Cadenzas - Edition XVI
Bob Morgan has always represented to me, and to many others - students, colleagues, and parents - the finest example of an educator. In recognition of his having devoted his life to music and teaching, the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) acknowledged his contributions to Jazz education by inducting him into the IAJE Hall of Fame this month at the annual conference. A great honor, indeed!
Those of you who read Cadenzas know of my very deep friendship with Bob and my great respect for his long career in teaching. I know of no one more dedicated to his students, more modest in seeking so little recognition for his contributions, and more supportive of Jazz and music in general. He is special, a rare commodity in today’s world.
Born in Houston, Texas, Bob attended high school in Dallas. He became a working professional - a trumpeter - while still in high school, playing beside the many great musicians who were part of the Dallas music scene at that time. He attended the University of North Texas (UNT), then North Texas State, where he played trumpet and trombone in the renowned North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band.
As students at UNT, Bob and I met and became friends. While upon graduation from the university I went on the road, Bob stayed to continue his studies, attaining his B.M. and M.M. degrees from UNT, studying composition with famed composer Samuel Adler.
Bob then served as director of the Jazz program at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, 1965–1970, working along with the renowned composer, Fisher Tull. From the fall of 1970 through spring of 1972 he enrolled at the University of Illinois/Urbana where he played piano in the Illinois Jazz Band and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition. Experimental Jazz composer Robert Graettinger was the subject of his doctoral thesis at the University of Illinois.
Bob’s original compositions have been performed and recorded by the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band, the Illinois Jazz Band, and Chicago’s Jazz Members Big Band, among others. The University of Illinois Black Chorus and Jazz Band premiered “Jazz Cantata on Black Poets,” the composition written for his dissertation at the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in Omaha in 1975.
After finishing his doctorate at the University of Illinois in the spring of 1972, Bob resumed his service at Sam Houston State through the spring of 1976. He then took the position of Director of Jazz Studies at Houston’s High School for Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in the fall of 1976, where he remained until his retirement in 1999. Under Bob’s direction the HSPVA Jazz program has become internationally known as a stimulating model for the successful training of young Jazz aspirants. In a typical school year, at least 60 students, all selected by a vigorous audition process, are involved in the Jazz program at HSPVA.
Just a few of the HSPVA groups’ achievements include six international tours, nine albums with guest soloists (of which I am proud to have been one), forty-three awards in DownBeat magazine’s prestigious Student Music Awards recording competition (1979–1999), ten concert appearances at annual conferences of the IAJE (1978–1997), and a third place (out of 168 entries nationally) in the 1999 “Essentially Ellington” festival at New York’s Lincoln Center hosted by Wynton Marsalis
Many of Bob’s HSPVA students have also been duly recognized and honored for their achievements during his tenure from 1976–1999. Among them were:
· 79 students in Texas All-State Jazz Ensemble, 1979–1999
· 31 All-State alternates, 1979–1999
· Four “Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellows,” 1995–1999
· Seven IAJE “Young Talent Award” winners, 1982–1991
· Seven Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS) finalists, 1980–1991
· One “Presidential Scholar in the Arts” - Walter Smith III, tenor saxophone, 1998
· 250 students in All-Region XXIII (Greater Houston) Jazz Ensemble, 1979–1999
· 24 “Most Outstanding Musician” awards at Texas Jazz festivals since 1978
· Over 200 “all-star” awards at Texas Jazz festivals since 1978A number of students have gone forward to become fine teachers and established players around the country. Others, like pianist and recording artist Jason Moran and Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra member Andre Hayward, are well on the way to establishing themselves as national figures.
In addition to his work at HSPVA, Bob has engaged in many summer teaching positions, including the National Stage Band Camps, the Jamey Aebersold Workshops, the Illinois Summer Youth Music, the Stan Kenton Clinics, and the Skidmore Jazz Institute at Saratoga Springs, New York. He has also conducted workshops at such schools as Northwestern University, Eastern Illinois University, the University of Texas/Arlington, and the University of North Texas.
