception of a teacher is based on an old-fashioned model. The environment of this model was one in which a teacher was able to have expectations of his students and also allowed to take a student to task for not meeting those expectations. Expectations, seemingly a controversial word in teaching today, is one of the most elemental factors in the growth and education of any person, young or old. It is human nature that one attempts to rise to the level of the expectations made of them. A teacher should let his or her students know that he expects them to work to the level of their potential and that he will accept nothing less. To do less should mean that those students would not be allowed to participate.

Why should this issue be considered controversial? Is not the goal of teaching to help one rise to a higher level in life? It has been proven that when little or no expectations are made, people will remain where they are or fall to a lower level – again human nature. Is it fair to those students who do work to their potential to be held back by those who refuse to do the same? I know many teachers will say that following this line of thinking goes against what many school boards, administrations and principals are advocating, but this very thing is greatly responsible for the demise of learning in our schools.

Questions pertinent to this abound. But is it really more important to rehearse four or five pieces all year in order to try winning a competition or more important to instill good musical principles into the students in order to build a solid musical foundation? Is winning a contest, teaching by rote, more meaningful than educating one’s students? Or do many of our teachers today even know the difference? Some teachers who do know will still respond that they must capitulate or they will lose their jobs, but is that job worth having? Isn’t it important to fight for what we believe and know is right, particularly when so much hangs in the balance? Or do we know what is right any more? Or is it better to just lie down and give up all we value just to keep a job that one probably hates anyway? When do people who believe in something stand up for those beliefs? How can we face ourselves each day when we know we are selling out our children and our future?

Teachers of my generation could also penalize a child for disruptive behavior in the classroom, and what a child feared most was not that the teacher might punish them, but that the teacher might contact the parents to relate the problem. The parent would then personally correct the situation. Unlike today, parents were much more involved in their children’s school lives, and teachers worked in an environment wherein they could teach, not just struggle to get through a day of dealing with children who misbehave and create disturbances, preventing those who wish to learn from doing so.

While I believe much of the fault for this lies in the home where many children today are not being taught the most basic values, I also believe much blame resides in a society that lacks respect for culture and has sold out real learning. While many administrators and politicians pay lip service to education with the high and mighty things they declare, few are sincere in their motivation. Rather, their attention lies in political self-interest or self-gain with no concern for the damage they inflict on society as a whole. And a great deal of blame also lies with the administrations of schools that have moved away from what truly matters in education – teaching young people! - for reasons of corrupting monetary influences and policies at their schools.

Unless we learn to prize those things that enrich everyone by teaching basic values from the grass roots, whatever change takes place will have a downward motion instead of an uplifting one. In the case of education, maybe an examination of the past might illuminate the way to a better future. While I am certainly not a pessimist – just the opposite – I do feel that if things continue the way they are, the future does not bode well for our great country.
 
 

Dr. Robert Morgan holds BM and MM degrees from North Texas and a DMA in composition from the Univ. of Illinois. Beginning his career as director of the jazz program at Sam Houston State Univ. in Huntsville, TX, he went to Houston’s High School for  Performing and Visual Arts in 1976 where he remained until retirement. Under his direction, the HSPVA jazz program has become internationally known as a stimulating model for the successful training of young jazz aspirants.  In 1998, he was selected for the “Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award” by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars at a ceremony at the White House, and in 1999, the Berklee School bestowed an honorary doctorate upon him in addition to the one he earlier had earned from the University of Illinois. Bob Morgan has previously contributed his article “The Sankofa Tradition” to this web site, and it can be found here in the Cadenzas section.

 For several decades, our society has been rampant with “educational reforms.”  These so-called reforms come in many guises, e. g. (no particular order): efforts to raise uniform test scores; establishment of yet another new standardized test; introduction of “open school” concept; introduction of “charter schools;” de-centralizing school systems; re-centralizing school systems; etc., ad nauseam.  Many of these efforts are well intentioned, but, unfortunately, they all miss the mark, to wit:

 Education boils down to one thing: a teacher with the door closed teaching students.  By “with the door closed,” I mean a teacher “on his/her own” with a group of kids, imparting a subject for which the teacher has passion, skills, and a knack to communicate.  No amount of testing, open school concept, etc., matters a whit unless the person “behind the closed door” is a consummate professional, no different than the doctor, concertmaster, airline pilot, etc.

 Are such people around?  Sure.  In numbers to satisfy supply/demand?  Sure.  How to attract them?  It’s numbingly simple: better salaries; in my opinion, perhaps double what they are now.
 A Houston suburb recently ran a newspaper ad in search of new teachers for next school year.  The headline was “$ 40,000 starting salary,” as if this were truly impressive.  With apologies to the countless folks that earn less than that, I don’t think this is sufficient to attract the kind of talent needed in this area.  “$ 80,000 starting salary” just might do it.  Any doctor, concertmaster, pilot, etc., can look forward to that kind of remuneration and much better.  The teaching profession should be regarded in the same category.

 Of course, teachers have never been compensated appropriately.  But, in the “old days,” this was offset by:

  1. Respect! Teachers, public school or university, were highly regarded in the community.  They were frequently “feared” in a respectful manner, not unlike a minister/rabbi/priest.  (Of course, today, many clergy are compensated much better than teachers!)  Though this is still largely true in the university community, it is largely not true in the public school community.  How many parents actively encourage their children to become teachers these days?  I suspect not many.

  2.  Work conditions.  In the “old days,” schools were safe, hallowed, quiet, reverential temples to learning, wisdom, etc.  It was a safe, comforting, stimulating, environment for instructors and students alike.  Today? I don’t need to elaborate on that.  I have been in a number of schools in Houston where the building itself and atmosphere suggest a prison rather than a reverential temple.

 The solution?  That’s the troubling part.  I don’t think there is one.  Assuming my premise is correct, it is no doubt now impossible to garner the funds to approx. double the salaries of the entire teaching population of the U. S.  Even if the “politicians and citizenry” (to quote from your article) agree that this should be a mandate, from whence comes the funds?  I don’t know.

 BUT: A start would be to stop wasting funds on all the worthless (my opinion) “educational reforms” mentioned above, and devote these funds (which are enormous) to raising salaries for teachers (not administrators, ancillary staff, etc.).

 An observation: Sept. 11, 2001, witnessed an unspeakable tragedy, not only for the U. S., but for mankind as a whole.  The U. S. had no choice but to identify billions of dollars to address that tragedy.  Am I comparing the tragedy of education to that tragedy?  No, of course not.  But, is the state of education today a tragedy?  Yes, in my opinion.  And, I feel that the U. S. must adopt a similar “no choice” attitude to identify billions (whatever) of dollars necessary to attract teaching talent that a community can be proud of instead of embarrassed by.