Though Bob retired from HSPVA in May 1999, he remains in nationwide demand as a Jazz adjudicator, clinician, and conductor. In June 2000, he was invited by Wynton Marsalis to be director of the first annual “Essentially Ellington Band Director Academy,” held in Aspen, Colorado, under the auspices of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He remained in his position through 2003. In August 2000, Bob presented the keynote address and conducted two workshops at the annual Music Education Summer Institute held at Berklee College, Boston, Massachusetts.
Bob was Visiting Adjunct Professor of Jazz History at the University of North Texas for the spring semester of 2001. The following year he was appointed Education Director for the North Texas Jazz Festival in Addison, a cooperative venture involving UNT and the town of Addison, Texas, located just north of Dallas.
Though he has never sought personal accolades, Bob nevertheless has received much well-deserved recognition. Among his personal awards and honors are:
1986–1988: Member, Jazz Music Advisory Panel, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C. (Co-chair
in 1987; Chair in 1988)1987: Selected “Teacher of the Year” by the University of North Texas This award is presented annually to a
North Texas graduate who is devoting his/her career to public education in Texas.July 1989: Selected as one of ten prominent U.S. Jazz educators to be special guests of the Montreux, Switzerland,
Jazz FestivalMarch 1996: Appeared as panelist on final installment (“Jazz: Alive & Well”) of National Public Radio’s weekly
series, “Making the Music,” at the personal invitation of host Wynton Marsalis (“Making the Music” was
subsequently the recipient of a Peabody Award.)May 1996: Selected by DownBeat magazine for one of four annual “Achievement Awards for Jazz Education”
January 1997: Selected by National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts as one of two “1997 NFAA
Distinguished Teachers in the Arts” (the first and only Jazz instructor to be so honored)March 1998: Selected for “Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award” by White House Commission on
Presidential Scholars, including ceremony at the White House1998: Honored by KTSU-FM (Houston’s premier jazz station) as “Houston Jazz Personality of the Year”
February 19, 1999: Proclaimed “Dr. Robert Morgan Day” in Houston by Mayor Lee P. Brown
1999: The MusicFest Annual Scholarship in Instrumental Music - in existence since 1980 - was renamed the “Dr.
Robert Morgan Scholarship in Instrumental Music.”September 14, 1999: Awarded Honorary Doctor of Music degree by Berklee College of Music (only the second
educator to be so honored in the history of the college)In the past three years, Bob’s efforts and achievements in the fields of Music and Jazz Education have been recognized by other impressive entities. In September 2002, he was awarded the 3rd annual Boardwalk Jazz Festival Jazz Achievement Award in Kemah, Texas. In May 2003, Bob received the “Alumni Achievement Award” from the University of Illinois/Urbana, “the highest honor the UI Alumni Association can bestow on alumni,” and also presented the keynote address at the University of Illinois School of Music Commencement Convocation.
But with Bob it is never about “receiving.” One of the reasons I so dearly love Bob and his wife, Helen, is that they are two of the most generous people I know. Bob and Helen have established scholarships at the following institutions:
Jazz Scholarship at New School University, New York, New York
Bob and Helen Morgan Jazz Scholarship at University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
John Garvey Scholarship in Jazz Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
Four endowed chairs in the new Rose Hall at Lincoln Center in the names of:
The Houston High School for Performing and Visual Arts
Andre Hayward, an ex-student, now a member of Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
Wynton Marsalis
Bob and Helen MorganThey have also committed to establishing a scholarship at Berklee College of Music to be completed in 2006.
Now Dr. Bob Morgan has also been named a member of the IAJE Hall of Fame, a most fitting honor for one who has in the past given so much to the music, his students, his colleagues, and the institutions at which he taught. He continues this illustrious career today. May it continue for many years to come.
To you, Bob - I offer my humble and most sincere CONGRATULATIONS!
My memories of Stan Kenton are myriad. They are of a warm and generous man on the personal side and of a dedicated, passionate musician on the musical one. The two years I spent with the band were significant to both my musical career and my growth as an individual. Stan played a major role as a mentor, father figure, and teacher. Traveling on tour together for months at a time made him omnipresent during that period of my life.
Initially, Stan and I became acquainted during the summer following the North Texas Lab Band’s winning the 1960 Notre Dame Jazz Festival. For being chosen the best band at the festival, we were invited to attend the Kenton Clinics at Indiana University in August to serve as his band. Stan didn’t bring his own band to the clinics at the time. During that week, we rehearsed with him every day, affording him an excellent opportunity to observe each of us in a realistic playing situation. We performed one or two concerts with him at the clinics, and, at the end of the week, he asked me to join the band that fall as his trumpet soloist. I told him that I had one more year of school to finish, and he agreed that I should do so, but also made it clear to me that we would work together in the future.
Several months later, Stan called to ask if I could obtain a leave of absence from school for about three-and-a-half weeks to finish out that fall’s tour for Sam Noto, who was leaving to take a steady job in New York. Having almost all of my scholastic studies completed by then, I got approval from all my professors to go. After finishing the tour in early December, Stan told me that the band would re-form the following April (1961) and that he intended to hire a temporary player for the Jazz trumpet chair until I would be available.
I graduated “in absentia” from the University of North Texas in May 1961 because, on the day classes ended, I drove my things home to Memphis and flew the next day to join Stan’s orchestra as his trumpet soloist. This was the beginning of my documented professional career. During my two years with the band, we toured extensively in the U. S. and Canada, playing mostly one-niters. Very important to my career was the fact that during this period the band recorded five albums on which I was a prominently featured soloist. These albums were: Adventures In Jazz; The Sophisticated Approach; Adventures In Time; Adventures In Blues; and the last, released after I left the orchestra, I believe, entitled Stage Door Swings. These recordings and the extensive touring of the band gave me a good bit of exposure and national recognition, for which I am extremely grateful.
Working for Stan Kenton was an exceptional experience. Stan was a special person - gracious and kind, dedicated to his music, and quite strong in his views – a true mentor and role model for the guys in the band. He was especially inspiring to a young musician like me. Stan was also an incredibly caring person, and, in my case, always available and willing to help me work through any problem I might be having. Being a young musician, spending most of my time on the road, I was trying to get a handle on many complex issues with which I was dealing at the time. I knew I could always go to Stan to talk about these things when I needed.
Important to me upon just joining the band was trying to decide whether or not to get married. I was in turmoil and went to Stan several times, seeking his advice. Yet, despite all that he was dealing with, he was never impatient about discussing this critical issue with me. Of course, like my own parents, he felt this was not the thing to do, especially at that time in my life and my career. As young people often do, I went against their counsel, and, of course, soon thereafter, they would prove to be correct. Yet Stan never reproached me for not adhering to the wisdom of his advice.
But my relationship with Stan was not unique. Other members the band also sought his advice and support with a variety of perplexing problems. And it wasn’t only the young guys in the group; several of the older members who had been in the band for a while also had their share of troubles, though they might have been more adept at handling them. Nevertheless, they would at times go to Stan for advice and, sometimes, financial help. As far as I know, Stan never turned his back on any of us. He felt that the band was his family, that he was “the old man,” the patriarch. And as such, Stan was there for all of us, remaining steadfast in his support of me - and of all the members of the orchestra.
Stan’s generous spirit was again apparent when I underwent an embouchure change while on the band. At that time, I was playing low down on my top lip, that is, onto the red tissue of the lip. Because the band played so hard and loud most times, I often suffered a cut lip. With the help of John Haynie, my trumpet teacher from the University of North Texas, I moved the mouthpiece up a good bit on the top lip to provide more vibrating surface for playing and more muscle tissue - more “meat” - for the mouthpiece to rest upon. The long adjustment period for such a drastic move was very stressful for me. I could deal rather well with going up to the microphone for my solos, but a good bit of the section work was difficult because I played most of the higher second trumpet parts. Having to deal with the embouchure change was extremely frustrating; as a result I became depressed about how I was performing my job. Stan sensed this struggle within me so he came back to the trumpet section at various times, reminding me to be patient and reassuring me that my working through all this was fine with him. His advice was just to concentrate on my soloing; he was sure that the section playing would come along in time. How many other bandleaders would be so understanding? But during this whole period of adjustment, Stan remained very patient and encouraging with me, once again showing how much concern and care he had for the people who played in his band.
One of the lasting musical memories I have of Stan was seeing this giant of a man standing in front of us holding his arms outstretched before cutting off that last chord. It was a sight to behold! Stan was truly larger than life. And observing him when rehearsing new charts with his arrangers or in the recording studio doing a new album was another great experience. Stan had unique musical instincts, knowing exactly how to edit an arrangement or composition so that it best fit the format to exhibit the band or the soloists in the best possible way. And his own ballad writing was just lovely, a perfect fit for the Mellophonium Band of which I was part.
Stan was also an incredible PR person; he knew how to communicate with people, all the while able to maintain and express his very strong views. He had the ability to make people feel comfortable even while disagreeing with their point of view. He was always ready to grant an interview or to appear on someone’s radio show to publicize the band. Stan seemed to have a limitless reservoir of energy, even at the end of a long day that concluded with a four-hour gig. To be able to observe him dealing with all these various entities day after day was a real education in human relations. Stan Kenton was really something!
I left the band in January of 1963 because I felt very strongly that I needed to take care of my marital problems. My hope was to resolve these issues and return to the band, but for various reasons, my return never materialized. Instead, I spent a couple of years working in show bands in Reno, Nevada, and in 1965 joined Woody Herman’s band for a year before going to New York where I became established in the Jazz and studio scene. I have remained in the New York area ever since and nowadays spend six or more months a year touring as a Jazz soloist with my own quartet and performing as guest artist with various other groups.
Because I was involved with my own busy career, I didn’t follow the band closely after I left, and I saw Stan fleetingly only twice, both times in New York. I always hoped to have time to sit down with him and talk about the many things that had taken place after I left the band and to reconnect with this person who was and is so important in my life. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen, and I regret that I never had the chance to let him know how much I appreciated all that he did for me – all that he enabled me to do.
The experience of playing on Stan’s band was also invaluable because I had to be at the top of my form every night despite fatigue, at times being ill, playing where acoustics were less than perfect, having tired or hurt “chops,” and being always on the move. The demands of this kind of life instilled the concept in me that when it was time to perform, it didn’t matter how I felt. There was always the expectation that musicians on the band had to be at their best at all times under all sorts of conditions. And the one who must have the highest expectations of you had to be you!
I can’t emphasize too much how important my time on the Kenton band was to me, and how much it contributed to my musical life. It was a great experience that gave me a clearer view of life and of “life on the road.” I also had the pleasure of meeting many people who helped enrich my growth and life experience, some who have become long-time friends. And, of course, I received a great deal of solo exposure, which gave me national attention and led to many other opportunities over my long career in music.
All these things and more I learned while being with Stan. As important as any of these were the human lessons I learned from him, the things I have carried with me all my life since that time. And these are the best memories of all.
For the past four years, Ms. Anita Berry, an entrepreneur from St. Louis, has chartered a ship from one of the cruise lines and held a sea-going Jazz festival. I believe this is the only cruise that charters a whole ship, ensuring that all the passengers aboard are Jazz fans and musicians.
The person who books the musicians, Ms. Cherry Scheets, also a singer, has been involved for many years with the Elkhart, IN, Jazz Festival. “Set” groups are invited, as well as singular musicians who make up the category designated “all-stars.” The set groups always perform together, while the all-stars perform in different configurations from concert to concert. Besides having the opportunity to perform four two-hour concerts as well as listen to a lot of great musicians play during the week at sea, the performers appreciate another benefit - spouses are invited to go along on the cruise.
This was the second time the Bill Mays Trio was asked to perform on the cruise, and, this year, Cherry told Bill that he should ask a guest to perform with the trio. Bill invited me to be his guest performer, and I was only too excited to do so. The rest of the group included bassist Martin Wind and drummer Joe LaBarbera. The quartet of wives was also a great matchup as they all enjoyed “hangin’ out” together and relaxing for a week at sea. It’s really nice to get away occasionally to a place where no one can reach you (except in case of an emergency), and you can’t involve yourself in the outside world so you’re free to just “let go,” so to speak.
All the groups and all-star musicians on the cruise were outstanding! Among those were the Lewis Nash Quartet – pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Peter Washington, and saxophonist Steve Wilson, the Houston Person Quartet, the Rebecca Paris Trio, the Wycliffe Gordon Quintet, the Freddy Cole Quartet, the Kristin Korb Trio, the Red Holloway Quartet, the Monty Alexander Trio, the Johnny O’Neal Trio, and the Dick Morgan Quartet.
The all-stars were made up of Eddie Higgins, Shelly Berg, Bill Cunliffe, pianos; Joe Ascione, Frankie Capp, drums; Keeter Betts, Jay Leonhart, Tom Kennedy, basses; Andy Martin, Dante Luciani, trombones; Ingrid Jensen, Don Sickler, trumpets; Virginia Mahew, Eric Schneider, saxes; Kevin Mahogany, Mel Dancy, vocalists.
While I will not attempt to give a “blow by blow” (pardon the pun) of the whole cruise, I would like to tell you about the highlights. First, Bill’s group - what a thrill! Three great musicians to play with on our four concerts! Bill is so inventive and has the piano so under his control that all he has to do is let his imagination and creative juices run free. He thinks so “out of the box,” yet is so steeped in the tradition of the music that it sounds unbelievably easy and logical. He leaves you feeling, “Why didn’t I think of that?” When Bill “plays outside,” you perceive him to be playing “inside.” That is how logical everything is. It is just wonderful! There is no other way to state it! And for a horn player, playing with him, it is the ultimate because Bill is the ultimate listener and accompanist, always trying to intuit what you want to say and where you might be going. For me, he is absolutely “the best”!
Martin Wind is Bill’s rhythmical and melodic counterpart. Having grown up classically trained in his native Germany, Martin brings his traditional background and technique to his Jazz playing. Combining this with his lyrical imagination, excellent time and intonation, he gives one a marvelous fundamental with which to play. He plays beautifully constructed solos, at times bowing rather than playing pizzicato. Martin has the capacity to go anywhere you might want to go - any time, any tempo.
Joe LaBarbera is another one of those special few drummers, combining great time and taste with incredible technique, ability, and imagination. You float on top of Joe’s time; you are not forced to go with it. Joe plays with such an intensely subtle fire that you are many times taken away with it before realizing “it has you.” It all feels so natural and so relaxed that you always feel comfortable, never “pushed.” He is also an imaginative soloist and an excellent composer. His ballad dedicated to pianist Bill Evans, with whom he played for a number of years, is extraordinarily beautiful. You are always left with the feeling that making music with these three gentlemen is just a flight of the imagination - music as it should always be!
The Lewis Nash Quartet was outsanding as well - always on the edge, always rooted in the music. There is nothing about this group that condescends to the audience; rather, they challenge the audience while being wholly accessible to them. Lewis Nash is a first-rate leader as well as a magnificent drummer. He has gathered three marvelous compatriots around him to express the music. I have known altoist Steve Wilson since he came to New York, and I have always admired his playing. Steve is lyrical, yet fiery, always imaginative, with a beautiful, full alto saxophone sound. Renee Rosnes is a talented pianist who has beautiful technique to burn, yet never uses it to impress, only to express her music. She is a favorite among all of us. Peter Washington is also a bassist extraordinaire! Beautiful time and intonation combined with a lovely musical imagination! We all loved this group, and each of their sets found us in attendance, listening to them, enjoying the beauty of their music. They, in turn, came to all our concerts, touched by what we were doing. This kind of respect and warm appreciation among musicians of this stature is one of the things that makes playing Jazz so special. I remarked to Lewis one afternoon how great it would be if our two groups could tour together for several months. He just smiled and said, “Yeah!”
While I won’t go through the entire list, there were many outstanding moments of which I will mention a few. Jay Leonhart performed four solo concerts entitled, “It’s Impossible to Sing and Play the Bass,” which, of course, is exactly what he does! Jay sings his own tunes for which he has composed both the music and lyrics, each one telling a story based on either his musical or personal life experiences. They are witty, touching, heart-felt, swinging, and entertaining - you name it and he touches all the emotions, does it all. Jay is an exceptional talent, loved by all who hear him - musician and fan alike.
Freddie Cole, Nat “King” Cole’s brother, is another great talent. If he might not possess the extraordinary voice as that of Nat, his delivery of lyrics is as good as anybody. Johnny O’Neal, whom I did not know, is another great talent and discovering to him was a delight, as was becoming acquainted with bassist Kristin Korb’s trio. Kristin’s pianist, Patti Wicks, also new to me, is a swinging musician with a real saloon voice. Kristin and Patti were a wonderful contrast in singing styles, and both are excellent musicians.
Rebecca Paris is one of the best Jazz vocalists around. She knows how to move you with a ballad, and she can swing with the best of them. She should be a household name in the Jazz world; her musical depth touches everyone who hears her. And Houston Person! What can one say about this man! Houston is just so straightforward and swinging, so lyrical and with such great taste.
The all-stars were excellent as well, but one who stood out so singularly is trombonist Andy Martin. Living and working in L. A., Andy is one of the most sought-after musicians on the west coast. There are no games with Andy, no sticking his bell over the microphone to achieve flexibility. Andy plays with a naturally gorgeous sound while displaying a profound technique that is used only to express his marvelous improvisatory skills. He is one of the “phenoms” of the trombone, drawing inspiration from the long lineage of great trombonists, such as J. J. Johnson and others.
There was no lack of awesome pianists on board. Bill Cunliffe and Shelly Berg are two exceptional pianists. The range of their expression, their touch, their melodic and harmonic approach - all leave nothing to be desired. They are truly two very distinguished musicians.
The all-star drummers, Frank Capp and Joe Ascione, are first-class as well, showing their class and ability to swing without ever having to “showboat.” Both of these gentlemen were a pleasure to listen to as were bassists Tom Kennedy and Keeter Betts. Tom and I have played together a number of times, and he never disappoints. He is a wonderful soloist, an excellent fundamentalist, and a very sympathetic accompanist. And Keeter Betts, who like Ray Brown, exemplifies the roots from which the modern bass emanates.
Saxophonist Virginia Mahew is another excellent talent, a first-rate tenor player and composer - well worth checking out. And trumpeters Ingrid Jensen and Don Sickler also played with much fire and imagination.
Here I am doing exactly what I said I was not going to do - rambling through the whole list of groups and individual musicians. But these on this cruise were all excellent and awe-inspiring. It is difficult not to carry on about them.
Let me leave you with this thought: If you can possibly go on one of these cruises, you will be extremely gratified by the musical atmosphere into which you have plunged. You will be among fans who love this music, as do you. You will have the opportunity not only of listening to all the fine musicians aboard, but also of interacting with them in an environment of equal status. All - musician and fan alike – enjoy this environment. So, if you love this music and find yourself in the position to do so, go on a Jazz Cruise and immerse yourself in the music. Just “chill” and dig it all!